Mohammad Mamdouh and Ahmed Serhani

Terrorism against the U.S. didn't die with Osama bin Laden.

Mohammad Mamdouh, of Moroccan descent, and Ahmed Serhani, of Algerian descent, were arrested for plotting to attack a New York area synagogue.

Video.

Chris Wallace and Tom Donilon

Chris Wallace made a fool out of National Security Advisor Tom Donilon on FOX News Sunday.

From Mediaite:

Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace asked White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon a rather interesting question related to the capture and shooting death of terrorist leader Osama din Laden: Why is it legal and “proper” to shoot an unarmed man in the face, while enhanced interrogation methods, such as waterboarding, are deemed improper? You might recall, in fact, that waterboarding was banned by President Barack Obama back in January of 2009.

Donilon initially responded by driving home the danger posed by bin Laden, and the power he yielded within Al Qaeda, prompting Wallace to interrupt him and clarify that he wasn’t looking for justification as to why bin Laden was shot down by U.S. troops but, rather, a reason why doing so is permissible when using often dangerous, but not necessarily lethal, methods of interrogation in order to bring such a dangerous man to justice are not.

Donilon said such methods are not only unnecessary, but are also consistent with America’s values. Wallace didn’t miss a beat, immediately asking whether shooting an armed man in the face is consistent with those same values. Well, Donilion pointed out, we are at war.

Video.



The Leftists can't provide an adequate answer to Wallace's question because there isn't one.

They can't make a distinction that doesn't exist.

No Bin Laden Death Photo

Reuters "spikes the football" for Obama, sort of.

Still no verified image of Osama bin Laden dead.

Photographs acquired by Reuters and taken about an hour after the U.S. assault on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan show three dead men lying in pools of blood, but no weapons.

The photos, taken by a Pakistani security official who entered the compound after the early morning raid on Monday, show two men dressed in traditional Pakistani garb and one in a t-shirt, with blood streaming from their ears, noses and mouths.

The official, who wished to remain anonymous, sold the pictures to Reuters.

None of the men looked like bin Laden. U.S. President Barack Obama decided not to release photos of his body because it could have incited violence and used as an al Qaeda propaganda tool.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
______________

Obama has spoken.

The American people will NOT see a photo of the dead Osama bin Laden.

Video.



WH won't release bin Laden death photo

President Barack Obama has decided not to release death photos of terrorist Osama bin Laden, he said in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," amid concerns that the gruesome image could prove inflammatory.

Obama's decision was reported on the CBS News Web site Wednesday after the president sat for an interview with the news magazine program.

Releasing graphic images of bin Laden's corpse after his shooting in a U.S. raid on his compound could have dispelled doubts that bin Laden is indeed dead. The worry, though, was that it would feed anti-U.S. sentiment.

More, from CBS News:

In an interview with Steve Kroft for this Sunday's "60 Minutes," President Obama says he won't release post-mortem images of Osama bin Laden taken to prove his death.

...Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Wednesday that the Obama administration should not release the gruesome post-mortem images, saying it could complicate the job for American troops overseas. Rogers told CBS News he has seen a post-mortem photo.

"The risks of release outweigh the benefits," he said. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."

"Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet," he continued. "Osama bin Laden is not a trophy - he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaida has been eliminated."

What's Obama talking about?

We saw images of our troops being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu. We don't have to imagine what it would be like.

What's with these Leftists?

They whined about not having images of the flag-draped coffins of our war dead.

They obsessed over body counts.

They insist on publishing all the gruesome details and images they can when it serves their purposes.

They couldn't get enough of the Abu Ghraib photos. They lusted for more.

The military be damned. The Leftists don't care.

Recently, TIME magazine put an extremely graphic photo of a young Afghan woman disfigured at the hand of her husband on its cover.



To view a larger image of the cover, click here.

Richard Stengel, TIME's Managing Editor, gives justification for publishing the cover photo:

Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws. Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years. Her picture is accompanied by a powerful story by our own Aryn Baker on how Afghan women have embraced the freedoms that have come from the defeat of the Taliban — and how they fear a Taliban revival.

I thought long and hard about whether to put this image on the cover of TIME. First, I wanted to make sure of Aisha's safety and that she understood what it would mean to be on the cover. She knows that she will become a symbol of the price Afghan women have had to pay for the repressive ideology of the Taliban. We also confirmed that she is in a secret location protected by armed guards and sponsored by the NGO Women for Afghan Women. Aisha will head to the U.S. for reconstructive surgery sponsored by the Grossman Burn Foundation, a humanitarian organization in California. We are supporting that effort.

I'm acutely aware that this image will be seen by children, who will undoubtedly find it distressing. We have consulted with a number of child psychologists about its potential impact. Some think children are so used to seeing violence in the media that the image will have little effect, but others believe that children will find it very scary and distressing — that they will see it, as Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston, said, as "a symbol of bad things that can happen to people." I showed it to my two young sons, 9 and 12, who both immediately felt sorry for Aisha and asked why anyone would have done such harm to her. I apologize to readers who find the image too strong, and I invite you to comment on the image's impact.

Without question, the Leftists are willing to use gruesome images.

On the other hand, these same people freak out over the images of an aborted baby. They demand that such photos never be shown. They refuse to allow people to see the reality of abortion, the dismembered, tiny bodies. No, we can't see those either.

It's all political.

I think a photo should be released. Give people the choice whether to view it or not.

I want to see a photo of bin Laden dead.

Give the American people, and history, something to go with these images:





Too gruesome?

Too inflammatory?

This from Obama, the man who undermined George W. Bush and his administration at every turn, showing no concern for how it would impact the American troops on the battlefield. This from Obama and his Democrat comrades, wanting to slash funding for our military.

Give me a break!

Obama's assertion of this notion that conspiracy theorists will just say a photo is doctored anyway is a ridiculous excuse.

Conspiracy nuts will never EVER be satisfied.

