Obama Setting ‘Scary and Dangerous Precedent’

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

By Garth Kant

One of the most respected and veteran voices in Congress told WND it would be a “scary and dangerous precedent” if President Obama does not seek approval for a military strike on Syria because there is no “direct threat to the United States.”

“It isn’t like the United States has been attacked,” observed Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., a 17-term congressman whose tenure extends back to Ronald Reagan’s 1980 victory.

President Obama has been considering whether to order a military strike on Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons against its own people on Aug. 21.

Asked whether the president is obligated under the War Powers Act to obtain congressional approval to strike Syria, or whether consultation would suffice, Wolf was adamant that the president must get authorization from Congress.

“I think we should have a vote, up or down.”

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Obama Ready to Go It Alone on Syria

By Cathy Burke

The White House signaled Thursday that President Barack Obama is ready to go it alone to strike Syria despite the British parliament’s rejection of military action and the lack of a UN mandate.

Aides said Obama believes that Syria must pay a price for breaking taboos on the use of chemical weapons, action which he sees as posing a grave threat to US national security.

US plans to build an international coalition for a “limited” strike on Syria suffered a devastating blow when the House of Commons in London voted against the use of force to punish a chemical weapons attack last week outside Damascus.

US officials signaled earlier Thursday that Obama would take unilateral action if necessary, but the possibility became a reality with the vote, which reverberated immediately across the Atlantic.

“We have seen the result of the parliament vote in the UK tonight,” National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said. “The US will continue to consult with the UK government — one of our closest allies and friends.

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Glenn Beck: ‘WE DON’T SURVIVE’ War in Syria

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John-Kerry-620x395Glenn Beck warned America in the strongest of terms on Tuesday that military intervention in Syria could lead to World War III, with the United States squaring off against China, Russia and Iran.

Beck’s warning came as Secretary of State John Kerry said it is “undeniable” that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, something President Barack Obama has called a “red line” that would change our approach to the nation’s civil war.

“I learned my lesson [in Iraq], he didn’t,” Beck said. “[John Kerry is] now going to repeat exactly the same thing.”

But unlike with Iraq, when it was asserted that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was a clear and present threat to the United States, Beck said he hasn’t heard the second part of that case made yet. If anything, it can be argued that intervention is what poses the threat.

Read more from this story https://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/27/we-dont-survive-glenn-beck-breaks-down-possible-ramifications-of-u-s-entering-war-in-syria/”>HERE.

Syrians Vow to “Burn America’s Skies” on Obama’s Facebook

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

As the U.S. marches toward war with Syria, thousands of Assad-sympathizers bombarded President Obama’s Facebook page with threats of retaliation.

Comments from seemingly original profiles represented Syrians from the cities of Homs, Tartus, Damascus and Aleppo and more. Warnings of counter-attacks on U.S. soil and against Israel were not confined to one photograph or post, but the most disturbing were observed on today’s picture honoring Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

This comment was pasted 356 times at last check in both English and Arabic:

“We will burn the cities of the United States if it attacked Syria, and will remove Israel from the map.” Others referenced burning America’s skies and called for immediate jihad retaliation should America strike “another Muslim land”.

The second most common remarks were also in English or Arabic and translated by Facebook:

“To the American people: Have you ever asked yourselves why your flag is burning all over the world by protesters? We always distinguish between the American regime and the American people…but if the American people remain silent they will be murders as their government. Wake-up Americans and stand for humanity.”

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British Lawmakers Reject Military Action in Syria, in Setback for Obama Administration

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

British lawmakers on Thursday voted against military intervention in Syria, in a major setback for both British Prime Minister David Cameron and the Obama administration in their push to punish the Assad regime for an alleged chemical weapons strike.

Cameron, who has been aligned with President Obama in advocating a tough response, indicated after the vote that he would abide by the outcome. The measure was narrowly defeated, by 285 votes to 272 votes.

