Yeah, This Is A Great Idea For National Security....

[Lord Jim]

Chuck Schumer got it exactly right...(There's a group of words I have never arranged in that order before...Trump really is great at bringing people together....)

“This executive order was mean-spirited and un-American,” Schumer said at a press conference in New York City, where he was surrounded by families affected by the ban. “It was implemented in a way that created chaos and confusion across the country, and it will only serve to embolden and inspire those around the globe who will do us harm.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/schumer-brea ... 52612.html

[Guinevere]

Oh come on LJ, that's far too nuanced for the Trumpanzees. All they can understand is "Muslims bad" and then beat their chests.

[Guinevere]

Chuck Schumer got it exactly right...(There's a group of words I have never put together in that order before...Trump really is great at bringing people together....)

“This executive order was mean-spirited and un-American,” Schumer said at a press conference in New York City, where he was surrounded by families affected by the ban. “It was implemented in a way that created chaos and confusion across the country, and it will only serve to embolden and inspire those around the globe who will do us harm.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/schumer-brea ... 52612.html

Glad you're on the right side of this one. I know plenty others like you.

[Scooter]

And right on cue:

Jihadist groups on Sunday celebrated the Trump administration’s ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, saying the new policy validates their claim that the United States is at war with Islam.

Comments posted to pro-Islamic State social media accounts predicted that U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order would persuade American Muslims to side with the extremists. One posting hailed the U.S. president as “the best caller to Islam,” while others predicted that Trump would soon launch a new war in the Middle East.

“[Islamic State leader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi has the right to come out and inform Trump that banning Muslims from entering America is a ‘blessed ban,'” said one posting to a pro-Islamic State channel on Telegram, a social-media platform. The writer compared the executive order to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, which Islamic militant leaders at the time hailed as a “blessed invasion” that ignited anti-Western fervour across the Islamic world.

Several postings suggested that Trump was fulfilling the predictions of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American born al-Qaida leader and preacher who famously said that the “West would eventually turn against its Muslim citizens.” Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

[Big RR]

Who would have thought that could happen?

[Lord Jim]

Blabber Mouth Rudy spills the beans:

Trump asked for a ‘Muslim ban,’ Giuliani says — and ordered a commission to do it ‘legally’

Former New York mayor Rudy W. Giuliani said President Trump wanted a “Muslim ban” and requested he assemble a commission to show him “the right way to do it legally.”

Giuliani, an early Trump supporter who once had been rumored for a Cabinet position in the new administration, appeared on Fox News late Saturday night to describe how Trump's executive order temporarily banning refugees came together.

Trump signed orders on Friday not only to suspend admission of all refugees into the United States for 120 days but also to implement “new vetting measures” to screen out “radical Islamic terrorists.” Refugee entry from Syria, however, would be suspended indefinitely, and all travel from Syria and six other nations — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — is suspended for 90 days. Trump also said he would give priority to Christian refugees over those of other religions, according to the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Fox News host Jeanine Pirro asked Giuliani whether the ban had anything to do with religion.

“How did the president decide the seven countries?” she asked. “Okay, talk to me.”

“I'll tell you the whole history of it,” Giuliani responded eagerly. “So when [Trump] first announced it, he said, 'Muslim ban.' He called me up. He said, 'Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.' "

Giuliani said he assembled a “whole group of other very expert lawyers on this,” including former U.S. attorney general Michael Mukasey, Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Tex.) and Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.).

“And what we did was, we focused on, instead of religion, danger — the areas of the world that create danger for us,” Giuliani told Pirro. “Which is a factual basis, not a religious basis. Perfectly legal, perfectly sensible. And that's what the ban is based on. It's not based on religion. It's based on places where there are substantial evidence that people are sending terrorists into our country.”

It was unclear when the phone call Giuliani took place and when the commission began working. An email to the White House press office was not immediately returned Sunday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the ... 57aa91fd50

[Scooter]

Acting Attorney General Orders Justice Dept. Not to Defend Refugee Ban

WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, ordered the Justice Department on Monday not to defend President Trump’s executive order on immigration in court.

“I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right,” Ms. Yates wrote in a letter to Justice Department lawyers. “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful.”

The decision is largely symbolic — Mr. Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions, is likely to be confirmed soon — but it highlights the deep divide at the Justice Department and elsewhere in the government over Mr. Trump’s order.

Mr. Trump has the authority to fire Ms. Yates, but as the top Senate-confirmed official at the Justice Department, she is the only one authorized to sign foreign surveillance warrants, an essential function at the department.

“For as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so,” she wrote.

[Econoline]

Also too:

• 

[Lord Jim]

Yeah, well let's not forget that a large part of the reason that the average for Islamist terrorist attacks is so low (and I'd like to see the criteria used to compile the numbers; for example if they don't include the 39 murdered at the Orlando nightclub, I'll have to throw the bullshit flag) is because of all the potential attacks that have been discovered and thwarted by the efforts of our intelligence agencies and/or local law enforcement...

