Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

China-Japan-Koreas

Michigan EV plant's owner promotes Chinese communist ideology at worker retreats: report

2023-09-02

[FoxNews] 'I volunteer to join the CCP, uphold the Party’s platform,' Gotion High-Tech employees wearing Red Army outfits chanted in a video. A Chinese company developing a taxpayer-funded electric vehicle battery facility in Michigan published reports and video footage of its employees wearing what appears to be Red Army uniforms and pledging fealty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Gotion High-Tech — the Hefei, China-based parent company of Gotion Inc. — hosted multiple company trips in 2021 to CCP revolutionary memorials in Anhui Province, China, according to records first reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation. During the trips, Gotion High-Tech workers wore Red Army outfits and pledged to "fight for communism to the end of my life." "I volunteer to join the CCP, uphold the Party’s platform, observe the provisions of the Party’s by-laws, carry out a member’s duties, carry out the Party’s decisions, strictly observe the Party’s discipline, be loyal to the Party, work hard, to fight for communism as long as I live, be ready at all times to sacrifice everything for the Party and people and never betray the Party," the employees chanted during a trip to China's Revolutionary Memorial Hall in July 2021, footage translated by the DCNF showed. One month later, the company held a trip to Dabie Mountain to commemorate the CCP’s Long March, an historic march that led to the emergence of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong in early 1935. In a statement, a Gotion representative said its parent company didn't fund the trips. "Gotion High-Tech employees in China are involved with many clubs, including biking and hiking clubs, and one politically affiliated club," the official told Fox News Digital. "None of these clubs are financed by Gotion High-Tech, and some employees individually paid for field trips to historical sites in China out of their own pockets." "Gotion Inc. is headquartered in Fremont, California, and is not supervised, directed, controlled or financed by any foreign government or foreign political party," they continued. "Gotion Inc. does observe all American holidays and wishes everyone a wonderful Labor Day holiday this weekend." The revelation that Gotion's parent company hosted CCP trips for its employees and conducted party pledges comes as its Michigan project continues to face heightened scrutiny from locals, national security experts and Republican lawmakers. Opponents of the project have noted the company's allegiance to the Chinese government and often pointed to Gotion High-Tech's corporate bylaws, which state that the company is required to "carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China." The company's 2022 ESG report states Gotion High-Tech "carried out thematic education activities such as the study of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, red theme education, and love for students," The Midwesterner reported. And earlier this year a Michigan law firm quietly registered Gotion Inc. as a Chinese foreign principal, according to FARA filings reviewed by Fox News Digital. "Subnational incursions are afoot," former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Cella, the co-founder of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, previously told Fox News Digital. "China is on the hunt," he continued. "The Chinese Communist Party is on the hunt. They are looking for these open doors to kick in, in states. And they have carried great sway. You just need to look at Gotion or CATL — textbook examples of this influence operation." In April, Cella and fellow former U.S. Ambassador Peter Hoekstra, who helped found the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, asked the Department of Justice to open a federal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act related to five-year hush agreements signed by state officials as part of the Gotion negotiations. Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that Gotion would invest $2.4 billion to construct two 550,000 square-foot production plants along with other supporting facilities spanning 260 acres in northern Michigan. She applauded the proposal in her late 2022 announcement, saying it would shore up Michigan's status as the "global hub of mobility and electrification." Then, earlier this year, the Michigan state Senate Appropriations Committee gave the final stamp of approval for granting Gotion $175 million in direct taxpayer funding to help build the facility. In a 10-9 vote, some Democrats joined every Republican on the panel in voting against the funding, while only Democrats, including the committee's chairwoman, voted in favor.

Link

China-Japan-Koreas

Chinese tech companies are exploiting US green energy goals, former State Department officials warn

2023-04-10

[FoxNews] 'Subnational incursions are afoot. China is on the hunt,' former US ambassador tells Fox News Digital Two former U.S. ambassadors are sounding the alarm on the increasing number of green energy projects nationwide being developed with the involvement of Chinese companies. Former U.S. Ambassadors Peter Hoekstra and Joseph Cella said Chinese companies, which are subject to strict Chinese laws, have made a concerted effort to take advantage of U.S. green energy goals. The companies, they said, are exploiting American tax incentives to build facilities and projects in the U.S., bolstering Chinese industry and ensuring continued U.S. reliance on technology from China. "It'd be very ironic if we moved towards electric vehicles to the numbers that the Biden administration is talking about and the key component comes from China," Hoekstra, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands from 2018 until 2021, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "That is a terrible, terrible place to be." "Right now electric vehicle sales are about 3 to 5% of new automobile sales," he continued. "Now is the time for the U.S. to establish its own capabilities rather than increasing reliance on an unreliable and a threatening adversary."

