After Meeting With State Dept Officials in DC, Muslim Brotherhood Promptly Declares “Open Jihad” In Egypt

An update to this story – which was disturbing enough – becomes even more troubling:

Via the Washington  Free Beacon:

The Muslim Brotherhood called for “a long, uncompromising jihad” in Egypt just days after a delegation of the Islamist group’s key leaders and allies met with the State Department, according to an official statement released this week.

Just days after a delegation that included two top Brotherhood leaders was hosted at the State Department, the organization released an official statement calling on its supporters to “prepare” for jihad, according to an independent translation of the statement first posted on Tuesday.

The State Department meeting was attended by a deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor and other State Department officials.

The Muslim Brotherhood statement also was issued just two days before a major terror attack Thursday in Egypt’s lawless Sinai region that killed at least 25.

A State Dept flack told the WFB, “We meet with representatives from across the political spectrum in Egypt.”

The Muslim Brotherhood has been designated a Terrorist organization by Egypt, Syria, Russia, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

Supposedly, this is “an embarrassment” for the State Department, according to “Egypt experts.”

“The fact that the Brotherhood issued its call to jihad two days after its meeting at the State Department will be grist for endless anti-American conspiracy theories about a supposed partnership between Washington and the Brotherhood,” said Eric Trager, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP). “The State Department should have foreseen what an embarrassment this would be.”

The fact that the Obama administration backs radical Islamist groups over stable regimes is embarrassing indeed.

The Obama administration conducted an assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2010 and 2011, beginning even before the events known as the “Arab Spring” erupted in Tunisia and in Egypt. The President personally issued Presidential Study Directive 11 (PSD-11) in 2010, ordering an assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood and other “political Islamist” movements, including the ruling AKP in Turkey, ultimately concluding that the United States should shift from its longstanding policy of supporting “stability” in the Middle East and North Africa (that is, support for “stable regimes” even if they were authoritarian), to a policy of backing “moderate” Islamic political movements.

To this day, PSD-11 remains classified, in part because it reveals an embarrassingly naïve and uninformed view of trends in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

The revelations were made by Al Hewar centre in Washington, DC, which obtained the documents in question.

Through an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, thousands of pages of documentation of the US State Department’s dealings with the Muslim Brotherhood are in the process of being declassified and released to the public.

US State Department documents obtained under the FOIA confirm that the Obama administration maintained frequent contact and ties with the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood. At one point, in April 2012, US officials arranged for the public relations director of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammad Gaair, to come to Washington to speak at a conference on “Islamists in Power” hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

It’s not a “conspiracy theory” to notice that this administration always come down on the side of Islamists – even over moderate Muslim reformers like the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. It’s the absolute truth.

 

Saturday Movie Matinee: Hagel Admits He Was Pressured By WH To Release Gitmo Detainees

Via Twitchy:

Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel admitted that he was under pressure from White House officials to step up the controversial releases of detainees from Gitmo:

We can add Hagal to the number of Obama appointees who were yes-men while in office, but became detractors upon leaving. (See Leon Panetta, and  Henry Gates.) The question I always have, is – if you felt so strongly about a policy you disagreed with – why didn’t you speak out against the policy and announce your resignation at the time?

Truth Revolt: Andrew Klavan: Attack of the But-Heads!

From writer/director Andrew Klavan… In a world gone crazy, in a world gone mad, a strange new horde of mindless leftist zombies lurk in the shadows. These unthinking undead claim to support your fundamental freedom to think, say, believe and report any damn thing you think, say, believe and report, BUT!!!!

That’s right. It’s the Attack of the But-Heads.

Steven Crowder: Famous, Muslim Imam Praises Iraq/ISIS, Condemns Host!

PJTV: Are Liberals Actually Admitting Islamic Terrorists Exist?!?

Can the LA Times actually admit that Islamic terrorists exist? Or will it fry their programming? Find out with these stories from Mosul, Iraq.

