Dr. Sebastian Gorka (Military Affairs Fellow and Director, National Security Fellows Program, Foundation for Defense of Democracies) addressed the Canter for Security Policy’s Stanton Group on Capitol Hill. The topic of his briefing was “Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence in the Second Obama Administration: Persistence of Threat Denial?”
By Frank Gaffney:
On her way out the door, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the unsayable. Literally. Until last month, when she repeatedly warned in congressional testimony concerning the Benghazi debacle that we confront a “global jihadist threat,” the Obama administration did not allow the use of the words jihad and threat in the same sentence.
How ironic that the principal architect of this “see-no-jihad” policy is John Brennan, President Obama’s current Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor and his choice to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Setting aside the obvious questions about why Mrs. Clinton chose her swan song on Capitol Hill to state the obvious but impermissible truth, if she’s right, why on earth would the Senate want to entrust critical collection and analysis of intelligence to the very person who has epitomized and enforced a policy of willful blindness towards the central threat of our time: the supremacist Islamic ideology of shariah and the holy war, or jihad, its adherents are obliged to wage?
Read more at Center for Security Policy
Frank Gaffney is the Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C. Under Mr. Gaffney’s leadership, the Center has been nationally and internationally recognized as a resource for timely, informed and penetrating analyses of foreign and defense policy matters.
*** LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT!!! ***
SUPPORT SPECIAL CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE BENGHAZI ATTACK!
http://www.capwiz.com/actforamerica/dbq/officials/
Recently, Representative Frank Wolf (VA) introduced H. Res. 824, legislation that creates a special Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives to conduct a thorough investigation into the terrorist attack in Benghazi. As you will recall, this heinous act against our nation resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
Wolf Calls For Establishment Of Select Committee To Investigate Benghazi Attack
Representative Wolf believes—and we wholeheartedly agree—that the families of the victims, as well as the American people, deserve to know what transpired last September 11th in Libya. It has been over 80 days since the attack and the American people still have not been provided answers to serious questions. This is unacceptable.
It is critical that this special Committee be convened when the 113th Congress commences in January and that will only happen if the American people register their support NOW.
The more cosponsors Representative Wolf’s legislation receives, the more it will be clear to the members of the House of Representatives—and in particular the leadership there—that the American people are demanding answers regarding the Benghazi attack.
Will you devote just a minute of your time today to ask your U.S. Representative to cosponsor Rep. Wolf’s bill? It only takes a moment, but when joined with thousands of others, it makes quite a roar—and it gets results.
ACT! for America’s grassroots are getting a solid reputation on Capitol Hill for being folks who “get the job done.” As but one example, recently we asked our members to call their legislators and ask that they sign an important letter that was being circulated on the Hill. Within 48 hours of our calls, the number of legislators who signed the letter went from 25 to 97. A Hill staffer even contacted Lisa Piraneo, our Director of Government Relations, to let us know that the phones were ringing off the hook. Your actions are WORKING.
If you’d like to lend your voice to today’s important cause, please follow these easy steps:
** IMPORTANT ACTION ITEM **
Today, please call YOUR member of the U.S. House of Representatives and ask him/her to sign on to H. Res. 824, Representative Frank Wolf’s legislation creating a special Committee to investigate the Benghazi attack. Further, please circulate this Action Alert to everyone you know and post it on your social media sites!
NOTE: If you need help locating your elected official, visit our Contact Congress page by clicking HERE. Type in your zip code where indicated to locate your U.S. legislators. Click on your Representative and you can then see his/her contact information, including the phone number of the Washington, DC office.
If you know the name of your U.S. Representative, you also can call the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be put through to that particular office.
Please make your call NOW! Politely let your Representative know about H. Res. 824, Rep. Wolf’s bill, and ask that he/she sign on as a cosponsor. (Be clear that you are a constituent!)
Thank you for all that you do. Together, we are making a difference.
REMEMBER, YOUR VOICE COUNTS! IF EACH OF US DOES JUST A LITTLE, TOGETHER WE CAN ACCOMPLISH A LOT!
By Anne Gearan and Michael Birnbaum
Anti-American protests that started in Cairo and spread across the Muslim world have stalled negotiations to provide crucial U.S. economic assistance to Egypt, U.S. officials said Monday.
The violent demonstrations sparked by an anti-Islam video, and Egypt’s initially clumsy response, have temporarily halted talks about a proposed $1 billion in debt relief and how to speed millions in other aid to Egypt, according to several U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.
