01/29/13

Obama Pushing American People Closer to Armed Resistance

By: Sher Zieve
Gulag Bound

SWAT_team

Each and every day now Obama and his syndicate government are pushing harder and harder for the removal of all of our liberties, in order to place us into slavery and create a permanent police state. Even the most dense on the far Left are now aware–some only vaguely–that things are not as they should be. However, the further Left one goes, the more perverse and unstable one becomes. Luciferianism–Marxist, Nazi, Fascist or otherwise–is and has always been the End Goal of the power-maddened once-human would-be masters and oppressors of the human race. And nation by nation, they have been practicing this tyranny for a very long time

Members of the Obama syndicate and the growing New World Order globalist elites long ago came out into the open with their plans. From Agenda 21 (to steal all private property and move humans from rural environments to urban centers where their movements and population numbers will be easier to manipulate and control) through the removal of all human rights (while the “overseers” say they are actually installing them)–in America that’s nullifying the US Constitution and substituting it with ObamaLaw–and replacing the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with the worship of Lucifer (also known as atheism and Islam) our planned overseers are now daily stripping us of everything we have and punishing our beliefs if they do not subscribe to the worship of both their malevolent vision and dark lord. This is what’s occurring. It’s directly in front of us, now, and in our faces.

The atrocities of the current US government and its leaders are truly too many and too vast to itemize here. However, my own columns since 2008 to the present have warned what would happen if Obama was elected to his first term as POTUS and addressed the majority of major abominations he and his lackeys have committed since Obama has been in office. There are, also, multiple books outlining his tyrannical plans and their implementation, including his expert use of the Cloward-Piven Strategy which teaches overwhelming the US system on every level. I will not and cannot address them all here. However, Richard Poe is also one who writes about this insidious plan in his 2005 article “The Cloward-Piven Strategy“:

Their article called for ‘cadres of aggressive organizers’ to use ‘demonstrations to create a climate of militancy.’ Intimidated by threats of black violence, politicians would appeal to the federal government for help. Carefully orchestrated media campaigns, carried out by friendly, leftwing journalists, would float the idea of ‘a federal program of income redistribution,’ in the form of a guaranteed living income for all — working and non-working people alike. Local officials would clutch at this idea like drowning men to a lifeline. They would apply pressure on Washington to implement it. With every major city erupting into chaos, Washington would have to act.

For the past several years, the Obama syndicate has created one “emergency” after another that had to be addressed “immediately” with no time to take a look at what his syndicate members were actually doing. Because of this, we lost the arguably best health care system in the world to the debasing and not-about-health ObamaCare. It is tyrannical, taxation with no representation and anti-human reality are only now coming to the surface, while Obama and his adherents laugh loudly at us with champagne and $300-400 per pound Kobe steaks at the still ongoing White House ObamaParties. Did you know that clothing is now charged an additional ObamaTax because ObamaCare states your personal clothes are “medical devices?”

Obama has been summarily firing and replacing US Constitution-upholding Generals and Admirals in the US military with those who will, instead, swear their allegiance to Obama and the United Nations group. Note: Multiple source links to these are available in my past columns.

Police_at_Sandy_Hook

It strongly appears that Obama may also be creating massacre scenarios, in order to confiscate law-abiding citizens’ legally owned firearms–”never let a crisis go to waste” even if you have to create it? Was the latest the tragedy and horror perpetrated at Sandy Hook? At first–and second–glance I dismissed the information and videos stating that this was all part of the Obama coup to remove our weapons. However, there are so many anomalies, exposed, intentionally provided false directions and openly (again…in our faces) faked media footage, that it presents us with the necessity of asking questions.

There were many who legitimately lost their children and other loved ones from the madman who slaughtered so many innocent lives. For those people, nothing but God and time can help their real pain. But, at least a few of the victims who supposedly lost their children on that horrid day are shown relaxed and smiling just before their “press conferences” when they visibly change their expressions. Note: To date I have not seen these “debunked” nor even addressed by the debunkers. Some also seem to have been “victims” at other recent massacres. Also, in all three recent shootings–Colorado theatre, Oregon Mall and Sandy Hook–multiple witnesses report additional shooters who seem to have gotten away. Debunking these ostensible “conspiracy theories” originally presented a full time job for many leftist and at least one conservative site. But, not all of them have been debunked. We will have to make up our own minds but, we need to consider all of the evidence. We certainly should have learned by now that, with regards to the actions coming from the Obama syndicate, there are no coincidences.