Moreover, all the fake images of the dead bin Laden floating around right now can just as easily be used as recruiting tools for terrorists and to inflame the Muslim world.

It's not as if withholding an image will prevent a backlash against the U.S., if there's going to be one.

Obama went on national TV and declared that a U.S. military operation KILLED bin Laden. I think the news of bin Laden's death is enough to inflame.

The argument that nothing good can come from releasing the photo is offset by the fact that nothing will change if it is released.

The slaughter of innocents on 9/11 and all the previous acts of war against the U.S. preceded bin Laden's death. No photo of a dead al Qaeda leader prompted these attacks.

Hopefully, Obama has the facts wrong about the photo, too. Hopefully, the White House will realize it's a mistake to fail to release a death photo of bin Laden.

Maybe this whole thing is just a dance to make it appear that Obama was forced to release a photo, even though he really didn't want to do it.

Someone will leak it and then Obama won't have to bear responsibility for making the decision to show the world.

The allegedly gutsy Obama should show some guts.

Leon Panetta: Waterboarding, Bin Laden

Donald Rumsfeld weighed in on the role waterboarding played in getting to Osama bin Laden.

Video, from FOX News.



This presents a bit of a problem for Obama and the Democrats and their mouthpieces in the media.

They have to reconcile the fact that information gained through interrogation techniques they fought to disallow helped to get bin Laden.

It's very inconvenient for them to admit that reality.

When the truth doesn't fit their agenda, they're forced to ignore it. They don't seem to mind being dishonest.

On Tuesday, NBC's Brian Williams interviewed CIA director Leon Panetta.

Video.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Transcript

BRIAN WILLIAMS: I'd like to ask you about the sourcing on the intel that ultimately led to this successful attack. Can you confirm that it was as a result of waterboarding that we learned what we needed to learn to go after bin Laden?

LEON PANETTA: You know, Brian, in the intelligence business you work from a lot of sources of information and that was true here. We had a, we had a multiple source, uh, a multiple series of sources that provided information with regards to this situation. Clearly, some of it came from detainees and the interrogation of detainees, but we also had information from other sources as well. So it's, it's a little difficult to say it was due just to one source of information that we got.

WILLIAMS: Turned around the other way, are you denying that waterboarding was in part among the tactics used to extract the intelligence that led to this successful mission?

PANETTA: No, I think some of the detainees clearly were, you know, they used these enhanced interrogation techniques against some of these detainees. But I'm also saying that, you know, the debate about whether, whether we would have gotten the same information through other approaches I think is always going to be an open question.

WILLIAMS: So, finer point, one final time, enhanced interrogation techniques, which has always been kind of a handy euphemism in these post-9/11 years, that includes waterboarding.

PANETTA: That's correct.

It took a while for Panetta to admit it, he obviously tried not to, but he did eventually acknowledge that intelligence gained from detainees who were waterboarded was a factor in the success of the mission to kill bin Laden.

That complicates things for Obama and the Leftists.

What is not an open question is the fact that information obtained via enhanced interrogation techniques played a part in accomplishing the mission.

It is what it is.

Waterboarding worked.

Matthew Boyle, The Daily Caller, writes that the New York Times completely ignores Panetta's admission in a story on the value of harsh interrogation methods.

In a story about the resurrection of the harsh interrogation techniques debate slated to run on The New York Times’ front page Wednesday morning, reporters Scott Shane and Charlie Savage completely ignore CIA director Leon Panetta’s Tuesday evening confirmation that waterboarding played a role in procuring the intelligence that led U.S. forces to terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

“As intelligence officials disclosed the trail of evidence that led to the compound in Pakistan where Bin Laden was hiding, a chorus of Bush administration officials claimed vindication for their policy of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ like waterboarding,” Shane and Savage write in their story, accusing Republicans of igniting a debate they thought was long over.

Shane and Savage looked the other way, though, when it came to Panetta’s confirmation that waterboarding was part of the “enhanced interrogation techniques” used on detainees. “We had multiple series of sources that provided information with regards to this situation… clearly some of it came from detainees [and] they used these enhanced interrogation techniques against some of those detainees,” Panetta told NBC News anchor Brian Williams.

The New York Times duo also suggested that House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King, New York Republican, inflamed the debate by saying he thought the intelligence came from waterboarding. “The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, told Fox News that the success of the hunt for Bin Laden was due to waterboarding,” Shane and Savage wrote.

It turns out King was right.

We don't need spin.

We need facts.

We need the truth.

Intelligence from interrogation methods denounced by Obama and company were part of the mission's success.

Phillies Fans Cheer Bin Laden's Death (Video)

Geraldo Rivera and Osama Bin Laden's Death

Geraldo Rivera was thrilled to report that Osama bin Laden is dead.

It was as if he couldn't believe it when he learned the news and read it live on the air.

Transcript

GERALDO RIVERA: Stand by. Let's see. Hold on, hold on. I'm getting... what's this? Quick, quick.

(Reading)

'Senior Capitol Hill producer Chad Pergram confirms Osama bin Laden is dead. Senior Captiol Hill producer Chad Pergram confirms Osama bin Laden is dead.'

Can it be, ladies and gentlemen? Could it be?

Chad is one of the best in the business. He really is an extraordinary person. I just, I'm...

Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it.

(Reading)

'Bin Laden is dead. Bin Laden is dead. Confirmed. Urgent. Confirmed. Bin Laden is dead. Multiple sources.'

Osama bin Laden is dead. Happy days! Happy days, everybody!

This is the greatest night of my career. The bum is dead, the savage who hurt us so grievously. And I am so blessed, I'm so privileged to be at this desk at this moment.

...I think that his continued existence on this earth, Osama bin Laden's continued existence on this earth has represented a continuing humiliation to the United States of America. He defied President George W. Bush, 43, and President Barack Obama, president 44, for all this time.

