One pattern in Obama's presidency continues with the Coward in Chief's latest overseas trip. Those that wonder why Obama would schedule so many non-urgent trips when the economy is in such a mess, need only look at what happens when he is gone. This trip alone has featured the announcement from AG Holder that the 9-11 Terrorists are going to be tried in civilian court in NYC; Guantanamo detainees may be moved to Illinois; plans for Amnesty will pushed through congress early next year; and now we know the Coward in Chief has scrapped all options for winning the war in Afghanistan and is asking for more exit strategies, further delaying making any decisions about sending more troops.
OVERHAULING IMMIGRATION LAWS
WASHINGTON POST
Obama presses Congress to rework immigration laws
LA TIMES: Joe Markman
Napolitano sees hope for immigration reform
Reporting from Washington - The government has beefed up border security and workplace immigration enforcement, and now should begin the work of overhauling immigration laws, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday.
"The hope is that when we get into the first part of 2010, that we will see legislation begin to move," Napolitano said. The legislation should not only give law enforcement officials more tools to fight illegal immigration but create a "tough pathway" for undocumented workers to gain legal status, she said.
ELPASO TIMES: By Adriana Gómez Licón
Immigration reform: Napolitano says change to law vital to homeland security
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday reaffirmed President Obama's determination to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes the touchy issue of legalizing 12 million undocumented immigrants.
BRINGING TERRORISTS TO NYC FOR CIVILIAN TRIAL
NEW YORK TIMES
Accused 9/11 Mastermind to Face Civilian Trial in N.Y.
The Obama administration said Friday that it would prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, in a Manhattan federal courtroom, a decision that ignited a sharp political debate but took a step toward resolving one of the most pressing terrorism detention issues.
TELEGRAPH UK
President Barack Obama's decision to put the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on trial on American soil is risky but bold
Courtrooms and prisons could become the target of terrorist attacks, and their localities subjected to months or years of intensified security. Defendants will be entitled to the full constitutional protections enjoyed by average felons, while Mohammed will undoubtedly use the court as a platform from which to denounce the US, praise the Taliban and al-Qaeda and proclaim his desire for Islamic martyrdom ad nauseam.
AMERICAN THINKER
Obama's NYC Show: Starring Khalid Mohammed
The latest affront to American security is the Obama administration's decision to hold civilian trials for five of the 9/11 associated terrorists. For now, five other Gitmo inmates are scheduled to be tried as enemy combatants on foreign soil by military tribunals; which will apply comparatively swift military justice.
Which raises the question: Why try five in civilian court and five by military commission? Quite simply, the dynamic duo of Barack Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder devised a way to put President Bush on trial after all.
MOVING DETAINEES TO ILLINOIS
AP-by Deanna Bellandi
Senator, governor try to drum up support for moving Guantanamo Bay detainees to Illinois
Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin tried Sunday to build support and counter criticism of a proposal to sell a prison in rural northwestern Illinois to the federal government to house Guantanamo Bay detainees and other inmates.
LA TIMES
Illinois prison eyed for Guantanamo detainees
The nearly empty rural facility is being considered, an Obama administration official says. But obstacles remain, including a law that bars the detainees from the U.S. unless they're on trial.
HUFFINGTON POST
Conservative Trio Supports Transferring Gitmo Detainees To Illinois
In a joint statement prepared by the Constitution Project, David Keene, founder of American Conservative Union, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, and former representative and presidential candidate Bob Barr say moving suspected terrorists to the Thomson, Illinois prison facility, "makes good sense." Taxpayers, they note, have already invested $145 million in the facility, which has been "little used." And the surrounding community, they add, could benefit from increased employment once the prison becomes filled.
CHICAGO BREAKING NEWS
Pols debate transfer of Gitmo detainees to Illinois
The once-far-away national discussion about bringing Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States landed squarely into Illinois' political debate Sunday, with Democrats lauding the prospect of jobs and economic development at a little-used state prison while Republicans warned of creating a national security threat in Chicago's backyard.
Gov. Pat Quinn and a rival for the Democratic nomination for governor, Comptroller Dan Hynes, used an appearance in Rockford, about 60 miles northeast of the prison, to support the prospect of selling the mostly-vacant, 146-acre Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government to house Guantanamo Bay detainees, among other federal inmates.
CHICAGO BREAKING NEWS
Durbin said he was confident the detainees would not be a threat.
A delegation from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is scheduled to tour and inspect the Thomson Correctional Center Monday as part of a White House proposal to buy the facility and use it to house some terror suspects now detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, officials said Sunday morning.
Speaking Sunday at news conferences in Moline and Chicago, Gov. Pat Quinn called the Obama Administration's interest in the prison near the Mississippi River a "great, great opportunity for our state." Housing the detainees here would be "good for our state, good for our economy and good for our public safety," the governor said.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who also spoke, estimated that using Thomson to hold terror suspects would generate more than 2,000 local jobs directly related to the facility and an additional 1,000 in the surrounding community. "People are struggling to keep their homes. ... They're getting desperate. With the recession and the loss of jobs, they're not sure which way to turn," Durbin said. "Now they've got a chance, a fighting chance."
Republicans on Saturday warned of the security risks posed by housing terror suspects in Illinois. "As home to America's tallest building, we should not invite Al Qaeda to make Illinois its number one target," said Senate candidate and current U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk in a letter circulated Saturday. Republican U.S. Rep. Donald Manzullo, whose district includes Thomson, was among several members of Illinois' congressional delegation to sign the letter.
EXIT STRATEGY FOR AFGHANISTAN
FOXNews
Administration Lowers Bar for Success in Afghanistan War, Seeks Exit Strategy
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the administration has 'no illusions' about the Afghanistan war. Officials say the administration wants to make sure the U.S. commitment in the country is not 'open-ended' as the president drafts a new strategy.
... The ongoing rhetorical tweaking of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan comes as the president weighs whether to send more troops to the war zone. It was thought that officials were leaning toward sending more than 30,000 U.S. forces, but Obama rejected all troop-level proposals last week, sending strategists back to the drawing board.
DAILY MAIL
Brown to bring Nato allies together to work out exit strategy for Afghanistan
By Daily Mail Reporter on 16th November 2009
Gordon Brown is planning a major summit to work out an exit strategy for the Afghanistan war, it was revealed today. The Prime Minister is preparing to bring Nato allies together to fix priorities and a strategy to fulfil the military mission by empowering Afghanistan to fight the Taliban unaided. It would aim to determine a timetable and strategy for military control to be handed over district-by-district to local Afghan commanders.
LA TIMES
White House talks up need for exit strategy in Afghanistan
By Christi Parsons and Julian E. Barnes-November 13, 2009
Reporting from Washington - The White House sent its strongest signal yet Thursday that it is searching for an eventual way out of Afghanistan even as it considers sending thousands of additional troops to join the war there.
The president will not decide on troop levels for at least a week, aides said, as he embarked on an eight-day trip to Asia. Meanwhile, the lengthy review process has grown fractious, with revelations this week that the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan has advised against additional U.S. troops before improvements are made to the government in Kabul.
Until now, administration officials have said little about how they plan to extricate the U.S. from one of its longest wars. The intensified focus on an exit strategy comes as Obama's team plans ways to explain its intentions to an increasingly pessimistic American public. By pairing a troop increase with a credible exit strategy, Obama may be able to meet the twin objectives of escalating the U.S. effort while preventing further erosion in public support.
At the same time, any talk of a time frame could raise fears among Afghans and Pakistanis who want to see a long-term U.S. commitment in the region.
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