Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) may be flooding over the border

One of the world's most dangerous gangs Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) is very likely crossing the border with the thousands pouring in each day.

Border Patrol officials are swamped by the number of minors crossing illegally into the United States and frustrated that they can’t turn away known Mexican gang members. 

Chris Cabrera, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 3307 in the Rio Grande Valley, said that confirmed gang members in Mexico — including those from Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) — are coming into the country to be reunited with their families, National Review reported Friday. 

“If he’s a confirmed gang member in his own country, why are we letting him in here? … I’ve heard people come in and say, ‘You’re going to let me go, just like you let my mother go, just like you let my sister go. You’re going to let me go as well, and the government’s going to take care of us,’” Mr. Cabrera told the magazine.

Why should you care? MS-13 is one of the most notorious gangs which originated in Los Angeles and spread across much of Latin America. It has been known to have ties to al-Qaeda since 2005

SAN SALVADOR — A street gang based in El Salvador has rapidly spread in the USA and raised enough concern for the Justice Department to create a new task force to battle it. But the head of the task force says the gang has no al-Qaeda connections, despite a suggestion Monday by El Salvador's president that there may be a link. 

"The FBI, in concert with the U.S. intelligence community and governments of several Central American republics, have determined that there is no basis in fact to support this allegation of al-Qaeda or even radical Islamic ties to MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha)," says Robert Clifford, director of the new task force. Clifford is in El Salvador this week to discuss cooperation with his Central American counterparts. 

Last year, Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez raised alarm when he said al-Qaeda might be trying to recruit Central American gang members to help terrorists infiltrate the USA. On Monday, Salvadoran President Tony Saca said he could "not rule out a link between terrorists and Central American gang members." 

Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, said last month, "We know from El Salvadoran law enforcement that al-Qaeda is meeting with violent gang leaders in El Salvador. We have also had reports that Middle Easterners have been sighted on the banks of the Rio Grande." 

Clifford dismisses these claims: "To have something as sophisticated as al-Qaeda overtly align and identify itself with a group of misfits is improbable."

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is also very concerned that along with the mass migration of children and under-aged people flooding into Texas and Arizona, MS-13 may be coming in unnoticed or without the means to stop them do to Obama's hapless immigration reforms policies.  On June 2nd Ms Brewer wrote a letter to Obama demanding that he stop the "United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is transporting hundreds, and potentially thousands, of illegal aliens from the south Texas borderand releasing them at bus stations in Tucson and Phoenix."

The United States has deported some of the world's most dangerous gang members back to Central America, and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer wants President Barack Obama's administration to check if some of them are threatening national security by accompanying the illegal immigrant children who are flooding across the border. 

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Thursday that asked them to end this "intentional" and "unconscionable" crisis at the border, Brewer noted that by the "Obama administration's own estimation, 230,000 unaccompanied alien minors are expected to cross through the Rio Grande Sector by the end of next year." She wondered, if the Border Patrol is being overwhelmed, "what consideration is being given – and what is being done – to determine if any of these illegal aliens have criminal histories or gang affiliations."

Governor Brewer also stated that "refusal to carry out its responsibility to secure our country's southern border" is stretching State and Local authorities to the "breaking point"

On Monday, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer called on the Obama Administration to end its "dangerous" policy of dropping off hundreds of illegal immigrants apprehended in Texas in Arizona. She also blasted the federal government for not giving Arizona a heads up, saying state officials first found out about the "unconscionable" policy through media reports.
"I urge you to end this dangerous and unconscionable policy immediately and instead take actions to fulfill the federal government's fundamental responsibility of protecting our homeland by securing our nation's borders," Brewer wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama.
Brewer said that the country and Arizona face "significant challenges" from the Obama Administration's "refusal to carry out its responsibility to secure our country's southern border," which has stretched state and local governments and law enforcement agencies "to the breaking point attempting to manage the enormity of these challenges." 

"It is especially disconcerting that DHS instituted this operation without any notification to my office, the Arizona Department of Public Safety or the Arizona Department of Homeland Security," she wrote. "We instead learned of this action from the news media." 

Brewer said she was "deeply concerned about this troubling policy and the adverse impact on the illegal aliens, as well as to Arizona." She mentioned that media reports have indicated that "many of the illegal aliens that DHS is releasing into Arizona from Texas are women, children, and unaccompanied juveniles" who have been abandoned "at the bus stations without any food, water or basic necessities." 

"I remind you that the daytime temperatures in Arizona during this time of year are regularly more than 100 degrees," she added. "Consequently, this federal operation seems to place expediency over basic humanitarian concerns. The federal government should not shirk its lawful responsibility to care for and properly process these individuals."

The Obama Administration seem predictably unconcerned, though they've labeled the group an International Criminal Organization since 2012.

MS-13 has been involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, kidnapping, murder and extortion, among other serious offenses. The decision by the Obama administration marks the first time this designation has been given to such a group. 

MS-13 originated as a street gang in the Los Angeles area, composed mainly of immigrants from El Salvador, and has long been a target of Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators. The gang is believed to have as many as 10,000 members in 46 states and throughout Central America. 

The particularly violent nature of the group is evident in one of its mottos: “Mata, roba, viola, controla,” which translates to “Kill, steal, rape and control.” 

In 2003, a pregnant Virginia teenager, Brenda Paz, was stabbed to death and left along the Shenandoah River after she left the group and became an informant. 

According to the Treasury Department, money generated by local MS-13 cliques in the United States is funneled back to the group’s leadership in El Salvador, but the official designation will make it more difficult for members of the gang to use banks and wire transfers to move their profits. 

ICE Director John Morton said Thursday: “This designation allows us to strike at the financial heart of MS-13 and is a powerful weapon in our fight to dismantle one of the most violent, transnational criminal organizations operating today.” 

The announcement comes only a day after 11 members of MS-13 were rounded up and arrested in Rhode Island and Massachusetts as the result of a two-year investigation. Since 2006, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division has arrested 4,078 MS-13 gang members.

Still not convinced their dangerous?

Warning the Video content is NOT for kids or for viewing at work.