One thing, however, that we do know with certainty is that in each of these circumstances, the shooters were taking anti-depressant psychotropic drugs…drugs that, over the years, have proven to have caused multiple suicides and homicides enacted by patients ingesting them.

Military-Vehicle

Since 2009, Obama has been using military helicopters to fly over US cities and tanks and other heavy artillery in “training exercises.” These cities include but, are not limited to Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Boulder. This is a first in our history as a nation. The populations are not warned ahead of time, in order to create the maximum amount of fear of their government. Obama used the helicopters to fly over residents in Worchester, Massachusetts and literally dive-bombed residents homes waking them up at midnight and his latest escalation in Obama’s ongoing war against US citizens was a fly-over and joint military-local police exercise conducted this month in Miami, FL.

This time, however, gunfire was added to make it seem more real. The citizenry was not warned ahead of time and many ran for cover. This, my friends, is your government at work…working, that is, to either force you into submission (better give those guns up or else!) or begin the second US Civil War.

After all, Obama has now had plenty of practice at doing so–with both his Egypt and Libyan excursions. You didn’t really think those were about democracy did you? They were about installing Obama’s Muslim Brotherhood as the rulers of those countries, while he used their populations to practice on how to affect his total takeover of the USA…for himself and Islam.

We didn’t vote him out of office and I do realize “the fix was in” so that all too many of our votes against Obama were not counted. Therefore, he is now in the process of stepping up his destruction of this country and its population. Or, you can choose to be slaves. That is always a possibility. If you do not want to, again, be a free people and take the responsibility of taking back our country, the freedom to worship our God and ridding ourselves of our oppressors–predominantly in Washington D.C.–you may choose to die slowly. These are now the only two options left.

Obama’s war–the War against America–has already begun in earnest. Thus far, our military and too many local police are training to bring us down.

May God bless all who choose to fight and bring back the Republic.

And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all
–Daniel 11:36-37

The origin of Marxism is within a Satanic mystery cult:
at forerunner.com

Neo-völkisch movements (Nazi and Fascist Satanism):
at en.wikipedia.org

Agenda 21 Eco-Cities Built for Permanent Population Control:
at occupycorporatism.com

Richard Poe on Cloward-Piven Strategy:
at discoverthenetworks.org

Sandy Hook Explained:
at youtube.com

Sandy Hook – ‘Second Shooter In Custody’ : Fox News Director W/Chris Phillips:
at beforeitsnews.com

Holmes had help: Aurora shooting:
at examiner.com

‘More than one shooter’ on scene at Oregon mall – Reports:
at salem-news.com

Robbie Parker Recalls 6-Year Old Daughter, Newtown Shooting Victim Emilie Parker:
at huffingtonpost.com

CNN video of police charge at Sandy Hook is not Sandy Hook:
at digitaljournal.com

Massachusetts Citizens frightened by Military Exercises at Midnight:
at infowars.com

Machine gun fire from military helicopters flying over downtown Miami FL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri9ioCbqJCU

Obama Care Imposes an Additional Tax on Clothing:
at conpats.blogspot.com

01/29/13

On the Brink of Chaos

Arlene from Israel

Last I posted, I thought it was time for some upbeat news. We all need that to sustain us. But there is precious little that is “upbeat” regarding what I’m about to write here. We are facing some very critical situations.

In due course I will write further about the election results and the development of the coalition, with its closed-door negotiations and inter-faction tensions. But right now, that seems “small potatoes.”

~~~~~~~~~~

You may have heard: “Something” has happened at Fordow, Iran’s nuclear enrichment facility, some 300 feet beneath a mountain, near the holy Shi’ite city of Qom.

Credit: actforaustralia

What occurred was an explosion of some sort, either this past Monday or some days before.

I was reluctant to write about this sooner, as information that had come out was conflicting and incomplete. But the time has come.

~~~~~~~~~~

This first major question is, how much damage has been done?