I don't care if he died falling into, you know, a mud hole or hitting his head on a car. The fact that he is dead, and we have multiple sources...

...Isn't that wonderful news? Isn't this a brilliant way to start your week?

FOX News is confirming, our senior Capitol Hill producer Chad Pergram, citing multiple sources, that the terror mastermind, the nightmare, America's long nightmare... how wonderful is it that as we approach the tenth anniversary of September 11th...?

And I remember my kids' elementary school, we lost at least a half a dozen dads who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and some of these other companies on Wall Street on 9/11, that's why I came to FOX News, to pursue and watch that monster being removed, being punished.

It is beyond joy that I bring you... I wish I could confirm it with my own eyes and my own reporter's notebook.

I trust Chad Pergram totally, and I want very much to get him on the phone. I want to hear it from his, his voice.

...All right. Chad's on the phone now. Chad Pergram...

CHAD PERGRAM: Hello.

RIVERA: Chad, let's have it. Let's have it. What do you know?

PERGRAM: I am told by multiple sources on Capitol Hill that Osama bin Laden is dead. That's the bottom line here.

Rivera was giddy.

Video.

Bin Laden's Abbottabad Mansion Burning (Video)

This is what justice looks like.

Celebrating Bin Laden's Death, White House (Video)

Geraldo Rivera speaks with people outside the White House celebrating Osama bin Laden's death.



The crowd chants "U-S-A! U-S-A!"

Osama Bin Laden: DEAD

"Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done."

--George W. Bush, Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, September 20, 2001

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Obama announced tonight that Osama bin Laden was killed by a U.S. military operation.

It took ten years, but U.S. Special Forces got him.

The liberal media spin is predictable.

The man behind the suicide hijack attacks of September 11, 2001, and who U.S. officials said late on Sunday was dead, was the nemesis of former President George W. Bush, who pledged to take him "dead or alive" and whose two terms were dominated by a "war on terror" against his al Qaeda network.

Bush failed. Obama succeeded.

Lame.

We know Obama didn't want bin Laden alive.

He wanted him dead. Obama wouldn't know what to do with him if he were taken alive.

Obama's speech announcing the successful mission to kill bin Laden was rather self-serving. HE gave the order and don't forget it.

Watch video of Obama's announcement.



He definitely wants the nation to give him credit. Obama does deserve credit for basically keeping up the pressure on bin Laden by continuing President Bush's policies.

I'm so grateful to the brave men and women fighting the War on Terror, protecting us.

What bothers me is that some Leftist pundits are suggesting bin Laden's death will change American policy, as if the threat from RADICAL Islam is no more.

That's incredibly naive. I would think the threat of retaliation is greater now. I don't feel safer. We can't let our guard down.

Bin Laden's death is a great accomplishment. It's a milestone.

I hope it brings some peace to the loved ones of the victims of 9/11. I hope they feel a sense that justice has been done.

Bin Laden is dead but the war he declared against the U.S. isn't over.

LISTEN

Victim, office worker Melissa Doi talks to an operator. (MP3, 31:19 min., 12.8 MB)

Fire chief requests help as cell phone networks failed. (MP3, 2:58 min., 1.7 MB)

"One of the towers just collapsed." (MP3, 26 sec., 264 K)

EMS dispatchers take calls from workers. (MP3, 2:08 min., 1.2 MB)

WATCH

Plane hits the North Tower

Plane hits the South Tower

NBC Today Show live coverage of 2nd plane hitting the WTC

South Tower collapses

North Tower collapses

God bless America.

Obama Bumps Trump

Tonight's episode of The Celebrity Apprentice was reaching a crescendo.

Who would be fired?

NeNe?

Star?

Hope?

NBC ran a crawl saying Obama would make an important statement at 10:30 ET. The network broke into programming about 10:45 ET.

Still no announcement from Obama, just babbling by Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd, David Gregory, and Brian Williams.

There was absolutely no reason to preempt normal programming at that time.

Osama bin Laden is dead.

Great!

Did the DNA tests positively identifying bin Laden come back tonight?

What happened in the boardroom?

Pope Benedict Blesses Ground Zero

Pope Benedict XVI walks down the ramp to Ground Zero in New York. (Photo/AP)


Pope Benedict XVI prays during a visit to the site of the World Trade Center attacks in New York Sunday, April 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, Pool)

NEW YORK -- Pope Benedict XVI began the final day of his American journey by blessing the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and pleading with God to bring "peace to our violent world."

The visit by Benedict to ground zero was a poignant moment in a trip marked by unexpectedly festive crowds anxious to see the former academic who for three years has led the world's Roman Catholics.

Benedict was driven in the popemobile part-way down a ramp now used mostly by construction trucks to a spot by the north tower's footprint. He walked the final steps, knelt in silent prayer for a few moments, then rose to light a memorial candle.

Addressing a group that included survivors, clergy and public officials, he acknowledged the many faiths of the victims at the "scene of incredible violence and pain."

The pope also prayed for "those who suffered death, injury and loss" in the attacks at the Pentagon and in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa. More than 2,900 people were killed in the four crashes of the airliners hijacked by al-Qaida.

"God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world," the pope prayed on a chilly, overcast morning. "Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred."

Benedict invited 24 people with ties to ground zero to join him: survivors, relatives of victims and four rescue workers. He greeted each member of the group individually as a string quartet played in the background. In his prayer, he also remembered those who, "because of their presence here that day, suffer from injuries and illness."

New York deputy fire chief James Riches, father of a fallen Sept. 11 firefighter, said the pope's visit was important and gave him "a little consolation."

Hundreds of people stood just outside the site, behind police barricades, hoping for a glimpse of the pope.

The site where the World Trade Center was destroyed is normally filled with hundreds of workers building a 102-story skyscraper, a memorial and transit hub. It bears little resemblance to the debris-filled pit where crews toiled to remove twisted steel and victims' remains.

The remains of more than 1,100 people have never been identified.