Or have I been eating paint chips again?

The ISIS takeover of Iraq - Well it can't be Obama's Fault

At least not according to MSNBC's Tameron Hall. We are left to conclude it must be Bush's fault, what else could it be?

But, realistically Bobby [Ghosh of Time magazine], Iraq cannot forever be the U.S.' problem. We know what happened. The loss of lives and treasure. We know the great divide that the war created within politics here, but when you see an elder statesman like Senator John McCain yet again saying a country, another country now needs the intervention of the United States and blaming this on the current administration, knowing that this President all along disagreed with the war and was largely the reason he was elected here. This then drives it back into the domestic politics of it’s Obama's fault.

The world watches in amazement as city after city falls to ISIS a splinter group of al-Qaeda.  Will President Obama respond? Well it's very much up in the air presently, but certainly it can't be Obama's fault.

Heaven forbid that - after five disastrous years - Barack Obama be held accountable for the unending, catastrophic, failure of his foreign policy. 

After all, nothing is Obama's fault. The economy's not Obama's fault, the smallest workforce in 35 years is not Obama's fault, illegal immigration is not Obama's fault, IRS abuses are not Obama's fault, unconstitutional NSA overreach is not Obama's fault, Benghazi was not Obama's fault, the VA waitlist scandal is not Obama's fault, and on, and on, and on. 

Heck. We're sure he's just learning about the Iraqi situation now - by watching it unfold on the news - just like all of you.

Hell's Bells, even Iran is sending troops in as ISIS (acronym for the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), inches closer to taking Baghdad!

Iran has sent 2,000 advance troops to Iraq in the past 48 hours to help tackle a jihadist insurgency, a senior Iraqi official has told the Guardian. 

The confirmation comes as the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, said Iran was ready to support Iraq from the mortal threat fast spreading through the country, while the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, called on citizens to take up arms in their country's defence. 

Addressing the country on Saturday, Maliki said rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) had given "an incentive to the army and to Iraqis to act bravely". 

His call to arms came after reports surfaced that hundreds of young men were flocking to volunteer centres across Baghdad to join the fight against Isis.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi the leader of ISIS promises a return to Medieval Sharia Law and has been raping, killing and beheading his way across Iraq. He also vows to return to New York.

When Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi walked away from a U.S. detention camp in 2009, the future leader of ISIS issued some chilling final words to reservists from Long Island. 

The Islamist extremist some are now calling the most dangerous man in the world had a few parting words to his captors as he was released from the biggest U.S. detention camp in Iraq in 2009. 

“He said, ‘I’ll see you guys in New York,’” recalls Army Col. Kenneth King, then the commanding officer of Camp Bucca. 

King didn’t take these words from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as a threat. Al-Baghdadi knew that many of his captors were from New York, reservists with the 306 Military Police Battalion, a unit based on Long Island that includes numerous numerous members of the NYPD and the FDNY. The camp itself was named after FDNY Fire Marshal Ronald Bucca, who was killed at the World Trade Center in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. 

King figured that al-Baghdadi was just saying that he had known all along that it was all essentially a joke, that he had only to wait and he would be freed to go back to what he had been doing. 

“Like, ‘This is no big thing, I’ll see you on the block,’” King says. 

King had not imagined that in less that five years he would be seeing news reports that al-Baghdadi was the leader of ISIS, the ultra-extremist army that was sweeping through Iraq toward Baghdad.

So I've just got to ask, how's the policy of releasing or trading detainees working out there Mr. President? Looks like your VP Joe Biden was right after-all, it's your crowning achievement.

“I am very optimistic about Iraq. I think it’s gonna be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re gonna see 90,000 American troops come marchin’ home by the end of the summer. You’re gonna see a stable government in Iraq that is actually movin’ toward a representative government. I’ve been there 17 times now. I go about every two months, three months. I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society. It’s impressed me. I’ve been impressed, how they have been deciding to use the political process, rather than guns, to settle their differences.” 

Obama has already ruled out sending in ground forces, American contractors are scattered far and wide, in mortal danger, former President Bush has remained silent saying he will refrain from criticism of Obama's decisions and actions (or lack thereof)  Yeah, I'm all inspired.

Or have I been eating paint chips again?

VA Scandal: $489 million spent on conference rooms, draperies, and new office furniture!

The Veterans Administration: Caring for our Vets with Complete Abandon

I should say complete abandonment ...

President Obama is fond of saying how much he has done for our nation's Vets.

Most of all, let’s keep working to make sure that our country upholds our sacred trust to all who’ve served. In recent weeks, we’ve seen again how much more our nation has to do to make sure all our veterans get the care they deserve. As Commander in Chief, I believe that taking care of our veterans and their families is a sacred obligation. It’s been one of the causes of my presidency. And now that we’ve ended the war in Iraq, and as our war in Afghanistan ends as well, we have to work even harder as a nation to make sure all our veterans get the benefits and opportunities they’ve earned. They’ve done their duty, and they ask nothing more than that this country does ours – now and for decades to come.

I think we should examine this more deeply, he has increased the Department of Veterans Affairs budget each year since taking office, what was it spent on?  The agency has spent a total of $489 million to upgrade conference rooms, buy draperies, and purchase new office furniture over the course of Obama's Presidency! Meanwhile, Vets are DYING waiting for treatment, while the VA cooks the books and delays reporting requested dates of care to make the numbers look better.  Even the hapless Democrats are increasingly calling for action, including the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz is calling for an FBI probe into the VA and the dismissal of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki following the Office of Inspector General report into Veterans wait 115 days for care in Phoenix Veterans Affairs system.   This is NOT a new issue as Obama has pretended, and the Bush administration briefed the incoming Obama administration of ongoing problems.

In a stinging piece by Clarence Page, the Obama administration cover-up is outrageous and damaging.

Of all the scandals and pseudo-scandals of which President Barack Obama has been accused, the Department of Veterans Affairs debacle is the most damaging for at least three reasons:
One, health care — including VA health care — was the signature issue of his election and re-election. 

