The First Press Conference in 308 Days!

Today was a special event. Using the “top fill” method, the leaking blowout preventer in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill was reported to be finally closed off just hours before the President’s scheduled press conference. Well, almost. As it turns out the reports of success are extremely premature and while the flow appears to have slowed somewhat, the procedure is far from over and the results are even further from guaranteed.

The estimates of the oil gushing from the deep water well has steadily risen since the April 20th accident which claimed the lives of eleven BP employees and is now estimated to have leaked up to a million gallons of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico. With the amount of oil released equaling anywhere from twenty to thirty times the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez accident of 1989, this disaster represents the worst petroleum spill in US history and questions are now being raised as to whether it also represents the worst Federal disaster response in our history as well.

Even though this was President Obama’s first regular Press conference in three-hundred and eight days, the oil spill and the efforts to contain it sidelined many of the expected questions and consumed ninety-five percent of his one hour appearance. Continuing his administration’s favorite line, Obama maintained that while mistakes were made the Federal government was on top of the situation from day one. Unfortunately, for that to be true, one would have to count the Coast Guard team that rescued workers from the platform and performed the search for the eleven men that had lost their lives in the early hours of the disaster.

The first Oval Office meeting on the platform explosion occurred on April 22nd, two days after the first reports came in. While the Obama administration already knew about the deficiencies in the MMS (Federal Minerals Management Service) as well as the dangerously cozy relationships between MMS employees and the oil companies they were charged with overseeing, the government opted to rely heavily on surveys and reports assembled by BP to assess the scope of the damage and the potential for environmental impact. This reliance would prove disastrous as the estimates of the oil escaping the damage blowout preventer valve began to rise with each passing day.

MMS chief, Elizabeth Birnbaum, reportedly resigned this morning but insiders speaking under terms of anonymity claim she was ousted to satisfy critics of the MMS oversight of American oil producers. Of course Birnbaum couldn’t leave without taking a perfunctory swipe at the Bush administration by saying that she hopes the reforms that Interior Secretary Ken Salizar is implementing will resolve the flaws in the system she “inherited”. Inherit is one of those words that is curiously misused when it is applied to politics. You can inherit blonde hair and green eyes but can you inherit your grandfather’s fifth grade education? No; of course not. You have complete control over the course and direction of your life because you have personal command of all of those choices.

Ms. Birnbaum was the Director of the MMS, not a third level supervisor without discretion or autonomy. She assumed that position in July of 2009 with a report in hand that clearly described the scandalous behavior that had become part of the department’s culture over the years and it was her duty and responsibility to address those failings. The report detailing the improprieties and criminal acts rampant within the MMS was issued in September of 2008 leaving the former MMS director scant little time to address those issues before the election of Barack Obama. The lack of scrutiny given to the MMS was certainly a failure of the Bush administration but the tales of MMS mismanagement goes back beyond 1997 and well into the Clinton Administration as well. When she assumed control of the MMS, Birnbaum had the benefit of a report that gave her a clear map of those failings and she should have acted immediately on the information it contained; information that the Bush and Clinton administrations did not possess at the time. She did not act on that report so if she inherited anything, perhaps it was a case of congenital procrastination.

Then again, why should we expect Burnbaum to accept responsibility when the hallmark of the Obama administration is the pointing of fingers at the previous President? It doesn’t matter that this administration is eighteen months old now or that the problems that Obama claims to have inherited were the ones his campaign said he had a clear plan to correct. Today Barack Obama stood before the Press Corp and boldly accepted the responsibility for not moving fast enough to fix all the broken things that Bush left him. Yeah, that figures. We will probably be listening to the same old trash about the mess that Obama inherited as we approach the November 2012 election too.