The outcome raises serious questions for Obama, who has not yet made a decision on the way forward in Syria but had indicated his administration would need international support for any strike. After failing to win support for an anti-Assad resolution before the U.N. Security Council, U.S. officials were looking to allies like Britain and France to build a coalition for action in Syria.

The White House said after the vote that it would continue to assess its options on Syria.

“The U.S. will continue to consult with the U.K. Government – one of our closest Allies and friends. As we’ve said, President Obama’s decision-making will be guided by what is in the best interests of the United States,” said National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden.

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Leaked Documents Reveal US Sees Israel as a Spying Threat (+video)

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obama-israelThe Obama administration views Israel as one of the top spying threats facing its intelligence services, leaked documents reveal.

A secret budget request obtained by The Washington Post from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden lumps Israel alongside U.S. foes Iran and Cuba as “key targets” for U.S. counterintelligence efforts. The document suggests Israel does not believe U.S. assurances that its interests are aligned with Israel’s on crucial issues such as Iran and peace talks with the Palestinians.

“To further safeguard our classified networks, we continue to strengthen insider threat detection capabilities across the Community,” reads the FY 2013 congressional budget justification for intelligence programs. “In addition, we are investing in target surveillance and offensive CI [counterintelligence] against key targets, such as China, Russia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and Cuba.”

The White House and the Israeli Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.

The revelations come as no surprise to Georgetown University’s Paul Pillar, who retired as the national intelligence officer for the Near East in 1995 after a 28-year career in U.S. intelligence. Israeli spying, he said, has remained a major threat since U.S. citizen Jonathan Pollard received a life sentence in 1987 in a massive spying case that gravely strained relations between the two countries.

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To Hunt Osama bin Laden, Satellites Watched Over Abbottabad, Pakistan, and Navy SEALs

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden was guided from space by a fleet of satellites, which aimed dozens of receivers over Pakistan to collect a torrent of electronic and signals intelligence as the mission unfolded, according to a top-secret U.S. intelligence document.

The National Security Agency also was able to penetrate guarded communications among al-Qaeda operatives by tracking calls from mobile phones identified by specific calling patterns, the document shows. Analysts from the CIA pinpointed the geographic location of one of the phones and linked it to the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where other evidence suggested bin Laden was hiding.

The disclosures about the hunt for the elusive founder of al-Qaeda are contained in classified documents that detail the fiscal 2013 “black budget” for U.S. intelligence agencies, including the NSA and the CIA. The documents, provided to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, make only brief references to the bin Laden operation. But the mission is portrayed as a singular example of counterterrorism cooperation among the U.S. government’s numerous intelligence agencies.

Eight hours after the raid, according to the documents, a forensic intelligence laboratory run by the Defense Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan had analyzed DNA from bin Laden’s corpse and “provided a conclusive match” confirming his identity. The budget further reveals that satellites operated by the National Reconnaissance Office performed more than 387 “collects” of high-resolution and infrared images of the Abbottabad compound in the month before the raid — intelligence that was “critical to prepare for the mission and contributed to the decision to approve execution.”

Also playing a role in the search for bin Laden was an arm of the NSA known as the Tailored Access Operations group. Among other functions, the group specializes in surreptitiously installing spyware and tracking devices on targeted computers and mobile-phone networks.

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School District Opts Out Of Federal Lunch Program – Kids Refuse to Eat Food

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Photo Credit: CBS

Photo Credit: CBS

At least one North Texas school district has turned up its nose at the new federal lunch program. Many schools report kids refused to eat the healthier meals that are supposed to be packed with whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Carroll Independent School District has dropped out for a year. Nutrition Services Director Mary Brunig says the requirements are too restrictive. “You have to follow exactly what is in this meal pattern, if you are the national school lunch program.”

Brunig says as a result, a lot of food wound up in the trash.

“With the new program in place, the new meal pattern, our participation started to drop. And the other thing was there was food waste. Children were not eating the food,” she said. “If the children aren’t eating the food, there’s no nutrition.”

