by Bob Quasius

Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer.
- The Art of War, Sun Tzu, 512 BC

Apparently, President-Elect Obama in 2008 followed the age old advice of Sun Tzu, appointing Hillary Clinton, a former political enemy and potential future political enemy in 2012, to a job where he could keep keep a very close eye on her, and she would be so busy she wouldn’t even have time to contemplate running against Obama in 2012.

During the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fought bitterly, attacked each other, then when Obama was elected he appointed Hillary to be his Secretary of State, despite her complete lack of experience in foreign policy (unless we count sipping tea with first ladies of other nations), or running large government agencies like the State Department.

One of the most memorable attack ads of the 2008 primaries, is this ad by Hillary Clinton, asking who would we want taking that crisis call at 3 AM?

I recently blogged about ‘Amateur Hour’ at the White House comparing Hillary’s qualifications to every Secretary of State since at least World War II. She had no diplomatic experience, had never run a cabinet or served as a governor, served on a foreign relations committee in the senate, etc. Only Jimmy Carter’s second Secretary of State, Edmond Muskie, even came close to Hillary’s lack of qualifications, and he had served much longer in the U.S. Senate and had been governor of Maine.

The State Department has long known of the vulnerability of our embassies and consulates. Under Jimmy Carter, in 1979 our embassy in Tehran was overrun by violent protestors, and our staff held hostage for a humiliating 444 days until minutes before a new president, who appeared more resolute about facing Iran, was about to be sworn into office. I was stunned recently to learn that Jimmy Carter had covertly funded Ayatollah Khomeini and pressured the Shah’s military to accept the Shah’s departure when Jimmy Carter threw the Shah ‘under the bus. We should have known that those we support in overthrowing regimes aren’t always reliable in protecting our embassies and consulates afterwards. Though we had covertly funded Khomeini and paved the way for the Shah’s departure, Khomeini didn’t lift a finger to free our embassy in Tehran when it was overrun and our embassy held hostage for 444 days!

In 1979, our Pakistan embassy was burned down to the ground, as well as our embassy in Tripoli, Libya.

In 1983, or embassy in Beirut was bombed, killing 63, and our embassy in Kuwait was also bombed.

In 1998, during Bill Clinton’s presidency, Al Qaeda totally simultaneously destroyed with bombs two U.S. embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. killing 223 and wounding 4,000. You’d think that day would be seared into the memory of Hillary Clinton, since she was first lady at the time.

Now fast forward to 2012. In Libya, despite the unstable environment and heavy Al Qaeda presence, amazingly Hillary Clinton declined to authorize marine contingents, and special teams of Navy Seals who had provided protection were prematurely withdrawn, over the strong objections of embassy security officials, who pointed to a series of alarming attacks on embassies, consulates, diplomats, and non-governmental agencies present in Libya. Instead, the State Department relied on militia units of dubious reliability provided by the new Libyan regime.

Within two hours of the start of the terror attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya on 9/11, we already had intelligence the consulate was under attack by dozens of militants with heavy weapons such as rocket propelled grenades, mortars, assault rifles, etc. E-mails are starting to be revealed that showed just how much information was received at both the White House. From the Blaze:

When the attack began, the U.S. military also deployed an unarmed predator drone over the consulate, and remote operators watched as the horror of four Americans were slaughtered by terrorists with burning hatred in their eyes. According to various sources, as reported in the New York Post, the U.S. military had special forces deployed in Libya and nearby Italy, and heavily armored AC-130 gunships were available but shockingly inadequate response was mounted to rescue our embassy staff and their handful of guards as they desperately fought for their lives.

The administration sought for two weeks to convince us this wasn’t a terror attack, that a spontaneous demonstration over a offensive video escalated into a full fledged assault, until the overwhelming evidence confirmed this was a terror attack. Obama and Clinton even went to lengths to keep apologizing for the video, when the U.S. government had absolutely nothing to do with producing the video!

When did President Obama and Hillary Clinton find out it was a terror attack? It seems they were made aware by late afternoon, and a web site owned by terror group Ansar al-Sharia claimed responsibility. From The Blaze (summarizing other sources):

The first email, timed at 4:05 p.m. Washington time – or 10:05 p.m. Benghazi time, 20-30 minutes after the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission allegedly began – carried the subject line “U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack” and the notation “SBU”, meaning “Sensitive But Unclassified.”

