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Subscribe to RSSPresident Obama stopped by the CIA this afternoon to personally thank the analysts who helped tracked down Osama bin Laden, praising the agency for piecing together the intelligence that led to the world’s most wanted man.
Speaking to nearly 1,000 analysts and employees, the president said: “After I directed that getting bin Laden be the priority, you hunkered down even more, building on years of painstaking work; pulling together, in some cases, the slenderest of intelligence streams, running those threads to ground until you found that courier and you tracked him to that compound.”
President Obama told the audience that even though officers and analysts of the highly-secretive CIA don’t get “headlines” or “ticker-tape parades,” that they go about their work with “incredible diligence and dedication every single day.”
The mission couldn’t have been a success, he said, without the seamless coordination across all of the nation’s intelligence agencies along with the U.S. military. A CIA spokesperson pointed out that the president’s remarks were being broadcast to all 17 agencies within the U.S. intelligence community.
Obama described the work that led to bin Laden as “one of the greatest intelligence successes in American history.” And the president said intel professionals “are going to be inspired by your achievement for generations to come.”
But the president was most appreciative for something they didn’t do: talk about the operation to track down the al Qaeda mastermind.
Obama explained, “[W]e did something really remarkable in Washington -- we kept it a secret.”
Before addressing the crowd in the lobby of the original headquarters building at the Langley, VA complex, the president met behind closed doors with 60 analysts from various intelligence agents who were involved in the bin Laden operation. According to a CIA spokesperson, “He wanted to thank them personally for the work they’ve done over the last 10 years… Some of them have been looking for bin Laden much longer.”
As he met with his top national security team to analyze what was merely circumstantial evidence about that compound in Abbottabad, Obama said he went ahead with the raid because he had faith in the military and intelligence community.
“I put my bet on you. And now the whole world knows that that faith in you was justified,” he said.
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Stop talking about this moron ..i have never seen a country so fascinated with dead people !
Like Ronnie Raygun!
Does anyone know how many times he said "I"? I watched part of it and had to turn it off after the 20th "I".
Yellowcake from NIGER....please. Your racism is showing. Why deny what you are proud of?
What hell are you talking about Paul? Yellowcake = Racism? Who's denying what? Are you all there?
Yellowcake was the lie used to scare the public (sheeple) into believing that Saddam Hussein, an ARAB "Muslin", had Nuclear weapons. If you didn't turn off your television every time Bush, or Tenet, or Rice, or Cheney, or Feith, or Rumsfeld etc. were speaking to you after that, then you have a problem with Barack Obama that is irrational, and likely, it is racist in origin if only on a subconscious level.
Now you will deny it.
Ya, I'll deny it you conspiracy theory nut job. Because I don't like how Obama puts out his policies you want to call me a racist? You know that's your Liberals battle cry now and people know it. If you don't agree with anything Obama says, you're a racist. It's getting old and it's going to hurt Obama in the long run, because that's all you have.
Take off your aluminum foil hat and turn in your New World Order decoder ring and get some help. Come out from inside your basement and enjoy the sunshine.
See, I told you ahead of time you would attempt to deny what you are "secretly" proud of, about yourself.
"Getting old"? Your racism "got old" generations of Americans ago. We'll never get tired of pointing that out to you closeted bigots.
When Obama helps the Israelis take out the Iranian Nuclear Program in October of 2012, you can count on him being our President until January 2017. GFY.
HAHA, awesome, Paul can see into the future. Yeah, I'm very proud of myself, I've accomplished a lot. Thanks for confirming that the race card is your ace in the hole. Most people know it or starting to catch on.
October 2012 uh? What are the lotto numbers if you can look into the future?
Looks like Paul has came out of the closet.
Kudos to the President for acknowledging the hard work put in by the intelligence agencies.
3wolves,,,Socialist libs HAVE touse the rasist card because if they tried to debate on facts, they would have their head tossed to them!
Obama is trying to milk this for all the political hay he can squeeze out of it.
It's already old news. The white house just keeps trying to get one more mile out of an empty tank.
This is as off topic as things get-
I have been at the hospital for so long, it's hard to remember what day it is.
I do not know when I will be back, either, my princess is in renal crisis. If you pray, please so. If not, please, send good thoughts,
She' only 19 month old- and she is my heart.
God bless you and your Princess No Joe.
My thoughts and prayers will be for you and your poor infant! God bless!
no joe, no bo, nj
I pray with you for it is well with your daughter. God healeth thee.....Amen.
My hopes and prayers for the baby and you NJ.
no joe, no bo, nj: I hope your daughter gets well, soon. I am sending up a prayer for you and her.
And it paid off handsomely!
Can't wait to hear those suffering from Obama Derangement Syndrome to TWIST this!
Feisty Redhead Roselle, IL
And it paid off handsomely!
Can't wait to hear those suffering from Obama Derangement Syndrome to TWIST this!
It should not be long otherwise those affected couldn't survive. Obama Derangement Syndrome suffers need to TWIST everything the President does. It's part of their therapy.
This is why the trolls so abundantly distort things the more they do; the more their delusions are eased .
Haa Haa it must be a drag to live in La La Land.
I'm pretty sure at least one person is dusting off her already over-used "noun / verb / I killed bin Laden" rant even as we speak. She'll read this entire article and somehow the only thing that will register will be the words "after I directed". Not "praising the agency", not "you hunkered down", not "you found that courier and you tracked him to that compound", not "your achievement", not "He wanted to thank them personally for the work they’ve done over the last 10 years…".
No, those first three words will be all she needs to hear. Sad.....
Sad but true JoAnne!
She's proably getting hopped up on the hate juice as we speak! ;o)
It brought tears to my eyes. I've never been proud of the CIA until now.
Off Topic - But here's an interesting tidbit about the NJ nut jobs 'hero'! LMAO
New Jersey governor Chris Christie was loudly booed at Seton Hall's graduation ceremony earlier today, where he delivered a commencement address to the university's 2,281 graduates. One student even yelled "shut up" in the middle of the speech.
