Obama's Secret Rescue Mission

Kernel Sanders · 07-27-08, 03:17 PM

Source [NY Post]

Quote:

Barack Obama carried out a secret assignment during his global tour last week.

While talking about the Middle East peace process in the West Bank Wednesday, the presumptive Democratic nominee slipped a note to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

The private message: Help an anguished Chicago mother get her daughters back.

Obama detailed the plight of Colleen Bargouthi, 36. She says that for the last year, her four daughters have been held in the Palestinian territories, made to wear headdresses and schooled in Islam by their Muslim father, Yasser Shibli.

Obama asked Fayyad's help in Colleen's fight to get her girls home after their Palestinian dad blocked them from returning from what was to be a six-week family trip to his hometown of Ramallah on the West Bank.

"According to Colleen, [her husband] hit her, kept her as a virtual prisoner in her in-laws' home and menaced her with guns," the note reads.

The husband promised he "would return the girls if she went home and found a job and a place for the family.

"Yasser Shibli Bargouthi has since told Colleen that her daughters will never be allowed to leave to return to their mother. I would ask that the minister of justice look into this case." [...]

"There's no legal precedent in this situation, because we're dealing in an area where we don't have established diplomatic relations," Pavich said. "We needed Senator Obama's help to try and break through the legal and diplomatic walls."

Having Obama as her advocate was Colleen's wildest fantasy come true.

"I'm just extraordinarily pleased with what he's done for me," she said. "It makes me feel wonderful - one step closer to my daughters."

Not long after she got word from Obama's camp about his efforts, the phone rang again. It was her estranged husband.

He reportedly told her, "F- - - Washington, f- - - Obama and f- - - you."

A great thing to do, but it makes me uneasy that we don't have diplomatic relations in place.

bhkad · 07-27-08, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernel Sanders

Source [NY Post]

A great thing to do, but it makes me uneasy that we don't have diplomatic relations in place.

What makes you think he doesn't?

Quote:

June 18, 2008
In Michigan, Obama Meets Privately with Yet Another Hezbollah Agent; But Publicly Excludes Muslims @ Rally

By Debbie Schlussel

While the Obama campaign is allegedly publicly staying away from Muslims and reportedly barring them from pics at an Obama event (though Detroit Newsistan and Reuters photos show otherwise), privately he's hanging with them.

Yesterday, Barack Hussein Obama wrapped up his trip to Michigan by meeting with a group of "community leaders."

But one of those so-called leaders has been identified as an agent of Hezbollah--Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News. Siblani,, an open supporter of the terrorist group, was handpicked for the invite by the Obama campaign and spoke one-to-one with Obama.

But Siblani's brother works for Al-Manar a/k/a Hezbollah TV in Lebanon. And Siblani's newspaper is Hezbollah's house organ in America. Sources say Hezbollah has funneled money to the paper. Siblani was at a small 2006 Dearbornistan meeting identified in the Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Seyassah, as a meeting of Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah's American Hezbollah agents.

And Siblani has openly praised Hezbollah as "freedom fighters"--the group that murdered over 300 U.S. Marines and U.S. Embassy employees--everywhere from Hezbollah rallies to interviews on National Public Radio (a/k/a National Palestinian Radio) to a Detroit radio station which constantly has him on, unchallenged. At a 2006 pro-Hezbollah rally in Dearbornistan, which I attended, Siblani called for the participants to "pray for the Hezbollah martyrs."

While Siblani claims that Obama was not responsive to Siblani's direct question to him about Obama's flip-flop-flip speech on Jerusalem at the AIPAC conference, Obama didn't exactly defend Israel or its right to an undivided Jerusalem or anything in the AIPAC speech to Siblani, either--a true sign that Obama doesn't really believe in anything he says.

And the very fact that Obama invited Siblani to talk with him is yet another sign that Barack Obama has no problem with supporters of terrorists who murder Americans. As I noted recently, Obama had a private meeting with an imam who is an agent of Hezbollah and the government of Iran.

[...]