No new aid is likely to be approved for Egypt until after the U.S. presidential election, and talks aimed at breaking a logjam on spending funds already approved are on hold, the officials said. Several U.S. officials said that the delays are expected to be temporary and that there is no major reevaluation of U.S. aid to Egypt.
“Folks are going to wait and see how things materialize both with the protests and on Capitol Hill,” a congressional aide said.
The roughly $1.5 billion in annual U.S. aid to Egypt represents crucial economic assistance to a nation the United States has long considered an essential Arab partner — despite recent concerns about the new government dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. In addition to that assistance, President Obama has proposed $1 billion in debt relief for Egypt, which owes Washington about $3 billion.
In the aftermath of the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last year, Congress attached conditions to U.S. aid, including a requirement that the State Department certify that Egypt is abiding by its peace treaty with Israel. Now some lawmakers are talking about adding more conditions.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee called a hearing this week to examine U.S. relations with Egypt, but it was canceled Monday after the State Department declined to provide witnesses, committee spokesman Steve Sutton said.
A senior congressional staffer suggested that the course of events in the next couple of weeks will determine the long-term fate of U.S. assistance to Egypt. Other U.S. officials cast the delay as a natural reaction to the violence and a test of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s resolve, but they stressed that the United States is unlikely to set stringent conditions on aid or debt relief.
“We are continuing to work with the Hill on the support that we think is important to support those very forces of moderation, change, democracy, openness in Egypt that are very important for defeating extremism of the kind that we saw,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday.
Nuland said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton would talk to Congress soon about U.S. aid and other issues affected by the protests.
Anti-American protests near the U.S. Embassy in Egypt stretched from Tuesday until Saturday last week, with many demonstrators calling for the U.S. ambassador to be tossed out of the country.
Just days before protests erupted outside the fortress-like embassy compound, American and Egyptian officials had been in the final stages of negotiating the details of assistance that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
A delegation of 120 U.S. business leaders was in Cairo at the time of the protest as part of a related State Department effort to drum up foreign investment, which Egypt needs badly to help its economy recover.
U.S. and Egyptian officials had hoped to resolve much of the debt relief plan by the end of this month, but U.S. and other officials said those discussions are now likely to drag on through the fall. Any new congressional action on Egypt will have to wait, too, because Congress adjourns next week until after the Nov. 6 election.
Read more at Washington Post
From Act for America:
Last week, we sent out an urgent Action Alert asking you to register opposition to any kind of taxpayer funded assistance for either Egypt or Libya. We did this to send a message that we will not reward countries that do not prevent or forcibly condemn attacks on our embassies. We will not accept delayed and weak responses to those heinous attacks by the leadership of those countries.
As we noted in a follow-up e-mail, the calls have been coming in and your voice is being heard by those that represent you in Washington, DC. This is what grassroots strength is all about and again we thank you.
First, we have good news to report. Yesterday’s Washington Post reports that the violent anti-American protests in Egypt and elsewhere have “temporarily halted talks about a proposed $1 billion in debt relief and how to speed millions in other aid to Egypt, according to several U.S. officials.” See the full article HERE.
That said, it has been reported that later this week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be up on Capitol Hill to ask legislators to continue sending the billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid (YOUR hard-earned taxpayer dollars) to Egypt and other countries exhibiting violent protests against our embassies.
To counter Secretary Clinton’s funding pitch to the U.S. Congress, we are asking you to once again place calls to the federal legislators listed below. We ask that you register your opposition to any U.S. tax dollars being sent to these countries that are currently hostile toward our nation. Let them know that you do not support funding our enemies.
** ACTION ITEM **
Please take a moment once today to call the numbers listed below.
Tell these federal legislators respectfully, but firmly, that you are opposed to U.S. taxpayer dollars going toward ANYmilitary funding for Egypt or Libya until they demonstrate that they are true allies of the United States.