The Setonian has more:
Life in NJNB land is surely looking pretty bleak right about now!
Her 'hero' is nothing more than a ZERO!
I am afraid to say it, but there exists the very real possibility that the CIA has been tasked to chase its own tail. Usama worked, and still works, for us. He was "retired" from his head of Al Qaeda job, by faking his killing.
And he's living in Paul's basement apartment.
Paul, how do you sleep at night with Darth Cheney out to kill you for exposing the "truther" about 9/11?? I hope you sleep under your bed just in case those SEALS fast-rope in through your skylights.
Moron.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They don't know who I am or where I reside. And they never will, until it is too late, for them.
Just as I suspected, the Obama Haters managed to twist this into teleprompters & Gitmo!
What a sad sad space their little minds inhabit! ;o(
I would just like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Zombie Apocalypse Day! Remember to wear your "I Survived the Zombie Apocalypse" t-shirts tomorrow.
If we market this right, Zombie Apocalypse Day can become as big as Festivus.
Paul-977599
"They don't know who I am or where I reside. And they never will, until it is too late, for them."
1!#2.8 - Sat May 21, 2011 8:57 AM EDT
Yes they do! I promise you that an average graduate student in computer science has the ability to find out just about anything they wish about you, regardless of how many anonymous proxys, public IP's or other methods of obfuscation you employ. As long as you have a net presence you are not safe from enquiring eyes. Many of these students go on to work for the very agencies that you believe cannot find you.
The web is not as anonymous as you think. I am not trying to increase your paranoia, just your knowledge base.
Thanks for your time.
Oh, by the way; if you use veiled threats against them, it probably ups the chances of them noticing and having an interest in your activities.
The deeper BO digs himself the proverbial hole he can't get out of, the more foul mouthed and bitter Feisty (Feisty?) and bev the chicago organizer become... very interesting! It shows how blinded they've become over the 'annoited one', despite his blunders! I can't help but feel sorry for people like that! What very sad lives they must live!
For those who are interested in a hard-hitting expose on the end of the world, I just published my first article on the vine. Its in "The Great Funhouse Debate" and also in the religion section. Yeehar!
So I guess the first spot polling on his Mid East speech didn't look good ....had to bust out the ole "But I got bin Laden" card and try to squeeze a few more drops of political milk otta that teat, huh?
Is this the same CIA, the one he bet on, that he was thinking about prosecuting for waterboarding and other "enhanced methods", renditions, black cites, etc.
What a narcissistic moron.
Besides, was getting an old man sitting on the floor in a blanket watching old videos of himself the nation's top priority. I thought protecting the American people was. Maybe Iran getting the bomb would be a priority like Obama vowed would never happen. Maybe it would be a good idea to figure out who the rebels in Libya were, what about Gadhafi's stockpiles of nerve gas and mustard gas that the rebels got their hands on. And oh yea, what about all the man portable anti-aircraft missiles from Gadhafi's stock piles that air lines are so worried about? Who cares, huh? Turning Egypt over to the MB and them giving the go to the Hamas and Hezbo guys against Israel. What could go wrong in the Mid East?
Winning in Afghanistan isn't a priority? What, around 800 Americans have given their lives under your command and that is not a big priority?
Oh well, Obama did get Osama ...... and his porn collection too!
And some actually thought breaking the Japanese JN-25 naval ciphers that led to the victory at Midway - the turning point on WW II was kinda big.
So it's "remarkable" that the Commander In Chief can keep a secret when the lives of SEAL Team 6 are at stake. Wow ....... how about a big YES WE CAN for the big guy ..... what a hero. This guy is such a clueless, out of his depth community organizer.
Obama's greatest accomplishment has been to stay out of the way and keep his mouth shut. How poetic.
Too bad he couldn't have kept his mouth shut after the raid. Maybe terrorists wouldn't know about the role of SEAL dogs on raids, maybe they wouldn't have known we found the "treasure trove", would not have scattered changing their names, bank accounts, "couriers", etc. and we would have been able to capture a few more.....
But what good what have that done to his popularity and re-election?
Yea, Feisty ..... it has "paid of handsomely!"
Now if Obama would just keep his mouth shut and get out of the way of solving the debt crisis, the energy issue, the jobs problems .......
Are you done? Sheesh, you'd have done better just to write, "I hate President Obama!"
Those who directed waterboarding, if it happened (and there are plenty of people who say it has) are still responsible for torture. Last I checked that's not the kind of thing we're supposed to stand for. We cry foul if a regime does it somewhere else in the world. If we are to legitimately take a stand against torture elsewhere we must take a stand against it here.
Paying a compliment to those who did the "heavy lifting" at the CIA is now considered narcissistic? Wow!
Yeah, no, you're right we should have just let bin Laden go free rather than take any action against him.
Go back and read it again, Slappy...he said "one of the greatest successes"...not "the greatest success".
Do you have any idea how difficult this had to have been...to plan everything out to the last detail and execute the mission without the 24/7 news cycle catching wind of what was going on? You miss where he is giving credit to the Intelligence Community in his statement. As for President Obama's part in keeping the secret, do me a favor...go back and watch him speak at the annual White House Press Corps dinner the night before the operation actually takes place. He's already given the order to execute the mission and the future of his presidency is riding on what will happen in the next 24 hours (more on that in a second). He doesn't show it at all.
You, sir, fail to grasp the gravity of what took place on May 1. If the mission fails...if bin Laden gets away and Navy SEALs are killed you wake up the next morning and you are screaming words like RESIGNATION and IMPEACHMENT to President Obama. You would be giving him 100% of the blame if this had failed. You CAN NOT give him all of the blame in the event of a failure and deny him any part of the credit because it succeeded.