What Obama didn’t inherit from Bush was the growing perception among Americans that he is focused on an ideological agenda and as long as the things he feels are important remain undone, the economy, the environment and the social, not to mention racial cohesiveness of the nation will be swept to the side and let for another day. Of course, our Campaigner in Chief feels that perception is a terrible mischaracterization of his efforts. After all, his administration was on this oil spill from day one! I saw it myself as he took to the golf course and basketball court to show how the hole in ocean floor could be easily plugged if the right size ball were only used. Then there was that stop for wings and beer that was all over television….maybe we could apply the same artery clogging fats used to fry the wings to clog the well shut too. Finally, he went on four trips to raise campaign funds for Barbara Boxer but while he was there, he did speak about the oil spill possibly in the hopes that one of those wealthy Democrats in attendance might have a good idea that BP hadn’t thought of.

The bare facts are that the national contingency plans that were automatically activated on the first day of the incident were required by existing law and were not the result of direct action from the Obama administration. Despite administration pledges for full support and available resources, it was a full nine days before Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano announced the incident was a spill of national significance, ten days before Secretary of Defense Robert Gates activated the Louisiana National Guard and the Justice Department sent a team of lawyers to monitor the spill (yeah, that one confused me too) not to mention it was a full twelve days came and went after the initial explosion before President Obama made his first inspection of the area. Try as you may, you just can’t blame Bush for that, now can you?

Paul

The World Apology Tour Continues

No world apology tour would be complete until the Obama administration apologized to China for perceived human rights abuses right here at home. Assistant Secretary of State and left wing screwball, Michael Posner, spoke candidly about his meetings with Chinese officials. The meeting included Posner’s suggestion that Arizona’s new anti-illegal immigration law represents a disturbing trend within the United States and an illustration on how America must address its own human and civil rights issues. Posner also spoke about the U.S. treatment of Muslims implying that our post-9-11 policies amount to a procedural mistreatment of Muslims and that those policies are themselves, a human rights concern.

Arizona Senators Jon Kyle and John McCain drafted an open letter to Posner demanding an apology saying that "To compare in any way the lawful and democratic act of the government of the state of Arizona with the arbitrary abuses of the unelected Chinese Communist Party is inappropriate and offensive." Just the idea that we would apologize to China for exercising our right as a sovereign nation to secure our borders is ludicrous. Our laws are based on due process and Constitutional practices that protect human rights while China secures its own borders with iron bars and lead bullets. Add to that that China is one of the world’s worst violators of human rights even if we can’t come right out and say it. After all, you can’t anger your banker, now can you?

Of course, the Obama administration only apologizes for America and not to America so Kyle and McCain will undoubtedly have a long wait. The State Department immediately defended Posner's comments. Spokesman P.J. Crowley disputed the notion Posner was apologizing to China when he was actually "standing up" for America by demonstrating how debate works in a "civil society." Crowley did, however, support the Obama's administrations concern of the Arizona law, stating, "There is, as many have said, real concerns about -- that this Arizona law will inevitably devolve into racial profiling. That would be a fundamental challenge to human rights around the world.” Of course, when Crowley was questioned as to whether or not he had actually read the Arizona statute, Crowley had to admit he had not.

Crowley is in good company. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke forcefully about his concerns regarding the Arizona law and how the Justice Department was considering filing suit to block its implementation. Curiously, as he was being questioned about his concerns by Arizona Senator, John McCain, Holder sheepishly admitted that he had not actually read the bill and that his concerns were based on what he had seen about the law on television. Well, isn’t that refreshing! CNN and MSNBC are now the legal research arm of the United States Justice Department. We are going to save a fortune in tax payer dollars now that we can eliminate all those high-priced attorneys and legal aides in Holder’s Justice Department. Apparently, all we have to do now is install a bank of televisions in Holder’s office. In fact, why stop there? Why not let Judge Judy adulate Federal cases and close the Justice Department altogether.

Department of Homeland Security chief and former Arizona Governor, Janet Napolitano, was also questioned by John McCain after she voiced her concerns about Arizona’s illegal immigration law and again, admitted that she had not read the law either but “knows of it”. When a high government official takes a stance on something as delicate as immigration or involving State’s right, I expect that they should have more than a vague idea of what the issue is before they speak out for, or against it.

