Reuters

President Obama’s idea of waging “aggressive personal diplomacy“? Attacking President Bush for blustering belligerence:

But he asserted that Iran’s support for militant groups in Iraq reflected its anxiety over the Bush administration’s policies in the region, including talk of a possible American military strike on Iranian nuclear installations.

Yup. That explains Iranian aggression for the last 30 years against the United States.

Meanwhile, Israel seizes 500 tons of Iranian weapons on Wednesday:

Israel displayed on Wednesday the contents of the ship it seized off Cyprus – crates filled with rockets, missiles, mortars, anti-tank weapons and munitions – the largest such haul in the country’s history. Israel’s claim that the weapons came from Iran were bolstered by Iranian markings on the sides of the containers and what it said was a document proving the ship had set off from an Iranian port.

Israel has not publicly shown the document, however, nor offered evidence to back its assertion that the weapons were headed for Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters.
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“Hezbollah categorically denies it has any connection with the weapons which the Zionist enemy claims it seized,” the group said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press in Beirut on Thursday.

There was no comment from Lebanese officials.

Israeli defense officials said the arms cache would have given Hezbollah, which fought a monthlong war against the Jewish state in 2006, enough firepower to sustain a full month of fighting on the scale of that war.

However, the officials also said the weapons would not have significantly enhanced Hezbollah rockets’ ability to reach deeper into Israel, as the haul consisted of weapons already in Hezbollah’s possession.

The defense officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the military has yet to formally comment on the potential value of the shipment’s contents to militants.

Iran has never acknowledged giving weapons to Hezbollah. Proof of large-scale Iranian weapons shipments to its proxy forces on Israel’s borders could reinforce Israeli demands for tough action – possibly even a pre-emptive strike – against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Israel sees Iran as its biggest threat because of what it believes to be Tehran’s ambitions to acquire atomic weapons. Iran says its nuclear program seeks only to generate energy.

Anyone believe that?

Apparently, President Obama’s allure is losing its luster from Iranian dissidents themselves. Pro-Democracy protesters are echoing the “you’re either with us, or with the terrorists” language of President Bush:

Today, the fundamentalist government in Tehran held protests to commemorate the event, as usual burning the American flag and encouraging shouts of “Death to America.”

This time, pro-democracy protesters — many wearing the movement’s signature green — were heard to shout, “Death to dictators.”

But the demonstrators, who risked beatings, imprisonment and even death to stage their rebellion, also had a message for the White House.

Witnesses said the protesters could be heard chanting: “Obama, Obama — either you’re with them or you’re with us.”

The Obama administration has so far been reluctant to convey American support for the demonstrators, fearful it would undercut the protest movement and allow President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad (who some claim can be seen in the 1979 photo above as a young revolutionary) to brand the pro-democracy movement as the work of foreign agitators.

So the White House has so far kept its distance from the movement as the West attempts to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear facilities.

Is it too much to ask of our president that he promote peace by showing support for freedom and democracy across the globe? That he take the time out of his busy schedule to recognize historic significance and symbolism in the advancement of democracy?

Munitions seized by Israeli authorities on a ship near Cyprus, are presented in the port of the Israeli city of Ashdod, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. Israeli commandos seized a ship Wednesday that defense officials said was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran bound for Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerrillas, the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered.(AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov ) (Tsafrir Abayov – AP)

Reporting from Washington — Accused in a 2002 grenade blast that wounded two U.S. soldiers near an Afghan market, Mohammed Jawad was sent as a youth to Guantanamo Bay. Now, under orders by President Obama, he could one day be among detainees whose fate is finally decided by a U.S. court.

But in a potential problem, Pentagon officials note that most of the evidence against Jawad comes from his own admissions. And neither he nor any other detainee at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was ever told about their rights against self-incrimination under U.S. law.

The Miranda warning, a fixture of American jurisprudence and staple of television cop shows, may also be one of a series of constructional hurdles standing between Obama’s order to close the island prison and court trials on the mainland.