That, sir, is hypocrisy.
miked-332794
The deeper BO digs himself the proverbial hole he can't get out of, the more foul mouthed and bitter Feisty (Feisty?) and bev the chicago organizer become... very interesting! It shows how blinded they've become over the 'annoited one', despite his blunders! I can't help but feel sorry for people like that! What very sad lives they must live
!
HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PqI12R8YNU&feature=related.
Obama the Current and Next President
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PAlVBz7d5Y
Obama Safe in Washington
http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2011/05/obama-safe-in-washington.html
Listen Goblin, I happen to like a
PRESIDENT WHO GETS THINGS DONE.
Click any category
http://obamaachievements.org/list
Just what have the GOP/T-Baggers done thus far... or Bush for that matter?
The GOP/T-Baggers are Running on Empty
GOP Pledge-O-Meter: Tracking the promises of the GOP Leadership in Congress
You won’t find very many kept; but you’ll a whole lot stalled and a lot not even started
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/gop-pledge-o-meter/browse/?page=1
Btw : Where are the jobs? It’s been 136 days as I write; still there are ZERO jobs.
http://www.whenarethejobs.com/
And Bush he ain’t relevant he was the worse of all the 43 Presidents!!
Who gone beat Obama?
President Obama
got GOP/T-Baggers sweating like they in a sauna. And FOX NOISE keep freakin out. President Obama makes me say Yes We Can. That’s right, I'm in.
Yea, my country picked him and will do it again for 4 more years that’s tight.
Obama the next President
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlOIy6QEbes&feature=relmfu
The White House
Woooo Yes We Did
Yes we did. We are one nation from coast to coast and sea to shinning sea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PJa3jaEVyM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN_NNZyh43s&feature=related
How clueless. Bush said 3 were water boarded - KSM 183 times!
Abu Zubaydah and Ranzi bin al-Shibh were water boarded. They gave up the info that led to the capture Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the guy that planned and executed 9/11. As Panetta has said, KSM and waterboarding were part of the intelligence that led to OBL. Duh..... waterboarding not only got a lead that led to OBL, water boarding led to the guy that gave the lead, they guy that actually planned the attack.
The whole package led to OBL. The Patriot Act, Guantanamo, renditions, tribunals, black cites, preventative detentions, wiretaps, intercepts, enhanced interrogations and yes water boarding. The CIA was involved with it all. Great job CIA.
Regarding your pussy sensitivities about water boarding, how is it OK to have a CIA /military invasion of a sovereign country in the dead of night to shoot an un-armed man in the head without any court orders, trials, etc. and dump his body in the the North Arabian Sea not bother you, but placing a cloth over a guy's face who is equally culpable, poring water on his face and scaring him is so horrendous?
KSM is sleeping in clean sheets with 3 square meals a day and OBL is sleeping with the fish with half his head blown away. You guys are crazy.
Bottom line - Obama would not be gloating about getting OBL if not for ALL of the above, including water boarding.
Do you have any idea how difficult this had to have been...to plan everything out to the last detail and execute the mission without the 24/7 news cycle catching wind of what was going on?
SEAL Teams do it every day and night. Most operator's wives never a clue, heck - you think the wives even knew what country their husbands were in that night and days? Do you think when these guys are killed their wives ever find out the what, where and why? Same with the CIA.
These guys are secretive. They don't care. Obama could not have thanked them without the cameras and press? The fan fare and victory parade are all about Obama - not them.
So he was worried about his presidency more than the lives of the men, the mission? Doing what was right? Doing something any President in history would have done?
So Obama is a hero for not blabbing at the White House Press Corps dinner?
Gawd, are you ever easy to impress.
I did give Obama credit....
"Obama's greatest accomplishment has been to stay out of the way and keep his mouth shut."
Nice..."pussy sensitivities"? How about we waterboard you and then ask if you feel like you've been tortured and if you feel it's okay to do this to other people?
...and Pakistan was at best negligent and at worst complicit in harboring bin Laden. Does that not bother you?
Well said Bob (both posts)! The truth sometimes gets ahhh... manipulated? At this blog, especially from those who can't believe BO would ever do anything wrong... despite the evidence. He truly is the 'annoited one' for the far left.
Waterboarding has been used by American military at least since 1904 or earlier, Teddy Roosevely was President in 1904. That's a fact! But now Obama is making it a political issue and the President and others at this blog (Feisty?, Bev the ChiTown organizer) would like us to think that waterboarding is a Bush tactic and only Bush was responsible for directing the CIA to this method of torture during his term.... utter nonsense!
Anyone who says publicly that waterboarding is not a crime, should be taken at their word, and precluded from ever suing anyone who then waterboards them. They, in doing so, essentially have signed a public release form, and have given up their right to be protected by the laws that say that waterboarding is torture.
And SamNETN : Thank you for your paranoia, but I'm way ahead of you on this.
They ain't never going to find me, and they will trip countless alarms when they try.
miked-332794
That's a fact! But now Obama is making it a political issue and the President and others at this blog (Feisty?, Bev the ChiTown organizer) would like us to think that waterboarding is a Bush tactic and only Bush was responsible for directing the CIA to this method of torture during his term.... utter nonsense!
Look troll
Fox Noise is politicizing water boarding. The minute President Obama announced he had bin Laden FOX NOISE started wanting the President to give the credit to Bush due to water boarding. Then heartless Dick Cheney and his liver lipped daughter sprung from the under the ground or bunker; wherever the two cowards were hiding, to try and give the Bush administration credit.
Maybe TR did water board I don't know or care. All it is know is what water boarding did NOT do.
Water boarding didn't lead to bin Laden kill
White House deputy national security advisor John Brennan Brennan explained it.
"The information that was acquired over the course of nine years or so came from many different sources, human sources, technical sources, as well as information that detainees provided, and it was something that as a result of the painstaking work that the analysts did, they pieced it all together that led us to the Abbottabad compound and led us to the successful operation on sunday," he added.