Arizona has been left to deal with what has become a full-fledged border town drug war. The police are outmanned and out-gunned by Mexican drug runners and American citizens are being accosted while their properties are routinely violated by roving gangs of Mexican nationals. Despite numerous calls for assistance to fight a growing and dangerous wave of illegal border crossings, the Federal government has been deaf to this plea for help prompting Arizona to act unilaterally. Instead of fulfilling their Constitutional obligation to combat an ongoing foreign incursion onto American soil, the Federal government is now in the process of invoking eminent domain to seize five acres of private farm land in Vermont to strengthen the border between the United States and Canada. While border security is a high priority, the Obama administration is, as with everything else they have done, taken America 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

Mexican President Calderon joined with Obama this week in denouncing Arizona because of the illegal immigration law which is laughable since Mexican law is far more punitive and unforgiving than anything Arizona is attempting. Mexican law prohibits any form of assistance until a person’s immigration status has been confirmed. According to Mexican law, even Mexican police, medical and emergency services can be withheld until you prove that you are in that country lawfully. Of course, I don’t hear a whimper from the Obama administration about the danger that policy represents to human rights but the administration’s outrage really isn’t about human rights or immigration now is it?

So why has the Obama administration spoke out so harshly against Arizona’s immigration law? The law is taken directly from Federal immigration policy and Arizona lawmakers have actually strengthened the safeguards that protect innocent people from being needlessly harassed. The law requires that the police must have already stopped, detained or arrested someone under suspicion of a crime and the officer must have a reasonable suspicion that the subject is in the country illegally before they can be questioned about their immigration status. The laws goes even further in providing protection against racial profiling by requiring that the officer’s suspicion must be based on something other than race. The corresponding Federal law offers no such protection against racial profiling.

The reason the administration is so dead set against this law is because it is based on the State’s right to self determination and affirms the Tenth Amendment protection of the sovereignty of the States. To allow the Arizona law to stand would pose serious agenda difficulties for an administration that is attempting to harness the States under the yoke of Federal control. This is only the first real challenge to Obama and his band of radical friends and Socialist advisors. The truth is the Constitutional authority for a State to enact immigration policy within that State’s own borders has already been tested in the Supreme Court, and our highest court recognized the State’s right to craft that policy.

Despite the precedent established by the Supreme Court, the Obama administration has made fighting Arizona’s immigration law a gilt edge priority because it is based on the State’s Tenth Amendment rights. A victory for Arizona in this will set the stage for additional State challenges against the Healthcare Bill, the UN gun control initiative and a national energy policy. This is about power and they have already lied about the intent and scope of the immigration law to broker as much opposition against it as possible. Fortunately, Arizona has the weight of law, the hammer of truth and the power of public support behind her as she enters the arena. This is still the United States and we still live under the rule of law. Obama may think that the Federal government has the authority to impose its will simply because they are the giant in this battle but they have obviously forgotten the story of David and Goliath. Well, Arizona is ready with the sling of truth and stone of the Constitution.

Paul

Obama: Immunity for Interpol

On December 16 2009, President Obama issued an executive order amending the International Organizations Immunities Act. When I first heard of this, the commentator erroneously stated that the President had issued an order granting immunity to Interpol as they conduct operations within the United States. In fact, Interpol was already recognized as an International Organization in an executive order issued by Ronald Reagan in 1983 and as such, were already entitled to the immunities enumerated in the International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945 except for the sections of that act that were detailed in Reagan’s executive order (Section 2(c), Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6).

In 1995, President Bill Clinton also issued an executive order amending the act as it pertained to Interpol by deleting section 2 (d). That section related to import taxes and duties on personal items brought into the country by agents of a recognized international organization. The order that Barack Obama signed was for the most part, tax related provisions that would actually require Interpol agents to pay taxes on certain monies earned within the United States. There is one little disturbing part of his order that is most definitely not tax related; Section 2 (c).

Executive Order 13524 of December 16, 2009

Amending Executive Order 12425 Designating Interpol as a Public International Organization Entitled to Enjoy Certain Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288), and in order to extend the appropriate privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words ‘‘except those provided by Section 2(c), Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act’’ and the semicolon that immediately precedes them.

Barack Obama

In the original act, section 2(c) grants international organizations immunity from search and or confiscation of property and assets as well as declaring the archives of such an organization as inviolable. This immunity was specifically denied to Interpol in the original order issued by Ronald Reagan in 1983 and that denial was not altered by Bill Clinton’s executive order of 1995.