Reason TV: Remy: I Need a Hashtag!

National Review: Sheriff David Clarke Rips Holder’s Anti-Cop Attitude at Senate Hearing:

  Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch needs to mend the “frayed relationship” between police and the Department of Justice created by Eric Holder, says Milwaukee County’s Democratic sheriff, David Clarke.

Clarke, a defender of policing efforts and champion of gun rights in recent years, spoke at Lynch’s confirmation hearing on Thursday to criticize Holder’s tenure as attorney general, especially in the wake of 2014’s events in Ferguson, Mo.

“The incendiary rhetoric used by Eric Holder created the pathway for a false narrative that then became the rallying cry for cop-haters across America,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It sparked unjustified hatred towards America’s law enforcement agencies and its officers.”​

Here’s Sheriff Clarke a few weeks ago setting a CNN host straight about the tiff between cops and the (Democrat) political class – described in all caps as a “SMACKDOWN.”

Obama/Holder/DeBlasio put out their insincere “pro-cop” statements specifically for useful idiots like this CNN host to latch upon so they can all pretend the last six months (six years, really) of anti-cop rhetoric and policies didn’t happen.

Bill Whittle, Truth Revolt: Racial Racket Ball:

Al Sharpton has declared an emergency meeting of his Diversity Panel since all of this year’s Best Actor / Actress and Best Supporting Actor / Actress nominees are white. In his latest Firewall, Bill Whittle shows the history of this Racial Racket Ball, leading back to its inventor, Jesse Jackson. It’s a long, long way from these racial grievance hustlers to the subject of SELMA.

John Boehner: I was The Tea Party Before There Was A Tea Party:

Alrighty then.

WFB: “UseTube Celebrities” | Al Sharpton VS the Teleprompter #4:

Awesome.

Even more awesome:

FrontPageMagazine: Madtv – Michael Moore (Paul Vogt) gets beat up by Barbara Bush:

Who knew poor Michael Moore is living in fear for his life because of threats posed by elderly Republicans? It’s true.

Playing the victim card,  Moore posted on Facebook a “threat” (actually a joke) then 74 year old Clint Eastwood made ten years ago.

This old Mad TV skit showing Moore getting the crap beat out of him by Barbra Bush is hilariously apropos:

 

 After almost a decade of irrelevance Michael Moore is desperately using the American Sniper controversy where he called soldiers cowards to try and claw back his way to fame as if it were a chicken sandwich.

But Moore is running low on material so now he’s playing the victim. The victim of an 84-year-old man.

He posted on his Facebook page a message entitled: “The Day Clint Eastwood Said he Would ‘Kill’ Me, 10 Years Ago This Week,” and that included — in conclusion — that those who issue scathing verbal attacks are akin to Islamic State terrorists.

Biden Speaks The Truth: “Past 6 Years Very Very Hard On This Country” (Video)

I think someone may have slipped Vice President Joe Biden some truth serum this morning before his speech at the House Democratic Caucus retreat in Philadelphia.

Veering off the “everything’s coming up roses” narrative Obama spun in his SOTU speech, Biden told Democrats that, “To state the obvious, the past six years have been really, really hard for this country.”

He continued stating the painfully obvious truth,” and they’ve been really tough for our party. Just ask [former DCCC chair] Steve [Israel]. They’ve been really tough for our party. And together we made some really, really tough decisions — decisions that weren’t at all popular, hard to explain.”

Via The Weekly Standard: 

Here’s an idea. Instead of making unpopular decisions, try something new. Like making a decision — just ONE FREAKING DECISION that isn’t an unmitigated disaster.

 SEE ALSO:

The Politico: At retreat, Dem staffers escort reporters to restroom

You may remember a similar situation at the Clinton Global Initiative conference back in September, where there were “media minders” escorting reporters right to the bathroom stalls.