Fox News' Fox Nation website claimed Tuesday that waterboarding led to the death of bin Laden.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/obama-advisor-waterboarding-didnt-lead-bin-l
"The United States Department of Defense did not do waterboarding for interrogation purposes to anyone. It is true that some information that came from normal interrogation approaches at Guantanamo did lead to information that was beneficial in this instance.
BUT IT WAS NOT HARSH TREATMENT AND IT WAS NOT WATERBOARDING." SAID DON RUMSFELD
There you have it straight from a Right wing rag, Rupert Murdoch owner of FOX NOISE, to be exact.
Read more on Newsmax.com: Rumsfeld Exclusive: There Was No Waterboarding at Gitmo
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/DonaldRumsfeld-gitmo-waterboarding-osamabinladen/2011/05/02/id/394820?s=al&promo_code=C30F-1
Yawn, bev the chitown organizer, your posts BOre me and others please stop with the far left rhetoric and stay on point!
I know you love the guy so much you will ignore his mistakes. But the fact is he has made multiple blunders over the last 2.5 years, the most recent were his remarks in the Middle East in which he threw our long time ally, Israel, under the bus.... and set Middle East peace prospects back years!
He is the most inept and inexperienced President we've ever had! The office of POTUS should be occupied by an experienced LEADER! Not a neopyte intern seeking on the job training!!! The list of his blunders and miscues is much too long for a blog like this! I like the man as a person, he seems to be a good guy! But he's not a leader.
He's also a good politician, but he has failed as a leader! We need less political rhetoric and posturing and more leadership! And we need it fast as that hole is getting deeper...!
Are you FKM?
Yeah, we know who suffers from "Obama Derangement Syndrome". The same people who suffer from "Bush Derangement Syndrome".
Noids and Paul,
About water boarding me, first I would like to point out that I would much rather be water boarded than shot in the middle of the night and dumped in the North Arabian Sea.
Second, I would like to point out that I am not an illegal enemy combatant / terrorist that has forfeited my Geneva Convention rights, or an other rights. Although conservative, I have not killed 3,000 Americans or even wrestled a blindfolded, bound, terrified American as I be-headed the poor helpless soul.
The Geneva Conventions provide rules and protections for warfare. These sub-animals take advantage of the rules, violate the rules and target the very people the rules are there to protect - innocent, non-combatant civilians, moms, little boys and girls, dads just trying to provide for the families, etc.
These sub-animals deserve no protections.
About Pakistan?
Other than possibly Iraq, we have killed and captured more al-Qaeda in Pakistan than anywhere else in the world. We have been safe for 10 years, suffering no additional successful attacks.
That speaks for itself. Is it a perfect relationship - no. But the big thing was accomplished.
I feel OBL has been in Pakistan for years. Did Bush know where he was, I don't know. I do believe that Bush would not have sacrificed the destruction of al-Qaeda and insuring America's safety for the sake of just getting OBL.
Would Obama have made the same decision? Would Obama would chance American lives for the sake of political gain?
Probably would have depended on how he was doing in the polls.
BTW - Anyone else wonder if he just did. Funny that Obama has known where OBL was for 9 months, huh? (Certainly doesn't take the SEALs that long to pull the trigger.)
We could waterboard you until you beg us to shoot you. Bonus.
It has not even been ten years since 9/11/2001. Is the math really that difficult for you? Or are you just trying to misplace 9/11 chronologically? How do you keep getting it wrong, when Bush was the President at the time of the attack? And we were attacked, some of us killed after that on his watch as well.
You can be declared an unlawfull enemy combatant, and under the PATRIOT ACT, there is nothing you can do to stop it, or mitigate it..we told you it was unconstitutional, but you wouldn't listen.
My gosh.... I have to wonder if Bev and Feisty (Feisty?) actually believe the vitriol they spout along with the name calling and insults directed to anyone slightly to the right of a far left socialist? Do they have a life I wonder? Do they know the meaning of intelligent discourse? I think not! We can only feel sorry for them....
Tinfoil Hat Alert!
Thank you Mr. President, for remembering to thank your crew, it is the right thing to do and it displays the knowledge and class that any manager, and certainly the president should. Now you can dress up as a pilot on an aircraft carrier and do your impression of George Bush's impression of Yosemite Sam. Mission Accomplished.
AWW man why do you azzholes always have to be a smartazz? WHy couldn't you just have said thank you and moved on.
Frikken Liberals........sheeeshh
IntheMiddle, TX
AWW man why do you azzholes always have to be a smartazz? WHy couldn't you just have said thank you and moved on.
Frikken Liberals........sheeeshh
Could say thank you? Don't be a hater.
In the Middle, first of all your right, I am a smart ass and I guess I can be an azzhole sometimes, I very seldom get personal with anybody I try to keep it general and not call anybody out by name, but I probably have on occasion. I hope you or others don't take it personally because the truth is I hope I make people chuckle once in awhile. Secondly it's not like I called George Bush a Nazi, communist, Socialist, terrorist loving Muslim, not born in this country, death panel creating, destroyer of our country, Kenyan. I called him Yosemite Sam, okay I called him a cheap imitation of Yosemite Sam. Chill out have a nice weekend and we will poke fun at each other again next week you Frikken Conservative........ sheeeshh .......and peace Texan
Cut him some slack Bev - someone p!ssed in his BBQ sauce! ;o)
He can now resume, clearing the tables!
Not all us Texans are so Tehtchy (Translation:Touchy) Forrest. And the yeller stuff is sometime the secret ingredient of some folks BBQ suace in these parts Fiesty. Eeeew. I know. That's why they whine so.
See I got m'self fixed up today and am just gettin on here to say how proud I am, as an American, to know that our President, the leader of the free world, is humble enough and gracious enough to share this historical moment with those, IF, had it not been for their success, none of us would have this feat to celebrate.
What a stand up guy. It's a shame we can't ALL get behind him and celebrate a good thing. If it had been George Bush who got OBL the whole of US would be lauding the acheivement. Because of the acheivement itself, if for no other reason. Instead we get these cat calls from the sidelines and admonitions NOT to be proud.