An early report — on the missingpeace.eu website — was by Dr. Ali Reza Nourizadeh, a senior researcher and director of the Centre for Arab & Iranian Studies in London. He maintains many contacts in Iran, and indicated that little damage was done to the enrichment facility, which houses some 3,000 centrifuges and uranium that has been enriched to 20%. Rather, the entrance was totally blocked, he said, trapping some 200 personnel inside.

A number of other reports, however, have cited one Reza Khalili — which is the pseudonym for an Iranian from the Revolutionary Guards who defected to the CIA and is now in the US. His source was Hamid Reza Zakeri, a former Iranian intelligence officer, who also defected but apparently maintains contacts in Iran.

According to the Khalili reports, damage has been major. (Was Nourizadeh reporting just what the Iranians wanted him to say?) The personnel who are trapped, including 14 North Koreans, have not been rescued, Khalili maintains, because of fear of releasing radioactive gases — thus exposing the extent of the damage and risking the surrounding population of several thousand (would the Iranian leaders care?).

~~~~~~~~~~

The latest report provides far more specificity, increasing the likelihood that it is legitimate. Apparently there has been verification from an additional Iranian source, as well. An updated description of the situation says, in part:

“…five explosions occurred concurrently in the centrifuge chambers, two explosions in the uranium reserve enclosures and a subsequent explosion in the main hallway close to the exit…At the time of the explosions, a very bright red and purple light distorted the [camera] image and an extremely loud noise could be heard. Before the explosions knocked out the cameras, interior walls could be seen coming down within the centrifuge chambers. All the explosions seemed to have been initiated from the ceilings

“Approximately two hours after the explosions, counterintelligence agents arrived and, after interviewing personnel and reviewing tapes, initially concluded that explosives may have been placed in ceiling lamps with some kind of trigger mechanism controlled by a power voltage frequency.”

http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/01/29/wnd-adds-to-report-on-explosion-at-fordow-nuclear-plant-as-former-revolutionary-guard-member-confirms-incident-to-israeli-media/

So we’re probably looking at something very big indeed, with implications that may be enormous. We still need to know more, however, before we permit ourselves the luxury of feeling any hope that the Iranian nuclear development project has been stymied or badly set back.

On the one hand, if it’s true, for Israel to be free of the burden of having to take on Iran militarily before it reached that red line would be an immeasurable blessing. And yet, there are still implications and consequences to be dealt with.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next question, of course, is who? And all fingers point to Israel. Naturally. I can neither confirm nor deny this speculation, but will add something. IF Israel was involved, it was most likely in concert with Iranians operating in the resistance. (The other, admittedly more remote possibility, is that it was just a resistance operation.) For this was sabotage from inside, and almost certainly involved native Iranians on the ground.

Whatever the damage, imagine how the Iranian leaders feel right now, knowing that the sabotage took place in a facility that was touted as impenetrable. They are denying there has been an explosion, which is just what we might have expected. And they will maintain this fiction as long as they can.

~~~~~~~~~~

As to how Iran might respond, here, again, I’ve read conflicting reports: That Iran will not retaliate against Israel right now, that Iran will utilize Hezbollah to launch an attack on Israel, or that Iran has requested of Nasrallah of Hezbollah that some Lebanese villages in the south be vacated so that the Revolutionary Guard might move in to wage a rocket attack.

All I can do is report this, having no further information or insight. We are not in for an easy time, in any event.

~~~~~~~~~~

For the record, Israeli intelligence has reported the explosion in Fordow, although it has provided no details that I’ve seen. It wouldn’t.

But in the US, Jay Carney, White House Spokesperson, said yesterday: “We have no information to confirm the allegations in the report and we do not believe the report is credible.” Of course they have information. This is an attempt to side step any suggestion of involvement so as to avoid reprisal attacks or complications in the US relationship with Iran.

~~~~~~~~~~

What makes this all the more unsettling — disconcerting? terrifying? — is the concern, which I’ve written about before, that Syrian president Assad is about to collapse, so that his multiple caches of weapons of mass destruction may be seized by Hezbollah or other terrorist groups. There is one report that indicates Hezbollah has set up a camp near one of those caches, and, according to an unverified report in Lebanese news outlets, may already have their hands on some chemical weapons.

We are monitoring this very very carefully and with full intent to act as necessary. Hezbollah must not walk away with those weapons. Prime Minister Netanyahu has said the policy choices we face here are between “bad, bad, and worse.”