Link

Europe

Europe migrant colonist briefs

2018-02-22

From Breitbart - immigration: Migrant Crisis: 77 Per Cent of Belgians ‘No Longer Feel at Home’ 18 January The massive rise in the proportion of Muslim migrants in the country has resulted in two-thirds of Belgians feeling their nation is being “increasingly invaded”, according to a new study. Swedish ‘No Go Zone’ Police Station Bombed 18 January A Swedish police station was bombed Wednesday evening, only the latest of several attacks against such symbols of the Swedish state in recent years. Adult Migrant in Teen Love Documentary is Supporter of Radical Islamic Extremists 18 January Adult asylum seeker Diaa, who appeared in a documentary with his underage German girlfriend on a television channel aimed at children, has turned out to be a fan of radical Islamic preachers. Arabic Classes Overtakes English and French in Sweden 17 January Arabic language classes for adults are becoming increasingly more popular in Sweden with a major adult education federation saying more students are studying Arabic than English or French. Switzerland Moves Towards Ending EU Free Movement and Leaving Single Market 17 January Switzerland has moved a step closer to breaking free of the European Union (EU) after the government allowed proponents of a campaign to curb immigration to start canvassing public support for a referendum. Germany Took Nearly 200,000 Asylum Seekers in 2017 17 January The German Federal Ministry of the Interior has announced new statistics showing that the country received 186,644 asylum applications in 2017, showing a decrease of around 100,000 since 2016. Mass Migration Now Sole Cause of Population Growth in Germany 17 January Newly released statistics have revealed that the German population grew by 346,000 in 2016 due to mass migration, in a year where the number of births in the country did not exceed the number of deaths. In Germany, Almost Half of Lawsuits Against Asylum-Denial Successful 16 January Some 44 percent of lawsuits brought by rejected asylum applicants have won in German courts, leading politicians on the Left to criticize the evaluation process for asylum seekers. Paris Metro Drivers Refuse to Stop at Certain Stations Citing Passenger Safety 16 January Drivers on the Paris metro are refusing to stop at certain stations due to the high level of crime and drug use claiming that the areas may not be safe for their passengers. 5 Times Mass Migration Fallout Proved Trump Ambassador Hoekstra Right 16 January The U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Peter Hoekstra has been under attack from the mainstream media after pointing out how mass migration has caused major problems for the country. 115,000 Crossing Attempts from Calais in 2017 as Illegals Brawl with Knives, Iron Bars 16 January French officials have revealed there were more than 100,000 attempts on Britain’s border last year from Calais, where violence has risen along with the number of illegal immigrants returning to the port town since the ‘Jungle’ camp was cleared. France Threatens Brexit Deal Unless UK Takes More Calais Migrants 15 January Emmanuel Macron will demand the UK gives more money toward policing migrants and takes more in from Calais by threatening to withdraw France’s support for a post-Brexit trade deal. Hungarian PM: If EU Cannot Secure External Borders ‘Internal Borders Must Be Closed’ 15 January In an extensive interview with German media Sunday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán criticized Brussels for its overreach into national politics, urging a rethinking of the role of the European Union (EU). Increasing Numbers of Young People Seek Help Against ‘Honour Culture’ Violence in Sweden 15 January The number of young people, mainly women, seeking help for honour culture violence has dramatically increased over the last several years with a support worker claiming a 50 per cent increase since 2015. Austrian Interior Minister Says He Wants to ‘Concentrate’ Migrants in Specific Areas to Keep Austrians Safe 12 January Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl has said he would like to “concentrate” migrants into specific places to better keep track of them and keep Austrians safe. French Media Pushing Pro-Migrant Narrative: Claims It is ‘Beautiful’ To Be ‘Invaded By Migrants’ 12 January Sicily has borne much of the brunt of the large wave of migrants coming into Italy. But despite this, the mayor of Palermo has declared his