How so very unpatriotic and sad. SHEEEEESH!
And it took him how long to praise these great Americans? Even though the socialist talaban libs want to charge them!
It is not called socialism anymore, it is "privatization" the transfer of tax funds directly into the pockets of health care insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, and subsidies for the most profitable oil companies on the planet.
Forrest Gump is so right. Those out front so often forget to pay homage to the ones behind the scenes who do the real "grunt" work that pays the dividends. My thanks goes along w/ his and I also thank him for recognizing their value.
I apprecciate the fact that he thanked them in person, he did not send a letter, memo, or spokesperson, in person face to face, that is how it should be done. Everybody praises the CEO, but the place looks like crap without a janitor.
Now maybe one of these days hussain obama will honor our well-deserved vets on memorial day for ONCE like all the other presidents have done in the past at the unkown soilder ceremony! Whoops, probably another party at the white house featureing ll kookjay or something!
17 intelligence agancies?? Not to detract from a great job, but doesn't that strike anybody as about 14 too many agencies to operate efficiently?
On face value, you're right. However, it's not that simple. Let's go through the list and see who you would eliminate:
CIA
FBI
DEA
Dept of Homeland Security
State Dept - Provides intelligence in support of diplomatic affairs.
Dept of Energy - Provides technical analysis of nuclear weapons and materials.
Treasury Dept - Provides intelligence analysis on economic issues.
Defence Intelligence Agency - Provides full assessments of foreign military capabilities and intentions to military leaders and civilian policymakers.
National Geospatial Intelligence Agency - Provides exact cartography for any and all operations.
National Reconnaissance Office - In charge of all recon and surveillance satellites.
National Security Agency - Responsible for cryptography and language analysis.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence - Created in 2004, ODNI provides coordination of all agencies and is serves as principal advisor to the President and the National Security Council.
US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy - Each branch of the armed forces has its own intelligence section.
At least the President showed appreciation and thank personally those get involved in the mission. How about Mr. Wilson, who went to africa and found out that Saddam was not buying yellow cake to manufacture deadlyweapons. Instead of thanking him, his wife was exposed. Give credit to whom it is due.
Wait --
So Obama thanks the CIA operatives while at the same time Holder wants to prosecute them -- is that the scoop?
What an amazing politician he is, with or without a teleprompter! But I would bet the CIA would be much more impressed if E. Holder drops his investigation of the CIA interrogators at Gitmo!
So I take it the plan is to keep milking this with carefully timed and evenly spaced out events. 9/11/2011 will, I'm sure be more about how our military couldn't have gotten Bin Laden without the leadership of the President. But the real push will be 9/11/2012, two months before the election. Mark my words, Obama's re-election team will be screaming again from the roof tops that only Obama could get Osama in what will be a transparent attempt to deflect the incredibly bad shape our country will still be in.
maybe if we're lucky, BO will decide to stay in Europe for a few months and spend their money.
Borky, We can only pray for that!
In one speech he set prospects for Peace in the Middle East back years...
And given his desire to prosecute the CIA interogaters at Gitmo, the same guys who got the lead that led to OBL's execution, his gratitude today seems a bit disengenuous, don't you think!
More FAUX NEWS revisionist history. Keep selling that fractured Fable.
WCA, i'd Bet the Farm that if President Obama uses OBL in 2012, it won't be to:
Scare the He!! out of ya in order to get Your Vote!
Just Sayin!
I bet he does! It already started with the Oil tankers story. Just wait and see.
President Obama isn't dancing the Jig or gloating. He's giving credit where credit's due and it's driving the haters crazy. If it had been Bush who got Bin Laden Republicans would be clamoring to change the constitution so he could have a third term. Bush would probably wear a flight suit to the White house from that day forward.
Thank you for the implantation of the image there, Tom. W running around the white house, Hell, the counry in that Mission Accomplished flight suit paited on showing more than anyone ever wanted to see is complete and utter LOL funny.
Your quite correct in the presumption that the celebration would be MUCH different had the little bush roared to this level of success on anything he did.
Missy TX -- Thanks Missy, Barbara Bush called him the party boy and boy did he leave this country with a massive hangover.
So the CIA tracked him down and the SEALs killed him - why is Obama getting so much credit?
Who gets the blame if the mission fails...the SEALs and the CIA or President Obama?
Why did Carter get the blame for the failed Iranian hostage rescue mission? He wasn't flying the helicopters.
Carter didn't get blamed for the failed mission Paul, he got blamed for waiting 444 days to do something.
Don't know Da Noid, but I find it typical that you would want to find blame in something that didn't happen. I guess you're a "Glass is half Empty" kind of a person, kind of like Paul there. Hope for the best, think of the worse. I have to ask both of you, isn't tiring to think the way you both think? Constantly worried about things out of your control?
Danoid if the mission failed, it wouldn't take obama long to start blaming the military on poor executution/training or the CIA on bad intel.
On May 1 he praised the bush administration, the military and the CIA as all having a part in the missions success.
Now he says...
Such leadership qualities to be admired and such a team player, I, I, I. LMAO!
Thanks to them. It is a dangerous job. May God's wisdom and protection be with them.
A very good speech Mr. President, and it was good to see the CIA getting a big thank you. The President made the speech from his heart, and on the behalf of the American People. Enough said here.
Yes the teleprompter did a good job didn't it!
No, the speech wasn't from his heart. It was from his teleprompter. He can, at least, read well.
thunder and Edward, grow up.
Sorry DaNoid,
But this is what an actor does. He reads his lines and acts sincere. Nobody but some lame-brained liberals are falling for his rehearsed sales job anymore.
Beg to differ... an actor initiates trickle-down economics and starts a great nation down the slippery slope of bankruptcy and ruin.
History!
I’ve posted this as a factual history related to the negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. I will gladly cite a reference to anything posted here. It is predominantly a summary from Wikipedia and other sources are included.