Commenting on the situation, however, Obama has just said:

“In a situation like Syria, I have to ask, can we make a difference in that situation.” It would appear that he has decided in the negative. In that situation.

~~~~~~~~~~

There are reports that Netanyahu has dispatched National Security Advisor Ya’akov Amidror to Russia for meetings on the issue of the Syrian weapons. Russia is deeply invested in Syria.

Two Iron Dome batteries have been positioned in the north, against possible rocket attacks there.

~~~~~~~~~~

Aside from the problems with Syria, we have increased violence occurring to our southwest — in Egypt. I will not deal with this in any detail here, but simply wish to note it. There is question as to whether Morsi can hold out, in the face of growing unrest in this country. There will be time to return to this. Egypt does not represent an immediate threat, as Syria/Hezbollah do.

~~~~~~~~~~

And to our east, Jordan’s King Abdullah continues to walk a tightrope. The king has worked towards a rapprochement with Hamas, in order to secure Hamas assistance in preventing the Muslim Brotherhood inside of Jordan from generating chaos. Abdullah has just played host to Hamas politburo head Khaled Mashaal. Time was that I thought of Jordan as moderate. But Abdullah has had to move with the times or face losing his throne.

Abdullah gave a speech in Davos, Switzerland, last week, in which he said that Hamas appeared to be ready to live in peace next to Israel. But on the “Palestine Today” website, a spokesman for Hamas shot this down, saying that “The only relationship with this enemy is the resistance.”

~~~~~~~~~~

In the last few days:

In Hevron, in Judea, Arab stone throwers attacked a Jewish kindergarten.

A bus travelling north from Jerusalem was attacked by stone-throwing Palestinian Arabs.

In the Givat Shaul neighborhood of Jerusalem, an Arab attacked a Jew, and the incident ended up as a riot with Jews and Arabs facing off.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23646/Default.aspx?hp=article_title

Border Police prevented a terror attack when they stopped three Arabs from the Balata refugee camp at the Tapuah junction in Samaria; searching their car, the police found eight pipe bombs a pistol and a knife.

~~~~~~~~~~

So what we need is the strongest possible government, with its members working together to keep the Jews of Israel safe. And may the Almighty give our leaders the strength and the wisdom to cope on many fronts.

~~~~~~~~~~

A glimmer of hope:

“A distinguished group of fourteen retired generals and admirals, representing all branches of the United States Armed Forces, has signed a letter opposing the nomination of Sen. Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense.

“The letter – addressed to Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), respectively, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee – raises several concerns about the nomination of Sen. Hagel, including:

“Sen. Hagel’s support for further cuts to the defense budget…

“Sen. Hagel’s support for the global elimination of nuclear weapons…

“Sen. Hagel’s hostility towards Israel…

“Sen. Hagel’s outlook towards Iran…”

For full article and list of those who signed:

http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/p19191.xml

01/29/13

The Gun Ban Lobby and Its Funders

By: James Simpson, Foundation Watch, February 2013 (PDF here)
Capital Research Center

Summary: The gun ban lobby includes not just a few groups like the Brady Center but also the mainstream media as a whole. Its preferred tactics are to use misleading terms and to ignore the actual facts of gun control’s failure.

The massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, this past December hit home like few other tragedies. Yet again a lunatic commits mass murder, this time slaughtering our most vulnerable and most cherished: our children. Words cannot express the bottomless grief one feels at the mere thought of such loss. Sandy Hook rightfully shook our sensibilities and forced us to reassess what we believe about ourselves and America. Why is this happening? we ask.

As usual, before police cordoned off the crime scene, the Left had its answer ready: not enough gun control. Left-wingers repeated their old refrain: America can no longer defend its “gun culture,” which is responsible for this tragedy, and we must have a national “dialogue” on guns.

In fact, we have been having a “dialogue” about guns for decades, and it has been very one-sided. The Left has often received what it asked for, starting with the 1968 Gun Control Act, the 1993 Brady Law (until the courts found parts of it unconstitutional), and a so-called federal “assault weapons” ban on semi-automatic rifles and high capacity magazines from 1994 to 2004. Yet none of this has affected gun crime or prevented any massacres. The Centers for Disease Control, a federal agency widely seen as favoring gun control, produced a major study in 2003 that admitted, “The Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws or combinations of laws reviewed on violent outcomes.”