***

This morning, Paul W. Smith--a local Detroit radio host who is half-Lebanese and constantly panders to Islamists and Hezbollah supporters without any of the opposite point of view--featured Siblani on his show and told him that "we need to get you on the show more regularly." Siblani went on to tell Smith--a faux conservative--that we need nationalized health care and that Obama has to answer questions about the Middle East, that it is an ongoing conversation between him (Siblani), "our community" (Muslims), and Obama. In the past, Smith defended Congressman John Dingell for declaring that Hezbollah is not a terrorist group. He also frequently has convicted criminal and current Council on American Islamic Relations chief Dawud Walid on his show for softball interviews.

Debbie Schlussel

Hatuey · 07-27-08, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhkad

What makes you think he doesn't?

Debbie Schlussel

Awww Debbie Schlussel. Coulter Jr. Now don't derail bhkad and go stop some falafel salesman from starting another intifada.

bhkad · 07-27-08, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatuey

Awww Debbie Schlussel. Coulter Jr. Now don't derail bhkad and go stop some falafel salesman from starting another intifada.

Disprove what she says.

By the way, here is her bio, in case you are going to seriously try to discredit her reporting:

Quote:

DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL:

Conservative political commentator, radio talk show host, columnist, and attorney

Schlussel's unique expertise on radical Islam/Islamic terrorism and a host of other issues make her a popular speaker and television and radio news talk show guest, both nationally & internationally. (Her online fan club is the Internetâ€™s second largest for a political personality--behind only Ann Coulter.) She is a University of Michigan graduate and holds both Law and MBA degrees from the University of Wisconsin.

As both an attorney and a frequent New York Post and Jerusalem Post columnist, Schlussel's writings/commentary on radical Islam and her legal actions against radical Islamic parties have gotten a great deal of attention -- and results. Columns she's written in the New York Post and appearances sheâ€™s made on "O'Reilly Factor":

* caused FBI Director Robert Mueller to revoke an award to an American citizen who was a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist and was involved with a group with Al-Qaeda and Hamas ties (October 2003);

* caused Caribou Coffee to have its worst financial quarter ever, when Schlussel exposed the coffee chains radical Islamic ownership and leadership of Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi (a supporter of homicide bombings), and caused Starbucks to have its best quarter, when Schlussel exposed the radical Muslim boycott of the Jewish-led chain (June/July 2002). Caribou Coffee's then-CEO, Don Dempsey, credited Schlussel with driving down sales and profits at his national coffee chain by calling him to the mat on Qaradawi, and her work on this issue was cited in Newsweek and Business Forward magazines;

* exposed Detroit's U.S. Attorney (the Justice Department's chief official in the heart of Islamic America), his secret dealings with Hamas money-launderers and terrorists the U.S. government had fought to deport (November 2003), and his efforts to overturn a guilty verdict against members of Detroit's Al-Qaeda sleeper cell and set them free (December 2003); and

* exposed billionaire hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network's political/voter registration efforts on behalf of not only Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, but also radical Palestinian and anti-Semitic, anti-Israel activists and groups.

In 2002, radical Muslim University of Michigan Regent Candidate, Ismael Ahmed, credited Schlussel for his election defeat--when she exposed his tax-funded Arab organizationâ€™s financial and moral support of Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas terrorists.

In 1998, Schlussel went undercover, dressed as a religious Muslim woman, to the Islamic Center of America, North America's largest mosque, and reported, in The Detroit News on its support for terrorism, and anti-American, anti-Semitic hate. She was interviewed and quoted by Rolling Stone about the mosque and its radical imam, Hassan Qazwini, who is frequently consulted by President Bush and was invited to his Crawford, Texas ranch. Qazwini was embarrassed by the radical speakers and anti-Semitic hate he fostered in his mosque, and refused to address it in newspaper interviews. Schlussel was even attacked for her work on terrorism by movie critic Roger Ebert in a 2005 syndicated movie review.

Schlussel, who speaks Hebrew, Arabic, French, and Russian, works closely with several Federal law enforcement agencies, consulting on fighting the domestic War on Terrorism, and has provided them with much useful information. She has gone undercover, infiltrating many Muslim organizations in the Detroit area (the heart of Islamic America), exposing their radical nature and support for terrorism. Schlussel continues to represent a very valuable Muslim confidential informant to several federal government agencies, who has been responsible for putting hundreds with terrorism connections behind bars. She also represented several whistleblowers who exposed terrorist operations now under investigation.