I’ve bent over backwards to make this as objective as possible and purposely did not address the violence between both sides. Its sole purpose is to provide a history of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian people. For those that think that Israel is against a “Two State Solution”, may I respectfully suggest you note when you read this that this solution has been accepted by Israel on numerous occasions and rejected by Palestinian negotiators.
I know that this is long and wordy, but after reading the comments posted on Thursday regarding this problem, I was clear that some had no understanding of the facts or history related to this debate.
BACKGROUND:
Many attempts have been made to broker a two-state solution, involving the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside an independent Jewish state or next to the State of Israel (after Israel's establishment in 1948). As recently as 2007, a majority of both Israelis and Palestinians, according to a number of polls, prefer the two-state solution over any other solution as a means of resolving the conflict. Moreover, a considerable majority of the Jewish public sees the Palestinians' demand for an independent state as just, and thinks Israel can agree to the establishment of such a state. A majority of Palestinians and Israelis view the West Bank and Gaza Strip as an acceptable location of the hypothetical Palestinian state in a two-state solution. However, there are significant areas of disagreement over the shape of any final agreement and also regarding the level of credibility each side sees in the other in upholding basic commitments.
It should be noted that since 2003, the Palestinian side has been fractured by conflict between the two major factions: Fatah, the traditionally dominant party, and its later electoral challenger, Hamas. Following Hamas' seizure of power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, the territory controlled by the Palestinian National Authority (the Palestinian interim government) is split between Fatah in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The division of governance between the parties has effectively resulted in the collapse of bipartisan governance of the Palestinian National Authority (PA).
SIGNIFICANT NEGOTIATIONS:
Oslo Accords (1993)
In 1993, Israeli officials led by Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leaders from the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat strove to find a peaceful solution through what became known as the Oslo peace process. A crucial milestone in this process was Arafat's letter of recognition of Israel's right to exist. In 1993, the Oslo Accords were finalized as a framework for future Israeli-Palestinian relations. The crux of the Oslo agreement was that Israel would gradually cede control of the Palestinian territories over to the Palestinians in exchange for peace. The Oslo process was delicate and progressed in fits and starts, the process took a turning point at the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and finally unraveled when Arafat and Ehud Barak failed to reach agreement at Camp David in July 2000. Robert Malley, special assistant to United States President Bill Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs, has confirmed that while Barak made no formal written offer to Arafat, the US did present concepts for peace which were considered by the Israeli side yet left unanswered by Arafat "the Palestinians’ principal failing is that from the beginning of the Camp David summit onward they were unable either to say yes to the American ideas or to present a cogent and specific counter-proposal of their own".
Camp David Summit (2000)
In July 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton convened a peace summit between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Barak offered the Palestinian leader approximately 95% of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem, and that 69 Jewish settlements (which comprise 85% of the West Bank's Jewish settlers) would be ceded to Israel. He also proposed "temporary Israeli control" indefinitely over another 10% of the West Bank territory—an area including many more Jewish settlements. The remaining area would be under Palestinian control
Arafat rejected this offer. President Clinton reportedly requested that Arafat make a counter-offer, but he proposed none. A US spokesman has said that “never, in the negotiations between us and the Palestinians, was there a Palestinian counterproposal."
No tenable solution was crafted which would satisfy both Israeli and Palestinian demands, even under intense U.S. pressure. Clinton blamed Arafat for the failure of the Camp David Summit.
Arab Peace Initiative
The Arab Peace Initiative as first proposed by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in the Beirut Summit. The peace initiative is a proposed solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in particular. The initiative was initially published on March 28, 2002.
This initiative spelled out "final-solution" borders based explicitly on the UN borders established before the 1967 Six-Day War. It offered full normalization of relations with Israel, in exchange for the withdrawal of its forces from all the occupied territories, including the Golan Heights, to recognize "an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees.
The idea of Israel returning to its 1967 borders is a Saudi Arabian proposal adopted and ratified by Arab League members. This is NOT a US initiative. The US has adopted it as a basis for seeking peace.
A number of Israeli officials have responded to the initiative with both support and criticism. The Israeli government has expressed reservations on 'red line,' issues such as the Palestinian refugee problem, homeland security concerns especially defense of its borders and recognition of its right to exist by the Arab League as well as the nature of Jerusalem. The Arab League and now the United States have made the issue of returning to the 1967 borders as a basis of negotiations between the Palestinians, Arab League and Israel.
Jerusalem
The border of Jerusalem is a particularly delicate issue, with each side asserting claims over this city. The three largest Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—include Jerusalem as an important setting for their religious and historical narratives. Israel asserts that the city should not be divided and should remain unified within Israel's political control. Palestinians claim at least the parts of the city which were not part of Israel prior to June 1967. As of 2005, there were more than 719,000 people living in Jerusalem; 465,000 were Jews (mostly living in West Jerusalem) and 232,000 were Muslims (mostly living in East Jerusalem).
The Israeli government, including the Knesset and Supreme Court, is centered in the "new city" of West Jerusalem and has been since Israel's founding in 1948. After Israel captured the Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War, it assumed complete administrative control of East Jerusalem. In 1980, Israel issued a new law stating, "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel."
At the Camp David Summit, the United States proposed a plan in which the Arab parts of Jerusalem would be given to the proposed Palestinian state while the Jewish parts of Jerusalem were retained by Israel. All archaeological work under the Temple Mount would be jointly controlled by the Israeli and Palestinian governments. Both sides accepted the proposal in principle, but the summits ultimately failed.
Israel has grave concerns regarding the welfare of Jewish holy places under possible Palestinian control. When Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, no Jews were allowed to visit the Western Wall or other Jewish holy places, and the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was desecrated. In 2000, a Palestinian mob took over Joseph's Tomb, a shrine considered sacred by both Jews and Muslims, looted and burned the building and turned it into a mosque. There are unauthorized Palestinian excavations for construction on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which could threaten the stability of the Western Wall. Israel, on the other hand, has seldom blocked access to holy places sacred to other religions. Israeli security agencies routinely monitor and arrest Jewish extremists that plan attacks, resulting in almost no serious incidents for the last 20 years. Moreover, Israel has given almost complete autonomy to the Muslim trust (Waqf) over the Temple Mount.