Two, the VA, for all its flaws, also is held up as a model by leading liberals and progressives of how effectively a gigantic government program can deliver quality health care directly to patients without passing through private providers or insurance companies. 

That’s mostly true. In April, for example, the independent American Customer Satisfaction Index found VA patient satisfaction to be 84 percent for in-patient care and 82 percent for outpatient. That’s as high or slightly higher than the survey found for civilian hospitals for the third year in a row — and considerably higher than the survey’s 66 percent satisfaction rate for federal agencies in general. 

But the current scandal is not found in the VA’s care as much as in the hurdles veterans have faced as they try to enter the system to receive that care. Most alarming are reports, revealed to CNN by a whistleblower, that about 40 veterans died while waiting for treatment at a Phoenix VA hospital. 

Three, Team Obama can’t say that the president wasn’t warned, although White House press secretary Jay Carney seemed to try. 

On Monday, May 19, Carney said in a briefing that the president learned about the Phoenix deaths from CNN. A day later, Carney walked that back, saying the issue of excessive wait times at VA hospitals is “not a new issue” to his boss.

The VA have promised reforms and the following assistance to gain faster decisions on "fully developed claims".  I don't think I'll be holding my breath for a solution from the Obama Administration.  If anything could bring down his Presidency, this should ... it won't, he's invincible !

Or have I been eating paint chips again?  

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl a hero, not so fast!

While President Obama plays up returns on  "an ironclad commitment to bring our prisoners of war home" questions regarding Sgt. Bergdahl remain.

Questions regarding his capture whether on patrol, or that  "a drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison" did he just go missing and wound up captured, or did he simply desert his post have raged for years. In August of 2010 there were reports circulating that Bergdahl might even have joined the Taliban, reports that US Military officials deny.

The Pentagon condemned and refuted the Taliban's claim Monday that the only known American soldier in their captivity had been converted to Islam and is training fighters in bombmaking and ambush tactics. 

Private Bowe Bergdahl disappeared from an American military base in southeastern Afghanistan in June 2009. Last week, one of his captors was interviewed, shedding light on a case that has baffled U.S. military officials. 

A Taliban deputy district commander in Paktika province said the 24-year-old American had converted to Islam in the months after his capture. He said Bergdahl, from Idaho's Sun Valley, had trained Taliban fighters in bomb-making and ambushing convoys. 

"When I saw him for the second time, he had totally changed. He had a beard and he treated all of us very respectfully. He seemed very relaxed in our company. He was no longer scared," said the commander, who called himself Haji Nadeem. 

But U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. John Dorrian dismissed the claim and vowed that the kidnappers would be brought to justice if Bergdahl is harmed. 

"The Taliban spokesmen are notorious for their puffery, and for exploiting captives through propaganda," Dorrian told Fox News. "We condemn his kidnapping and demand SPC Berhdahl's immediate release by his captors. The perpetrators responsible for SPC Bergdahl's abduction will be brought to justice if anything happens to him."

So who is Sgt. Bergdahl and why might he be worth the exchange of five Taliban operatives?  A revealing article in Rolling Stone weaves a tale of confusion and intrigue, one which raises more questions than it answers, which seems to be the case with many of the emerging stories surrounding the circumstances of his release through Obama's barter with terrorists as chips.  It also calls into question the value of American servicemen, placing a high premium on their capture by hostile forces or insurgents in exchange for high value prisoners or other bargaining and concessions.

"The future is too good to waste on lies," Bowe wrote. "And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong. I have seen their ideas and I am ashamed to even be american. The horror of the self-righteous arrogance that they thrive in. It is all revolting." 

The e-mail went on to list a series of complaints: Three good sergeants, Bowe said, had been forced to move to another company, and "one of the biggest shit bags is being put in charge of the team." His battalion commander was a "conceited old fool." The military system itself was broken: "In the US army you are cut down for being honest... but if you are a conceited brown nosing shit bag you will be allowed to do what ever you want, and you will be handed your higher rank... The system is wrong. I am ashamed to be an american. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools." The soldiers he actually admired were planning on leaving: "The US army is the biggest joke the world has to laugh at. It is the army of liars, backstabbers, fools, and bullies. The few good SGTs are getting out as soon as they can, and they are telling us privates to do the same." 

In the second-to-last paragraph of the e-mail, Bowe wrote about his broader disgust with America's approach to the war – an effort, on the ground, that seemed to represent the exact opposite of the kind of concerted campaign to win the "hearts and minds" of average Afghans envisioned by counterinsurgency strategists. "I am sorry for everything here," Bowe told his parents. "These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live." He then referred to what his parents believe may have been a formative, possibly traumatic event: seeing an Afghan child run over by an MRAP. "We don't even care when we hear each other talk about running their children down in the dirt streets with our armored trucks... We make fun of them in front of their faces, and laugh at them for not understanding we are insulting them." 

Bowe Bergdahl had a different response. He decided to walk away. 

In the early-morning hours of June 30th, according to soldiers in the unit, Bowe approached his team leader not long after he got off guard duty and asked his superior a simple question: If I were to leave the base, would it cause problems if I took my sensitive equipment?
Yes, his team leader responded – if you took your rifle and night-vision goggles, that would cause problems. 

Bowe returned to his barracks, a roughly built bunker of plywood and sandbags. He gathered up water, a knife, his digital camera and his diary. Then he slipped off the outpost.

In late July of 2009 Michelle Malkin had questions regarding the circumstances and various reports of Bergdahl's capture.

My prayers are with the family of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier seen on the Taliban abduction video released this weekend. The Jawa Report has the full clip.
All Americans should hope and pray for his release from jihadi custody.
There’s one question I have, though, about strange details initially reported on the case — details which have been deleted from later wire dispatches. Read:

"The circumstances of Bergdahl’s capture weren’t clear.

On July 2, two U.S. officials told the AP the soldier had “just walked off” his base with three Afghans after his shift. He had no body armor or weapon and they said they had no explanation for why he left. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. 

On July 6, the Taliban claimed on their Web site that five days earlier “a drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison” and was captured by mujahadeen.
In the video, Pfc. Bergdahl said he was lagging behind a patrol when he was captured.