And this success is due in large measure to the resources, legal tools and vigilance that have been devoted to this (none of which of course has anything to do with the cruel meaningless stunt pulled by Trump this weekend. In fact in addition to all the other damage that did to the fight against Islamist terrorism, it will probably make some members of the US Muslim community more reluctant to engage with US law enforcement.)

We have low numbers of people dying in commercial plane crashes too, because of all the effort that goes into seeing to it that commercial jets aren't going to crash...

The same sorts of efforts are not being expended on lightning strikes or killer lawn mowers...

[Econoline]

The same sorts of efforts are not being expended on lightning strikes or killer lawn mowers...

...or armed toddlers.

[RayThom]

I bet the nomination of Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III will be fast-tracked within the next 48 hours. Drumpf and Bannon won't be able to dump Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates quick enough after her seditious and rebellious rant.

That woman doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut.

[Econoline]

Yeah, that's the Onion...and yanno, I'm actually starting to feel sorry for the Onion for having to keep trying to satirize a world that's gone WAY beyond the outer limits of satire...

[MajGenl.Meade]

That's bullshit if you can find one lie.... oh! Look at that!

Monday, 30 December, 2002, 19:50 GMT
US missionaries murdered in Yemen
Three victims, from left: Martha Myers, William Koehn and Kathleen Gariety
Slain: Martha Myers, William Koehn and Kathleen Gariety
A lone gunman has shot and killed three Americans in a Christian missionary hospital in Yemen.

A fourth American was badly injured in the attack in the southern town of Jibla.
ATTACK VICTIMS
Martha Myers, 54, from Alabama - killed
William Koehn, 60, from Texas - killed
Kathleen Gariety, 53, from Wisconsin - killed
Donald Caswell, 49, from Texas - seriously injured

The gunman was arrested and said he carried out the attack for his religion. Officials say they believe he is a member of a local Yemeni group, Islamic Jihad.

[Burning Petard]

I believe the chart you say is BS, enumerated people killed in America. For the president to affect the examples cited in the post above, he would need to create an executive order banning Americans from going to those countries.

These recent events have informed me about the importance of the Green Card. Holders of that document are subject to all the duties and rights and privileges of US citizenship, except the right to vote.

snailgate

[Lord Jim]

WASHINGTON – In a remarkable sign of early discord, Donald Trump's key Cabinet advisers — as well as Republican congressional leaders — distanced themselves Monday from the new president's controversial refugee and immigration ban. They declared they were not consulted during its writing and were blindsided by the timing.

At least three top national security officials — Defense Secretary James Mattis, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Rex Tillerson, who is awaiting confirmation to lead the State Department — have told associates they were not aware of details of directive until around the time Trump signed it. Top intelligence officials were also left largely in the dark, according to U.S. officials.

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, said that despite White House assurances that congressional leaders were consulted, he learned about the order in the media.

The fallout was immediate: Friction between Trump and his top advisers and a rush by the Pentagon to seek exemptions to the policy. The White House approach also sparked an unusually public clash between a president and the civil servants tasked with carrying out his policy.

A large group of American diplomats circulated a memo voicing their opposition to the order, which temporarily halted the entire U.S. refugee program and banned all entries from seven Muslim-majority nations for 90 days. In a startling combative response, White House spokesman Sean Spicer challenged those opposed to the measure to resign.

"They should either get with the program or they can go," Spicer said.

The blowback underscored Trump's tenuous relationship with his own national security advisers, many of whom he met for the first time during the transition, as well as with the government bureaucracy he now leads. While Trump outlined his plan for temporarily halting entry to the U.S. from countries with terror ties during the campaign, the confusing way in which it finally was crafted stunned some who have joined his team.

Mattis, who stood next to Trump during Friday's signing ceremony, is said to be particularly incensed. A senior U.S. official said Mattis, along with Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford, was aware of the general concept of Trump's order but not the details. Tillerson has told the president's political advisers that he was baffled over not being consulted on the substance of the order.

U.S. officials and others with knowledge of the Cabinet's thinking insisted on anonymity in order to disclose the officials' private views.

Trump's order pauses America's entire refugee program for four months and indefinitely bans all those from war-ravaged Syria. Critics dispute the president's assertion that the policy is needed to keep Americans safe, noting that recent acts of extremist violence have been carried out either by U.S. citizens or by individuals whose families weren't from the nations singled out in the order.

The president has privately acknowledged flaws in the rollout, according to a person with knowledge of his thinking. But he's also blamed the media — his frequent target — for what he believes are reports exaggerating the dissent and the number of people actually affected.