Ok, so Obama wants to end military tribunals, can’t have civilian courts because of Miranda, can’t release 100 or so of the 200+ to their home country of Yemen because they just escape and join Al Queda again, can’t send em to countries that might execute them without upsetting his political base (despite CIA Director Panetta’s having done so dozens of times during the Clinton Admin)….so…..what’s a President to do? Keep em in Gitmo? No, he ordered that closed in a year. Move em to a US prison where their conditions will be worse, and they can incite prison populations in the US? No, he said he won’t do that. Ok, so what? For now, Obama’s done a nice job of deceiving his voters, but time’s running out on his own self-imposed deadline.

Execution of those caught not in uniform (not so much as an arm or headband)?

Surprisingly enough, this LA Times article doesn’t offer any solutions. It just whines. I know…color me shocked as well.

In the meantime, President Obama is doing the same thing as President Bush, but not getting anywhere NEAR the complaint.

The attack on the USS Cole demonstrates absolutely EVERY single one of America’s systemic failures in dealing with Al Queda.

• The attack was detected by multiple US intelligence agencies-including naval intelligence, but no one connected the dots.
• The ship was warned, but didn’t protect itself well enough. The response was limited to law enforcement/FBI efforts that were thwarted by diplomatic nuances.
• There was no military response.
• It was and IS NOW AGAIN an al Queda recruiting tool/demonstration of their success
• There was no demonstration of American resolve, revenge, or justice.
• Most of the USS Cole bombers were arrested by our “allies” in Yemen, then they escaped (sometimes several times).

The US did get the mastermind, but now Barack Obama’s dropped the charges against him. He dropped the charges AND HAD THE AUDACITY and ARROGANCE to ask the families of terror victims to come to the White House for a photo op. That gesture (genuine or not is irrelevant) rang hollow as demonstrated in this letter from the father of one of the USS Cole victims to our President.

Dear Mr. President Obama,

Our son’s name was Gary G. Swenchonis, Jr. He was a Fireman in the US Navy. He was killed in the attack on the USS Cole on 10/12/00. This letter is an appeal to you to take some long overdue action on the behalf of the 17 sailors murdered in that attack. It is an appeal for justice for their families as well.

We have been fighting against the Yemeni government and our own government for eight long years to obtain a modicum of justice for our son and his 16 mates. It’s our sincere hope that you, President Obama, and your administration will help us.
President Clinton promised the nation action in the wake of the attack, but never followed through. President Bush wrote to me, and he promised action as well. However for eight years not one of the killers was held accountable by our government or the Yemeni government.

It was not until just these past few months of the Bush administration that we finally saw some concrete measures when we witnessed the case of Ali Hamza al Bahlul. It was the first time my family and I received any comfort through this long ordeal. We attended the trial at Guantanamo Bay Prison, and I was fortunate enough to testify. The Military Commission staff conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism in all their duties, and we are proud to have them representing us in court as our lawyers. The nation can be proud of the conduct of the Military Commissions.

Bahlul was Bin Laden’s media secretary and propagandist. He produced a video that glorified the murders of our son and sixteen other sailors and the wounding 39 more sailors. The video’s purpose was to incite others to murder. Our family believes he received an appropriate sentence.

But besides that one instance of justice, we have had to listen and watch with broken hearts as the Yemeni government coddled our son’s killers. The guilty were pardoned, given light sentences that were later reduced, or not even tried for the attack. We understand that all the members of the terror cell that attacked the United States that day are walking around free in Yemen.

Yet our government still supports President Saleh and his corrupt regime even though he blatantly aids and abets Al Qaeda, Hamas and terrorism. Our government supports Saleh and his duplicitous regime even though he did everything possible to hamper with the US investigation into the Cole attack. And he was successful. Our government supports Saleh and he has used US military assistance to engage in a near genocide of his own citizens in the Sa’ada region, called “Yemen’s Darfur”.

President Obama, now I fear these sailors who died in the service of the United States will be abandoned again. It will be one more tragedy in a long list of tragedies in the Cole attack. With the suspension of the trials at Guantanamo Prison, we are deeply and painfully concerned that Abd al Rahim al Nashiri and Tawfiq bin Attash will evade justice like all their terrorists friends did in Yemen. These men had a significant role in the terrorist attack that killed my son and 16 other sailors. They are in US custody. We have a right to expect a just outcome. However, our fear is if the terrorists are tried here in our federal courts, they will go free. The bias in favor of the defendant built into our system of criminal justice becomes magnified and disproportionate in terrorism cases which are in fact not crimes but national assaults.