Brunig says the district plans to create its own healthy meals without federal restrictions.

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Administration Announces New Gun Control Measures, Targets Military Surplus Imports

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The Obama administration unexpectedly announced two new gun control measures on Thursday, including one that would curb the import of military surplus weapons — in a move that could anger collectors.

Vice President Biden announced the new measures Thursday morning. The new rules, announced while Washington was otherwise focused on the crisis in Syria, took the form of executive actions, which President Obama added to the list of 23 steps the White House already determined the president could take on his own.

The steps come after Congress declined to pass any gun control legislation earlier this year despite an aggressive White House push for action in the wake of the Newton, Conn., shooting massacre. With the political world focused on Mideast tensions and looming fiscal battles, the move signaled Obama’s intent to show he hasn’t lost sight of the issue.

The National Rifle Association, though, ripped the administration, saying its proposals would do little to reduce crime.

“The Obama administration has once again completely missed the mark when it comes to stopping violent crime,” the NRA said in a statement.

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U.S. Spy Network’s Successes, Failures and Objectives Detailed in ‘Black Budget’ Summary

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Budget DeficitBy Barton Gellman and Greg Miller.

U.S. spy agencies have built an intelligence-gathering colossus since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but remain unable to provide critical information to the president on a range of national security threats, according to the government’s top-secret budget.

The $52.6 billion “black budget” for fiscal 2013, obtained by The Washington Post from former ­intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, maps a bureaucratic and operational landscape that has never been subject to public scrutiny. Although the government has annually released its overall level of intelligence spending since 2007, it has not divulged how it uses the money or how it performs against the goals set by the president and Congress.

The 178-page budget summary for the National Intelligence Program details the successes, failures and objectives of the 16 spy agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community, which has 107,035 employees.

The summary describes cutting-edge technologies, agent recruiting and ongoing operations. The Post is withholding some information after consultation with U.S. officials who expressed concerns about the risk to intelligence sources and methods. Sensitive details are so pervasive in the documents that The Post is publishing only summary tables and charts online.

“The United States has made a considerable investment in the Intelligence Community since the terror attacks of 9/11, a time which includes wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction technology, and asymmetric threats in such areas as cyber-warfare,” Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. wrote in response to inquiries from The Post.

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Photo Credit: Danita Delimont/Getty/Gallo Images

Photo Credit: Danita Delimont/Getty/Gallo Images

US intelligence spending has doubled since 9/11, top secret budget reveals

By Ewen MacAskill and Jonathan Watts.

US spending on intelligence has doubled since 9/11, with the National Security Agency and the CIA taking the biggest share, according to the top secret budget leaked by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Details of the $52.6bn request for 2013 by America’s 16 spy agencies were revealed by the Washington Post on Thursday.

The NSA has requested $10.45bn from Congress, while the CIA is asking for $14.7bn. The NSA has long been regarded as the most productive of the spy agencies, so the higher spending by the CIA is one of the biggest surprises in the four-volume, 1,452-page budget.

The Congressional Budget Justification for the National Intelligence Program, dubbed the “black budget”, offers insights into new projects as well as the successes and failures of the spy agencies. It outlines the countries they have successfully infiltrated and those where they are struggling, primarily North Korea.

Ironically, in view of Snowden’s revelations, part of the budget is is dedicated to stopping whistleblowers. Among the $3.7bn counterintelligence section of the budget is an item dedicated to detecting insider threats “who seeks to exploit their authorized access to sensitive information to harm US interests.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s Rhetoric Comes Up Short Compared to Past Presidents

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Barack ObamaOver the ages leadership in democracies has been symbolized by ringing declarations.

We have, for example, John Kennedy’s magisterial:

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

Or Franklin Roosevelt’s request that a declaration of war be passed by Congress:

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us…

While President Obama is loath to assume the mantle of commander-in-chief, how does his team inspire or explain to Americans his approach?

Read more from this story HERE.