Trump has also said he believes the voters who carried him to victory support the plan as a necessary step to safeguard the nation. And he's dismissed objectors as attention-seeking rabble-rousers and grandstanding politicians.[Trump is accusing somebody else of being an "attention-seeking rabble rouser"? You can't make this stuff up...]

After a chaotic weekend during which some U.S. legal permanent residents were detained at airports, some agencies were moving swiftly to try to clean up after the White House.

Homeland Security, the agency tasked with implementing much of the refugee ban, clarified that customs and border agents should allow legal residents to enter the country. The Pentagon was trying to exempt Iraqis who worked alongside the U.S. and coalition forces from the 90-day ban on entry from the predominantly Muslim countries.

"There are a number of people in Iraq who have worked for us in a partnership role, whether fighting alongside us or working as translators, often doing so at great peril to themselves," said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

Policies with such broad reach are typically vetted by affected agencies and subject to review by multiple agencies. It's a process that can be frustratingly slow but is aimed at avoiding unintended consequences.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers in Trump's party sought to distance themselves from the wide-ranging order.

While Spicer said "appropriate committees and leadership offices" on Capitol Hill were consulted, GOP lawmakers said their offices had no hand in drafting the order and no briefings from the White House on how it would work.

"I think they know that it could have been done in a better way," Corker said of the White House.

The executive order was largely crafted by Steve Bannon, Trump's chief strategist, and Stephen Miller, a young policy adviser and former congressional aide to Trump's pick for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions. Spicer insisted the advisers had kept departments "in the loop at the level necessary," but he sidestepped questions about whether Cabinet secretaries were directly involved in the process.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/30/tr ... e-ban.html

[Big RR]

Yeah, well let's not forget that a large part of the reason that the average for Islamist terrorist attacks is so low (and I'd like to see the criteria used to compile the numbers; for example if they don't include the 39 murdered at the Orlando nightclub, I'll have to throw the bullshit flag) is because of all the potential attacks that have been discovered and thwarted by the efforts of our intelligence agencies and/or local law enforcement

Perhaps, but then we just have to trust law enforcement on that don't we? Not a lot of open court prosecutions. It could be true, but then it could just be a lull--how many jihadist terrorist attacks were there between the first and second WTC attacks, even though we didn't have all the advanced surveillance, etc.? It's a claim made by everyone during budget time, but it's hard to state with any certainty. but I think it is quit elikely that some plans (perhaps even very dangerous ones) have been thwarted.

But in any event I agree, it will just increase tensions and make cooperation with law enforcement much more difficult. But somehow Trump et al. can't see that at all.

[wesw]

I would like to see a list of people from those countries who have been arrested on terrorism charges.

it would be fairly extensive if only Somalis were included.

Saudi Arabia is the head of the snake and must be handled carefully.

I would push them toward china.....

with both hands , a foot in their ass and thanks for doing business with you.....

I would like to see better relations with Iran, but that seems unlikely as long as they keep shouting..., death to America.

I would like to see Pakistan and north korea s nukes seized or rendered useless in some other way. but that seems impossible.

I would like to see our Turkish bases moved to Kurdistan and turkey expelled from NATO. seems doable, if Russia plays nice.....

Syria and Iraq seem unlikely to reform back to their british borders, and that is probably good in the long run.....

gaza needs to be defeated. it has been a long time coming.

Israel needs to give up what they will give up and the Palestinians need to take it. any other course leads to bloody war.

Palestine would be better off under a US supported Jordan, I think, but they are unlikely to accept that end.

lebanonese folks would be better off planting cedar trees and minding their own business......

sounds easy, huh? ....not.

no pain no gain.

[Scooter]

And all of that will be achieved by refusing to re-admit doctors with green cards to return to their jobs at U.S. hospitals how, exactly?

[Big RR]

Because Trump has decreed that it will. Believe him.

[Guinevere]

That's bullshit if you can find one lie.... oh! Look at that!

Monday, 30 December, 2002, 19:50 GMT
US missionaries murdered in Yemen
Three victims, from left: Martha Myers, William Koehn and Kathleen Gariety
Slain: Martha Myers, William Koehn and Kathleen Gariety
A lone gunman has shot and killed three Americans in a Christian missionary hospital in Yemen.

A fourth American was badly injured in the attack in the southern town of Jibla.
ATTACK VICTIMS
Martha Myers, 54, from Alabama - killed
William Koehn, 60, from Texas - killed
Kathleen Gariety, 53, from Wisconsin - killed
Donald Caswell, 49, from Texas - seriously injured

The gunman was arrested and said he carried out the attack for his religion. Officials say they believe he is a member of a local Yemeni group, Islamic Jihad.

Please do not rely on Memes for facts. The actual point being made by those opposing the Immigration EO is that no terrorist from those listed countries has killed Americans in THIS COUNTRY, not that they haven't killed them anywhere. That's one reason why the EO is not effective, it is not addressing a past or likely future threat.