Osama Bin Laden

Obama And The War In Afghanistan: Nearing An End?

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Barack Obama will make an announcement two days from now on a major troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Back in December, 2009, after careful reflection, Obama announced a 30,000 troop increase to Afghanistan, and made it clear that he would reconsider troop levels after 18 months, but with the goal also of overcoming the threat of Al Qaeda.

Well, with Osama Bin Laden dead, and many Al Qaeda operatives killed, it seems as if this terror network is far less of a threat, and just as Defense Secretary Robert Gates is about to leave at the end of this month, and as Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman and others in the Republican Party are starting to advocate getting out of Afghanistan, Obama will be making a profound, significant speech on Wednesday, setting the future of a war which cannot be won, and is bleeding us dry!

It is hoped that the troop withdrawal will be a major one, particularly with some Republicans advocating the same, and with the NATO nations involved in the war rapidly de-escalating their own involvement in the war, including Canada and Great Britain.

With the budget crisis this nation faces, it is essential to bring troops home and stop adding to the national debt in a conflict that cannot be won in a classic way. It is time to declare victory over Al Qaeda, while keeping ourselves on guard, and get out of Afghanistan as soon as possible!

Will “It’s The Economy, Stupid!” Outweigh The Death Of Osama Bin Laden And Help Mitt Romney Against Barack Obama?

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A month ago, President Barack Obama’s public opinion polls skyrocketed, following the successful elimination of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.

Now, a month later, due to the unstable economy and lack of major job growth, and general economic pessimism, Obama has lost the majority support he had last month, and has slipped below 50 percent in the polls.

In the Washington Post-ABC News poll, Obama has slipped to 47 percent, and in a matchup with Mitt Romney, he is behind by three points, 46-43, emboldening the former Massachusetts Governor to believe he has an advantage for 2012, and that such an advantage will give him the edge for the Republican Presidential nomination.

The problem is that Romney might, for now, be ahead, and he might, realistically, along with Jon Huntsman, be the BEST candidate for the GOP, but that is no guarantee that he will win the nomination of his party or the election in November 2012!

The fact that he has stated his belief that global warming and climate change are a real factor, if not the sole one, in what is happening regarding weather and environmental conditions, will not win friends from the social conservatives.

Nor will his Mormon faith, the same problem of Jon Huntsman, help Romney, since evangelical Christians do not regard Mormons as Christians, but rather as a cult.

Nor will his Massachusetts health care plan, often compared to Obama Health Care, although he has carefully defended it, while saying he would not foist it on the nation as a whole.

Nor will his chameleon nature, constantly changing his views with the shifting political winds, with many seeing him as a moderate to liberal Republican in his past, but now claiming to be a conservative.

Nor will his slick manner, his seemingly perfect family and clean image, help him because it seems, somehow, contrived to many!

But will an economy with a high unemployment rate, poor housing prices, high gasoline prices, and a stagnating stock market, be enough to help Romney or some other Republican, and outweigh the national security issue, including the death of Bin Laden, and the fact that America is involved in fighting terrorism in FIVE nations by bombing and drones–Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and Yemen–making Obama look tough on defense and security issues?

Just about 16 and a half months away from the election, and eight months from the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, the Republican Party has some hope, but many daunting challenges ahead, but then again, so does Barack Obama, to convince the nation to re-elect a President with high unemployment numbers and percentages, greater than since Franklin D. Roosevelt!

John McCain Vs The Bush Administration And Rick Santorum

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Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 GOP Presidential nominee, spent five and a half years in a North Vietnamese prison, and suffered horrible torture.

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other figures in the Bush Administration NEVER suffered torture, and neither did former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who is one of the group of Republicans seeking the Presidency in 2012.

But the Bush loyalists and Senator Santorum continue to assert that waterboarding, a form of torture, helped to bring about the assassination of Osama Bin Laden two weeks ago, despite clearcut evidence from CIA head Leon Panetta that waterboarding had no role in bringing about the demise of Bin Laden.

Senator McCain had the courage last week to condemn those who think torture is an acceptable and useful method to gain information from detainees. McCain has always been against the breaking of international law which the Bush Administration was engaged in by using waterboarding as a method to try to force information from captives in the War on Terror.

If John McCain, who suffered for this country, and CIA head Leon Panetta, both claim that torture did not work, and undermines our values, that should be enough to stop the propaganda endorsing torture, and it is good that Barack Obama has repudiated such a policy in the future, as it diminished the image of the United States as a nation that exists under law and a sense of morality.

Interview on AM770 CHQR in Alberta, Canada

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On Tuesday, May 3, I spoke on AM770 CHQR radio in Alberta, Canada about the death of Osama bin Laden and the conspiracy theories resulting from this moment in history.  Click on the link below to listen to my interview.

AM 770 Interview

The Bush Apologists In Full Swing: Blame Clinton And Avoid Giving Full Credit To Obama Regarding Osama Bin Laden

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The Bush Presidency was when September 11 occurred, and everyone knows that George W. Bush was on vacation in Crawford, Texas, and did not pay attention to the memorandum warning of the intentions of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda to attack America in a short period of time.

The Bush apologists went to work after September 11, placing a large share of the blame on Bill Clinton, because he had not resolved the threat of Al Qaeda during his administration.

Now that President Obama hasa accomplished the goal of eliminating Osama Bin Laden, after the Bush Administration had over seven years to resolve the issue and failed, Bush apologists are trying to take a lion’s share of the credit for his demise, pointing out the effects of waterboarding on gaining information as to his location, even though there is no proof that using torture actually worked. They have tried to give Bush the major credit for setting up the conditions for the successful mission, even though it occurred more than two years after Bush left office.

In both ends of this story, there is a refusal to take responsibility by Bush and his apologists for the failures, instead blaming Clinton and avoiding giving full credit to Obama.