| House |
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| Speaker John Boehner |
202-225-0600 |
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| Majority Leader Eric Cantor |
202-225-2815 |
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| Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy |
202-225-2915 |
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| Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi |
202-225-0100 |
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| Minority Whip Steny Hoyer |
202-225-4131 |
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| Rep. Harold Rogers, Chair House Appropriations Committee |
202-225-2771 |
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| Rep. Norm Dicks, Ranking Member House Appropriations Committee |
202-225-3481 |
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| Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair House Foreign Affairs Committee |
202-225-5021 |
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| Rep. Howard Berman, Ranking Member House Foreign Affairs Committee |
202-226-8467 |
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| Senate |
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| Majority Leader Harry Reid |
202-224-3542 |
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| Majority Whip Richard Durbin |
202-224-9447 |
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| Minority Leader Mitch McConnell |
202-224-3135 |
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| Minority Whip Jon Kyl |
202-224-2708 |
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| Sen. Daniel Inouye, Chair Senate Appropriations Committee |
202-224-7363 |
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| Sen. Thad Cochran, Ranking Member Senate Appropriations Committee |
202-224-7257 |
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| Sen. John Kerry, Chair Senate Foreign Relations Committee |
202-224-4651 |
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| Sen. Richard Lugar, Ranking Member Senate Foreign Relations Committee | 202-224-6797 | ||
Over more than a decade following 9/11, MAJ Stephen Coughlin was one of the US government’s most astute and objective analysts, and an expert in the connections between Islamic law, terrorism and the jihadist movement around the globe.
Through knowledge of published Islamic law, MAJ Coughlin had a demonstrated ability to forecast events both in the Middle East and domestically and to accurately assess the future threat posture of jihadist entities before they happen.
He has briefed at the Pentagon, for national and state law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and on Capitol Hill for Members of Congress. Today, he is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy. His book, Catastrophic Failure, will be released in late 2012.
With this series of presentations, the general public has access to a professional standard of intelligence training in order to better understand the jihadist threat.
Part 1: Lectures on National Security & Counterterror Analysis (Introduction)
Part 2: Understanding the War on Terror Through Islamic Law:
Part 3: Abrogation and the ‘Milestones’ Process:
Part 4: Muslim Brotherhood, Arab Spring & the ‘Milestones’ Process:
Part 5: The Role of the OIC in Enforcing Islamic Law:
Part 6: The Boston Attack and “Individual Jihad”
Citizens for National Security
On July 25th, 2011, over 100 people crowded into a Capitol Hill room in the Rayburn House Office Building designed for 75 to hear CFNS co-Founder Dr. Peter Leitner reveal the first report of its kind about the fifty-year infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood into the United States and its culmination in homegrown Jihad. The event immediately made waves, with parts of the presentation quickly airing on YouTube, and others being covered in print that week. As a result, CFNS has walked onto the national stage and is now certainly recognized as a leading American citizens organization in the battle against Islamist terrorism!
Dr. William A. Saxton, Rep. Allen West, Dr. Peter Leitner
Congressman Allen West, who sponsored the DC briefing, introduced the program with an expression of praise and unequivocal support for CFNS. In the audience were reporters and cameramen from Fox News and CBN, journalists representing more than ten different online news sites, senior staff from over two dozen members of the House and Senate, officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the military, and representatives from a wide variety of Washington think tanks and lobbying organizations.
Dr. Peter Leitner
Following CFNS Chairman Dr. William Saxton’s overview of CFNS, Dr. Leitner used a riveting PowerPoint presentation to outline the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and the organizations it supports in the United States. He minced no words in systematically setting forth descriptions of the MB’s founders, the current leaders, the ideology, and its U.S. infiltration plan. He also announced the unprecedented development of CFNS’s proprietary database of almost 6000 individuals associated with the MB in the U.S. and the approximately 200 organizations with which they are involved.
Click the following link to view the report:
Homegrown Jihad in the USA: Muslim Brotherhood’s Deliberate Premeditated Plan Now Reaching Maturity [pdf]
Last week I attended my first annual ACT! for America National Conference in DC. I had only recently joined my local chapter and found the conference to be a real eye opener on just how effective a lobbying organization it is. For instance, they have been very instrumental in helping the states in their battles to pass American Laws for American Courts (ALAC).
ACT! for America is the nation’s largest and fastest growing grassroots organization dedicated to national security issues and, specifically, to a defense against political Islam. Since its inception in 2007, ACT! has grown from a small organized resistance group to a unified force of almost 200,000 members and 700 local chapters nationwide with a growing presence internationally. Brigitte’s goal is for ACT! to grow to become as large and powerful as the NRA. As AFA Executive Director, Guy Rodgers, likes to say, “it’s all about the Power of the Gavel”.
For those of you who are not familiar with Brigitte Gabriel here is the biography published at the Intelligence Summit website:
Speaking as a native Arab and a professional journalist, Brigitte Gabriel offers a first hand account of her personal experiences in the opening salvos of Islamic Jihad towards the Western world in the Middle East. Ms. Gabriel grew up in South Lebanon as the only child of a retired Christian governing administrator of the region and a successful businessman. Her Arabic society, culture and media taught her that Israel and Jews were the devil. As she turned 10, war broke out pitting the combined forces of militant Moslems and Palestinians against the Christian Lebanese.