Israel expresses concern over the security of its residents if neighborhoods of Jerusalem are placed under Palestinian control. Jerusalem has been a prime target for attacks by militant groups against civilian targets since 1967. Many Jewish neighborhoods have been fired upon from Arab areas. The proximity of the Arab areas, if these regions were to fall in the boundaries of a Palestinian state, would be so close as to threaten the safety of Jewish residents.
Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war
Palestinian refugees are people who left their homes as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. This resulted from the fact that during the 1948 War the Arab Higher Committee and the Arab states encouraged Palestinians to flee in order to make it easier to rout the Jewish state or that they did so to escape the fights by fear. The majority of these people have relocated to other Arab states, predominantly Jordan, which, has annexed over 60% of the historic Palestinian land.
Most of the people now living in the West Bank and Gaza were born outside of Israel. Nevertheless, Palestinian negotiators have insisted that these refugees have a right to return to the places where they lived before 1948 and 1967.
SUMMARY:
The Arab Peace Initiative as first proposed by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in the Beirut Summit, spelled out "final-solution" borders based explicitly on the UN borders established before the 1967 Six-Day War. It offered full normalization of relations with Israel, in exchange for the withdrawal of its forces from all the occupied territories, including the Golan Heights, to recognize "an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees.
The idea of Israel returning to its 1967 borders is a Saudi Arabian proposal adopted and ratified by Arab League members. This is NOT a US initiative. The US has adopted it as a basis for seeking peace.
In July 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton convened a peace summit between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Barak offered the Palestinian leader approximately 95% of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem, and that 69 Jewish settlements (which comprise 85% of the West Bank's Jewish settlers) would be ceded to Israel. He also proposed "temporary Israeli control" indefinitely over another 10% of the West Bank territory—an area including many more Jewish settlements. The remaining area would be under Palestinian control
Arafat rejected this offer. President Clinton reportedly requested that Arafat make a counter-offer, but he proposed none. A US spokesman has said that "never, in the negotiations between us and the Palestinians, was there a Palestinian counterproposal."
No tenable solution was crafted which would satisfy both Israeli and Palestinian demands, even under intense U.S. pressure. Clinton blamed Arafat for the failure of the Camp David Summit.
Last, Palestinian refugees are people who left their homes as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. This resulted from the fact that during the 1948 War the Arab Higher Committee and the Arab states encouraged Palestinians to flee in order to make it easier to rout the Jewish state or that they did so to escape the fights by fear. The majority of these people have relocated to other Arab states, predominantly Jordan, which has annexed over 60% of the historic Palestinian land. Most of the people now living in the West Bank and Gaza were born outside of Israel. Nevertheless, Palestinian negotiators have insisted that these refugees have a right to return to the places where they lived before 1948 and 1967.
As I said, I will provide a reference for every fact stated here. So before any of you think that Israeli reaction and politics is caused by the inflexibility of the hardline politicians currently in office, I’d suggest you reconsider based on historical fact.
Let us know when this post is out in paperback.
I’ve said many times here that stupid is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. This 1967 border policy has been a failure for over 20 years and yet we continue to pursue it. No new ideas from this administration, just a rehash of failed foreign policy.
At the AIPAC meeting the President said “"If there's a controversy, then it's not based in substance,"
Does the President know that more than 60% of the Palestinian land was annexed by and is now part of Jordan, However, nobody ever asked the Jordanians to make painful territorial concessions for their Arab brothers, while everybody asks Israel to give more and more. Why is it ok for Jordan to hold Palestinian land, but not for Israel?
Does Obama know that his proposal undercuts Security Council Resolution 242-- Resolution 242, passed unanimously by the Security Council in the wake of Israel's 1967 victory, and contemplated some territorial adjustments necessary to assure Israel's security against future attacks? It also contemplated that Israel would hold onto the Western Wall, the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem and the access roads to Hebrew University, without the need for any land swaps. Land swaps would only be required to make up for any areas beyond those contemplated by Resolution 242? The Obama formulation would seem to require land swaps even for the Western Wall.
He also said the result must be derived through negotiation, and that provisions must ensure Israeli border security and protections from acts of terrorism. An Israeli withdrawal from territory should be followed by Palestinians taking responsibility for security in a non-militarized state. So who do the Israeli’s negotiate with Fatah or Hamas? Hamas is a militant organization that is listed on the compilation of designated terrorist organizations compiled by the international community. We don’t negotiate with terrorists but Obama is insisting Israel should. It would be the same as if the US was forced to negotiat with Al-Qaeda.
Hamas reaction:
Hamas’ Palestine Times newspaper quotes Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, reacting to President Obama’s speech.
He called it bereft of content and said that Obama’s speech was a failure, and “the nation does not need to take lessons from Obama.”
Zuhri added, “Reconciliation is an internal affair and we reject the American intervention, and Hamas will not recognize Israel.”
The President said, paraphrasing, that Hamas was a problem but “they (who are they?) needed to work this out among themselves”.
Well thought out answer don’t you think? Add to this the anti-Israeli sentiment increasing in countries experiencing the “Arab Spring” and you wonder why Israel is concerned about establishing indefensible borders.
There is no NEW plan, just very old ideas that have failed over and over again.
Unfinished Business.
To those that think my response to what I know was an anti-Semitic post was in reaction to my support for the State of Israel or being called any other name you are mistaken. It has nothing to do with Two Sate Solutions or a defense of Israel. My response was to answer a vile, anti-Semitic post that should never have been allowed on First Read.
I have been told that I need to get a thick skin and was called an idiot and being oversensitive by certain posters here. I’m going to assume you did not understand how offensive this post is and also assume that you don’t understand the meaning of the words or their origin.