love for migrants saying that the future of Italy is “Google and Ali the New United Nations Boss Unveils Plan to Promote Global Mass Migration 12 January United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has unveiled his plan to promote global mass migration in the left-liberal Guardian newspaper. Asylum Seekers Make Up Almost Half of All Foreign Criminals in Austria 12 January Austrian Vice Chancellor and leader of the populist Freedom Party (FPÖ) Heinz-Christian Strache has released new figures showing that asylum seekers made up 45.9 per cent of all criminals in Austria with foreign backgrounds in 2016. Mentally Ill Migrant Who Calls Himself ‘Iraqi Hitler’ on Trial for Terrorising Asylum Home 11 January A 33-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker, who describes himself as “Iraqi Hitler” is on trial for terrorising other migrants in an asylum home including threatening an eight-year-old girl with a knife. European Court Rejects Swedish Proposal to Deport Terrorist Migrant 11 January The European Court of Justice has ruled against the Swedish government’s decision to deport a terrorist asylum seeker claiming that he must remain in Sweden because he could face potential torture in his native Morocco. Populist Front National Mayor Bans Pork-Free School Lunches 10 January French Front National mayor of the town of Beaucaire Julien Sanchez has banned all non-pork menu items from local school canteens claiming that the pork-free meals were “anti-republican”. Tens of Thousands of Migrants in Germany Unable to Read or Write 10 January The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has released new figures showing that around 43,000 individuals engaged in integration courses are unable to read or write at all. Switzerland Rejects Citizenship Bids of Residents Who Have Been on Welfare 10 January A new civil rights act has come into force in Switzerland that prevents residents who have been on welfare in the past three years from becoming citizens unless they pay back the money they received to the state. Anger as ‘Underage’ Migrant in Controversial ‘Teen Love’ Children’s Documentary Revealed as Adult 10 January An “underage” migrant, who was presented as being in a romantic relationship with an underage girl in a controversial German children’s channel television programme, has admitted he is an adult. Czech Prez: ’10 Million Migrants from Africa Could Come to European Union’ 9 January Czech President Miloš Zeman has warned the European Union (EU) that unless the bloc fortifies its external borders, up to 10 million Africans will illegally migrate to the continent in the next few years. Italian Archbishop: Uncontrolled Immigration Will ‘Crush’ European Society 9 January Immigration must be “rational,” says the fiery Italian archbishop Luigi Negri, because uncontrolled immigration leads to the “crushing and extermination of our society.” France: Record 100,000 Asylum Applications in 2017 9 January The French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) has announced that France received a record-breaking 100,412 asylum applications in 2017, with many of the asylum seekers coming from Africa. Orbán: Europe’s Migrants Aren’t Muslim Refugees, They’re ‘Muslim Invaders’ 9 January Calling multiculturalism an “illusion”, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán slammed the Merkel government’s “chaotic and anarchic” migrant policy, which led to a flow of “Muslim invaders” entering the European Union. 2018 Election: Surge of Support for Eurosceptic Italian Parties Among Young Voters 9 January A poll has shown that the majority of Italian voters between the ages of 18 and 40 support Eurosceptic parties like the Five Star Movement and the new right-wing coalition of populist Lega Nord and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia. France: Record 100,000 Asylum Applications in 2017 9 January The French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) has announced that France received a record-breaking 100,412 asylum applications in 2017, with many of the asylum seekers coming from Africa. Danes Consider Mandatory Curfew for Youths in Migrant Populated Ghettos 7 January The populist Danish People’s Party (DF) has suggested the government consider a mandatory curfew for children under 18 living in migrant ghetto areas in order to prevent disorder and delinquency.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Many Guantanamo inmates are 'back on battlefield'