“The International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288)

Section 2 (c)-
Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable.”

Why would Interpol, an international police department, require immunity from search of their properties and assets? Why would they have a need to maintain secrecy of their records from the government of a member nation and why was that important enough to invoke a Presidential Executive Order to reverse the denial of that immunity? Something just isn’t right.

Interpol was founded in Austria in 1923 as the International Criminal Police (ICP). After the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938, Interpol fell under Nazi control and the headquarters were moved to Berlin. During that period, the Presidents of the ICP included Otto Steinhäusl who was an SS General, chair of the Wannsee Conference and the chief executor of the “Final Solution to the Jewish question”, Arthur Nebe, a general in the SS and Einsatzgruppen leader under whose command at least 46,000 people were killed, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, a general in the SS, the highest ranking SS officer executed after the Nuremberg Trial.

After the end of World War II in 1945, the organization was revived as the International Criminal Police Organization by European Allies of World War II officials from Belgium, France, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. Its new headquarters were established in Saint-Cloud, a town on the outskirts of Paris. They remained there until 1989, when they were moved to their present location, Lyon. ICPO officially adopted the name “Interpol” in 1956.

In order to maintain as politically neutral a role as possible, Interpol's constitution forbids its involvement in crimes that do not overlap several member countries, or in any political, military, religious, or racial crimes. Its work focuses primarily on public safety, terrorism, organized crime, crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, Piracy, illicit drug production, drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, child pornography, white-collar crime, computer crime, intellectual property crime and corruption.

Hmmm? I still see no reason why they would need the immunities detailed in Obama’s Executive Order; particularly immunities regarding archived information. After all, didn’t a “crotch bomber” just walk on to an international flight bound for the United States because our own intelligence and law enforcement agencies refused to share information?

The fact is that regardless of what Interpol’s constitution says, there can be no verification that they are adhering to their own constitution or that they are not impinging upon the Constitutional rights of our own citizens without the ability to subpoena and examine archived files and information if the need should arise. If one of the activities of interest to Interpol is terrorism, wouldn’t their involvement necessarily revolve around a member nation’s definition of a terrorist? We already know our own head of Homeland Security has some very curious criteria for identifying potential domestic terrorists. In fact, Janet Napolitano may have a hard time using the name “terrorist” in conjunction with Muslim extremists but curiously, she has no problem throwing that title around at American citizens, identifying whole groups (profiling) of Americans that she feels may have the potential to engage in acts of domestic terror. You know…those really suspicious tea party people, people with shaved heads and former members of the military that are not exactly pleased with the direction this nation is taking.

We also know that certain records can be catastrophic to a Presidency. Nixon’s fall centered more on eighteen minutes of missing audio tapes than it did on a third rate burglary. The steps Nixon took to categorize the people that he considered unfriendly to his administration led directly to laws prohibiting the compilation of a Presidential enemies list and resulted in requirement to archive and maintain all White House correspondence in perpetuity. No, the wrong kind of records can be very bad for a President unless you can get someone else to keep them for you….someone that cannot be forced to produce those records; maybe even an international police force that routinely keeps, well, records about people. How convenient!

Now that Hillary Clinton agreed that the US would partner with the United Nations on their small arms initiative, those records (records the United States government is prohibited from keeping) as well as the immunity of Interpol, could be very useful if the UN decided it was time collect privately owned weapons in the United States…you know…just to keep them out of the hands of terrorists. After all, Interpol (ICP) records were very useful to the Nazi’s during World War II for exactly that purpose and millions of lawfully owned weapons were confiscated using those records each time the German Army occupied a new territory.

To continue, each member country maintains a National Central Bureau (NCB) staffed by national law enforcement officers. The NCB is the designated contact point for the Interpol General Secretariat, regional bureau and other member countries requiring assistance with overseas investigations and the location and apprehension of fugitives. This is especially important in countries with many law-enforcement agencies. This central bureau is a unique point of contact for foreign entities, which may not understand the complexity of the law-enforcement system of the country they attempt to contact. For instance, the NCB for the United States of America is housed at the United States Department of Justice. The NCB then ensures the proper transmission of information to the correct agency.