Ground Zero is a cemetery. Over 1000 people who were killed by the terrorists at the World Trade Center are buried there. People say it all the time, but it really is hallowed ground.

Diane Horning, who lost her son Matthew at the WTC on 9/11, was interviewed as part of the WCBS coverage of the Pope's visit to Ground Zero.



She made an interesting point:

One of the things that I'd like to point out that's so significant for me and for many people regardless of their religious faith is that most of the ceremonies that take place on this soil are secular, completely secular.

The anniversary events have never had any spiritual component. They have deliberately left that out. We don't say a prayer. We don't...we have no separate moments of silence where we can pray on our own. There's nothing like that. And so to me, the biggest significance is that there are secular, the secular powers that be are permitting a spiritual event to happen there, and that is a huge movement, the first time.

When Horning was asked what she felt as she watched the Pope descend down the ramp to the pit, she said:

I can remember walking that walk. I remember walking down this ramp to go down to Ground Zero for anniversaries and he is traveling the route I traveled. It's very moving to me, moving.

To me, that's incredibly moving.

As the Pope shares the path that the grieving 9/11 families have taken, it makes me think of how we all share in the suffering of Jesus as we walk those painful paths in our lives.

Rather than focus on the spirituality of the Pope's presence at Ground Zero, this Associated Press article pushes its typical anti-Bush agenda, and, to a certain extent, anti-Catholic stance.

The visit by Benedict to ground zero was a poignant moment in a trip marked by unexpectedly festive crowds anxious to see the former academic who for three years has led the world's Roman Catholics.

What is that?

"Unexpectedly festive crowds"?

I think that shows just how clueless the media can be. They underestimate Pope Benedict XVI and how dear he is to Catholics and non-Catholics.

When the faithful have an opportunity to be in the presence of the Holy Father, of course there's great excitement, and in the case of the Pope's visit to Ground Zero, great reverence and solemnity.

...Benedict has addressed terrorism several times during his six-day visit.

In a private meeting with President Bush, the two leaders "touched on the need to confront terrorism with appropriate means that respect the human person and his or her rights," according to a joint U.S.-Holy See statement.

Benedict has been critical of harsh interrogation methods, telling a meeting of the Vatican's office for social justice last September that, while a country has an obligation to keep its citizens safe, prisoners must never be demeaned or tortured.

Addressing the United Nations on Friday, Benedict warned diplomats that international cooperation needed to solve urgent problems is "in crisis" because decisions rest in the hands of a few powerful nations.

The pope also insisted that the way to peace was by ensuring respect for human dignity.

"The promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and increasing security," the pope said.

Those whose rights are trampled, he said, "become easy prey to the call to violence and they then become violators of peace."

Obviously, this AP account means to condemn President Bush and the administration.

In a report on the Pope's visit to Ground Zero, the AP talks about "harsh interrogation methods" of terrorists rather than the horror and enormity of what the terrorists did on September 11, 2001.

It's as if the media don't get the spiritual nature of the Pope's visit. They don't understand how his apostolic journey has touched hearts.

Personally, I found it very moving to see the Pope stand on the ground where thousands died, where the remains of over 1000 people were never identified, and to bless Ground Zero, the site of so much sorrow and suffering.
________________

Transcript of the Pope's prayer at Ground Zero

Why Hamas Likes Jimmy Carter and the Democrats

Aaron Klein of WorldNetDaily reports:

Former President Jimmy Carter is a "noble person" whose planned meeting with Hamas would help the terror organization "engage with the world community," Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas' top political adviser in the Gaza Strip, told WND today in an exclusive interview.

"Carter can achieve something no one else can. He is open-minded and has a very noble cause to come and meet with all people," said Yousuf, the chief political adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, the deposed prime minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Yousuf, who is usually the Hamas figure responsible for coordinating meetings with foreign officials, said Carter "should get credit because he is the one who really understands the (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict and knows what is needed to achieve peace."

He indicated Carter's visit could help end Hamas' international isolation.

"If he comes and meets Hamas, this will also enhance the image and understanding between America and the Muslim world," said Yousuf, speaking by phone from Gaza. "Carter's visit is a good step and a positive step in the right direction. It would engage with the world community. To what degree he succeeds depends on the people in Europe and the U.S."

Yousuf blasted the Bush administration for "trying to block every attempt to lift sanctions against Hamas."

He accused "Zionists" and U.S. Jewish groups of "trying to sabotage [Carter's Middle East] trip ... . Some reports said American Jewish groups tried to stigmatize him with being connected to terrorism or working against Jewish ambitions at home."

Asked if he believes Democrats would engage Hamas if the party takes the White House next year, Yousuf replied, "I do believe Democrats will make a drastic change in American foreign policy. I hope they are able to fix the damage done by [President] Bush and the Republicans and engage again in a very positive way with the Arab and Muslim world, where most of their vital interests lie."

Yousuf slammed Bush for "engaging in a terrible crusade against the Muslim world."

We know that Hamas loves Carter. He's a useful idiot for Hamas. Of course, Carter is revered as a peacemaker by Hamas because he's so biased against the Israelis.

And of course, Yousuf slams Bush because the President isn't an appeaser of terrorists.

This interview provides an incredible revelation: HAMAS IS HOPING THE DEMOCRATS TAKE THE WHITE HOUSE.

Yousuf says, "I do believe Democrats will make a drastic change in American foreign policy. I hope they are able to fix the damage done by [President] Bush and the Republicans and engage again in a very positive way with the Arab and Muslim world, where most of their vital interests lie."

That's not an endorsement Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton should welcome.

...Carter did meet Israeli President Shimon Peres in a low key talk that was closed to members of the media.

Israel's Haaretz daily newspaper quoted sources in Peres' office stating the Israeli president rebuked Carter over his last book, titled, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," in which he claimed Israel was an apartheid state, and told Carter his activities in the Israeli-Palestinian arena in recent years caused grave damage to Israel and to the peace process.