Details of such incidents are routinely held very tightly by the military as it works to retrieve a missing or captured soldier without giving away any information to captors." 

Update: Lt. Col. Ralph Peters had tough words about Pfc. Bergdahl’s reported desertion yesterday and has a warning for the media:
Partial transcript:

"PETERS: On that video, he is collaborating with the enemy. Under duress or not, that’s really not relevant. He’s making accusations about the behavior of the military in Afghanistan that are unfounded, saying there are no rules. He’s lying about how he was captured, saying he lagged behind a patrol. 

Julie, I’ll tell you, any 11 Bravo infantryman will tell you, that’s not how it works. In a war zone, any soldier is aware of where all his buddies are. If it’s a night patrol, you’re sure of where the guy in front of you and behind you is. So we know this private is a liar. We’re not sure if he’s a deserter. But the media needs to hit the pause button and NOT portray this guy as a hero…"

And so questions and controversy have been the hallmarks surrounding this young soldier from the beginning. Questions abound about the videos that began appearing shortly after his capture, whether his captors were using him as a propaganda tool, or saving him as a future bargaining chip. The LA Times roughly a year after his capture posed the following:

[FeaturedVideo]

U.S. military officials denounced the video as a violation of the laws of war. "The Taliban are using the soldier for propaganda purposes," said Navy Lt. Robert Carr, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. "We are continuing to do everything possible to recover the soldier and are using all available assets to get him back safely and unharmed." 

Bergdahl, an Idaho native, is a member of the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, based at Ft. Richardson, Alaska. His unit is involved in counterinsurgency operations in a region thick with Taliban along the Pakistani border. 

U.S. military officials said that neither Bergdahl's capture nor the release of the video would alter their strategy in Afghanistan, where American forces are trying to bolster a wobbly central government and halt an alarming decline in security. 

But now that Bergdahl has been publicly identified, he represents a propaganda weapon that his captors are likely to continue to use. The U.S. government had resisted naming Bergdahl since he was captured after straying from a U.S. base June 30 on the eastern edge of the country.

I don't know what the truth is regarding young Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, and I have little confidence that we will EVER know.  As a Veteran myself I am grateful that he soon will return to his family, to take up his life once again, but at what cost?  I feel very strongly that every effort should be made to rescue genuine prisoners of war, that our country owes them this effort and promise.  I'm just not sure whether this soldier is a deserter or a genuine casualty of war.  Certainly America has lost much in this process, and the cost to us is far more than the Gitmo 5, as we shall soon see. Even our British Allies are wondering ...

Or have I been eating paint chips again?  

It's now open season on Americans following Bergdahl deal

While the Obama Administration and the spin doctors seek to justify this weekend's actions swapping five of the Taliban's most powerful detainees for the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, some key Democrats have also had problems, expressed skepticism and "regrets" for the deal.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was personally and intensely involved in the debate over swapping five Taliban commanders for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in 2011 and 2012. But she had severe reservations about the potential deal, and demanded stricter conditions for the release of the prisoners than what President Obama settled for last week. 

Despite that the White House’s claim this week that the United States did not negotiate “directly” with the Taliban to secure the Bergdahl swap, the State Department, Defense Department, and White House officials did meet several times with Taliban leaders in 2011 and 2012 to discuss the deal. The negotiations, held in in Munich and Doha, fell apart in early 2012. But before they did, Clinton had a framework deal drawn up that was much tougher on the Taliban than what ultimately got done two years later. 

Three former administration officials who were involved in the process told The Daily Beast that Clinton was worried about the ability to enforce the deal and disinclined to trust the Taliban or the Haqqani network in Pakistan, which held Bergdahl until this weekend. Clinton was so concerned, the former officials added, that she may not have even signed off if the negotiations had succeeded. 

“She was heavily involved from the beginning, she was very skeptical of the arrangement, she was very wary of it,” one former administration official said. “If we had come to some agreement she perhaps would have backed it, but we never got to that point.”Clinton was not the only top member of the Obama administration skeptical of the deal. Three U.S. intelligence officials told The Daily Beast on Monday that James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, flat out rejected the release of the five detainees, saying there was too high a risk these Taliban commanders would return to the battlefield and orchestrate attacks against Americans. Then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declined to certify that the United States could mitigate the risk of releasing the Taliban commanders.

Other officials weren’t so sure and said the American negotiators knew the deal had to be iron clad because convincing Clinton to support it would be a challenge. 

“She was felt that the Haqqani network were really bad guys,” Congressman Jim Moran told The Daily Beast. “She was reluctant to enter into negotiations with them.” 

There were two main differences between the Clinton-led negotiations that took place in 2011 and 2012 and the largely White House-led process in late 2013 and this year that ultimately achieved the prisoner swap. First of all, Clinton’s deal would have had stricter measures to ensure that the Taliban held up their end of the deal—and kept their released commanders from returning to the fight. 

...Secondly, for Clinton, the prisoner swap only made sense if it was one piece of a series of events that led to a peace process between the Taliban and the Afghan government. In February 2011, Clinton delivered a major speech that set out her offer to the Taliban for a future inside the Afghan political system. 

“Break ties with al Qaeda, renounce violence, and abide by the Afghan constitution, and you can rejoin Afghan society,” she told the Taliban. “Refuse and you will continue to face the consequences of being tied to al Qaeda as an enemy of the international community.”

Since the deal took place several other leading Democrats have come out in strong opposition to the Presidents gambit. Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger of the House Intelligence Committee calls this a “dangerous precedent that puts all Americans at risk throughout the world.” “Since World War Two we have not negotiated with terrorists or other groups” “What concerns me is the future. This puts all Americans at risk throughout the world, including our men and women on the front line…for kidnapping.”

Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein (a progressive's progressive) was called Monday, by National Deputy Security Advisor Tony Blinken, who offered his apologyby appartent direction from the White House.

Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein, a senior member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, said the White House breached US law when it failed to alert Congress to the proposed trade. 