Well what do you know about that! The Interpol National Central Bureau for the United States is housed in the same building as the Department of Justice. Why, Interpol is neighbors with Eric Holder. Now that is convenient too. But maybe I’m reading too much into this. After all, a reputable organization like Interpol has an entire independent command structure that doesn’t answer to our President. At least I don’t think so?

As it turns out, the current Secretary General of Interpol is Ronald Kenneth Noble. Ronald Noble is an American that was the Undersecretary for Enforcement of the United States Department of the Treasury under Bill Clinton. Wow! What a coincidence! I’ll bet our current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, saw him all the time back then; in fact, this must be like one of those high school reunions for them. What fun!

The President of Interpol is Khoo Boon Hui. Hui is from Singapore but believe it or not, he attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard right here in the good old USA. A lot of very liberal, very political people attended that school and you would not believe the connections you can make just by being an alumni and that is really, really, really convenient.

Paul

Obama Bin Laden?

Isn’t ironic that the Congress is focused on passing a healthcare bill which violates the Constitutional restraints on government authority, while at the same time, Congress has abdicated an area of responsibility that the Constitution clearly lists as a primary function of the Federal Government. To provide for the security and defense of the United States is one of the enumerated powers that is granted to the Federal Government and while our DC demagogues chase legislation to bring about a socialist utopia, the threat of Islamic terror has grown exponentially in the face of the perceived feebleness of the Obama administration.

On December 24th, Nigerian born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253 as the aircraft prepared to land in Detroit Michigan. Abdulmutallab returned to his seat from a lengthy visit to the rest room where he covered himself with a blanket to hide his attempt to detonate the plastic explosive, PETN, hidden in pockets sewn into his underwear. Passengers reported hearing “popping” noises and began to smell what they described as a foul odor. Once passengers and members of the flight crew saw the leg of Abdulmutallab’s trousers and the wall adjacent to his seat were on fire, they pounced on the would-be suicide bomber and restrained him until the aircraft landed safely in Detroit.

Janet Napolitano, Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, assured the nation that this was an isolated incident and did not appear to have any connection to organized terror. Well Abdulmutallab had another view. In police interviews, Abdulmutallab admitted that he was in Yemen from August until early December where he received training and material support from Al Qaida in order to carry out this attack. The Al Qaida faction in Yemen has since issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attempt. In an even more bizarre statement released to the press, Napolitano praised the capture of Abdulmutallab and claimed the system “worked”.

Really Janet? What system would that be? The system that allowed a man that was on at least one government “no-fly” list to board a plane bound for the United States? The system that ignored reports from Abdulmutallab’s father to the American Embassy that his son (Abdulmutallab) had become far more radical in recent months and posed a material threat to American interests? Or maybe it is the system that forces passengers aboard commercial aircraft to provide the first line of defense for America while Federal authorities are comfortably asleep at the wheel?

Apparently the only system that worked was Napolitano’s own insistence that there are no acts of terrorism, there are only man-caused disasters. The interests of the United States have been lost under this administration and that places our nation in danger. Homeland Security is more interested in the actions and whereabouts of United States citizens that are upset by this administration’s agenda, especially if those citizens are former military. The ATF is more interested in shooting down State ballot initiatives that preserve the second amendment rights of its citizens than they are about hunting down gangs and terror groups that have been obtaining fully automatic weapons that have been banned for decades. The Justice Department has ignored the military intent of terror groups and is preparing to turn the captured militants over to the civilian courts for trial. A move that again, places our nation in jeopardy as their Al Qaida brothers plot to disrupt the proceedings.