This is an attempt at rewriting history, and taking Bush off the hook on the whole disgraceful matter of September 11.

Fortunately, intelligent and knowledgeable people KNOW that Bush is responsible for the failures in 2001, and has no right to ANY credit for the success of 2011!

NBC Poll And Obama Numbers: Potential Trouble For The Future

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The latest NBC poll shows widely varying public opinion views of President Barack Obama.

57 percent like his foreign policy, a tremendous boost after the successful elimination of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.

52 percent overall like the job performance of Obama, which is higher than it has been since early in his term.

But only 37 percent are happy with his economic policies, and that is a danger sign for the President. And certainly, the GOP is not going to do anything to help change the economic picture, as that is the best issue to use against the President.

With 18 months to the election, one has to think back to the first President Bush, who had 91 percent in the polls after the Gulf War, but collapsed to 37 percent in the actual voting percentage a year and a half later in 1992.

So Obama cannot bask in the glory about Osama Bin Laden’s death, as the truth still is what Bill Clinton used as his campaign slogan in 1992 against Bush–“It’s the economy, stupid!”

Bin Laden Award Money: Who Deserves It Now That Bin Laden Is Gone?

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The US government offered $25 million after September 11 for the capture or death of Osama Bin Laden, and now that Bin Laden has been assassinated, the question is what should happen to the money.

Since no individual directly brought about the end of the Bin Laden hegemony, and since people in the military cannot be awarded the money ethically, since they were doing their duty as Navy SEALS, it seems appropriate that the money go to the September 11 responders, those firefighters and police officers and others who helped rescue survivors at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and who, in so many cases, suffered grievous injuries or illnesses.

It does not seem appropriate for the relatives of those who died to receive payments, as they have already been awarded financial damages.

It is proper that those who gambled their lives and health to help retrieve live victims and clean up the struck sites in New York City and Arlington, Virginia, over a period of months be thanked by financial payments that honor what they did, in the name of patriotism and nationalism!

May 8: V-E Day And Harry Truman Remembered!

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Sixty six years ago today, in 1945, America celebrated V-E Day, victory in Europe, as Nazi Germany surrendered, one week after announcement of the suicide of Adolf Hitler. Time Magazine commemorated the death of Hitler with a cover portrait of him with a large X through his face!

Today, one week after the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, regarded by most observers as the worst tyrant since Adolf Hitler, we should celebrate the removal of the world wide leader of terrorism, while being aware that the danger of further terrorist threats still exists. And note that Time Magazine has just published an issue with Bin Laden’s portrait on the cover, and an X through his face!

And also note that today is the anniversary of the birth of President Harry Truman, born in 1884, 127 years ago, and celebrating his 61st birthday on V-E Day, less than a month after inheriting the Presidency upon the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Great uncertainty about Truman existed at the time, and yet he went ahead and made tough decisions including the use of the atomic bomb on Japan three months later. Truman proved he could fill the shoes of Franklin D. Roosevelt, despite those who were skeptical as to his credentials.

In much the same way, Barack Obama has now proved, despite many skeptics, that he can fill the shoes of the office of the Presidency, can make tough decisions, and has courage and guts much like Harry Truman is always portrayed as having possessed.

So today, let us remember the twin fights against Nazism and terrorism, and the courage, guts and decisiveness of Harry Truman and Barack Obama. Were Truman alive today, he would be very proud of Barack Obama!

World War I Goes Into History: The Link To Today And Terrorism

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In February, America’s last surviving veteran of the First World War, Frank Buckles, died.

Now we have news that the last combat veteran of the war, a British national, who later settled in Australia, named Claude Choules, has died, also at the same age of 110.

After the death of Frank Buckles, the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri held a service and commemoration of the passing of the last American soldier of that war.

It was noted that Americans had changed their view of the world totally when they abandoned isolationism and joined the war effort in Europe, and how so many sacrificed their lives and their heatlh to serve in a just cause.

Now that the last “doughboy” and last European combat veteran have both died, it is fitting that we recognize 97 years after that Great War commenced, and with the death of Osama Bin Laden by courageous Navy SEALS doing their duty to protect America, that the war against terrrorism has had a victory, but that the battle for freedom and security must go on in a world fraught with dangers not that different than a century ago!

The Multi Tasking President In His Prime: One Week In Barack Obama’s Presidency

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Everyone knows that the American Presidency is a tremendous burden, with the occupant of the Oval Office having to deal with so many issues and problems at the same time, that he MUST be able to multi task with great skill.

So is the case of Barack Obama, who in one week, did the following:

1. Had Hawaii issue his official Certificate of Live Birth to silence his critics, which now have dropped dramatically, according to public opinion polls.

2. Toured Alabama and other states that were victims of the worst tornado destruction in decades, and was praised for the quick federal response to the natural disaster, as compared to Hurricane Katrina uncer President George W. Bush

3. Traveled to Florida to witness the Space Shuttle launch, which was unfortunately delayed, but also to visit Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wounded in an assassination attempt in January, who was there to witness her husband, Mark Kelly, the captain of the shuttle crew, begin the space mission.

4. Performed great standup comedy at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, including teasing of Donald Trump, who has been bad mouthing Obama for the past month, including on the “birther” controversy.

5. All of that week, and even earlier, Obama was planning the raid on the compound in Pakistan to eliminate the Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, the most daring action by a President in many decades!

And in the past week since, Obama has also visited the site of Ground Zero and commiserated with the families of victims of the World Trade Center, and also visited the Navy SEALS who were engaged in the most delicate operation possible, the attack on the Bin Laden compound and retrieval of the body of Bin Laden after he was killed.

This period of the last week of April and first week of May, a two week period, will go down in history as one of the most momentous periods in the history of the nation!