2010-01-11

Dozens of released Guantanamo detainees have returned to the battlefield, US Senator Dianne Feinstein said on Sunday, as she urged the Barack Obama administration not to release more inmates from the war-on-terror prison camp. What happened to the line that all (or most) of the inmates were just innocent Moose limbs, who were in the wrong place at the wrong time? Feinstein said this while talking on a television programme. She said a third of former inmates at the US naval base have returned to fight against US interests. She added they hailed from Yemen, which is the new focal point in the US fight against terrorism. "I think at least 24 or 28 are confirmed returned to the battlefield in Yemen, and a number are suspected ... If you combine the suspected and the confirmed, the number I have is 74 detainees who have gone back into the fight," said Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Not rehabilitation: "I think the Gitmo experience is not one that leads to rehabilitation," she added. Her views were seconded by Congressman Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. "These people are released and a number of them go back to the battlefield. They form the corps of people who want to attack the United States. It's a national security, homeland security issue," he said. These remarks came just days after a Pentagon spokesman confirmed that an increasing number of former detainees from the US prison in Guantanamo have forged links to terrorist groups after their release. But he had said last week that the figure remained "classified". However, he added that according to a report by the Defence Department, 14 percent of the detainees were suspected of having forged ties with terrorists. The issue has taken on heightened importance after a failed attack on a US airliner on Christmas Day was tied to Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, where two former Guantanamo detainees were believed to be acting as senior leaders. President Barack Obama on Tuesday suspended transfers of Guantanamo detainees to Yemen following the Christmas Day incident. The Obama administration remains under intense pressure however from domestic critics not to release any of the remaining 198 detainees at Guantanamo, which include includes an estimated 91 Yemenis, amid rising fear in the United States regarding terrorism.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Leahy: U.S. Not Afraid to Try Terrorists

2009-11-16

(CBS) The ability of America to try terror suspects was itself on trial today, as a Democratic Senator (and former prosecutor) argued the sentiments of a Republican Congressman who believes a courtroom is no place for an avowed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., said putting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other terror suspects on trial in a federal court in Manhattan, as was announced this week by Attorney General Eric Holder, is a bad idea, tantamount to " ideology run wild. "We're going to go back into New York City, the scene of the tragedy on 9/11. We're now going to rip that wound wide open, and it's going to stay open for, what - two, three, four years, as we go through the circus of a trial in New York City?" Hoekstra said today on CBS' "Face the Nation." He said the defendants and their lawyers will "bring every motion forward that they can" to drag the trial out so they can be at center stage, and that their objective is to make the trial a propaganda show. "Obviously our Attorney General, our legal system, will try to keep it dignified and civil and bring some respect to it," Hoekstra said. "That's not what KSM is going to try to do. They'll do everything they can to disrupt it to make it a circus and allow them to use it as a platform to push their ideology." Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, however, believes that putting those charged with attacking the United States on trial is the best way to show the world the strength of America. "I think that Eric Holder, our Attorney General, is right; I think the president is right in holding the trials of these murderers in New York City," Leahy told Schieffer. "What we're saying to the world is, the United States acts out of strength, not out of fear. "I was a former prosecutor. I'd like to just see them prosecuted, in the same way which we prosecuted Timothy McVeigh. We're not afraid to do that. We're the most powerful nation on Earth. We have a judicial system that is the envy of the world. Let's show the world that we can use that power."