"It comes with some surprise and dismay that the transfers went ahead with no consultation, totally not following the law," she told reporters.
"We're very dismayed about it."

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin called the affair "very disturbing." Time Magazine is also reporting serious issues and "internal objections" to the decision.  There is also the question of how long it will be before the 'Gitmo 5" will be "back in circulation"

"All five men received medical checks and they now live with their families in an accommodation facility in Doha," the Gulf source, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. "They can move around freely within the country." 

Following the deal under which freed the last American soldier held in Afghanistan was freed, concerns have been expressed by some U.S. intelligence officials and congressional advisers over the role of the Gulf Arab state as a bridge between Washington and the world of radical Islam. 

The Gulf official said the Taliban men, who have been granted Qatari residency permits, will not be treated like prisoners while in Doha and no U.S. officials will be involved in monitoring their movement while in the country. 

"Under the deal they have to stay in Qatar for a year and then they will be allowed to travel outside the country... They can go back to Afghanistan if they want to," the official said.

There are also questions regarding Sgt Bergdahl's "official status" as a POW.  The Pentagon knew Sgt Bergdahls whereabouts several times, but senior special operations commanders on the ground scrubbed each proposed mission as an unacceptable risk for someone they considered to be a "deserter".  There are the curious emails and postings between he and his family prior to his disappearance and "capture" and the letter he left for his comrades to find.  There are also the strange actions of Sgt Bergdahl's father since the release.

Walid Shoebat And Theodore Shoebat offer the following analysis of what Bob Bergdahl was actually saying and in what context.  CNN has also run the following story on Bob Bergdahl.

The Washington Post remembers the six soldiers who DIED  (there may have been others) in the many mission attempts to rescue Sgt Bergdahl.  Many of the soldiers in his unit are saying he was a deserter and walked off his post.

... Specialist Cody Full, who served in the same platoon as Bergdahl, and whose tweets over the weekend as @CodyFNfootball offered an early firsthand account of Bergdahl's departure. "He was not a hero. What he did was not honorable. He knowingly deserted and put thousands of people in danger because he did. We swore to an oath and we upheld ours. He did not." 

"He walked off—and 'walked off' is a nice way to put it," says Specialist Josh Cornelison, the medic in Bergdahl's platoon. "He was accounted for late that afternoon. He very specifically planned to walk out in the middle of the night." 

... "He was a deserter," says Specialist Full. "There's no question in the minds of anyone in our platoon." 

"You don't mail all your personal belongings home, especially your computer. It's not like you can go to a sports bar -- there's no sports bars over there," says Specialist Full. "You just wouldn't give up your computer if you weren't planning to leave. He knowingly deserted and he put countless fellow Americans in danger -- not just his platoon mates." 

If there is little question in the minds of the former members of Bergdahl's unit that he was a deserter, it's not clear that the military came to that same conclusion—at least formally.

There is even this "Bergdahl's team leader: Intercepted radio chatter said he sought talks with the Taliban" as reported by CNN's Jake Tapper

Former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow was the team leader with Bowe Bergdahl the night Bergdahl disappeared. 

"Bergdahl is a deserter, and he's not a hero," says Buetow. "He needs to answer for what he did." 

Within days of his disappearance, says Buetow, teams monitoring radio chatter and cell phone communications intercepted an alarming message: The American is in Yahya Khel (a village two miles away). He's looking for someone who speaks English so he can talk to the Taliban. 

"I heard it straight from the interpreter's lips as he heard it over the radio," said Buetow. "There's a lot more to this story than a soldier walking away." 

The Army will review the case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl "in a comprehensive, coordinated effort," Secretary of the Army John McHugh said Tuesday. 

The review will include speaking with Bergdahl "to better learn from him the circumstances of his disappearance and captivity," he said. 

The night Bergdahl disappeared, says Buetow, the platoon was at a small outpost, consisting of two bunkers and a perimeter of military trucks. Buetow was in one of the bunkers, and Bergdahl was supposed to be in a tent by one of the trucks. 

Then a call came through on the radio. 

"I'll never forget that line, 'Has anyone seen Bergdahl?'" says Buetow. 

Buetow was involved in the immediate search for Bergdahl, pushing a patrol into a nearby local village. 

"Immediately as we left the base, two small boys walked up to us, and they told us that they saw an American crawling in the weeds by himself," said the former Army sergeant. The search followed that lead, and others, for months. 

"For 60 days or more, I remember, just straight, all we did was search for Bergdahl," said Buetow, "essentially chasing a ghost because we never came up with anything." 

At least six soldiers were killed in subsequent searches for him, according to soldiers involved in those operations.

There is also the case of this U.S. Marine to consider, and why isn't Obama doing everything he can to secure his release?

Finally, there is a report from Army Times that Bergdahl may have walked off base more than once.  As an Honorably Discharged Vet, I feel Bergdahl deserves a Courts Martial, his brothers and sisters deserve that same justice, Veterans of military and diplomatic services deserve that justice, the American people deserve that justice ... the world awaits ... will justice be served? Very doubtful, President Obama has waded in, overstepped U.S. LAW and made that decision for us all, a FATEFUL decision, and nothing whatever to do with justice!

This action by the Obama Administration puts every American abroad whether military, diplomatic or a simple tourist, at risk for capture.  It places a high premium on American captives by terrorist operatives in exchange for prisoners or other concessions, and is in clear violation of U.S. Law.  Should we make every reasonable effort to return American servicemen to U.S. soil who are captured in combat or service?  Absolutely, but when one deserts his post, walks off and leaves his fellows in danger it's a different thing altogether, I feel to suggest otherwise is either ignorant or irresponsible in the extreme.

Or have I been eating paint chips again?  

While we were distracted with the Bergdahl rescue

Given the Obama administration fascination with "never let a serious crisis go to waste", the Bergdahl rescue and ensuing controversy has distracted a Nation and the world from a wider ranging National shame.  The Veteran's Administration Scandal has been shelved, almost no media coverage offered for a solid week. 'Patients are still dying'

After laboring in relative obscurity as a doctor in the Phoenix VA Health Care System, Dr. Sam Foote just wanted to put a stop to deaths and delayed care at the Phoenix hospital.
He had no idea that when he filed a complaint with the VA Office of the Inspector General late last year it would lead to nationwide investigations, congressional hearings, presidential speeches and the resignation of a Cabinet secretary. 