During Vice President Joe Biden’s remarks at the retreat Friday, reporters were required to have a staff member, usually a junior member of the press team, escort them when going to the bathroom or to the lobby. The filing center for reporters was at a separate hotel from where the retreat was taking place, so access was limited to members of Congress specifically made available to the press.

“It was a police state. It was absurd how heavy handed the capitol police and Democratic staff were in trying to control everywhere the press went,” New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters said in an interview.

Peters said at one point he was also barred from entering the hotel where the retreat was taking place, despite the fact he had an invitation to eat breakfast with a member of Congress.

 

Oliver North: “The Israeli People Are Quite Fed Up With Mr. Obama” (Video)

Megyn Kelly had Lt. Col. Oliver North on the Kelly File Thursday night to talk about the recent military strikes by Iran-sponsored Hezbollah on the Lebanon/Israel border.

North, who is currently in Israel, and witnessed the attacks said, “Israel has been under siege from Hamas in the South and Hezbollah in the North.”

And while all that has been going on, North continued, there was “this tiff going on in Washington” regarding Netanyahu speaking before Congress.

“Obama is acting like a petulant child,” he declared. “He’s detached from the reality of what’s going on on the border –  with Hamas, with Hezbollah.”

North noted that Netanyahu “is focused on the threat that is posed by the possibility and now even the likelihood of an Iranian nuclear weapon.”

Asked if the Israeli people care about what Obama thinks, North answered, “I think the Israeli people are quite fed up with Mr. Obama. I hear that routinely.”

He said Israelis look at the White House as interfering in the election.

The Council Has Spoken!! Watcher’s Council Results

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up.

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave. When first we practise to deceive! “ – Sir Walter Scott, Marmion

Peace is purchased from strength. It’s not purchased from weakness or unilateral retreats. – Benyamin Netanyahu

“Obama’s got something against Israel.” – Broadcaster Rush Limbaugh, 2009

““Ahmadinijad was stupid enough to be a wolf in wolf’s clothing, to expose his teeth and nails and alert the west. I can be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I have all the diplomatic and rhetoric skills to do so.” – Hasan Rouhani – President of Iran

“Israel doesn’t know what its own best interests are.” – President Barack Obama

This week’s winning essay,Joshuapundit’s Obama, Netanyahu And Congress: The Real Inside Story Raises Further Questions is my analysis of the real story behind the ginned up controversy of Israeli PM Netanyahu accepting an invitation from congress to address a joint on Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program…and what ultimate questions it raises. Here’s a slice:

President Obama’s latest escapade involving Israel says a great deal about his deep animus towards Israel. And it raises an important question.

Our story starts with Speaker of the House John Boehner inviting Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on Iran and on Islamist terrorism in March.

Boehner’s rationale for this was a widely popular bi-partisan bill up in congress calling for large scale sanctions on Iran if the Obama administration is unable to craft a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons capacity. President Obama, who watered down the previous sanctions and unilaterally dispensed with them said bluntly that he’d veto any legislation regarding Iran, and made a special point of mentioning this in his State of the Union address.

President Obama’s logic is that he and Secretary Kerry just need a little more time….in spite of three missed deadlines for a deal that have seen Iran’s nuclear stockpile actually grow.

There’s really zero transparency about what’s actually going on. IAEA inspectors have not been allowed inside major Iranian bases like Fardo, and among many things, Secretary John Kerry was apparently ‘misinformed’ when he claimed over a year ago that he had an agreement with the Islamic Republic that to cease operations at their heavy water reactor at Arak, a facility with no peaceful applications designed to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The IAEA hasn’t been allowed to inspect Arak either. Nor has it been shut down, as Kerry originally told us. Meanwhile, the Iranian Majlis is on the verge of passing legislation mandating that Iran increase its nuclear enrichment.

Small wonder Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), a co-sponsor of the senate version of the bill called what President Barack Hussein Obama had to say about Iran as ‘talking points straight from Tehran.’