I hope this is accurate and Peres did blast Carter for his disgraceful book and his activities.

I keep thinking of this saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Hamas views Carter as an enemy of Israel. Thus, Hamas embraces Carter as a friend. Hamas also sees the Democrats as serving its interests.

Those interests aren't in America's best interests.

Jimmy Carter, Hamas, and an "Unsanctioned Diplomatic Trip"

UPDATE, April 12, 2008: Obama declines to criticize Carter on Hamas

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Friday it was not his place to criticize former President Jimmy Carter if he were to meet with Hamas, although Obama said he would not meet with the militant Palestinian group.

Hamas says the meeting will take place but Carter has not provided any details of whom he plans to meet during his nine-day trip to the Middle East, which begins on Sunday. The Bush administration and close U.S. ally Israel oppose the meeting.

"I'm not going to comment on former President Carter. He's a private citizen. It's not my place to discuss who he shouldn't meet with," Obama told reporters while campaigning in Indianapolis. "I know that I've said consistently that I would not meet with Hamas."

Carter has not publicly backed either candidate in the Democratic race but hinted recently that he supports Obama.

Carter's planned trip creates awkwardness for the Illinois senator, whose critics have sought to raise doubts about whether he might be inclined as president to put greater pressure on Israel to make concessions in peace talks with the Palestinians.

Such doubts could cost Obama support with some U.S. Jewish voters.

Obama doesn't have a spine when it comes to criticizing the disgraceful Jimmy Carter.

That's very weak on Obama's part. He should condemn Carter for meeting with Hamas.

What's Obama afraid of? Losing a super delegate?

Obama is doing what's politically expedient, what he thinks is in his own best interest.

Note to Obama: It's a mistake to look like such a suck-up.
_______________


Jimmy Carter continues to add to his achievements as being one of the worst ex-presidents in U.S. history.

From FOX News:

The State Department confirmed Wednesday that former President Jimmy Carter is planning to visit Syria on an unsanctioned diplomatic trip in mid-April.

A State Department official in Israel told FOX News that Carter is scheduled to arrive in Israel on April 12, and is expected to visit Syria and Saudi Arabia while in the region.

Meanwhile, a State Department spokesman in Washington, D.C., told FOXNews.com that he is aware that Carter was planning a stay in the region, but would not disclose details of the trip.

That spokesman noted, however, that “the State Department has expressed our concerns and advised President Carter that past engagement with the Syrian regime has not produced positive results.”

FOXNews.com first reported Tuesday on an item in the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat that said Carter was preparing an unprecedented meeting on April 18 with with Khaled Meshal, the exiled head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas.

The State Department official in Israel did not confirm whether President Carter planned to meet Meshal during his time in Syria....

Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas’ top political adviser in Gaza, did not have any information on a meeting between Carter and Meshal, according to World Net Daily.

...The State Department has designated Hamas a “foreign terrorist organization.” Chief spokesman Sean McCormack once said of the prospect of meeting with Meshal, “That’s not something that we could possibly conceive of.”

Meshal, who lives in Syria to avoid being arrested by the Israeli government, leads Hamas from his seat in Damascus, where he is a guest of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Should Carter meet with the Hamas chief, he would be the first Western leader of his stature to do so. Though Meshal met with Clinton officials in the 1990s, the Bush administration has sought to isolate Hamas, enforcing rigid sanctions on its government in Gaza and refusing to meet with its leaders unless it recognizes Israel and abandons terror.

Once again, the disgraceful Jimmy Carter is seeking to undercut President Bush and his administration.

Although Carter wants us to believe that he's not anti-Israel, he is so pro-Palestinian that he most definitely comes off as an advocate for the Palestinians.

Carter's book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, clarified his stance on the conflict.

He has gone beyond being an apologist for Hamas and terrorists. He is firmly entrenched in their corner. In short, Carter is an enemy of Israel.

He should quit pretending to be the wise elder statesman, the peacemaker.

He was never wise and he was never a statesman. He wasn't much of a peacemaker either. (I'll give him the elderly though.)

QUESTIONS:

1. When Carter was president and he allowed Islamic extremism to take root and flourish in the Middle East, did former President Gerald Ford step in and take unsanctioned diplomatic trips to the region?

2. When Carter was president and Americans spent 444 days in captivity because he was utterly impotent when it came to handling the Iranian hostage crisis, did former President Richard Nixon negotiate with Iranian officials without the State Department's approval?

3. When Carter was president and the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan did any former U.S. presidents have unsanctioned meetings with Leonid Brezhnev?

ANSWERS:

1. NO

2. NO

3. NO

Keeping the Faith

U.S. soldiers of 82 Air Borne say prayers to celebrate Easter at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)


A U.S. soldier of the 82 Air Borne sings a song to praise the Lord as others listen to celebrate Easter at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)


U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Cornelius Harris, 41, from Rosedale, La., raises his hands in prayer during an Easter sunrise service at Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, March 23, 2008. The worship service was briefly disrupted by a car bomb in the city. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

I'm remembering our military men and women and their families in prayer this Easter Sunday.

Bin Laden and the Cartoons

A new message from Osama bin Laden surfaced yesterday, threatening to punish the European Union.

He's ticked off about the Danish cartoons.

CAIRO, Egypt -- Osama bin Laden, in a new audio message posted Wednesday, condemned the publication of drawings that he said insulted the Prophet Muhammad and warned Europeans of a "severe" reaction to come.

The message, which appeared on a militant Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group's media wing al-Sahab, showed a still image of bin Laden aiming with an assault rifle.

"The response will be what you see and not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God," said a voice believed to be bin Laden's, without specifying what action would be taken.

The five-minute message, bin Laden's first this year, made no mention of the fifth anniversary Wednesday of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.