But all of that transpired in just seven weeks, and the fallout continues this weekend as Foote makes the rounds of network news shows in the aftermath of President Barack Obama's announcement Friday that he accepted VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's resignation. 

"I'd rather not be in the media spotlight," the 61-year-old Paradise Valley resident said in an interview with The Arizona Republic on Friday. "I wish it was just 15 minutes of fame. I'm praying now it's not 15 months." 

Foote, a doctor of internal medicine, grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from UCLA and earned his medical degree at Hahnemann Medical College, now part of Drexel University, in Philadelphia. 

The story of his transformation into a news figure began in late 2012, when he started to suspect that Arizona veterans werebeing short-changed on medical care. As more patients enrolled in the VA system, physicians worked overtime to address the increased workload and backlog. 

The stress caused an exodus of medical practitioners, which magnified the caseloads. New patients were forced to wait more than a year for initial appointments, and those seeking specialist care also faced prolonged delays. 

Just as troubling, Foote said, doctors and nurses were under such a strain that medical mistakes became more likely. 

At the same time, Foote said, VA administrators were earning promotions and bonus pay by issuing reports that said patient access had improved dramatically. He said he realized the data on wait times was falsified. 

In August of last year, a colleague told him that scheduling clerks who made calls for appointment reminders had been informed at least 10 times that the patients already were dead.

Put aside what the favorable reviews in MSM are telling you about the "origins" of this crisis, the Obama administration has known about this crisis for a very long time, have made it central issues of TWO campaigns for the Presidency.  As I detailed in an earlier article, the outgoing President Bush administration briefed the incoming Obama administration transition team on the severity of the crisis. In fairness Obama has made good on some of his promises, at least on the surface, but deep underneath where it truly matters on a daily basis, revelations of corruption, falsifying records pertaining to treatment and benefits determination dates nearly nullify these gains, at least in the mind of THIS Vet.

"Keeping faith with those who serve must always be a core American value and a cornerstone of American patriotism. Because America's commitment to its servicemen and women begins at enlistment, and it must never end."
-- Barack Obama, Speech in Kansas City, MO
August 21, 2007

President Obama has "attacked deplorable VA conditions and treatment" since mid 2007 with his announced National Veterans Advisory Committee

Records and memos indicate that the Obama administration and the VA has known about record manipulation since as early as 2010 and apparently did nothing.

This memo shows that the VA knew of records manipulation in 2010
BY JOSH HICKS
May 20 at 5:24 pm
Robert Petzel resigned last week as the top health official for the Department of Veterans Affairs, just one day after testifying before a Senate committee that he knew VA health clinics were using inappropriate scheduling practices as early as 2010. 

Whistleblowers claim the schemes continued until this year, leading to a recent wave of outrage that sent the VA and White House scrambling to correct the alleged problems and restore confidence in the department. 

Petzel admitted that he knew of the issue after Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) questioned him about the 2010 memo below, in which a top VA executive warned all VA health networks that questionable scheduling practices would “not be tolerated.” 

The message summarized at least 17 tactics that VA hospitals were known to have used to hide treatment delays and give the impression they were meeting the department’s goal of seeing patients within 14 to 30 days.

Obama has actually cut many Veterans crucial benefits.

While President Obama talked about many initiatives to help veterans during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, veterans’ groups criticized him Wednesday for not demanding a full repeal of cuts to military retirement benefits. 

Last month’s budget deal included a provision to reduce working-age military retirees cost-of-living adjustment to one percent below inflation until a retiree reaches age 62. Veteran’s groups and many lawmakers have united in calling for a fix, with many members of Congress introducing plans to pay for a $6 billion repeal. 

“The American Legion is disappointed that President Obama did not show more leadership in dealing with the COLA issue,” Daniel M. Dellinger, the American Legion’s national commander, said Wednesday in a statement. 

“He promised us, back in August 2011 at our national convention, that he would not balance the federal budget on the backs of America’s veterans. But that is exactly what he is allowing Congress to do,” he said. 

The omnibus appropriations bill completed earlier this month repealed the cuts for disabled veterans and surviving families of deceased veterans, but the cuts are still scheduled to take effect for other retirees in December 2015. 

Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, also said he was frustrated that the president was silent on the issue of military retirement cuts. 

“Veterans across the country are reeling from the surprise attack to their earned benefits. We need immediate action from the president and Congress to restore the promises our country made to them and their families,” Mr. Rieckhoff said in a statement. 

“Veterans don’t want any more excuses and won’t take no for an answer. It’s time to restore the retirement cuts,” he concluded.

Time and again Obama has ridden a wave of respect earned BY Vets, promised us improvements in every area the Veteran's Administration presides over, time and again he has failed to deliver, in fact making life itself either worse or allowed to cease, for favorable numbers.  I will offer nor honor any quarter in this fight.  The deplorable way in which this Republic has treated the men and women who gave ALL to deliver and protect her MUST END.  We must break this abominable record which gave us such events as the Bonus Army to prevent it ever happening again.  Our government is still killing her own ...

Or have I been eating paint chips again?  

All Those Staggering Obama Administration Foreign Policy Achievements

I know I struggle with this subject greatly, evidently so does White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest

President Obama’s spokesman struggled a bit when asked to identify foreign-policy achievements that former secretary of state Hillary Clinton played a role in accomplishing, first panning the question as a “pop quiz” and then settling on an answer that highlights work in Iraq, even as an al-Qaeda splinter group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has invaded the country’s second largest city.

 “It feels a little like a pop quiz, but I’ve got a couple ideas,” White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said when asked to name the accomplishments, before saying that Obama and Clinton succeeded in “ending the war in Iraq [and] responsibly winding down the war in Afghanistan.” He also cited ”the success of our efforts to dismantle and destroy al-Qaeda core.”