Link

Home Front: WoT

More news on the Hasan case: warning signs

2009-11-13

From the Sonoma County news post; I put the non-medical information into the post and edited heavily to make it readable, something the MSM reporter didn't do. President Barack Obama has ordered a review to determine if warning signs were mishandled of contact between Hasan and a radical Islamic cleric who encouraged Muslims to kill U.S. troops in Iraq. Obama said he wanted all intelligence related to Hasan preserved and reviewed to determine whether it was properly shared and acted upon within the government. The first results are due Nov. 30. John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, will oversee the review. A joint terrorism task force overseen by the FBI learned late last year of Hasan's repeated contact with the cleric. The FBI said the task force did not refer early information about Hasan to superiors because it concluded he wasn't linked to terrorism. Members of Congress also are pressing for a full investigation into why Hasan was not detected and stopped. A Senate hearing on Hasan is scheduled for next week. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, and others have called for a full examination of what agencies knew about Hasan's contacts with a radical imam and others of concern to the U.S., and what they did with the information. Hoekstra confirmed this week that the U.S. government knew of about 10 to 20 e-mails between Hasan and a radical imam, beginning in December 2008. Months before the shootings, doctors and staff overseeing Hasan's training reported viewing him at times as defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his faith, according to a military official familiar with several group discussions about Hasan. Hasan was characterized as a mediocre student and lazy worker, which concerned the doctors and staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, a military medical school in Bethesda, Md., the official said. Not everyone who graduates from medical school is a Rhodes scholar. The person who graduates last is always addressed as, "Doctor." It's unfortunate, and some telling, that Hasan didn't take advantage of the education offered by Virginia Tech and the Uniformed Health Sciences medical school. Even outside the military, Hasan's behavior drew attention. Golam Akhter, a civil engineer from Bethesda, Md., said Thursday that he had spoken with Hasan about 10 times at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring before Hasan left for Texas last summer. "He used to not believe that 9/11 was solely the work of Middle East people," Akhter said. "His main thing was, 'America is killing Muslims in the Middle East.' That made him very, very upset." Akhter said he sensed that Hasan was "a troubled man" and feels guilty for not alerting others. "I tried to convince him to try to be a moderate Muslim," Akhter said. I would like to believe that Mr. Akhter is a moderate Muslim. I would have liked to have had the reporter ask Mr. Akhter what he thinks a moderate Muslim is. Hasan repeatedly referred to his strong religious views in discussions with classmates at Walter Reed, his superiors and even in his research work, the military official said. His behavior, while at times perceived as intense and combative, was not unlike the zeal of others with strong religious views. But some doctors and staff were concerned that their unfamiliarity with the Muslim faith would lead them to unfairly single out Hasan's behavior, the official said. Some questioned Hasan's sympathies as an Army psychiatrist, whether he would be more aligned with Muslims fighting U.S. troops. There also was some concern about whether he should continue to serve in the military, the official said. But they saw no signs of mental problems, ... other than the ones staring them in the face ... no risk factors that would predict violent behavior. And the group discussed other factors that suggested Hasan would continue to thrive in the military, factors that mitigated their concerns, the official said. Such as? Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday he was appalled at news leaks about the investigation into last week's deadly shootings at Fort Hood. "Frankly if I found out with high confidence anybody who's leaking on the Department of Defense, who that was, that would probably be a career-ender," he told reporters traveling with him to Oshkosh, Wis. "Everybody ought to shut up."

Link

Home Front: WoT

FBI chose not to do Hasan inquiry, will inquire into what they could do better next time instead