It came as the Muslim world marks the Prophet Muhammad's birthday Thursday and amid the reigniting of a two-year-old controversy over some Danish cartoons deemed by Muslims to be insulting. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Bin Laden described the drawings as taking place in the framework of a "new Crusade" against Islam, in which he said the pope has played a "large and lengthy role."

On Feb. 13, Danish newspapers republished a cartoon showing Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban to show their commitment to freedom of speech after police said they had uncovered a plot to kill the artist.

Danish intelligence service said the reprinting of the cartoon had brought "negative attention" to Denmark and may have increased the risk to Danes at home and abroad.

The original 12 cartoons first published in a Danish newspaper triggered major protests in Muslim countries in 2006. There have been renewed protests in the last month.

Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors militant messages, called Wednesday's message a "clear threat against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming significant attack."

...Adam Raisman, senior analyst at the SITE Institute, said that the message's release coincides with an increased buzz in online jihadi forums calling for revenge against Europe over the cartoons.

But Raisman noted that bin Laden's message did not specifically mention the republishing of the cartoons, only the publishing, and it did not give any other time landmarks to prove it had been recorded since then.

Raisman also noted bin Laden's silence on Wednesday's fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"The tape doesn't give any specific evidence that would allow us to determine when it was recorded," Raisman said.

..."You went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings," he said, according to a transcript released by the SITE Institute, another U.S. group that monitors terror messages. "This is the greater and more serious tragedy, and reckoning for it will be more severe."

Blah, blah, blah.

The flames of the controversy over the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed have been kept burning for over two years. Initially, angry reaction to the cartoons included worldwide protests, rioting, and violence. Muslim extremists have continued to work to assassinate one of the cartoonists, Kurt Westergaard.

Now, the big man himself, bin Laden, reminds his followers that they must make Europe pay for the affront. Bin Laden vows that Europe will feel their wrath.

The al Qaeda leader also implicates Pope Benedict as being involved in a "new Crusade" against Islam.

Because bin Laden didn't specifically refer to the republishing of the cartoons and because he doesn't say anything that provides evidence as to when the message was recorded, it doesn't have a lot of punch.

It seems somewhat disconnected, like it was pulled out of al Qaeda's library of bin Laden taped messages.

The recording would have greater impact if it didn't seem like a two-year-old tape. Bin Laden really should have endorsed a candidate in the race for president of the United States or said something, anything to indicate that he's not functioning on a two year delay.

Blank Military IDs Stolen

Things have really changed since September 11, 2001.

Had blank military IDs and equipment been stolen from a U.S. Army facility in the days or months after 9/11 this would be a major national story.

I guess the media are too busy swooning over Barack Obama and pondering Hillary Clinton's next move.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

About 200 blank military IDs went missing from a U.S. Army facility on Milwaukee's northwest side during a burglary that occurred over the weekend, Milwaukee police reported today.

Police said someone pried open a door at the facility at 4828 W. Silver Spring Drive sometime between 3 p.m. Friday and 9:45 a.m. on Saturday.

Not only did the culprits get away with blank IDs but with about 10 to 12 used ID cards, as well as a laptop computer police said can be used to make IDs.

These IDs could be used as part of a terrorist plot.

Terrorism on American soil doesn't seem to be a preoccupation for many people anymore.

Will these IDs be used out of the country, putting our troops stationed abroad at risk?

Are they in the hands of anarchists, homegrown terrorists?

From TMJ4:

[F]ederal agents and military bases around the world are on alert while these IDs are out there.

Now, the concern is what the thieves intend to do with them.

“I mean if they wanted to go into any type or certain type of government buildings and use those IDs to get in, they can get in probably a little easier than civilians can and might want to do something stupid, something crazy,” Bill Thompson said.

We are told there is no surveillance video. Investigators are being very tight lipped about the investigation because this is a very serious matter.

Why is there no surveillance video?

Security was terribly lax. That's inexcusable.

Another Battle in the War on Terror

The War on Terror has many fronts.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military attacked a "known al-Qaida terrorist" in southern Somalia, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

Spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters that the attack was launched on Sunday, local time, but he declined to provide any details, including whether the targeted individual was hit or whether there were any other casualties.

Whitman also would not identify or further describe the targeted individual or say how the attack was carried out.

It was not entirely clear whether the U.S. strike was aimed at a single individual. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters, "the action was to go after al-Qaida and al-Qaida-affiliated terrorists," suggesting that it may have been designed to hit more than one person.

Like Whitman, Johndroe declined to provide any details.

Somali police said three missiles hit a Somali town held by Islamic extremists, destroying a home and seriously injuring eight people.

Whitman said the attack was launched in accordance with standard U.S. policy.

I'd like to hear Dems and others applaud the administration for keeping the pressure up on al Qaeda and carrying out this strike.

The critics, like Russ Feingold and Harry Reid, are so quick to say that the war in Iraq has been a distraction when it comes to tracking down terrorists.

Guess not.

Jake J. Brahm Pleads Guilty

UPDATE, June 5, 2008: Brahm sentenced
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Jake J. Brahm (aka "javness")

Time for an update on Wauwatosa man Jake J. Brahm---

Brahm has accepted responsibility for posting threats on the Internet.

NEWARK, N.J. -- A man pleaded guilty Thursday to making bogus Internet postings warning of terrorist attacks against seven NFL stadiums in 2006.

Jake J. Brahm admitted that he posted false information that so-called dirty bombs would be detonated at the stadiums in Miami, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, Oakland, Cleveland and New York on Oct. 22, 2006.

He said the reference to New York was intended to indicate Giants Stadium, in East Rutherford, N.J., where the Jets played the Detroit Lions that day.

Brahm, 22, of Wauwatosa, Wis., pleaded guilty to a one-count indictment that had been handed up exactly a year earlier. The charge, part of the Patriot Act, accused him of willfully conveying false information that the stadiums would be attacked by terrorists with weapons of mass destruction and "radiological dispersal devices."