Poor President Obama, his Foreign Policy strategies just seem riddled with failures, such a long way removed from all those promises in 2007-8 when he assured us, "I am running for President of the United States to lead this country in a new direction - to seize this moment's promise. Instead of being distracted from the most pressing threats that we face, I want to overcome them. Instead of pushing the entire burden of our foreign policy on to the brave men and women of our military, I want to use all elements of American power to keep us safe, and prosperous, and free. Instead of alienating ourselves from the world, I want America - once again - to lead."

Such grandiose promises as:

As President, I will pursue a tough, smart and principled national security strategy - one that recognizes that we have interests not just in Baghdad, but in Kandahar and Karachi, in Tokyo and London, in Beijing and Berlin. I will focus this strategy on five goals essential to making America safer: ending the war in Iraq responsibly; finishing the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban; securing all nuclear weapons and materials from terrorists and rogue states; achieving true energy security; and rebuilding our alliances to meet the challenges of the 21st century. 

To achieve that success, I will give our military a new mission on my first day in office: ending this war. Let me be clear: we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 - one year after Iraqi Security Forces will be prepared to stand up; two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, we'll keep a residual force to perform specific missions in Iraq: targeting any remnants of al-Qaida; protecting our service members and diplomats; and training and supporting Iraq's Security Forces, so long as the Iraqis make political progress.
... America seeks a world with no nuclear weapons. As long as nuclear weapons exist, we must retain a strong deterrent. But instead of threatening to kick them out of the G-8, we need to work with Russia to take U.S. and Russian ballistic missiles off hair-trigger alert; to dramatically reduce the stockpiles of our nuclear weapons and material; to seek a global ban on the production of fissile material for weapons; and to expand the U.S.-Russian ban on intermediate-range missiles so that the agreement is global. By keeping our commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we'll be in a better position to press nations like North Korea and Iran to keep theirs. In particular, it will give us more credibility and leverage in dealing with Iran. 

We cannot tolerate nuclear weapons in the hands of nations that support terror. Preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons is a vital national security interest of the United States. No tool of statecraft should be taken off the table, but Senator McCain would continue a failed policy that has seen Iran strengthen its position, advance its nuclear program, and stockpile 150 kilos of low enriched uranium. I will use all elements of American power to pressure the Iranian regime, starting with aggressive, principled and direct diplomacy - diplomacy backed with strong sanctions and without preconditions.

All those lofty promises ... Today's headlines read so differently:

Militants Overrun Iraq's Second-Largest City As Government Forces Flee,

BAGHDAD—Islamist insurgents seized control of Iraq's second-largest city on Tuesday in a brazen military operation that underscored the weakness of the central government across vast swaths of the country.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a nationwide "state of maximum preparedness" after government forces fled Mosul in disarray following four days of fighting. He asked parliament to declare a state of emergency. But he didn't say whether military forces were mobilizing to retake the city, 220 miles north of the capital, Baghdad.
By nightfall, the militants were still expanding their territorial conquests. Local security forces said the fighters had taken over territory in the neighboring province of Kirkuk to the east and parts of the city of Sulayman Beg to the south.
Mosul was captured by rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS—a group that evolved from al Qaeda's Iraq affiliate. The takeover of a major industrial and oil center and the main city in northern Iraq marked a major coup for a group that only months ago was operating in the country's vast desert hinterlands.
It was the latest evidence of the disorganization that has beset Iraqi security forces since the U.S. military withdrew from the country in December 2011. It also underlined the determination of ISIS to establish an Islamic emirate encompassing the Iraqi-Syrian frontier, to weaken the already fragile Iraqi state and to expand the theater of the three-year-old civil war in neighboring Syria.

Hit after hit, he's just knocking 'em out of the park!

If this were a Baseball game Mr President, you've struck out every single time at bat ...

[FeaturedVideo]

Putin on notice: Two U.S. stealth bombers head to Europe for first time amid tension,

Two U.S. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers are being deployed to Europe for the first time. The deployment of the advanced aircraft will be used for “short term deployment” at Fairford, a Royal Air Force base in England — just three hours from Russia.

“This deployment of strategic bombers provides an invaluable opportunity to strengthen and improve interoperability with our allies and partners,” said Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, CNN reported Tuesday.

“The training and integration of strategic forces demonstrates to our nation’s leaders and our allies that we have the right mix of aircraft and expertise to respond to a variety of potential threats and situations,” he continued. 

The radar-evading B-2 bombers are likely being used as a show of force to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been accused of fomenting unrest in eastern Ukraine after the Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea.

Yeah, I'm sure Putin and Russia are just terrified ...

Obama announces Afghanistan troop withdrawal plan

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama announced Wednesday night that all the 33,000 additional U.S. forces he ordered to Afghanistan in December 2009 will be home within 15 months. 

In a nationally televised address from the East Room of the White House, Obama said 10,000 of the "surge" forces would withdraw by the end of this year, and the other 23,000 would leave Afghanistan by September 2012. 

Calling the deployment of the surge "one of the most difficult decisions that I've made as president," Obama said the military campaign was "meeting our goals" in Afghanistan and the drawdown would begin "from a position of strength." 

"Al Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11," Obama said. "Together with the Pakistanis, we have taken out more than half of al Qaeda's leadership. And thanks to our intelligence professionals and special forces, we killed Osama bin Laden, the only leader that al Qaeda had ever known. This was a victory for all who have served since 9/11."

Yeah, it certainly looks as though Hamid Karzai's Afghanistan is ready for us to leave and will make a smooth transition into self governance, and the war is winding down so nicely.

‘Friendly Fire’ Strike Kills 5 Special Operations Soldiers in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — Five American Special Operations service members and at least one Afghan soldier were killed when a United States Air Force B-1 bomber unleashed an airstrike on their position in southern Afghanistan, in one of the deadliest instances of friendly fire in more than a decade of war, Afghan and American officials said Tuesday. 

Investigators were looking into possible causes, including faulty coordinates, an errant bomb or other human errors. 

The Pentagon press secretary, Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, said in a statement that five American soldiers had been killed “during a security operation in southern Afghanistan.”
“Investigators are looking into the likelihood that friendly fire was the cause,” he added. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these fallen.” 