This portion of the post should serve as an example.
“the world has not said a word about the land that was seized by Zionist terrorists before the State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948. Through a series of shocking massacres, the territory assigned to the Jews suddenly became 77% resulting in more than 750,000 Palestinians being forcibly expelled and dispossessed of their homes, personal property and their homeland. The Jewish State then came into being without waiting for the United Nations Commission – prescribed in the Partition resolution – to hand authority progressively over to the Jewish and Arab leaders for their respective states.”
This revisionist historical anti-Semitic lie is a combination of articles written by Sonja Karkar and Jeremy R. Hammond. Sonja Karkar is the founder and president of a peaceful sounding group called Women for Palestine. What’s missing in her bio is that she is a Palestinian militant who has written numerous articles for radical Palestinian publications and groups.. Everything about her organization on Wikipedia is put into question as follows:
“This article reads like a news release, or is otherwise written in an overly promotional tone. Please help by either rewrite this article from a neutral point of view or by moving to Wikinews. When appropriate, blatant advertising may be marked for speedy deletion with {{db-spam}}. (February 2011)”
“The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (February 2011)”
The other source, “The Foreign Policy Journal is an online publication dedicated to providing critical analysis of U.S. foreign policy outside of the standard framework offered by political officials and the mainstream corporate media. FPJ offers original news, analysis, and opinion commentary from perspectives all too lacking in the public debate on key foreign policy issues. The goal of FPJ is to provide a valuable alternative source for news and insight into world affairs, to encourage citizen journalism, and to promote broader discussion of important global issue.” It supports white supremacy groups and welcomes submissions from them. The article quoted above is entitled “The Myth of the U.N. Creation of Israel” by Jeremy R. Hammond.
The historical fact that can be easily researched is that on May 14, 1948, the last British forces left Haifa, and the Jewish Agency, led by David Ben-Gurion, declared the creation of the State of Israel, in accordance with the 1947 UN Partition Plan. Both super power leaders, U.S. President Harry S. Truman and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, immediately recognized the new state. Not the fictional anti-Semitic diatribe posted. “Zionist terrorist” is a term used by Jew haters all over the world. Jewish people take that insult as if you used the “N” word, called someone a derogatory ethnic name. I hope you get the idea.
The poster goes on to discuss the origins of Jewish DNA and how the Jews and Isaraeli’s “are playing us”. Hitler’s, Mein Kampf, uses these very arguments among many others to explain his hatred of the Jewish people and to incite the rabid anti-Semitism that led to the extermination of 6 million people. So many comments in Mein Kampf were geared to the Jewish “race” and their origins as well as how the Jews “deceived us”. The Eastern European Jews were considered inferior to the Aryan people. Hitler stated that Jews are false Jews and not the chosen people; instead they are the offspring of Satan as a result of Eve mating with the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. Jews "must be killed." As the poster said, not real Jews. Sound at all familiar.
I don’t think you have any idea or will ever understand just how offensive her remarks and words are. To the people who wrote posts admonishing the poster, I just wanted to say thank you.
For those that do not know who Neville Chamberlain is, he became Prime Minister of Britain in May, 1937. Over the next two years Chamberlain's government became associated with the foreign policy that later became known as appeasement.
Chamberlain believed that Germany had been badly treated by the Allies after it was defeated in the First World War. He therefore thought that the German government had genuine grievances and that these needed to be addressed. He also thought that by agreeing to some of the demands being made by Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy, he could avoid a European war.
When Adolf Hitler began demanding that the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia should be under the control of the German government, Chamberlain, in an attempt to solve the crisis, met with Hitler in Munich in September, 1938. On 29th September, 1938, Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain, signed the Munich Agreement which transferred to Germany the Sudetenland, a fortified frontier region that contained a large German-speaking population Sudetenland. The Munich Agreement was popular with most people in Britain because it appeared to have prevented a war with Germany.
In March, 1939, the German Army seized the rest of Czechoslovakia. In taking this action Adolf Hitler had broken the Munich Agreement. The British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, now realized that Hitler could not be trusted and his appeasement policy now came to an end. World War II began 5 months later with the German invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939.
The situation between the Palestinians, Arab nations and Israeli is very similar. The President believes that the Palestinians have genuine grievances and that these needed to be addressed. He also believes that by agreeing to some of the demands he can bring peace to the region. Identical to the ideology of Chamberlin.
It strikes me that Obama is a lot like Chamberlin. He is an appeaser, a compromiser and a bit naïve. He believes in the good in people and their good faith and that an agreement that cedes land back to the Palestinians and the Arab countries that attacked Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 will end hostilities there. Obama is convinced that the Arab nations will respect a treaty that assures that Israel may exist, if only they give up still more land, just like they did with Sinai. He has faith that the Arabs and Palestinians will keep their word.
Just as Chamberlin and Stalin learned, treaties and agreements with people bent on aggression are easily broken. They are paper treaties with no teeth or enforcement provisions. They are meaningless.
Just as Hitler demanded to be allowed to "take back" what was "rightfully theirs" as German nationals, as believers in the true faith of Nazism and anti-Semitism, we'd be foolish to ignore that there are radical Islamists who demand the same thing, to "take back" what is their "national heritage" and to kill the Jews and annihilate the State of Israel.
Surely now people would recognize the mistakes of 1938, right? Surely now people would not support capitulation for "peace? It seems not.
Read all your posts and all I can say is wow and thank you.
That was truly an education.
All I have to say to you Ira is, trust President Obama.
!!!
I love the post from the guy asking how many times did Obama sy "I". That is exactly the point, he is so ready take a victory lap on the backs of the very people he wants to put in jail? This guy (Big ears Obama) is so arrogant. Please God anyone but Obama in 2012.
Hillary 2012! We need another Clinton now.
Are you trying to say that Obama has unusually big ears, for a ni66er? 'Cause I think that is what your implication is from making mention of his physical characteristics.