While President Barack Obama watches his so-called national security team become politicized and partisan, some Democrats are attempting to put out the flames of Americans’ discontent with gasoline by sending a letter yesterday to the President endorsing civilian court trials for suspected terrorists. 

The key signatory of the letter urging Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder to stick to their proverbial guns is none other than Senator Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the U.S. Senate’s powerful Judiciary Committee.

“Our system of justice is strong enough to prosecute the people who have attacked us,” said the Senator known to many in the law enforcement and intelligence communties as “Leaky” Leahy.

News coming out of the White House, and reported by Fox News Channel’s national security correspondent Catherine Herridge, indicates that President Obama will take a more active role in choosing a location to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other terrorists. Many security experts contacted by this writer say that Senator Leahy and other left-wing Senators are pressuring Obama to avoid adhering to Bush Administration strategies, including the use of military tribunals.

“While indicating it wasn’t his preference, Holder left open the possibility that Mohammed’s trial could be conducted before a military commission,” the Washington Post reported Friday.

The Legend of Leaky Leahy

While polls show a majority of Americans oppose civilian trials for terrorism suspects or enemy combatants captured on the battlefield, Senator Leahy and other far-left lawmakers are stubborn in their obsession to revamp the war on terrorism right down to the terminology used to describe attacks, terror groups, and terrorists’ theology-philosophy.

It is believed that Senator Leahy is responsible for leaks to the news media that are anti-military, anti-intelligence in nature.

Throughout his long political career, Leahy revealed a propensity to leak government secrets for his own political agenda. At one point his “nasty little habit” caused his removal from his vice-chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said a former NYPD detective and military intelligence officer.

“This ‘leaker’ was kicked kicked off the Senate Intelligence Committee and he ends up chairing the Judicial Committee? Leahy should have been kicked out of the Senate by the voters in Vermont, not given an important chairmanship,” said Det. Sidney Farnces

Here’s a brief history of Sen. “Leaky” Leahy’s experience in handling top security information:

Senator Patrick Leahy was annoyed with the Reagan administration’s military strategy in the 1980s. At the time he was vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Therefore, “Leaky Leahy,” threatened to sabotage classified strategies he didn’t like.

Leahy “inadvertently” disclosed a top-secret communications intercept during a 1985 television interview. The intercept had made possible the capture of the Arab terrorists who had hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro and murdered a American citizen. But Leahy’s leak cost the life of at least one Egyptian “asset” involved in the operation.

In July 1987, it was reported that Leahy leaked secret information about a 1986 covert operation planned by the Reagan administration to topple Libya’s Moammar Gaddhafi. US intelligence officials stated that Leahy sent a written threat to expose the operation directly to then-CIA Director William Casey. Weeks later, news of the secret plan turned up in the Washington Post, causing it to be aborted.

A year later, as the Senate was preparing to hold hearings on the Iran-Contra scandal, Leahy had to resign his Intelligence Committee post after he was caught leaking secret information to a reporter. The Vermont Democrat’s Iran-Contra leak was considered to be one of the most serious breaches of secrecy in the committee’s 28-year history.

After Leahy’s resignation, the Senate Intelligence Committee decided to restrict access to committee documents to a security-enhanced meeting room.

Former Green Beret officer, now columnist and radio talk host, Geoff Metcalf is on record saying Leahy should have been indicted, arrested and tried long ago.

He’s known as a man who’s more than willing to speakout on issues he knows absolutely nothing about. In fact, while attempting to sound as if he were a legal scholar, he’s made several flubs. During a debate on the Geneva Conventions, for example, he finally admitted he wasn’t familiar with the provisions he was debating.

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, Leahy headed the Senate’s negotiations on the 2001 anti-terrorism bill, the USA Patriot Act.   He was more concerned with protecting the civil liberties of the enemy than providing protection for Americans.