The deaths happened Monday night in the restive Arghandab District of Zabul Province, where troops were conducting security operations connected to the presidential runoff election on Saturday, said Ghulam Sakhi Roghliwanai, the province’s police chief.

Let's not forget that recent "POW SWAP" --- 5 of theirs for one of ours - and such a loyal sort too ... such a stunning success that the "official story" has changed about 5 times already, at least it's not Bush's fault this time ...

Now the White House says Hagel made final call on Bergdahl as criticism of Obama over prisoner swap mounts

FInal approval for the prisoner exchange that freed Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was made by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, members of Congress learned on Monday from administration officials. 

'They indicated (it was) Secretary Hagel (who made the final call),' Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) said after a classified briefing, ABC points out. 

'It was the president of the United States that came out (in the Rose Garden) with the Bergdahls and took all the credit and now that there’s been a little pushback he’s moving away from it and it’s Secretary Hagel?' 

Last week, Hagel said the swap was a unanimous decision when speaking to the BBC.
'It was the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director of National Intelligence, Attorney General,' he said. 

'It was our judgement based on the information that we had that his life, his health were in peril,' Hagel also told the channel in defense of not giving Congress 30 days' notice of the plan.
'Can you imagine if we would have waited or taken the chance of leaks over a 30-day period?' Hagel said.

Yeah the diplomatic efforts by Dennis Rodman and the Obama Administration in North Korea are glowing nicely

North Korea detains U.S. tourist; three now in custody

(Reuters) - North Korea said it had detained an American tourist for violating its laws after entering the secretive state in April, bringing the number of U.S. citizens held by Pyongyang to three. 

Pyongyang has held a number of U.S. citizens in the past, using them as a tool to extract visits by high-profile figures, including former President Bill Clinton, but it has recently rejected visits by officials to discuss their cases. 

North Korea periodically accuses the United States of military hostility and conspiracy to overthrow its leadership. The two states have been locked in a tense diplomatic conflict over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. 

The latest American to be held was being questioned by authorities for conduct inappropriate for the purpose of his visit as a tourist, state media reported on Friday.
The North's KCNA news agency named him as Jeffrey Edward Fowle and said he entered the country on April 29. It gave no further details. 

U.S. media reported that Fowle is 56 years old and from Miamisburg, Ohio, and worked in the Moraine city street department. A neighbor speaking on WDTN television in Ohio said he is a father of three who was traveling alone on the trip. 

Calls to Fowle's family and his lawyer were not answered. 

Japan's Kyodo news agency cited unidentified diplomatic sources on Friday as saying the North had detained a U.S. citizen in mid-May, and that the American was detained just before he was to leave North Korea, allegedly for having left a Bible in his hotel. 

The Associated Press quoted Timothy Tepe, a lawyer acting as a spokesman for the family, as saying Fowle was not on a mission for his church and went to North Korea as a tourist. 

A State Department official said Washington was aware of reports that a third U.S. citizen had been detained in North Korea. "There is no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad," the official said, adding no further information was available. 

WAR VETERAN RELEASED 

Two other Americans are currently being held by North Korea, both arrested after arriving on tourist visas and accused of crimes against the state. Korean American missionary Kenneth Bae has been in custody for 18 months and a second man has been held since April.

Let's not forget Iran, their "peaceful pursuit" of Nuclear Power, yeah such a convincing case Obama has made, that Iran is cooperating with EVERYONE !

France Underlines Nuclear Gaps as U.S.-Iran Talks End

France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday there are still big gaps on key issues in the nuclear talks between Iran and six major powers as senior negotiators from the U.S. and Iran ended two days of discussions in Geneva. 

Iran and six major powers—the U.S., France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China and Russia—are seeking to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal by July 20. An agreement would seek to address broad international concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for lifting tight international sanctions in Tehran. 

This week saw what a U.S. State Department spokeswoman called an "intensification" of the talks as all sides acknowledge that time is running short ahead of July 20. 

In Geneva, the U.S. and Iran held two days of bilateral discussions to try and advance the negotiations which have made little progress in recent weeks, according to diplomats. Iran will hold separate bilateral meetings with Germany, France and Russia in coming days before the full negotiations resume in Vienna next week. 

The two sides have said they could extend the nuclear deadline by six months if needed.
On France's Radio Inter, Mr. Fabius said the biggest sticking point in the talks is what kind of nuclear infrastructure Tehran would keep after a comprehensive agreement—in particular how many centrifuges Iran will be allowed. Centrifuges can be used to enrich uranium to weapons-grade purity. 

Most western nuclear experts say that Tehran would have to scrap large numbers of its roughly 19,000 centrifuges to ensure that the regime couldn't quickly produce enough nuclear material for a bomb. Mr. Fabius confirmed that Iran is demanding the right to deploy many more centrifuges than it currently has. 

"We have advanced on a certain number of technical points…but we are still hitting a wall on one major issue which is the number of centrifuges," Mr. Fabius said. "We say that there can be some hundreds of centrifuges (in Iran) but at the moment, the Iranians say…we need hundreds of thousands of centrifuges." 

Under an interim nuclear deal agreed last November, Tehran and the six powers agreed that Iran's future nuclear capabilities should be based on Iran's "practical needs." Western diplomats say Iran is basing its demand for large numbers of centrifuges on a demand for an expansive future nuclear enrichment program. 

Mr. Fabius said Tehran could only need that number of centrifuges if it wanted the ability to produce weapons. 

"So the question that will be asked in the coming weeks if the Iranians really accept renouncing nuclear weapons or not," he said. 

Iran denies it has ever sought nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes. Western officials have said currently it could take Tehran just a couple of months to produce enough nuclear fuel for a bomb. 

On Tuesday, senior Iranian and U.S. officials held a full day of talks to try and nudge forward the nuclear negotiations. The two sides also met for more than five hours Monday afternoon in Geneva.

With so many successes, I can't wait for his last and final act, while we still have a Nation to save ...

Or have I been eating paint chips again?