Even the Washington Post awarded the president “Three Pinocchios” out of a possible four for his dishonest and delusional remarks on Iran during his speech.

So it’s quite natural that Speaker Boehner would want the Prime Minister of Israel, who’s been outspoken on Iran’s nuclear threat to address congress to increase consensus on a bill that would almost certainly have to override a presidential veto. And Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu, whose country gets threatened with annihilation by Iran every other week was happy to accept.

That’s when the White House literally went berserk.

The president claimed that congress had disrespected him by not clearing Netanyahu’s visit with the White House, although in fact congress has the legal right to invite anyone it wants to to address a joint session.

But the president’s special wrath was directed at Benyamin Netanyahu,and that was no accident, as we’ll see. The president announced that he would not meet with or otherwise acknowledge Netanyahu’s presence during his visit. And unnamed White House officials were quoted in the press as saying that Netanyahu had ‘forgotten that Obama’s going to be president for another year and a half’, and that Netanyahu was ‘spitting in our faces’ by daring to come to America without an official presidential invitation. There were dark statements about how there would ‘be a price to pay.’

The president tried to justify this by saying that the invitation by congress was a breach of protocol, and against U.S. policy to meet with a head of state this close to a national election.

He lied about that too.

For instance, a couple of months before the British general election, President Obama invited British PM David Cameron to the White House in a high profile visit that was essentially an endorsement. And just a couple of weeks ago, only four months before what’s shaping up as the tightest UK election in years, the president, who is more popular in the UK than he is here did the same thing,having a meeting with Cameron, a lavish photo-op and calling him ‘a great friend’ and one of his “closet and most trusted partners in the world.”

There have been other occasions. Remember the president’s love affair with former Islamist Egyptian leader Mohammed Morsi in the run up to the Egyptian elections?

The president also had the White House release a leak alleging that Israeli Mossad Head Tamir Pardo had personally warned US senators against further Iran sanctions.

At that point, I got fairly concerned, because to my knowledge no one in Israel’s security apparatus has ever said anything like that..if anything the reverse, that increased sanctions had the best chance to bring Iran to the table for real concessions. For the head of Mossad to say this would amount to him creating his own private foreign policy.

I can tell you now without any doubt whatsoever that this was a complete fabrication by the White House, and I heard it directly from several people who definitely ought to know.

Moreover, the Mossad released a public statement on the matter. And it was not exactly diplomatic in tone.

A senior Israeli official delivered an uncommonly harsh attack on US President Barack Obama’s administration Thursday evening, following the American report that alleged that Mossad Head Tamir Pardo had warned US senators against further Iran sanctions, in contradiction of Israel’s official stance.

“The fraudulent claims against the Mossad Head were raised by the Americans yesterday, despite a message that had been transmitted to them on Tuesday by Intelligence Minister [Yuval] Steintz,” the senior Israeli source told Channel 2 news.

He added that Israel had gone over the minutes of the meeting between Pardo and the delegation of senators, and that Pardo had not said what was attributed to him.

“Leaking the Mossad Head’s statements, even if they had not been falsified, is a serious breach of all the rules,” the senior source added. “Friends do not behave like this. Information from a secret meeting must not leak out.” […]

“The Head of Mossad did not say that he opposes additional sanctions on Iran,” said the spy agency Thursday.

“Mossad Head Tamir Pardo met on January 19, 2015, with a delegation of US senators,” Mossad said in a statement. “The meeting was held at the request of the senators and with the prime minister’s approval. At the meeting, the Head of Mossad stressed the extraordinary effectiveness of the sanctions that have been placed on Iran for several years in bringing Iran to the negotiating table.”

“The Head of Mossad noted that in negotiating with Iran, a policy of ‘carrots and sticks’ must be adopted, and there are not enough ‘sticks’ nowadays,” it added.

Furthermore, said the agency, he “said specifically that the agreement that is being formed with Iran is bad and could lead to a regional arms race.”