The text said the State Department’s regional security office had reported that the diplomatic mission in Benghazi was “under attack. Embassy in Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well.”

A second email, headed “Update 1: U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi” and timed 4:54 p.m.Washington time, said that the Embassy in Tripoli had reported that “the firing at the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi had stopped and the compound had been cleared.” It said a “response team” was at the site attempting to locate missing personnel.

A third email, also marked SBU and sent at 6:07 p.m. Washington time, carried the subject line: “Update 2: Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibility for Benghazi Attack.”

The message reported: “Embassy Tripoli reports the group claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli.”

by Bob Price (re-posted with permission of TexasGOPVote)

Shortly after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, President Barack Obama’s former minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright went on an anti-American rant which included an America-blaming quote, “America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”  After listening to this pastor, whose church President Obama sat in for over 20 years, it is easy to see where the President gets his “blame America first” mentality. But after looking back at Obama’s illegal war against Libya and his ill-advised Middle East policy, one must wonder if Rev. Wright would revise his now famous quote and say “Obama’s chickens are coming home to roost”?

This week, the House Oversight Committee held hearings to get to the truth about what happened in Libya leading to the death of our Ambassador and 3 other Americans and then the subsequent cover-up. As you might recall, despite the fact that there was no protest underway during the attack in Libya, the Obama Administration rushed to the streets proclaiming this was an out of control protest about a video that very few people have ever seen. Even after it became clear that was not the truth, the Obama team kept singing their song hoping someone might actually come to believe it.

Last month, On Sept. 11, almost simultaneously with the riots in Egypt and the terrorist attack in Libya, I was meeting in Washington, DC with Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN). I reported last week about his uncanny prediction of violence in response to Obama’s amateurish foreign policy and illegal war. During that interview he told me,

“I think he’s always looked at America as a state that tries to control the rest of the world, and he’s never liked that. He sent Winston Churchill’s statue back to England because they had the worldwide organization, and so I think he deliberately wants to diffuse the popularity and strength of the United States, and I think that’s by design, and I think it’s also incompetence. A lot of people would be very upset to hear me say that, but I really mean it. I think he is a disaster for this country.“

The next day, I also spoke with Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH). At that time, we already knew about Ambassador Stevens’ death, but the President was still singing the “blame the movie” song. Turner described Obama’s foreign policy as a failure stating,

“So now we are in the aftermath of that action where the president is sitting with an ill-defined policy and Americans have been killed and our country is still at risk.”

After yesterday’s Oversight Committee hearing, Mr. Turner issued the following statement:

Turner Statement on Oversight Hearing on Security Failures at Benghazi 

I would like to thank Chairman Issa for holding this important hearing to investigate the events surrounding the September 11th attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi that led to the murder of Ambassador Stevens and a number of embassy staff. The attack was performed on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history and is the first time a U.S ambassador has been killed since Adolf Dubs, the former ambassador to Afghanistan, was murdered in 1979. It is a stark reminder that terrorist groups continue to actively plan attacks against the United States and will exploit any opportunity when our guard is down.

The concern for terrorist activity has been particularly prevalent in Libya, which has a history of harboring known terrorist groups and top leaders of terrorist activity against the United States. Libya is reported to be the source of numerous terrorist training grounds and has produced such top ranked Al Qaeda commanders as Abu Yahya Al Libi.

Anti-American sentiment is a prevalent theme in the region and requires a careful diplomatic and military strategic engagement plan to ensure the promotion of a healthy democratic state. Achieving this goal places a great onus on the American diplomats and field agents operating in these dangerous environments, and our government has a responsibility to enact and adhere to safety policies that protect the lives of our agents. However, in the case of the September 11th attacks in Benghazi, it appears that State Department officials not only ignored security policies but, on numerous occasions, directed their agents not to file reports that would trigger the very safety measures that could have prevented the tragic loss of life.