Brahm admitted composing and posting the threat about 40 times on a Web site between September and Oct. 18, 2006. The message said that bombs would be delivered by trucks and that "the death toll will approach 100,000 from the initial blasts and countless other fatalities will later occur as result from radioactive fallout."

The posting added that the stadium explosions would be praised by Osama bin Laden as "America's Hiroshima" and spark global conflicts.

That's extremely serious stuff.

Brahm remains free on bail and faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced June 5 by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares.

A message seeking comment from Brahm's lawyer, Walter A. Lesnevich, was not immediately returned. When Brahm was indicted last year, the lawyer said the incident was "greatly blown out of proportion."

"This was a stupid mistake by a kid that nobody took seriously," Lesnevich said last year.

Wrong.

It was a "stupid mistake" by a MAN that lots of people took seriously.

What did Brahm's threat cost taxpayers? How much fear did Brahm succeed in spreading?

I hope that Brahm's sentence will reflect the high toll his "prank" cost, both in dollars and fear.

Arrests in Denmark Cartoonist Plot

UPDATE, February 14, 2008: Copenhagen police arrest six in fifth night of riots

Six youths were arrested in Copenhagen for setting cars and dumpsters ablaze and throwing stones at police in a fifth night of riots in a predominantly immigrant area of the Danish capital, police said Friday.

"We've had six arrests so far. They've been charged with throwing stones at police and setting fires to cars and waste containers," Chief Inspector Henrik Olesen of the Copenhagen police told AFP.

At least 11 cars were torched in various neighbourhoods of Copenhagen, and 10 others in the nearby town of Kokkedal.

On Thursday, 17 youths were arrested for rioting the previous night.

"We don't know why they're rioting. I think it's because they're bored. Some people say it's because of the cartoons but that's not my opinion," Olesen said.

He was referring to the reprinting of a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in 17 Danish newspapers on Wednesday.

...Protests have flared up again in several Muslim countries including Kuwait and Pakistan following the reprinting. The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas also condemned the publication.

The caricature was reprinted this week after Danish police uncovered a plot to kill the cartoonist.

Three people were arrested for planning the murder, including two Tunisians who have lived in Denmark for more than seven years and whom Denmark has decided to expel without a trial.

That decision has been heavily criticised by human rights associations and some politicians and legal experts in Denmark.

________________

It's been two years since the controversy over the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed caused worldwide protests, rioting, and violence.

Muslim extremists have been working to assassinate one of the cartoonists. Thankfully, they've been unsuccessful.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Danish authorities on Tuesday arrested three people suspected of plotting a cartoonist's assassination for his depiction of the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban that enraged Muslims two years ago.

Three of Denmark's largest newspapers said they would reprint the cartoon on Wednesday to show they would not be intimidated by fanatics. It was one of 12 Muhammad cartoons published in 2005 and then again in 2006 that led to protests in Muslim countries.

Investigators said they foiled the plot in its early stages in a pre-dawn raid in the western Denmark city of Aarhus. The police intelligence agency, PET, said two Tunisians and a Danish citizen of Moroccan origin were arrested.

"The case shows that, unfortunately, there are in Denmark groups of extremists that do not accept and respect the basic principles on which the Danish democracy has been built," Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

Tuesday's arrests were meant "to prevent a terror-related assassination of one of the cartoonists behind the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad," PET chief Jakob Scharf said. Investigators believe the plot had not advanced far enough to try the suspects.

Scharf said the 40-year-old Danish suspect faced a preliminary charge of violating a Danish terror law, but will likely be released after questioning. The two Tunisians will be expelled from Denmark, he said.

He did not name the intended target, but Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten said it was the paper's cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard.

Westergaard, 73, drew one of the 12 Muhammad caricatures that were first published by the paper on Sept. 30, 2005, and then reprinted by other Western media in early 2006.

...The cartoonist and his wife, Gitte, 66, have been living under police protection for more than three months because of "concrete murder plans" against him, Jyllands-Posten reported.

Westergaard told Denmark's TV2 News network that the couple had been forced to move between several locations, both in Denmark and abroad. He praised the intelligence service for their protection.

"They have certainly saved my life, I am convinced of that," he said.

Westergaard drew a cartoon. As a result he and his wife are under police protection and they can't live in one location too long.

Free speech sometimes comes at a very high price.
_____________________

Michelle Malkin: Mohammed cartoon reprint: Show your solidarity

Dems Exploit Bhutto's Death

Everybody knows It's a Wonderful Life. George Bailey, one man, learned how significant he was in the lives of so many people. The lives he touched were dramatically altered because he was there.

Now think of Benazir Bhutto. Think of how many lives she touched. Think of the millions and millions of lives that changed because of her assassination on Thursday.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Rioting and protests spread across Pakistan on Thursday night after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the charismatic yet divisive former prime minister considered by Western leaders and her many supporters to have been the best hope for bringing stability and full democracy back to Pakistan.

Her death plunged the troubled country into even deeper turmoil, raising questions about the possible postponement of parliamentary elections set for Jan. 8 and the future of embattled President Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. ally in the war on terror who already is deeply unpopular among Pakistanis.

Immediately after Bhutto was killed in the army garrison town of Rawalpindi—shot as she waved from her vehicle just before a suicide blast killed at least 20 people at a campaign rally—supporters began blaming Musharraf for her death and screaming slogans against him.

The death of Bhutto, a regal, dominating figure who had studied at Harvard, won fame as the first female leader of a Muslim nation and came from a family long associated with power and tragedy, also was a potentially huge setback for U.S. policy in a country the Bush administration depends on in its global war on terror.

Bhutto, 54, who twice served as prime minister, had returned from exile in October, largely with the backing of U.S. officials, who promoted a power-sharing deal between her and Musharraf. They believed her anti-militant stance and popularity would bolster stability in the world's only known nuclear-armed Islamic nation.

The significance of Bhutto's death is enormous.