Both the Mossad and the Israeli government are livid over this, and that can’t help but affect the relationship with the U.S. This indeed is hardly the way an ally acts.

Of course, the real reason for all this goes well beyond the president’s ego. It’s very much about the Israeli elections.

Much more at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal with an interesting piece, How to Lose, and Win, Graciously submitted by The Watcher.

Here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

• *First place with 5 2/3 votes!–Joshuapundit–Obama, Netanyahu And Congress: The Real Inside Story Raises Further Questions
• Second place with 3 votes –Bookworm Room – “American Sniper” — a Rorschach test separating the wheat from the chaff
• Third place with 1 1/3 votes –Rhymes With Right – How The GOP Base Views The GOP Field
• Fourth place with 1 vote –Simply Jews – Charlie Hebdo murders and three paragons of hypocrisy
• Fifth place with 2/3 votes –Nice Deb – Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer: Bowe Bergdahl Has Been Charged With Desertion
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –Ask Marion – Saudi Arabia King Abdullah dies at age 90 as Yemeni President Resigns –
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –VA Right! – Does RPV General Council Opinion Prevent Speaker Howell and Others from Running as Republicans?
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –The Noisy Room – The Shadow of Crisis Engulfs the United States
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –The Right Planet – The Sudden Friends Of Charley Hebdo

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 1/3 votes! –Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion – Finally Obtained: David Gregory Arrest Warrant Affidavit submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Second place with 2 votes –David Daoud/The Tower– Replacement Theory: The Administration’s Crazy New Middle East Illusion submitted by Bookworm Room
• Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes –Howard Jacobson – Try ‘and’ instead of ‘but’ and you’ll find that America and Israel are not to blame for all the world’s atrocities submitted by Simply Jews
• Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes –Dennis Prager/NRO – If Obama Gave the State of the Union without Telling a Lie submitted by The Watcher
• Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes –Andrew McCarthy/NRO –What Bobby Jindal Gets about Islam — and Most People Still Don’t submitted by The Noisy Room
• Fifth place with 1 vote –Daily Beast – Spy General Unloads on Obama’s ISIS War Plan submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 votes –Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) – A Reply to Michael Moore and the Left on Military Snipers submitted by The Right Planet
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 votes –James Delingpole/Breitbart London –2014 Was Not The ‘Hottest Year on Record’. So Why Did NASA Claim It Was? submitted by Nice Deb
• Sixth place *t* with 2/3 votes – Pariot Update – Liberals are rewriting America’s History to Create an Ignorant Electorate submitted by VA Right!
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 votes – Adriana Cohen/Boston Herald –Sarah Palin is the Perfect Foil to Take on Hillary Clinton submitted by Ask Marion
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 votes –Sic Semper Tyrannis – Yemen (Arizona in 1870 Reborn) submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Seventh place *t* with 1/3 votes – Bill Whittle/Truth Revolt – Terrorist Nation submitted by The Watcher

See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks’ nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher’s Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y’know?

While American Libs Simpered About “Racist” American Sniper, Iraqis Flocked To The Theater To Watch It

Left-wingers continue to seethe about the success of the record-breaking blockbuster American Sniper. Not content to see it as a compelling story about a soldier who was damn good at his job, and struggled to reintegrate when he came home, they see it as an opportunity to bloviate against the Iraq war and the type of people who served in it.

In short, it has allowed the “pro-military” mask to slip off of their simpering, insincere faces, because they are anything but. They’ve proved it with their dishonest criticisms of Chris Kyle who they continue to insult with willful distortions.

No, Kyle did not call all Iraqis “savages.” And the fact that the movie sold out in Baghdad theaters when it was released, suggests that most Iraqis don’t think he did, either.

But some NBC idiot went on Morning Joe Thursday morning to perpetuate that false narrative about The American Sniper,  going so far as to say that Kyle was a “racist” who went on “killing sprees.”