Prior to the 1968 Gun Control Act, few controls existed on privately owned firearms, with the exception of machine guns—that is, guns that keep firing as long as you hold the trigger—which have been strictly regulated since 1934 under the National Firearms Act. Even children could order rifles through the mail with parental permission. Yet firearms crimes were less frequent, as were the mass shootings that seem to be a regular feature in the news these days.

Activists on the Left don’t really want a dialogue. They want a total ban on guns in private hands, but they rarely admit that. Instead, they mask the issue with misleading language, selective statistics, and a campaign to vilify their political opponents.

Major Players
On the gun control issue, only a few small activist groups dedicate their work to banning guns. Here is the list, with the most recent available annual revenues shown on their IRS tax returns:

American Hunters and Shooters Association (2011 revenues $5,000)

Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (2010 revenues $3 million) and its 501(c)(4) affiliate, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (2010 revenues $2.9 million)

Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (2010 revenues $309,000)

Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (2010 revenues $249,000)

Legal Community Against Violence (a.k.a Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence; 2010 revenues $978,000)

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Action Fund (2010 revenues $2.7 million)

Stop Handgun Violence (co-founded the American Hunters and Shooters Association in 2005; 2012 revenues $143,000)

Third Way (formerly Americans for Gun Safety Foundation; 2010 revenues $7.5 million)

Violence Policy Center (2010 revenues $832,000)

United Against Illegal Guns Support Fund (affiliated with Mayors Against Illegal Guns; 2010 revenues $1.3 million)

The best known gun control groups are the Brady Center and the Violence Policy Center (VPC). VPC receives most of its funding from the Joyce Foundation ($6.3 million since 1998) on whose board Obama used to serve; George Soros’ Open Society Institute ($800,000 since 1999); and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation ($575,000 since 1999). The Brady Center receives much of its funding from small donors. FoundationSearch only reveals modest payments from foundations. From 2008 to 2011 the largest donation, $34,000, came from the Ladner Family Foundation. By contrast, the Brady Center’s last tax return says $2.7 million of its $3 million revenues were raised with the help of a professional consultant that specializes in online and direct mail fundraising (the Brady Center paid the consultant $96,000). In the same year, the group’s (c)(4) affiliate, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, paid the same consultant $99,000 to bring in $2.8 million of its $2.9 million revenues.

Altogether these 10 groups provided less than $20 million to the gun control cause in 2010, a trifle compared with the National Rifle Association (NRA), which lists 2010 revenues of $228 million. To the uninformed this appears to be a David versus Goliath struggle, the little good guys versus the big, bad old NRA, and that’s the way the Left likes it. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Conservative groups often focus on one or a few issues like abortion, taxes, excessive regulations, immigration, or guns, and rarely unite behind other causes. Conversely, the Left should be understood as a single amorphous organism. Like a giant amoeba, one segment may move one way and a second another, but the whole organism moves slowly forward as one. While leftist groups may identify themselves with one issue, most work together on all leftist agendas.

Thus the gun ban lobby actually includes the ACLU, Women Strike for Peace, People for the American Way, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Physicians for Social Responsibility, National Council of La Raza, as well as labor, women’s, and medical groups. (Yes, the gun control Left has captured the national leadership of such groups as the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has stated, “The most effective way to prevent firearm-related injury to children is to keep guns out of homes and communities.”)

The NRA published a list of 141 organizations, 237 actors, and 26 national figures who have lent their resources and/or names to the anti-gun agenda. The list also includes 37 journalists and cartoonists who editorialize against guns. Practically all mass media outlets, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, the publicly funded PBS, most major daily newspapers, and many magazines overtly push an anti-gun agenda. The earned media alone from this unified public voice is worth billions of dollars.

In addition, Soros’s philanthropic network purchases media to promote its founder’s radical agenda, granting annual awards to “Soros Justice Fellows.” In at least one case, this involves subsidizing a working journalist. Amanda Crawford, who works for Bloomberg and Newsweek, received $47,000 in 2010 “To illustrate the failure of the drug war through a blog [crawfordondrugs.com]) and series of targeted magazine articles….” Not surprisingly, she also writes about guns. This seems to be a clear case of Soros actually buying media to promote his agenda. In the past month, President Obama has asked Soros and other wealthy leftists to open their checkbooks to challenge the Second Amendment.