Schlussel was also the first journalist/columnist to expose Indicted Islamic Jihad frontman, Sami Al-Arian's visits to the Bush White House and photos with President Bush, as well as his campaign contributions to prominent U.S. Congressmen, including House International Relations Chairman Henry Hyde. Al-Arian blamed Schlussel (because of her series of columns on Al-Arian in 2001) and FOX News Channel's Bill O'Reilly (on whose show Schlussel appeared, in October 2001, regarding Al-Arian) for his dismissal from the University of South Florida.

As an attorney, Schlussel represented University of Michigan students in a lawsuit against the University when it hosted Al-Arian as a speaker at a radical conference (a conference urging divestment from Israel) on campus, exposing him and other radical speakers, and putting them and their supporters on campus on the defensive.

You can read her popular twice-weekly online column, "Debbie Does Politics," on the Internet, at Political USA - Political campaign and election news and opinion - McCain, Obama, Bush, Clinton, where she is a Contributor/Columnist and her own website, debbieschlussel.com. Schlussel is also a frequent New York Post, Jerusalem Post, and Vancouver Province columnist. Her columns have often been read on the air by Rush Limbaugh, on whom she broke the Monday Night Football story. Schlussel's columns have also frequently appeared on the Knight-Ridder Newswire and in several major newspapers, including The Washington Times, The New York Post, The Jerusalem Post, The Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Wisconsin State Journal. She has also written columns for FOXNews.com.

Schlussel has often been quoted in quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, USA Today, New York Post, New York Daily News, New York Newsday, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Sports Business Daily, The Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Indianapolis Star, Seattle Post Intelligencer, Kansas City Star, The Arizona Republic, San Jose Mercury News, The Austin Statesman, The Wisconsin State Journal, Charlotte Observer, National Post of Canada, McLeanâ€™s of Canada, Daily Telegraph of London, The Guardian U.K., The Vancouver Province, The Jerusalem Post, The Age of Australia, The Irish Times, The Irish Examiner, Associated Press, Knight-Ridder Wire, CanWest Global Wire, Golf World, CNN.com, and many other mainstream press publications.

Attacked as "Enemy #1" by Ms. Magazine ("Women to Watch . . . and Watch Out For," February/March 2001), Schlussel is a frequent guest on ABC's "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," CBS' "Early Show," FOX News Channel's "O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity & Colmes," "FOX News Live," "Beyond the News," and "Judith Regan Tonight," Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," "Buchanan & Press," "The Abrams Report with Dan Abrams," "Scarborough Country," and "MSNBC Live," CNN's "Crossfire," "Talk Back Live" and "Weekend Wrap," C-SPAN's "Washington Journal," ESPN's "Outside the Lines," FOX Sports Net's "Best Damn Sports Show Period," and the Nationally Syndicated "Americaâ€™s Black Forum" (hosted by NFL on FOX's James Brown).

The Hotline, politics' and talk shows' most influential newsletter and online website, called Schlussel a "rising GOP pundit," and The Hotline's influential former columnist (and current "Hardball" producer) Howard Mortman wrote in his "Extreme Mortman" column that Schlussel is "one of the fastest rising young TV pundits today." The site's webcast of Schlussel was The Hotline's most viewed webcast ever.

In 2002-2003, Schlussel was the host of her own show, â€œThe Debbie Schlussel Show,â€ on 97.1 FM, Detroitâ€™s FM Talk Station (Infinity/CBS)--#1 in its time-slot. A regular on the nationally syndicated â€œThe Howard Stern Showâ€ (audience: 20 million every morning), Schlussel has frequently appeared on National Public Radioâ€™s â€œAll Things Considered,â€ the Sean Hannity, Mitch Albom, Larry Elder, and Tom Leykis nationally syndicated radio shows, ESPN Radio, Sporting News Radio, and has been a frequent contributor to nationally syndicated FOX Sports Radio.

On Election Night 2000 through 2001, Schlussel was the political analyst for Detroitâ€™s CBS and UPN Television affiliates, and was a regular political commentator on the weekly series, â€œFlashpoint,â€ on Detroitâ€™s NBC affiliate, WDIV-TV. In the past, Schlussel was a daily political commentator on the nationally syndicated (in 23 states) morning radio show, â€œMancowâ€™s Morning Madhouse,â€ a top Chicago morning show, where she successfully predicted John McCainâ€™s win of the Michigan Republican Primary.