Ayman Mohyeldin is an NBC foreign correspondent who formerly worked for Al Jazeera (which like the Obama administration refuses to link Islamic terrorism to Islam.)

To Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist’s credit, they pushed back against his slander.

 

Via Newsbusters:

More to Willie Geist’s point, Kyle was calling people like the sadistic animal who tortured people with an electric screwdriver, savages.

What do you call people who don’t know the difference between the brutal terrorists and normal Iraqi civilians — other than morally confused apologists for terrorism?

Meanwhile, American Sniper debuted to sold-out theaters in Baghdad when it was released in Iraq.

It seems, Iraqis didn’t find the movie as morally ambiguous as left-wing critics did:

“When [Chris Kyle] was hesitating to shoot [the child holding the RPG] everyone [in the theater] was yelling ‘Just shoot him!’” said Gaith Mohammed, an Iraqi in his 20s interviewed by the Global Post.

“Some people watching were just concentrating, but others were screaming ‘F*ck, shoot him! He has an IED, don’t wait for permission!!’” Mohammed laughed, recounting the film’s many tense scenes when US Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper, radios in for authorization to take out a potential threat in his crosshairs.

The Global Post reporter asked Mohammed if he thought the movie was “racist or anti-Arab,” and his answer is telling:

“No, why? The sniper was killing terrorists! The only thing that bothered me was when he said he didn’t know anything about the Quran!”

The 20-something Mohammed sheds light on why the movie might be so popular: “I love watching war movies because, especially now, they give me the strength to face ISIS.”

Mohammed’s answer reminds me of what former Air Force Major Mike Banzet wrote in his  book, A Flowershop in Baghdad, which I reviewed here.

Some of the Iraqis he worked with, had been members of the Ba’ath party during the Saddam Hussein years and were officers in his Air Force. His new friends had fought against us during the Gulf War – not that they were fans of Saddam Hussein, or sorry to see him go.. Others lived in areas that were sometimes mortared by the Americans. There were near misses, and sometimes houses blown up. Yes, the Americans occasionally made mistakes.

In spite of all that – what do you suppose the Iraqis called the  “American imperialist warmongers”?

“The Friendly side.”

The not-so-friendly sides included horrific terrorist groups like al Qaeda in Iraq (the pre-curser to ISIS) and militants like the Badr Brigades. Most Iraqis wanted nothing to do with the terrorists. They were glad the Americans were there to protect them.

In one very effecting vignette, Banzet described a day he went to work and found the office in a state of panicked chaos.

“Most of the guys were on their phones, urgently talking,” Banzet remembers. Worry creased their faces as they talked to loved ones at home. He asked what was going on and was told, “there are bad things happening in the neighborhoods.”

Asad had gotten off the phone, but Wahid was still calmly, forcefully directing someone. Asad looked at me, pain in his eyes, anguish on his face, and his English eloquence failed him. “They took someone and now Nassera says that she hears guns coming down the street.

Some men had broken into a home and abducted the cousin of the owner. Banzet left the office to brief an American intel officer about what was happening, and see if he had any ideas. When he got back to the office – the room was noticeably calmer. It turns out, hummers were involved. That ruled out some of the more barbaric terrorists. But one of the Shia militant brigades was known to use hummers, so there was still a great deal of concern, and Banzet went back to talk to the intel guy. When he returned the third time, he said it was like walking into an episode of the Twilight Zone.

The guys were back at work, typing on the computers, drinking tea, and chatting.

The completely bewildered Banzet asked Assad what was going on.

“I’m sorry my friend. It was the Americans,” he grinned, clapping Banzet on the shoulder and returning  to his work.

The Mansour Mall, an upscale theater in Baghdad, pulled the movie a week after its release, allegedly “because the hero of this film boasts of killing more than 160 Muslims.”

It was more likely out of fear of reprisals from the ISIS terrorists who have taken over large swaths of Iraq since Obama pulled out all of the US troops.