Patrick Leahy is not known as a very honest man either. When Senator Dick Durbin compared US military personnel to Nazis, Leahy said that Durbin made no such comment. Then when told Durbin indeed made the statement on the floor of the US Senate, Leahy amended his own statement claiming Durbin’s comments were taken out of context. When the Durbin tirade was shown to Leahy, he began to denigrate Bush by saying he hurt the Iraqis as much as did Saddam Hussein.

Within the Beltway, Leahy is known as an extremely abrasive and “sneaky” man. He’s the only senator in recent history to have an otherwise mellow Vice President tell him to “go f— yourself.”

Image: Life

Jim sent this in:

An Islamic group and one of its top contacts within the U.S. Congress are in the midst of a plot to neutralize FBI counterterrorism efforts. And they’ve found a willing collaborator in Attorney General Eric Holder.

The news conference was scheduled following the release of autopsy results showing that Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah was shot at least 20 times, including once in the back, as well as being found handcuffed in the prone position. However, there was no mention that Abdullah’s leader is serving a life sentence in prison for killing one cop and wounding another.

CAIR and other groups had called for an independent investigation of the shooting. On January 13, 2010, Rep. Conyers sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder to request that the civil rights division investigate both the October shooting and whether the FBI violated the Constitution by using informants in mosques.

Jim sent this in:

In an obvious attempt to put a positive spin on an embarrassing development, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder may flip-flop on their decision to hold the trials of terrorists — including alleged 9-11 terror attack mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed — in New York City, just blocks away from ‘ground zero.’

The White House began looking for places other than Manhattan to prosecute five terrorists currently being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on Friday. News that the Obama Administration was backing down from its original trial plans was met with some relief by many family members who lost loved ones when two terrorist-commandeered planes flew into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

More than a few security and law enforcement experts have said the prosecution of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four alleged co-conspirators would require a huge and costly security presence, with estimates as high as $275 million.

A Justice Department spokesman on Friday reported that Holder was considering other locations for the trials, including Newburgh, New York. The New York Times and Washington Post reported that the lower Manhattan federal courthouse was out of the running, citing unnamed administration officials.

After his vitriolic attacks on intelligence agents and his threats against an Arizona sheriff who enforces immigration laws, last year Holder surprised many when he decided the trials against five Guantanamo Bay detainees would be held in a civilian court in lower Manhattan. The rationale for transferring the case from the military courts to the civilian criminal justice system was in part to send a message to the world regarding the fairness of the U.S. justice system.

“When is the United States government going to stop trying to prove to foreigners who hate us that America is a good and just country? Hell, we have Americans who believe America is evil so why should foreigners feel differently,” said a former New York City police detective and US Marine intelligence officer.

“If the Obama White House wants to send a message to the world, they should call Western Union and stop these inane attempts at placating people who hate us no matter what,” said the decorated cop. “How many times does the USA have to prove it is a great and generous nation?”

While he never openly complained about the terror trials being held in his jurisdiction, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a press conference that he believed the trials were “unlikely” to be held in Manhattan or the other New York City boroughs.

The decision to flip-flop on the issue of the New York trials came after President Obama faced increased political pressure and polls showing his administration’s decision was unpopular with Americans.

With Obama trying to pass healthcare reform, reduce the unemployment rate, and bring down the national debt and deficit, many believe he’s decided to acquiesce on the issue of terror trials. Also, at first New York’s popular Mayor Michael Bloomberg supported the Obama-Holder decision, but after weeks of facing protests and pleas from the families of 9-11 victims, Bloomberg flip-flopped.

New York Governor David Paterson, who’s facing a tough re-election campaign of his own, has also criticized the decision to have the trials in Manhattan.

“We are worried about the effects of mass law enforcement on lower Manhattan, congestion, traffic, resources that have to be spent,” he told reporters.

In Washington, Republicans have voiced their opposition to having terrorists tried in civilian courts in New York. Several key Democrat lawmakers have voiced their own concerns over planned criminal trials for terrorists, with some such as Senator Diane Feinstein urging that the alleged September 11 plotters be tried in military tribunals instead.