2009-11-10

Maj. Nidal M. Hasan corresponded by e-mail late last year and this year with a radical cleric in Yemen who has criticized the United States for waging war against Muslims, but the contact did not lead to an investigation, federal law enforcement officials said Monday. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian here on Thursday, will be tried in military court, the officials said. U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted 10 to 20 e-mails from Hasan to Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen who once was a spiritual leader, or imam, at the suburban Virginia mosque where Hasan had worshiped, said a law enforcement official who spoke about the investigation on condition of anonymity. Aulaqi responded to Hasan at least twice, according to Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee. "For me, the number of times that this guy tried to reach out to the imam was significant," Hoekstra said. "Al-Qaeda and radical jihadists use the Internet to spread radical jihadism. . . . So how much of [Hasan's] lashing out is a result of . . . his access to radical messages on the Internet and the ability to interact? "I believe that the responses from Aulaqi were maybe pretty innocent," Hoekstra continued. "But the very fact that he's sent e-mail . . . to this guy and got responses would be quite a concern to me." The FBI determined that the e-mails did not warrant an investigation, according to the law enforcement official. Investigators said Hasan's e-mails were consistent with the topic of his academic research and involved some social chatter and religious discourse. Hoekstra and others are raising questions about whether government agencies paid sufficient attention to warning signs about Hasan. On Capitol Hill, several investigations of the shootings are taking shape, with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announcing the first public hearings on the matter. Federal authorities are continuing to review Hasan's computer and electronic correspondence. Hasan, 39, was shot four times on Thursday. He is in stable condition at an Army hospital near San Antonio, where he regained consciousness and began talking to doctors and nurses, a hospital spokeswoman said. FBI and Army investigators tried to interview him on Sunday, but he invoked his right to counsel, senior government officials said. On Monday, Hasan's family hired retired Army Col. John P. Galligan, a former military judge at Fort Hood, to be his attorney. Galligan said he planned to speak with Hasan on Monday night at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston. Galligan said Hasan's family has not been permitted to speak to him and has not received a detailed briefing on his condition. "Let's put it this way: They have not been told more than you or I have been getting by watching TV," Galligan said in an interview. He said he wanted it "on notice that Major Hasan has a lawyer and no one should be having contact with him without counsel." Senior U.S. investigators said Monday night Hasan will be charged in military court, based on an agreement reached between the Justice Department and the Defense Department. A capital case Several civilian lawyers who specialize in defending military clients said they think the Fort Hood shootings will be a capital case. "No-brainer: This one is it," said Guy Womack, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel. If Hasan were charged in the Fort Hood case as the gunman, "the strongest defense would be for him to say he has suffered post-traumatic stress from getting ready to deploy and years of debriefing soldiers who have been there as part of his work and that he reacted violently due to that stimulus," Womack added. I guess the guy is lucky I won't be on the jury. At Fort Hood, Army officials prepared for a Tuesday memorial service to honor those killed and wounded. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, top military brass, members of the victims' families and about 3,000 spectators are expected to attend. The Obamas are scheduled to meet with wounded soldiers and their relatives at Darnell Army Medical Center on the base. Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, Fort Hood's commanding officer, said that 27 soldiers who were injured in Thursday's shootings have been released from hospitals and that most are expected to attend the service. Fifteen soldiers remain hospitalized, eight of them in intensive care, he said. It was originally reported that 38 people were injured. Cone said the service -- featuring remarks by Obama, prayers, a sermon, a reading of the names of the dead and a 21-gun salute -- is meant to help "the grieving process" for soldiers, civilians and family members at Fort Hood, especially the estimated 600 people who "were somehow directly touched by this incident." 'A different imam' In Washington, intelligence officials focused on Hasan's communications with Aulaqi, who wrote Monday on his Web site that the Fort Hood attack was "a heroic act." He wrote that a Muslim who "properly" understands his religious obligations cannot serve as a U.S. soldier, as American forces are engaged in fighting Islam and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan. "The only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the U.S. Army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal," Aulaqi wrote, according to a translation. At Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, where Aulaqi was an imam, mosque leaders denounced his statements. "This was a really disgraceful statement from a blog of our former short-lived Imam Aulaqi," the mosque's outreach director, Johari Abdul-Malik, said Monday. "Aulaqi wasn't angry like that when he was here with us. He changed after he left, after 9/11. He became a different imam." A terrorism expert with access to information about the case cautioned against drawing any conclusions from Hasan's communications with Aulaqi. The expert said it appears that Hasan may have contacted the cleric for academic research he was conducting. The correspondence, he said, is "not a smoking gun, but communications that in hindsight raise some concern." "It obviously suggests that Dr. Hasan was reaching out either for personal or academic reasons, given the nature of his thesis and the work he was preparing to do as a researcher," added the expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. Hoekstra sent a letter Saturday to intelligence chiefs, including Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, raising the possibility that "serious issues exist with respect to the performance of U.S. intelligence agencies." He asked that all documents and materials connected to the shootings be preserved, saying that the Obama administration "is in possession of critical information related to the attack that they are refusing to release to Congress." FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III has ordered a review of what might have been done differently in the case. Wendi Morigi, a spokeswoman for Blair, said that "the intelligence community is carefully following every lead and examining all information regarding Army Major Nidal Hasan." A U.S. intelligence official said Monday that "there's no sign at this point that the CIA collected information relevant to this case and then simply sat on it." House intelligence committee Democrats said they do not share Hoekstra's dissatisfaction. "Director Blair committed to briefing members of the committee on any possible information the intelligence community may have had," Chairman Silvestre Reyes (Tex.) said Monday. Senior intelligence officials briefed some intelligence committee lawmakers and staff members Monday night in an hour-long meeting, officials said.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Tea parties descend on Capitol Hill