The granddaughter of immigrant Holocaust survivors, Schlusselâ€™s mother was born in the former Nazi concentration of Bergen Belsen in Germany, and her father is a Vietnam-era Army Veteran. A frequent speaker at conservative, pro-Israel, and Jewish conferences, gatherings, college campuses, and events around the U.S. Schlussel was a featured speaker at the 2004 National Board Meeting of JINSA (Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs), 2004 National Conference of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), 2001 and 2002 NRA Annual Meetings, 2002 Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) Fraternity National Convention, and 2000 Toward Tradition Conference.

In 1988, Schlussel was the youngest female and youngest Jewish delegate to the Republican National Convention, a National Youth Vice Chairman of George H. W. Bushâ€™s 1988 Presidential campaign, and a Youth Chairman of his 1989 Inauguration. An avid athlete who works out regularly, Schlussel won several medals in tennis, track and cross country running in the 1984 Maccabi Games (the Junior Jewish Olympics). In 1985, she was a finalist to represent the U.S. in tennis at the Maccabiah Games (Jewish Olympics) in Israel.

Schlussel worked for Fred Barnes, Editor of The Weekly Standard Magazine, host of FOXâ€™s â€œBeltway Boys,â€ and Mort Kondracke, also of the â€œBeltway Boysâ€ when Barnes and Kondracke were Senior Editors of The New Republic. Schlussel also worked in Washington for several Congressmenâ€”including Rep. Phil Crane, Chairman of the powerful House Trade Subcommittee.

A lifelong conservative Republican activist, at the age of 21 and with all odds against her, Schlussel ran for the Michigan House of Representatives from the suburban Detroit area and lost by just one vote, the closest election in Michigan political history. In 1986-â€™87, Schlussel was awarded the title of â€œOutstanding Teen Age Republican in the Nationâ€ and was honored by President Ronald Reagan. You can often hear or read Schlusselâ€™s insightful commentary on various political and sports-related issues in many publications and on many major radio and television stations in many major-market cities.

Schlussel has literally worked on campaigns for conservative Republican candidates since she was in the sixth grade, when she worked on Ronald Reaganâ€™s first campaign for President. A long-time member of Mensa, the high IQ society, Schlussel was a National Merit Scholar Finalist. She is the only female member of the Advisory Board of the Motor City Bowl, an NCAA Division I college football bowl game, played at the Pontiac Silverdome and Ford Field and has been featured in both â€œWhoâ€™s Who of Outstanding Young Americansâ€ and â€œWhoâ€™s Who of Executives.â€

Debbie Schlussel

jallman · 07-27-08, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatuey

Awww Debbie Schlussel. Coulter Jr. Now don't derail bhkad and go stop some falafel salesman from starting another intifada.

Would you like to refute the point or just make ad hom attacks against Debbie Schlussel?

I thought not.

MC.no.spin · 07-27-08, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernel Sanders

Source [NY Post]

A great thing to do, but it makes me uneasy that we don't have diplomatic relations in place.

He's not the official prime minister. He was appointed to this position by President Mahmoud Abbas but legislative approval never occurred. He stated his assuming the role of prime minister is contingent upon Hamas recognizing Israel, which Hamas declined.

Hamas has majority control of the Palestinian govt over the Fatah party, to which Fayyad belongs. The U.S. funds Fatah in their military struggles with Hamas, who is funded by Iran.

Effective diplomacy will be possible when Fayyad is able to provide a new government that Abbas assigned him to do.

Fayyad is easily accessible with his American roots and can relay the message to Abbas. It will be interesting if there is a happy ending to this story, and a sign of power for Obama if so.

Hatuey · 07-27-08, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jallman

Would you like to refute the point or just make ad hom attacks against Debbie Schlussel?

I thought not.

I don't deal with blogs. It'd be like paying attention to Ariana Huffington for more then 5 mins.

jallman · 07-27-08, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hatuey

I don't deal with blogs. It'd be like paying attention to Ariana Huffington for more then 5 mins.

So that's a no. You prove my larger point with ever blathering post you make.

Lerxst · 07-27-08, 04:17 PM

So my question would be to all here...how would you feel about a man who attempted to broker peace with Middle Eastern terror groups and their state supporters while at the same time was fully committed to the security of Israel?