According to Fox News, an official announcement on the status of the terrorism trial is expected on Monday.

Jim sent this in:

A federal grand jury in Arizona today began hearing a federal prosecutors’ allegations that the popular Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, abused his authority. Sheriff Arpaio garnered national attention with his tough immigration enforcement, and to many Americans is known as “America’s Sheriff.” 

Jim sent this in:

When the Obama administration announced that enemy combatants and terrorists will be given Miranda Warnings when they are captured, many Americans wondered how that would improve our warfighting in Afghanistan, Iraq or other terrorist havens. However, upon examining this latest directive by President Barack Obama, perhaps there is an ulterior motive for his directive.

Blurring the lines between law enforcement and the military appears to be the goal sought by Obama and the progressives. More federal control of local law enforcement while at the same time cross-training soldiers to perform the police function within the U.S.

In a recent report released to the US Congress, analysts assessed what they termed “preparedness tests” between the U.S. military and government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.

U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) exercises to test preparedness to perform its homeland defense and civil support missions. The Government Accountability Office was asked to assess the extent to which NORTHCOM is consistent with Department of Defense guidelines for training and exercise requirement involving interagency partners and states in its exercises.

NORTHCOM’s exercise program is generally consistent with the requirements of DOD’s Joint Training System, but its exercise reporting is inconsistent. Since the command was established in 2002, NORTHCOM has conducted 13 large-scale exercises and generally completed exercise summary reports within the required time frame.

However, those reports did not consistently include certain information, such as areas needing improvement, because NORTHCOM lacks guidance that specifies exercise reports’ content and format, potentially impacting its ability to meet internal standards for planning and execution of joint exercises, and to compare and share exercise results over time with interagency partners and states.

“While the rationale for using the US military domestically had been debated for years, President Barack Obama appears intent on using our military at least until he can create his promised ‘Civilian Security Force’ which he said would be as big and powerful as the military,” said political strategist Mike Baker.

“The fact that the military — in this instance NORTHCOM — is being trained to operate with our borders should be setting off alarms throughout this nation. But it’s being ignored even by those who profess to be conservatives,” he said.

Nineteen federal agencies and organizations and 17 states and the District of Columbia have participated in one or more of the seven large-scale exercises that NORTHCOM has conducted since September 2005. However, NORTHCOM faces challenges in involving states in the planning, conduct, and assessment of its exercises, such as adapting its exercise system and practices to involve other federal, state, local, and tribal agencies that do not have the same practices or level of planning resources.

Inconsistencies with how NORTHCOM involves states in exercises are occurring in part because NORTHCOM officials lack experience dealing with states and do not have a consistent process for including states in exercises. Without such a process, NORTHCOM increases the risk that its exercises will not provide benefits for all participants, impact the seamless exercise of all levels of government, and potentially affect NORTHCOM’s ability to provide civil support capabilities.

“It is up to the residents of individual states to tell their governors they do not want the federal government intruding on law enforcement and public safety issues,” said former NYPD detective and Marine intelligence officer Sid Frances.

“This is especially true if their governors share the same political philosophy as the President and his minions in Washington,” he added.

NORTHCOM has a systematic lessons learned and corrective action program to improve preparedness, but gaps remain with collecting and sharing lessons with agency and state partners and managing corrective actions.

Access to the system NORTHCOM uses for managing exercise observations is limited for non-DOD participants, and DOD believes that the Homeland Security Department’s system is not adequately protected from unauthorized users. NORTHCOM’s mitigation steps have not resolved the issues. In addition, about 20 percent of the corrective actions tracked by NORTHCOM were being closed prematurely due to gaps in oversight. Closing issues prematurely increases the risk that issues will reoccur and limits the knowledge gained and value of the exercise.

