Barack Obama

9/11, Barack Obama, Boumediene v. Bush, Debra Burlingame, detainees, Gitmo, Guantanamo, September 11, USS Cole

President Obama wrong on SCOTUS decision, admitted Gitmo is ‘pristine, professional operation’ to 9/11 and USS Cole families

by  • 

Friday, Debra Burlingame was among the 40 family members of the 2,975 murdered on September 11 and the 17 sailors murdered aboard the USS Cole who met with President Obama. During the meeting, President Obama was wrong on the law, wrong about what Boumediene v. Bush afforded the detainees held at Guantanamo, and stated the public’s perception about Guantanamo is confused with Abu Ghraib. … There is more.

She spoke with talk-radio host Steve Malzberg this afternoon about the meeting; here is the audio:

Editor — Ms. Burlingame, a former attorney and a director of the National September 11 Memorial Foundation, is the sister of Charles F. “Chic” Burlingame III, the pilot of American Airlines flight 77, which was crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. In addition, she co-founded 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America, in 2004.

Update: See a report on today’s ‘Keep Gitmo Open‘ press conference in D.C., with Senator James Inhofe, 9/11 family members Lorraine Arias-Beliveau, Geraldine Davie, Hamilton Peterson, and Debra Burlingame, and Gold Star mother Debbie Lee.

Barack Obama, Gitmo, Gordon Cucullu, Guantanamo, Inside Gitmo, Iran, North Korea

Obama vs. the Atomic Axis of Evil

by  • 

In the New York Post this morning, Gordon Cucullu writes of President Obama’s proposed defense program cuts as Iran and North Korea continue to cooperate; their joint efforts will soon bring Israel and our West Coast within range of their nuclear weapons:

The focus of the joint program is multi-faceted: Begin with rocket bodies produced by North Korea. Improve them with enhanced, longer-range capabilities. Meanwhile, develop a warhead and payload capacity. Then add terminal-guidance technology so the warhead can hit what it aims for. Finally, produce a nuclear payload that can vaporize cities and populations. (The bomb Pyongyang has tested was small — analysts don’t think it has a Hiroshima-size nuke yet.)

Years of diplomacy led by the Europeans (and encouraged by the Bush administration) have failed to stop either Tehran or Pyongyang’s progress, let alone their cooperation. How will the new administration respond to the latest chilling developments?

To date, President Obama has indicated policies that have been interpreted by America’s enemies as signs of weakness: a willingness to enter high-level diplomatic talks without precondition; closing Guantanamo; his apologetic Al Arabiya interview.

The new president is also on record opposing missile-defense technology. Yet decades of R&D are now paying off: Stunned critics watched recent tests at Vandenberg Air Fore base where “hitting a bullet with a bullet” proved to be well within the capability of USAF scientists.

Of course, the administration has also ordered Defense Department planners to cut 10 percent from their budget. This, while it pushes a $900 billion “stimulus package.” Billions for special interests, but not a cent for defense?

Editor — Gordon Cucullu is a Vietnam veteran, Special Forces officer, and retired Army Lieutenant Colonel. His new book is ‘Inside Gitmo: The True Story behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay.’