Witnesses at today’s hearing, including the Regional Security Officer (RSO) of the U.S. Mission in Libya, Eric Nordstrom, shared with the committee evidence to suggest that the State Department intentionally kept the number of security agents assigned to Libya artificially low in order to give the appearance that the situation in Libya had “normalized.” This conclusion is consistent with an internal Embassy document from February 2012 that refers to an effort underway to “transition from emergency to normalized security operations,” including the “transition to a more locally based security team.”

It appears that the State Department’s goal to achieve this false perception took priority over the safety of the Ambassador and embassy staff. Evidence collected by the committee paints a chaotic and violent picture of Libya that starkly contrasts the “normalized” environment the State Department intended to project. According to this information, in the 13 month period preceding Ambassador Stevens’ death, the Embassy’s RSO, Mr. Nordstrom, reported over 230 security incidents in Libya and made numerous requests for additional security personnel. These incidents included IED attacks, kidnappings and gun battles. Despite these circumstances and repeated embassy requests for additional security personnel, the State Department systemically reduced security forces to dangerously low levels.

The evidence provided to the committee raises serious questions as about the Administration’s policy in Libya and whether their strategic plan places a premium on promoting a false perception of the region at the expense of American citizens. However, there are many reasons to believe that the situation in Libya is disintegrating. The country remains dangerously splintered and infested with extremist groups. Authorities in Egypt, Niger, Algeria, Israel, and Tunisia, have repeatedly expressed concerns about weapons smuggling across their borders and into the hands of terrorist groups.

These weapons could include the innumerous shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADS) that are known to exist in Libya. While it is estimated that Gadafi had an estimated 20,000 MANPADS before the collapse of his regime, only 5,000 have been recovered. These weapon systems pose a real threat to the United States military and civilian aircraft, and our inability to account for them in this extreme, terrorist diaspora is reason for great concern. Of equal concern is the Administration’s apparent attempt to hide these realities from the American public despite the grave threat they pose.

If September 11th, 2012 and September 11th, 2001 have demonstrated anything, it is that the terrorist threat to our nation is real and we cannot let down our guard. Our government has a constitutional responsibility to protect its citizens and must adopt policies that achieve that end. I hope this hearing will aid in ensuring that safety of American’s at home and abroad and will influence a policy shift that better serves that objective.”

In the 1970′s, President Richard Nixon was forced to resign under threat of impeachment for covering up a third rate burglary. No one was hurt or killed as a result, but clearly laws were broken and the public was outraged. Now President Obama and his Administration have engaged in not one, but two, cover-ups where lives have been lost. Operation Fast and Furious has left a trail of death in Mexico and Arizona. And now we have more dead Americans in Libya and yet another Administration cover-up of critical security information. Additionally, we have about 15,000 missing missiles that could be smuggled across our open borders to attack Americans in our own country. We are in danger because of Obama’s reckless and illegal war in Libya. It is time for the public outrage to reach an appropriate crescendo leading to the President’s removal from office by a huge defeat at the polls.

by Bob Quasius

If you think the Obama administration is pro-Latino then you need to read our news release (below) about the Obama administration’s refusal to recognize the citizenship of hundreds, perhaps thousands of Latino U.S. citizens who were birthed by midwives rather than in hospitals. Our news release resulted two CNN news stories, one in English and one in Spanish.

The problem is especially severe for elderly Latinos from border areas such as South Texas, as there were few hospitals in the Rio Grande valley at the time, and needless to say it’s hard to locate records typically demanded when Obama’s State Department refuses to accept official state-issued birth certificates. For example, how  many of us could locate our own prenatal medical records or records from every school we ever attended? Imagine an elderly person trying to locate these records from over half a century ago! Often, even after producing a mountain of documentation Obama’s State Department still refuses to issue a passport and a lawsuit is necessary.

Ironically, even though the U.S. Supreme Court upheld voter photo ID, Obama’s DOJ is making an all-out effort to block states from requiring photo ID to vote, claiming there’s a disparate impact on minority voters who supposedly are less likely to already have photo ID. The courts have generally upheld voter photo ID because those who don’t already have ID can obtain state-issued photo ID at no charge. The only government agency denying photo IDs to minorities is Obama’s State Department! Doesn’t the State Department’s practice of denying passports to Latino citizens birthed by midwives have a disparate impact on Latinos? We don’t know of a single state denying photo IDs to U.S. Citizens based upon Hispanic surname and midwife birth. Why isn’t Obama’s DOJ investigating Obama’s State Department?