The Government Accountability Office is making recommendations to DOD to direct NORTHCOM to consistently involve the states in planning, executing, and assessing exercises and improve oversight of corrective actions.

The GAO is also recommending that DOD define when NORTHCOM should use planning and documentation requirements. DOD agreed or partially agreed with the recommendations and cited ongoing and future efforts to satisfy the recommendations’ intent. DOD did not fully address a recommendation on training to NORTHCOM staff on specific state emergency management structures.

GAO believes such training would benefit NORTHCOM personnel in advance of a crisis and for exercise planning.

The first active-duty unit dedicated to supporting US civilian authorities in the event of a nuclear, biological or chemical attack is wrapping up three days of intensive training in tactics to be used within the continental United States, according to Armed Forces Press Service representative Donna Miles.

Ms. Miles reported to news reporters, bloggers and Internet journalists that troops from the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team are at the Naval facility located in Indian Head, Maryland getting hands-on training in skills they would depend on to provide support during a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive incident, known here as a CBRNE.

However, not everyone is happy about this latest military development coming so close to the transition from the Bush White House to the Obama Administration. Some observers believe this plan is part of a deal between President Obama and the current Secretary of Defense who remained in his current position even after the Bush-Obama transition.

“While Obama and his team are making it sound as if they will use the military in a non-combative roll, part of the training being conducted is in urban warfare,” claims Mike Baker.

“Obama appears oblivious to Posse Comitatus and to the US Constitution when it comes to using the military against civilians within US borders,” he added.

While the military experts in Obama’s pocket appear excited about this use of soldiers within the borders of the United States, many military and police commanders and officers are less enthusiastic.

“I cannot understand why the federal government is so intent on using such military force within our borders. It reminds me of the Branch Davidian massacre in Waco, Texas when the feds used excessive deadly force against men, women and children. And they used that deadly physical force based on false information,” warns former Det. Frances.

“While I’ve served in the military and continue as a reservist, as a [New Jersey] cop I’m troubled about the use of federal troops coming into our communities during any emergencies,” said Detective Lieutenant Stephan Rodgers.

Attorney General Eric Holder must leave office. He can resign or be impeached – either way, he has to go!

From his first day as the head of our Justice Department, Holder has used his power to serve his political needs, not the needs of the American people. Since being sworn in Holder has:

• Ordered a civil trial of confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other confessed murderers, conffering on enemy combatants who have sworn death to America the rights of American citizens.
• Allowed America’s sworn enemies – the confessed perpetrators of 3,000 murders – through their lawyers, paid for by taxpayers, to argue in court that America is the guilty party and to prove it by accusing our frontline defenders of aggression and torture, and by demanding the sources of our intelligence on the enemy.
• Held this trial in New York City – where Mohammed’s plan resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 innocent people and exposing New Yorkers to another terrorist threat.
• Ordered the prosecution of former CIA agents for interrogating terrorists captured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Defied Congress and ordered the payment of federal funds to Acorn!
• Dismissed criminal charges of voter intimidation against members of the Black Panthers, who were caught on videotape in Philadelphia threatening a camera crew and harassing anyone who didn’t look like an Obama supporter.

Holder must go! It is clear Holder’s agenda has little to do with American justice, and is a threat to the security of 300 million Americans. He has inflamed racial tensions, repeatedly turned his back on court rulings and his oath to you, your family and the American people, and added to the chaos this Administration is using to distract the American people from its socialist agenda. Holder’s reckless disregard for his genuine responsibilities is a disgrace. His true loyalties are to the American left. Believe me, Holder is a major player in the overall scheme of “fundamentally transforming the United States of America,” as Obama promised five days before his election. He’s kept his word, and Obama and Holder have us on the fast track to socialism. 

Jim sent this in:

The announcement that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other terrorists would be tried in a civilian courtroom in New York City was made on Friday by Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder said he is confident that the court will provide a fair trial for the 9/11 conspirators and that justice will be served.