Continue reading

01/29/13

MILITARY LEADERS OPPOSE CONFIRMATION OF SEN. CHUCK HAGEL FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Center for Security Policy

January 29, 2013

For Immediate Release

For more information, contact Ben Lerner
at (202) 835-9077 or [email protected]

MILITARY LEADERS OPPOSE CONFIRMATION OF SEN. CHUCK HAGEL FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

(Washington, D.C.): A distinguished group of fourteen retired generals and admirals, representing all branches of the United States Armed Forces, has signed a letter opposing the nomination of Sen. Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense.

The letter – addressed to Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), respectively, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee – raises several concerns about the nomination of Sen. Hagel, including:

  • Sen. Hagel’s support for further cuts to the defense budget. Sen. Hagel stated in late August 2011 that the Pentagon is “bloated” and needs to be “pared down”, contrary to Sec. Panetta’s and Chairman Dempsey’s views that sequestration – the additional hundreds of billions in across-the-board cuts to defense that go well beyond the $787 billion in cuts already sustained by the Department since Sec. Gates’ tenure – would be “disastrous for the defense budget” and “very high risk” to national security.
  • Sen. Hagel’s support for the global elimination of nuclear weapons. Sen. Hagel is a public supporter of the “Global Zero” Initiative, the goal of which is the “elimination of all nuclear weapons.” This stance is ill-advised for any Secretary of Defense, as Russia and China continue to modernize their nuclear capabilities while North Korea and Iran move closer to obtaining them.
  • Sen. Hagel’s hostility towards Israel. Sen. Hagel has demonstrated an abiding hostility towards Israel, a view that would be detrimental to our national defense and perhaps perilous to our only stable, reliable ally in the Middle East were he to become Secretary.
  • Sen. Hagel’s outlook towards Iran. Sen. Hagel repeatedly opposed sanctions against Iran while serving in the Senate, and in 2006 stated that “a military strike against Iran, a military option, is not a viable, feasible, responsible option” – an ill-advised statement that undercuts the effectiveness of both diplomatic and military policies to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capabilities.

The signers of the letter are:

Adm. James “Ace” Lyons, USN (Ret.)

Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, USA (Ret.)

Vice Adm. Robert Monroe, USN (Ret.)

Lt. Gen. E.G. “Buck” Shuler, Jr., USAF (Ret.)

Maj. Gen. Thomas F. Cole, USA (Ret.)

Maj. Gen. Vincent E. Falter, USA (Ret.)

Rear Adm. H.E. Gerhard, USN (Ret.)

Rear Adm. Robert H. Gormley, USN (Ret.)

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Higginbotham, USMC (Ret.)

Rear Adm. Don G. Primeau, USN (Ret.)

Maj. Gen. Mel Thrash, USA (Ret.)

Maj. Gen. Paul E. Vallely, USA (Ret.)

Brig. Gen. William A. Bloomer, USMC (Ret.)

Brig. Gen. Ronald K. Kerwood, USA (Ret.)

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President and CEO of the Center for Security Policy, which facilitated this letter, stated: “These military leaders deserve our profound thanks for once again acting in service to our nation – in this instance, for the purpose of raising awareness of the risks associated with confirming Sen. Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense. This group knows firsthand that the United States military requires leadership that recognizes the need for a defense budget commensurate with the threats we face; the need for a credible, reliable and effective nuclear deterrent; and the need to support our allies and not accommodate our adversaries. Sen. Hagel lacks these qualities, and hopefully the United States Senate will heed the concerns of these flag and general officers during the course of his confirmation process.”

About the Center for Security Policy

The Center for Security Policy is a non-profit, non-partisan national security organization that specializes in identifying policies, actions, and resource needs that are vital to American security and then ensures that such issues are the subject of both focused, principled examination and effective action by recognized policy experts, appropriate officials, opinion leaders, and the general public. For more information visit www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org.

The full text of the letter can be found below.

———–

29 January, 2013

Dear Chairman Levin and Ranking Member Inhofe:

As individuals who were privileged to serve our country as flag and general officers in the United States military, we write to you to express our deep concerns about the nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel to serve as Secretary of Defense.