National pro-immigrant group Cafe Con Leche Republicans today blasted the Obama administration for stripping U.S. Citizens of their citizenship under the pretext of fighting birth certificate fraud. Overzealous officials from the Department of Homeland Security and State Department are refusing to issue U.S. passports and in some cases have cancelled passports for U.S. Citizens who were birthed by midwives. One U.S. Citizen was trapped in Mexico for two years when his U.S. passport was confiscated by CBP in Laredo, following a visit with his dying Grandmother in Mexico. The alleged basis was a typographical error in his birth registration card, supposedly showing that he had been registered a few days before he was born. Another U.S. citizen had his passport voided during a visit to Mexico, resulting in his inability to return home for many months while litigation was pending. Many others have experienced similar problems.

Also, many of these U.S. Citizens have been detained for hours, sometimes days, by agents of Customs and Border Protection and pressured into signing false statements admitting they were born in Mexico, and then returned to Mexico, where it is very difficult, if not impossible, for them to prove their U.S. citizenship. According to the Government, even people with facially valid U.S. passports are not entitled to counsel when stopped at the border, or challenged at a U.S. Consulate abroad, unless and until criminal or immigration charges have been filed. Unlike criminal cases, ICE and CBP have broad discretion to detain suspected undocumented immigrants, with no right to bond. Often these citizens have limited English proficiency and do not understand legalese, and are pressured or tricked into signing these untrue statements to get out of detention, not realizing they will be deported and potentially barred for life from the nation where they were born and spent most or all their lives. This reminds us of pre-Miranda days when police often detained suspects for hours, perhaps days, pressuring them until they signed confessions.

This problem is especially severe for the elderly on fixed incomes and the mentally disabled, who often do not comprehend the complex legal issues involved with immigration law, or simply lack the estimated $5,000 to $15,000 to bring a legal case to defend their citizenship in court. Local immigration attorneys claim there are now over 500, and possibly as many as 1,000 Latino U.S. passport applications were denied, and many more Latinos likely have not applied for passports due to the issue. Local immigration attorneys are seeking class action certification in pending legal cases due to the thousands of citizens affected by this travesty of justice.
Lawsuit

The South Texas counties affected by this travesty of justice are 90% Latino. 44 States allow midwives to create documentation that result in issuance of birth certificates, yet amazingly this intense level of scrutiny only seems to be applied in predominately Latino communities.

There have been isolated instances of a few Rio Grande Valley midwives issuing false documents for births that actually took place in Mexico. However, the reaction from the Bush and Obama administrations is symptomatic of the ‘enforcement on steroids’ climate promoted by DHS under the leadership of Janet Napolitano in response to heavy public pressure to “secure the borders” before true immigration reform can be addressed . Not surprisingly, a recent report found 3,600 U.S. Citizens had been arrested and detained by ICE under the Secure Communities Program, 93% of those detained under Secure Communities are Latino versus 78% of the undocumented population, and non-criminal arrests are approaching 50%, a strong indication that Latinos stopped for traffic or other minor infractions are being arrested rather than cited in order to funnel them through jail house screening.

We call on the Obama administration to cease and desist from this appalling practice of citizenship stripping, and we call for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to conduct a complete and thorough investigation and hold those responsible accountable.

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About Us – Cafe Con Leche Republicans is a national organization of Republicans who welcome “New Americans”, defined as immigrants and family of recent immigrants. Our mission is to make America and the GOP, more welcoming to “New Immigrants” through political activism, “in-reach” and education within the Republican Party, and lobbying government to adopt more immigrant friendly policies. We also seek to bring more conservative and moderate “New Americans” to the Republican Party. These efforts will strengthen the GOP, and lead more Republicans to embrace welcoming policies for immigrants and their families. We have chapters in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Our members and leadership are predominantly Hispanic, though we define ourselves by mission and guiding principles, not ethnicity, and we welcome all who share our goals. Our leadership is 100% Republican.