Regardless of one’s view on the definition of torture, there is evidence they murdered American citizens in cold blood. I don’t see how that fact can be ignored and justify their release. The debates revolving around the use of torture does not lessen the severity of the heinous crimes that they are charged with. We have had to watch helplessly as the killers of our son and his mates were tried and then one by one released by the Yemeni regime. I begged our leaders to stop that parody of a trial at the time. They did not. We implore you not to put the families through that nightmare again.

Our Representative and Senator Cornyn along with some other senators are actively working on other issues for us in regards to the attack on the USS Cole. His office has informed us that there will be a Judicial Hearing this year on those issues. It’s my heartfelt hope that you President Obama will stand with us and support that hearing.
We the families of these forgotten heroes have been denied answers for years to the most basic questions. My wife and I were so happy to read in the paper that the goal of your administration is to make our government as honest and transparent as it could be. It was a breath of fresh air. Your words gave us hope that we may actually get answers to our questions after eight long years.

I would also like to ask you if you could personally look into the issue of why the Cole Families have not been able to collect the monies awarded to us in a Federal Court under the Death on the High Seas Act. It’s been two years since our lawyers won that case. And we are still waiting. The monies awarded were only for our loved one’s future wages. How can our own government ignore a Federal Court’s verdict?

The Justice Department has taken issue with releasing the funds from the Sudan which provided assistance for the attack on the Cole. Our own government is fighting us again. And how ironic is it that we were told that the Justice Department is there to help victims of terrorist attacks. We are not asking for taxpayer monies. I never have and never will. We want the nations that supported Al Qaeda such as the Sudan and Yemen to be held responsible, not the American taxpayer. I think that if the 9/11 families had been treated this way, that there would have been a national outcry against such callous treatment from their government. But they were a much larger group of victims than us and they had the press focused on their plight.

Your assistance on these matters would be greatly appreciated. I know that we the Cole families are a small group and that is one of the reasons that we have been ignored by two administrations. Yet unfortunately, I think that small groups of victims of terrorist attacks may continue to grow here in America. And victims like those of the Cole and Embassy attacks will see more of their fellow Americans join our group. It’s my hope that you as the President will see to it that these small groups will be treated equally, with the same rights and dignity as a large group of victims that has suffered the loss of loved ones murdered by terrorists. As Judge Doumar stated in his ruling “It’s a further tragedy that the laws of the United States, in this instance provide no remedy for the psychological and emotional losses suffered by the survivors.”

Small groups of victims of terrorism have no high profile advocates like the terrorist do. All we can do is to beseech our elected politicians so the real victims are not forgotten. Sometimes partisanship rears it insidious head, and justice for the true victims is lost in the process. I think its way past time that Congress passed a Bill that will ensure that American Victims of Terrorist Attacks will have legal and financial recourse at obtaining justice, regardless if it’s just one family and or thousands of families. And not have their own government as their greatest and most formidable opponent to obtaining justice. The laws, passed to help victims, have been watered down to where it is practically of no use to the victims and/or their families.

I know that the press and the Human Rights groups only normally speak for the accused such as the terrorists who helped to murder our son and his mates. But even though they are dead, they still have rights too. We their families do as well. We have no pro bono lawyers. We have no press to champion our cause on the TV, in the newspapers and or the internet like the terrorists do. We have only our elected leaders, the lawyers that we pay if we can afford them and other citizens sympathetic to our plight and our cause.
We hope and pray that you will be willing to help us change that, Mr. President. We hold out hope that with you as our new President that the plight of small groups of victims of terrorism such as the Cole Families and their murdered loved ones will no longer be ignored by their government. We hope and we pray that you will even go so far as to ensure that future groups of Americans will never have to endure what we have had to endure, at least in regards to the problems I have stated.
Thank you for your time in these most important issues.

Respectfully,
Gary G and Deborah Swenchonis
Remember the Cole! 01/24/09

The ol’ “Grey Lady” herself gives us the news via Robert Worth’s article today, Saudis Issue List of 85 Terrorism Suspects.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Eleven Saudis who were released from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and then passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists are now believed to have fled the country and joined terrorist groups abroad, Saudi officials said Tuesday.