Abdulmutallab has already declared that he is not alone; that there is an army of other Al Qaida soldiers preparing their own attacks on America interests and embassies abroad and upon the American homeland itself. The purported leader of Yemen’s Al Qaida group is Sa'id Ali Jabir Al Khathim Al Shihri. Al Shihri was a Guantanamo detainee that was released and repatriated to Saudi Arabia in 2007. There was a board hearing that determined the status of Al Shihri’s detention in Guantanamo Bay. By unanimous vote, the board ruled that Al Shihri would be repatriated even though the review listed eleven primary factors favoring continued detention and only five that favored release or transfer. The board issued a report and corresponding memos on Al Shihri’s transfer but the documents were so heavily redacted that very little usable information remained that would point to a reason for their decision.

Whatever prompted the decision, the transfer placed Al Shahri in the hands of Saudi officials where he was enrolled in a rehabilitation program for former terrorists. Yep, they have reform schools for terrorists now which apparently have the same record of success that American rehabilitation programs have. Immediately upon his release from the Saudi rehabilitation program in January 2009, Al Shahri appeared in several jihadist videos, including one where he was identified as second in command of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. He also appeared in a “You-Tube” video with three other men, identified as Abu Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, Abu Baseer al-Wahayshi and Abu Hureira Qasm al-Rimi threatening America and American allies.

The New York Times reported that an earlier car bomb detonated outside the American Embassy in Sana was the work of the reformed and freed, Al Shihri. Now that the Yemen Al Qaida group has claimed responsibility for the attack attempted by Abdulmutallab, it is clear that Al Shihri is behind that as well.

How fortunate we are. If it were not for Janet Napolitano’s soothing assurances we might be fooled into believing that America is under as great a threat by Islamic extremists than we were prior to September 11, 2001. Even the idea that these are no longer acts of terrorism but mere man-caused disasters makes it so much better now. Yes the system indeed worked and one must wonder if it will work even better in the future as we close Guantanamo and repatriate even more of these unfortunate and misunderstood detainees.

As the new “system” under Obama’s administration continues its efforts to soft-pedal the threat of Islamic terror, it is simply charming that Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security and Eric Holder’s Justice Department are more concerned with a possible American backlash against Muslims and now Nigerians, in response to new threats of terrorism. Sorry Janet…I meant man-caused disasters. Actually, the way things have been going these days, I’m surprised the passengers that tackled and restrained Abdulmutallab were not themselves arrested for assault or even possibly, for perpetrating a hate crime against this poor man. After all, anything could have caused his pants to burst into flames so it must have been prejudice that prompted them to tackle Abdulmutallab instead of rendering assistance to him.

Hmm? Could it be that it is the attack on Abdulmutallab by fellow passengers itself that Napolitano is concerned with? Could this be part of the backlash she warned us about? It is clear to me that America under Barack Obama has become a far weaker presence in the world and it is the appearance of that frailty that has invited the renewed interest of Al Qaida. While Obama makes his world apology tour, bowing to foreign leaders and begging forgiveness for the Bush years, our security machine has been stripped of its most potent components and our enemies know it.

It would be wonderful if the world was that simple. The idea that showing fairness and kindness to Islamic terrorists would somehow change the paradigm and create an era of peace is indicative of the naivety of this President and of the left in general. The fact is that the fundamentalist roots of mid-east terror have existed for centuries and the terrorists hate for hate’s sake, not because of a detention camp in Cuba. Al Qaida does not seek dialogue with the West; they are only interested in the total destruction of America and the murder of all “infidels”. This is the first time in history that we are facing an enemy that wants nothing from us but our deaths and will stop at nothing, including the sacrifice of their own lives to accomplish that.

During the Revolutionary War, American colonists used Indian tactics and fought a guerilla war against Britain. The British Army, until then, had only fought in conventional wars against organized armies. The rigid discipline of the British Army could not adapt to this new kind of warfare and that is the real reason that the Colonies prevailed. Without the willingness of the Obama administration to admit that this is a non-traditional war and that we will have to consider brutal and unconventional means to combat the threat, we will lose just as surely as the British did.

Abdulmutallab’s attempt was close to having been a reality and if successful, would have rained flaming wreckage down upon the city of Detroit as well as killing everyone aboard that plane. We must engage these factions as relentlessly as they seek to engage us and we must fight them wherever they appear with a ferocity that will leave no doubt as to our resolve. When it comes to the defense of the United States, nothing should be "off the table".

Paul