In the Lebanese civil war, Ms. Gabriel found herself in the first attack, beyond the Arab/Israel conflict, of Islamic Jihad against non-Moslems and the West. A barrage of Moslem rockets exploded in her house leaving her wounded and buried under the rubble. Her family lost everything and was forced to live the next seven years in an underground bomb shelter with little food, water or electricity.
In 1982 Ms. Gabriel’s mother became seriously wounded, Israel was the only place to go for medical attention. For her mother, the trip to a hospital in Israel was a life-saving experience. For Brigitte it was a life changing experience. She saw the Israelis demonstrate respect, humanity, compassion and generosity that she didn’t know existed beyond her immediate family. She realized she was fed nothing but a fabricated lie by her government about the Jews and the Israeli people. She had to return to Lebanon to take care of her elderly parents but vowed that one day she would return to Israel. Brigitte kept that promise and more. She returned to Israel two years later and started working in Jerusalem as a journalist.
A Journalist in Israel & America
Rising quickly to the position of news anchor for “World News” an evening Arabic news broadcast for Middle East Television seen throughout Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Cyprus and Lebanon, she covered the Israeli security zone in Lebanon and the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank. Her work is of international scope having brought her in contact with world figures such as Margaret Thatcher, George H. Bush, Queen Nour El Hussein, Itzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.
After marrying an American war correspondent in Jerusalem, Ms. Gabriel relocated to the United States and started a television production and advertising company. Her clients include ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, Discovery, TLC, History Channel, “Oprah Winfrey Show,” “20/20,” “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America” to name a few.
An Urgent Warning to the West
Following the September 11th attack Ms. Gabriel founded American Congress for Truth, a non-profit organization dedicated to inform, inspire and motivate Americans to take action against terrorism and the threat radical Islamic fundamentalists pose to America, Israel and Western civilization. Her inside information is enlightening for unsuspecting Western-thinking audiences. Her lectures inspire and empower audiences into taking action in order to protect America and support Israel. She has appeared on news and information TV and radio shows and has given hundreds of lectures nationally and internationally. Her views are seen as a pertinent warning to the West. She speaks Arabic, French, English and Hebrew.
Brigitte is also the author of two New York Times Best Sellers, BECAUSE THEY HATE: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America. And THEY MUST BE STOPPED: Why we must defeat radical Islam and how we can do it.
As explained on the FAQ page at ACT’s website, there are actually two organizations created to perform the two tasks of 1.Educaton and 2. Lobbying:
ACT! for America Education (formerly known as American Congress for Truth), the first organization Brigitte Gabriel founded and a “sister” organization to ACT! for America, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Its primary mission is conducting research and providing educational and informational materials to the public. Contributions to ACT! for America Education are tax-deductible. Under tax law, ACT! for America Education can only devote an “insubstantial” amount of time and revenue to activities such as lobbying. Therefore, it was deemed necessary that ACT! for America, a 501(c)(4) be founded in order to accomplish the goal of having a grassroots citizen organization that would engage in activities such as lobbying and issues advocacy.
Realizing the need for a full-time presence on Capitol Hill, Brigitte hired Lisa Piraneo in 2009 as a full-time lobbyist. Lisa’s official title is “Director of Government Relations.” Lisa has over 15 years of experience on Capitol Hill, including stints in four congressional offices and nearly seven years of experience as a lobbyist for a national organization. She has also worked for a Homeland Security consulting firm. Ms. Piraneo works with members of Congress and their staffs, educating them on issues ACT! is concerned about and seeking their support for “High Priority Legislation”.
Lisa Piraneo and National Field Director, Kelly Cook, also work with ACT! chapter leaders and members on such tasks as providing education on how to effectively persuade our elected representatives as well as coordinating grassroots contacts with members of Congress. Lisa and Kelly also conduct Citizens in Action Training Conferences. The next one is in Northern Virginia at the Dulles Marriott on Saturday, August 18. There will be a Friday night session for prospective Chapter Leaders. You can register here.
As membership grows, so will the clout of ACT! Congress is taking note. Locate a chapter near you and sign up for their newsletters to stay up to date with concrete actions you can take to help protect our nation from the threat posed by political Islam.