The 11 former detainees include two who were already identified last month as members of a Yemeni terrorist group. Their names were on a list of 85 wanted terrorism suspects made public Tuesday by the Saudi Interior Ministry.

The announcement further underscored the difficulties faced by the Obama administration as it prepares to close the Guantánamo detention center. All told, 14 Saudis now appear to have rejoined terrorist groups after their return from Guantánamo, including the 11 living abroad and 3 who were rearrested in Saudi Arabia after their return.

It might be useful to note here that Saudi Arabia has a “rehab” program for terrorists already in place, and “widely viewed as a successful model.”

Ohhhh kay….

This, BTW, comes on the heels of not only the Gitmo bunch who appeared in the latest AQ video after being installed in their new jobs with the AQ Yemeni cell, but (as I pointed out in my Jan 27th post) the Saudi’s had already arrested nine terror suspects last week. Several of these were…. well, you get the picture.

Yemen, who is awaiting the return of 94 of their own homeboys from Guantanamo, doesn’t have one of these efficient and “successful” rehab” programs yet.

Oh joy…

But “let’s be clear” here…. these guys haven’t done anything wrong. At least yet…

It is not clear whether any of the 11 former detainees being sought by Saudi Arabia have taken part in terrorist attacks. …. snip…

~~~

Saudi officials have issued lists of wanted militants before, but the list of 85 — all but two of them Saudi — was the largest so far. As in the past, the authorities appealed for the men to return and turn themselves in.

“They will, of course, be interviewed and investigated and prosecuted for any crimes they may have committed,” said Gen. Mansour al-Turki, the chief spokesman of the Interior Ministry. “But by turning themselves in before committing any crime, they will have a better chance to be returned to their families.”

Here we go… back to the “law enforcement” method of national security.

Are we shocked yet? Well, hang on your your Lazy-boy arm rests. More Iran six degrees of separation coming up…

It is not clear why the Saudi authorities chose to identify the 11 former Guantánamo detainees or how long they have known about them. Muhammad bin Nayef, the Saudi minister who oversees the counterterrorism program, traveled to Yemen after the video showing the two Saudi jihadists appeared. Mr. Nayef has strong relationships with American and British intelligence officials, and he may have decided that more transparency would be helpful, said Bernard Haykel, a professor at Princeton University and an expert on Saudi Arabia.

In addition to releasing the list of 85 terrorism suspects, Saudi officials made a striking accusation: one of the men on it, Abdullah al-Qarawi, is a Saudi who has been operating from Iran for three years.

Mr. Qarawi, 35, is believed to have been behind some of the terrorist attacks in recent years inside Saudi Arabia, said a Saudi security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, saying he was not authorized to discuss the matter in public.

Known to followers as “the Star,” Mr. Qarawi is in charge of leading Al Qaeda’s operations in the Persian Gulf and Iran, and of bringing new members into Afghanistan, the official said. He is believed to have more than 100 Saudis working for him in Iran, where they move about freely, the official added.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have accused Iran in the past of harboring Qaeda members, and Iran has denied it. Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as the leader of the Muslim world, views Iran’s revolutionary Shiite regime with hostility, especially in light of its nuclear ambitions.

ummmmm yeah. Feeling better every day about that Gitmo EO, I am….

But one thing the Saudis are recognizing more and more… they have a Yemeni problem. Another on the list is Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the leader of the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda, which recently announced it’s merger with the Saudi branch.

Over the past year or so, the Yemeni group appears to have expanded and brought in a number of Saudis, experts say. Its leaders say they will use Yemen, which shares a border with Saudi Arabia, as a base to launch ambitious attacks throughout the region, including in Saudi Arabia and East Africa.

“I think Saudi Arabia is now taking very seriously the threat coming from Yemen,” said Gregory Johnsen, a terrorism analyst with experience in Yemen.

Think Pakistan is a difficult ally because of it’s tribal leaders and rugged terrain? Add another one to the list with Yemen. Tho they have been “cooperating” since 2001 (post 911 and under that much hated George W. Bush…) the similar mountainous terrain, combined with their tendency to “negotiate” with their militants, puts Yemen on a par with Pakistan.

Yeah… let’s release a few more, and bring the rest to the US. Good idea….

Are we having fun yet?