As has been pointed out in the past, terrorism is a methodology, not an actual group of people. It's a means of conducting business to achieve a desired end.

Whether any members of this forum agree or not, the fact is that many Muslims across the globe feel that the U.S. and it's allies have engaged in supporting terrorism throughout the Middle East over many years and in different ways. This is how they feel. Certainly the methodologies are much different and ideologically we disagree on whether or not what the U.S. has done amounts to terrorism, but that is the reality of how they view us.

So here we are, with most of world viewing us as a clumsy, ignorant, heavy handed nation of cowboy warriors, smashing around Iraq with little in the way of a sound strategy to actually live up to all the grandiose claims we made when we went in. The heat we have caught over this is enough to fry the egg that is all over our face.

At this point, why would we not want to at least open some level of dialog? Oh I know we say we don't negotiate with terrorists, and that has been our position historically because to recognize them as worth negotiating with is the first step in validating their methodology for getting what they want. At least that is certainly the way conventional wisdom directs us.

But what about at least trying to understand what position they are operating from. I'm not talking about appeasing them, or giving in. I'm talking about, well...talking to them. Nothing in fighting this war on terrorism (what an oddly chosen name) precludes us from using diplomacy as a tool instead of a laser guided bomb or a platoon of Navy SEALS.

Does Obama talking with this man equate to him supporting Hamas or Hezbollah? Does it mean he is cozy with Iran? Is it such a horrible thing that he has Muslims in the photos with him? Are we still that scared? Are we still riding that xenophobic horse created in 2001, whipping it full stride with fear mongering and terror threat level indicators?

Are we really so stupid as to assume that Obama is selling us out because he is talking to someone?

jallman · 07-27-08, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffMerriman

Are we really so stupid as to assume that Obama is selling us out because he is talking to someone?

No, of course not. My issue here is that rather than address the point that was made, some people would rather just disregard that there is an issue to address, whether positively or negatively, because they don't want to accept that Lil' Messiah has his issues at all.

07-27-08, 04:17 PM	#9
Lerxst Gettin' mine... Dungeon Master Join Date: Apr 2007 Last Seen: Today 08:07 AM Location: Nose to nose... Posts: 13,748 Thanks: 3,030 Thanked 3,670 Times in 2,095 Posts Lean: Moderate Gender: Total Awards: 3	Re: Obama's Secret Rescue Mission So my question would be to all here...how would you feel about a man who attempted to broker peace with Middle Eastern terror groups and their state supporters while at the same time was fully committed to the security of Israel? As has been pointed out in the past, terrorism is a methodology, not an actual group of people. It's a means of conducting business to achieve a desired end. Whether any members of this forum agree or not, the fact is that many Muslims across the globe feel that the U.S. and it's allies have engaged in supporting terrorism throughout the Middle East over many years and in different ways. This is how they feel. Certainly the methodologies are much different and ideologically we disagree on whether or not what the U.S. has done amounts to terrorism, but that is the reality of how they view us. So here we are, with most of world viewing us as a clumsy, ignorant, heavy handed nation of cowboy warriors, smashing around Iraq with little in the way of a sound strategy to actually live up to all the grandiose claims we made when we went in. The heat we have caught over this is enough to fry the egg that is all over our face. At this point, why would we not want to at least open some level of dialog? Oh I know we say we don't negotiate with terrorists, and that has been our position historically because to recognize them as worth negotiating with is the first step in validating their methodology for getting what they want. At least that is certainly the way conventional wisdom directs us. But what about at least trying to understand what position they are operating from. I'm not talking about appeasing them, or giving in. I'm talking about, well...talking to them. Nothing in fighting this war on terrorism (what an oddly chosen name) precludes us from using diplomacy as a tool instead of a laser guided bomb or a platoon of Navy SEALS. Does Obama talking with this man equate to him supporting Hamas or Hezbollah? Does it mean he is cozy with Iran? Is it such a horrible thing that he has Muslims in the photos with him? Are we still that scared? Are we still riding that xenophobic horse created in 2001, whipping it full stride with fear mongering and terror threat level indicators? Are we really so stupid as to assume that Obama is selling us out because he is talking to someone?
	__________________ Step into my office....

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