2009-11-06

The Tea Party holds no seat in Congress, but at least 10,000 of the party's members descended on Capitol Hill Thursday to rally against a Democratic-written health care overhaul. A plan first hatched and heralded on FOX by iconic conservative Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) grew over the weekend as she e-mailed with a handful of colleagues. By the time activists started arriving at the foot of the Capitol around 8:30 a.m., it was clear no Republican leader could stay away. Minority Leader John Boehner, Republican Whip Eric Cantor and Conference Chairman Mike Pence all spoke. Inside, Democrats were working to finalize a trillion-dollar health care bill that they say will deliver insurance to tens of millions of Americans who currently lack it, improve the quality of care and rein in costs both for individuals and the government. Outside, on the grassy lawn just steps from where Barack Obama took the oath of office, an endless lineup of rank-and-file lawmakers and conservative All Stars -- Bachmann, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, actor Jon Voigt and Mark Levin, author of "Liberty and Tyranny" -- demanded that the health care bill be torn asunder. "Madam Speaker, throw out this bill," bellowed Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.). "Oh come on, tell them how you really feel," Bachmann yelled to the crowd from a temporary podium at the foot of the Capitol. "Kill the bill! Kill the bill! Kill the bill!" the crowd replied. "That's exactly what you're going to tell them," said Bachmann, who was the clear favorite of the assembled masses. "She has more cojones than a lot of guys," said Barbara McGrath, who traveled from Troy, Ohio, to participate. When she took the microphone, Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) pointed to the three House office buildings across Independence Avenue from the rally. "I invite you, when the rally's over, to travel in those halls, look at the walls, find your (member) and walk in," she said. "Let them know how you feel about this bill." Within an hour, activists were lined up down Independence Avenue to go through the magnetometers in the lobby of the Rayburn Office Building so they could confront members and staff. Bachman told them to each take a page -- or a piece of a page -- from one of two copies of the bill at the podium and ask a member to explain the text to them. Bachmann's office and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district office were surrounded by the Tea Partiers shortly after the rally ended, and the floor outside Pelosi's office was covered in pages of the bill.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Dems through up Smokescreen to protect Pelosi regarding CIA lied flap

2009-07-09

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she expects Democrats who have accused senior CIA officials of repeatedly misleading Congress to further pursue the allegations. "I've seen the letters from the members and obviously they have concern," Pelosi said about the letters written by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee and revealed Wednesday. In the letters, Democrats said that CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress last month that senior CIA officials have concealed significant actions and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001. Panetta said earlier this year that the CIA did not mislead Congress. Was he right then or is he right now? "The Intelligence Committee has the oversight responsibility for intelligence in the House and its equivalent committee in the Senate," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. "I'm sure they will be pursuing this in their regular committee process and that's the way it will go." But Republicans say the allegations are just political maneuvering to protect Pelosi, who has been under constant fire since alleging that the CIA lied to her about enhanced interrogation techniques. Exactly what actions Panetta disclosed to the House Intelligence Committee on June 24 is unclear, but committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said the CIA outright lied in one case. "These notifications have led me to conclude that this committee has been misled, has not been provided full and complete notifications, and (in at least one case) was affirmatively lied to," Reyes wrote to Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the committee's senior Republican. A copy of his letter was obtained by The Associated Press. Reyes said in the letter that he is considering opening a full investigation.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Bill would boost congressional oversight of covert spy programs