Our nation faces enormous national security challenges as we enter 2013. Addressing those challenges will require leadership at the Pentagon that recognizes the gravity of the threats we face and understands the requirement for a formidable military capable of deterring and, if necessary, overcoming them. Senator Hagel’s record on key issues indicates he is not such a leader.

First, Sen. Hagel stated on 29 August, 2011: “The Defense Department, I think in many ways has been bloated…I think the Pentagon needs to be pared down.” This statement seems to ignore the fact that, the Budget Control Act of 2011 had already cut $487 billion from the defense budget over ten years — let alone that this round of reductions comes on top of the more than $300 billion in cuts that took place under then-Secretary Robert Gates.

Recall that Secretary Leon Panetta on 4 August, 2011 stated that hundreds of billions more in cuts over ten years that sequestration will bring about will be “disastrous to the defense budget.” JCS Chairman General Martin Dempsey has indicated that sequestration poses “very high risk” for national security. Consequently, Sen. Hagel’s assertion that still further cuts are warranted is at odds with the judgment of the Pentagon’s current civilian and military leadership. It suggests a disqualifying lack of understanding of the dire effects such reductions would have on our defense capabilities.

Second, Sen. Hagel is a signatory of the “Global Zero” Initiative, which describes itself as “the “international movement for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.” At a time when Russia and China are increasing and modernizing their nuclear capabilities, North Korea is enhancing its long-range nuclear delivery systems and the weapons they will carry and Iran is moving ever closer to obtaining such arms, we cannot responsibly abandon our deterrent. It would be ill-advised and possibly very dangerous to have as a Secretary of Defense someone who believes otherwise.

Third, Sen. Hagel has demonstrated an abiding hostility towards Israel, a view that would be detrimental to our national defense and perhaps perilous to our ally were he to become Secretary. For example: In 2009, he urged President Obama to undertake direct negotiations with Hamas. In October 2000, he was one of just three Senators to refuse to sign a letter expressing support for Israel during the second Palestinian intifada. In 2002, following several deadly Palestinian suicide-bombing attacks in Israel, he authored a Washington Post op-ed asserting that “Palestinian reformers cannot promote a democratic agenda for change while both the Israeli military occupation and settlement activity continue.”

Israel is our only stable, reliable ally in an increasingly turbulent and hostile Middle East. Given Sen. Hagel’s record of hostility towards the Jewish State, his confirmation could signal to Israel’s enemies and ours that this important bilateral relationship is unraveling. That perception could invite aggression and perhaps another, otherwise avoidable regional war.

Another matter of profound concern is Sen. Hagel’s outlook towards Iran — a country that, among other acts of war against our country, employed its proxy, Hezbollah, to bomb the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, resulting in the deaths 241 American servicemen. Sen. Hagel has repeatedly refused to support sanctions against Iran while in the Senate, and in 2006, he stated that “a military strike against Iran, a military option, is not a viable, feasible, responsible option.” This ill-advised statement telegraphs to Tehran that it should not fear a U.S. military response to the continued pursuit of Iranian nuclear weapons. Whichever policies are pursued with the objective of preventing a nuclear Iran can only have hope of success if backed by a credible military deterrent. It would be unwise to confirm a nominee for Secretary of Defense who has already publicly taken that option off the table.

For all of these reasons, it is our professional assessment that confirmation of Sen. Hagel to be Secretary of Defense would be contrary to the United States’ vital national security interests.

Sincerely,

Adm. James “Ace” Lyons, USN (Ret.)
Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, USA (Ret.)
Vice Adm. Robert Monroe, USN (Ret.)
Lt. Gen. E.G. “Buck” Shuler, Jr., USAF (Ret.)
Maj. Gen. Thomas F. Cole, USA (Ret.)
Maj. Gen. Vincent E. Falter, USA (Ret.)
Rear Adm. H.E. Gerhard, USN (Ret.)
Rear Adm. Robert H. Gormley, USN (Ret.)
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Higginbotham, USMC (Ret.)
Rear Adm. Don G. Primeau, USN (Ret.)
Maj. Gen. Mel Thrash, USA (Ret.)
Maj. Gen. Paul E. Vallely, USA (Ret.)
Brig. Gen. William A. Bloomer, USMC (Ret.)
Brig. Gen. Ronald K. Kerwood, USA (Ret.)