Of course, the loss of this leader is a tragedy. She had the potential to make such a difference in nurturing democracy in the Muslim world.

But the murder of this accomplished, heroic woman matters far beyond that region.

It matters to us.

Read President Bush's statement, extending condolences regarding the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and condemning violence.

Pakistan is a powder keg. It's a nuclear disaster waiting to happen; but politics can't wait.

Russ Feingold issued a statement:

“The assassination of Benazir Bhutto is terrible news for those who support a stabilized democracy in Pakistan, both in that country and around the world. Bhutto was a brave leader who was beloved by millions in Pakistan. The questions surrounding her assassination should have direct bearing on both the future of democracy in Pakistan and the relationship we will have with a country that is so critical in the fight against global terrorism.”

In spite of this relatively uncontroversial statement, Brian Maloney notes that Feingold took the low road in other comments he made yesterday.

He writes:

Descending instantly into political partisanship at a particularly sensitive moment, US Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) used today's savage attack on Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto to blame President Bush and Iraq.

Given the emotional state of affairs in East Asia after an ambush that killed both a revered leader and dozens of others, isn't this a particularly reckless approach? By providing verbal ammunition for our enemies abroad, isn't Feingold pouring gasoline on an already- raging wildfire overseas?

In an interview on today's Ed Schultz Show, Feingold wasted no time taking the low road, folding his unfortunate words into what otherwise sounds like a calm and reasoned reaction.

It's one heck of a sneaky debate trick, especially how Feingold uses "in recent years" to refer to Bush, while cloaking the point slightly around the 2008 presidential race. But a close listen makes it clear he's going after Bush and Iraq.

After this many years as a senator, these kinds of rhetorical tricks are old hat to someone like Feingold.

From today's show:

FEINGOLD: The focus on Iraq has been a real disservice to focusing on this part of the world where a great, frankly somebody who had great leadership and following, has been killed.

Maloney points out that Feingold's official statement doesn't include the criticism he spewed on a lib talk show.

Feingold is such an embarrassment. How crass and opportunistic to seize on Bhutto's death to score political points! In other words, it's typical Feingold.

I guess Wisconsinites can be thankful for Chris Dodd.

Maloney says:

Making the earlier words of fellow Democrat Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) sound tame by comparison, Chris Dodd took a spin on the Unhinged Expressway this afternoon, laying blame for Benazir Bhutto's death squarely on the shoulders of President Bush.

During an interview with libtalker Ed Schultz that occurred two hours after Feingold's, Dodd didn't use the slightest bit of discretion in his uber- partisan attack on Bush:

DODD: It reflects once again the misdirection in my view of the (Bush) Administration on focusing on Iraq and Iran. I've been saying for months that Pakistan and Afghanistan deserve more attention.

It's still the epicenter of international terrorism, of where Osama bin Laden is, here. And yet the administration continues to focus its efforts, its resources, its time and effort on Iraq and Iran.

These Dems have no shame.

In addition to Feingold and Dodd putting their disgusting spin on Bhutto's assassination, we have her death being exploited by the presidential wannabes. (Yes, I know Dodd is technically a candidate but no sane person can consider him to even be a dark horse.)

The Dem candidates were falling all over themselves to use Bhutto's death to their advantage.

DES MOINES, Dec. 27 -- News of Benazir Bhutto's assassination came just hours before Sen. Barack Obama delivered what his campaign had billed as the "closing argument" in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday, forcing his campaign to scramble to incorporate the Pakistani opposition leader into his message of change.

For his chief rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Bhutto's death helped underscore the line she has been driving home for months -- about who is best suited to lead the nation at a time of international peril. In her comments Thursday, Clinton described Bhutto in terms Obama (D-Ill.) could not: as a fellow mother, a pioneering woman following in a man's footsteps, and a longtime peer on the world stage.

The differing reactions of Clinton and Obama to the assassination crystallized the debate between the two just a week before Iowans will decide the first contest in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

While aides said Clinton was anxious not to appear to be politicizing Bhutto's death, they nonetheless saw it as a potential turning point in the race with Obama and former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.).

"I have known Benazir Bhutto for more than 12 years; she's someone whom I was honored to visit as first lady when she was prime minister," Clinton said at a campaign event in a firehouse in western Iowa. "Certainly on a personal level, for those of us who knew her, who were impressed by her commitment, her dedication, her willingness to pick up the mantle of her father, who was also assassinated, it is a terrible, terrible tragedy," she said.

Three hours after news of Bhutto's slaying broke, Obama delivered a withering rebuke of Clinton's experience, depicting her lengthy political resume as a hindrance to solving big problems, including crises abroad. In an especially charged moment, senior Obama adviser David Axelrod would later tie the killing to the Iraq war -- and Clinton's vote to approve it, which he argued diverted U.S resources from fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, both al-Qaeda hotbeds.

"You can't at once argue that you're the master of a broken system in Washington and offer yourself as the person to change it," Obama said. "You can't fall in line behind the conventional thinking on issues as profound as war and offer yourself as the leader who is best prepared to chart a new and better course for America."

His remarks came as part of the unveiling of a new stump speech meant to reinforce his change agenda to Iowa voters before the Jan. 3 caucuses. But at every stop Thursday, he started with a few words about the Bhutto assassination. "She was a respected and resilient advocate for the democratic aspirations of the Pakistani people," Obama said. "We join with them in mourning her loss, and stand with them in their quest for democracy and against the terrorists who threaten the common security of the world."

..."I've been saying for some time that we've got a very big problem" in Pakistan, Obama said. "We were distracted from focusing on them."

It's sickening that Clinton and Obama are viewing Bhutto's death through the prism of U.S. presidential politics instead of as a crisis in terms of hope for stability in Pakistan and the region.

The Republican candidates engaged in some posturing of their own.

While I think it's completely legitimate for the candidates to address Bhutto's assassination, I don't like her death being exploited as part of America's presidential political games.