2009-06-21

Washington -- Criticized for failing to challenge the intelligence operations of the Bush administration, key lawmakers have endorsed a bill that would force the president to make fuller disclosure of covert spy programs. Not necessarily a bad idea as long as the representatives who are entrusted to hear the information can keep their mouths shut and not blab confidentially to the New York Ti ... oh, what am I saying? The legislation approved by the House Intelligence Committee late Thursday would eliminate the president's ability to keep classified operations secret from any member of the panel, according to Democrats who described the provision. The measure was included in a broad intelligence spending bill that also would expand funding for spy agencies and require the CIA to videotape its interrogations of terrorism suspects. Because the CIA can trust the all the members if the House of Representatives to guard their backs. Democrats described the measure as an important effort to bolster congressional oversight of intelligence activities. Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas), chairman of the intelligence panel, said the bill would "have wide-ranging consequences for the way the committee conducts its business." But Republicans voted against the measure. Good move, House Republicans! Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the panel, said he favored a proposal last year that would have allowed the president to restrict briefings on sensitive topics with the permission of the top Democrat and Republican on the committee. The debate centers on the controversial practice of restricting intelligence briefings to the "Gang of Eight," a group that includes the party leaders of the House and Senate, as well as the ranking Democrat and Republican on each intelligence committee. The language adopted by the House committee Thursday would strike a provision in the nation's main intelligence statute that allows restricted briefings. Instead, the president would be obligated to inform all 15 members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as well as their 22 counterparts in the House. The bill calls for the committee to draft procedures that would allow restricted briefings under special circumstances. "If this provision becomes law, Gang of Eight briefings will either be eliminated or very much restricted," said a Democratic congressional aide familiar with the legislation. The measure has yet to be considered by the full House. Lawmakers complained bitterly that the Bush administration routinely withheld information from members as a way of reducing their ability to scrutinize or challenge controversial programs, including CIA interrogations and electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens. Even so, records indicate that lawmakers who were informed of controversial operations raised few objections. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) was accused of hypocrisy by Republicans this year for criticizing the CIA's interrogation methods, because even though she did nothing appears to have done little to intervene after she was briefed on aspects of the program in 2002.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Pelosi: Torture protest improper in '03

2009-05-12

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi learned in early 2003 that the Bush administration was waterboarding terror detainees but didn’t protest directly out of respect for “appropriate” legislative channels, a confidant of the San Francisco Democrat said Monday. It only became proper to protest when there was a political opening, and there was no opening to protest the interrogation of terrorists in '03. The Pelosi camp’s version of events is intended to answer two key questions posed by her critics: When, precisely, did she first learn about waterboarding? And why didn’t she do more to stop it? Because she agreed with it ... Pelosi has disputed a CIA document, released last week, that shows she was briefed in September 2002 on the “particular” interrogation techniques the United States had used on Al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah. Pelosi has said she was told then only that the Bush administration was considering using certain techniques in the future — and that it had the legal authority to do so. But there’s no dispute that on Feb. 4, 2003 — five months after Pelosi’s September meeting — CIA officials briefed Pelosi aide Michael Sheehy and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), then the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, on the specific techniques that had been used on Zubaydah — including waterboarding. Harman was so alarmed by what she had heard, she drafted a short letter to the CIA’s general counsel to express “profound” concerns with the tactic — going so far as to ask if waterboarding had been personally “approved by the president.” According to the Pelosi confidant, Sheehy told Pelosi about the briefing — and later informed Pelosi, the newly elected minority leader, that Harman was drafting a protest letter. Pelosi told Sheehy to tell Harman that she agreed with the letter, the Pelosi insider said. But she did not ask to be listed as a signatory on the letter, the source said, and there is no reference to her in it. Leave no fingerprints just in case ... Pelosi and Harman, sometimes bitter rivals, have still not discussed the controversy since it broke three weeks ago, according to Democratic insiders. Sheehy has not responded to several calls and e-mails seeking comment on what he told Pelosi during this period. But the Pelosi confidant — who spoke to POLITICO on the condition of anonymity — insisted that Pelosi did all that she could have done. “She felt that the appropriate response was the letter from Harman, because Jane was the one who was briefed,” said the person. Pelosi “never got briefed on it personally, and when Harman got a ‘no response’ from the CIA, there was nothing more that could be done.” Republicans aren’t buying it. “If Nancy was so concerned about the waterboarding, why did she let someone else write the letter?” asked Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the ranking Republican on the intelligence committee. “If she was so upset, why did she let someone else raise objections?” Bingo. Pelosi was trying to play things both ways. Typical Dhimmicrat ...

Link

Home Front: Culture Wars

Banning the act of Banning

2008-07-26

Congressman Peter Hoekstra from Michigan has recently introduced legislation that would ban the banning by the Government of the use of various terms describing Islamic jihadists who want to wage holy war against us. The Administration has decided using such terms by Government officials somehow “rewards” jihadists and offends regular, moderate Muslims. This topic has been covered by the CTB fairly extensively. Now the usual cast of jihadist apologists are deriding Congressman Hoekstra for his efforts in trying to stop what many believe is the Government’s PC nonsense...better to call terrorists who themselves declare their violent, murderous actions Islamic inspired jihad mere criminals. Is this argument really rather silly, or could there be something more at stake?

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More