America's Enemies Pile On
If Vladimir Putin's outrageous op-ed decrying the concept of American exceptionalism wasn't enough to endure in one day, America got another "gut punch" yesterday from Ayman al-Zawahiri.
In a new message released the day after the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Al Qaeda leader instructs his jihadist followers to renew the attack against America. He specifically calls for smaller, easier attacks that can be carried out by one or two people. He praised the Boston Marathon bombing as a prime example.
This is precisely the sort of scenario that counterterrorism officials have feared. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, U.S. officials were surprised that we did not see more "random" acts of terrorism like Israelis have endured. The thinking was that Al Qaeda was committed to pulling off only "spectacular" events in America.
There have been plenty of smaller terrorist attacks since 9/11. But administration officials have frequently categorized them as "lone wolf" events or steadfastly refused to even call them acts of terror. The Obama Administration continues with the farce of labeling the Fort Hood shooting "work place violence" rather than what it was -- Islamic inspired terrorism.
Another Lie?
From Obamacare to Benghazi, Obama is building a consistent record of falsehood and misinformation. Now we are discovering that during the presidential campaign he misled the nation about Al Qaeda too when he said we had them on the run.
Al Qaeda's shift in strategy clearly indicates that it is far from "decimated" or "on the run," as Obama frequently claimed last year. And a very detailed report from the Washington Times indicates that the White House knew better.
Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told the Times, "To say the core [of Al Qaeda] is decimated and therefore we have al Qaeda on the run was not consistent with the overall intelligence assessment at the time."
Pressed to explain the stark contrast between Obama's campaign rhetoric and the intelligence, Rep. Rogers said that there were two possible explanations, "One, he wasn't getting the information that the rest of us were getting, or two, he got the information and decided to disregard it for political purposes. Either of those is a problem for a commander in chief."
And Speaking Of Lies…
The House investigation of the IRS/Tea Party abuse scandal has turned up an extremely damning exchange of emails, once again indicating that the entire explanation of "rogue agents from Cincinnati" was a lie.
The House Ways and Means Committee has uncovered a February 2011 email from IRS executive Lois Lerner describing the Tea Party investigation as potentially "very dangerous." Lerner also wrote, "Cincy should probably NOT have these cases." Of course, we know they were eventually moved to Washington.
In response to this latest discovery, Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said, "There is increasing and overwhelming evidence that Lois Lerner and high-level IRS employees in Washington were abusing their power to prevent conservative groups from organizing and carrying out their missions. There are still mountains of documents to go through, but it is clear the IRS is out of control and there will be consequences."
Join Me In D.C.!
Join me at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, in Washington, D.C., October 11th - 13th.
The Values Voter Summit is sponsored by American Values, the Family Research Council, AFA Action, Heritage Foundation, and Liberty Counsel.
This year's Summit features an incredible line up of speakers, including:
- Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
- Dr. Ben Carson
- Lt. Gen. William Boykin (Ret.)
- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
- Former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
- Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
- Rep. Steve King (R-IA)
- Star Parker
- Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
- Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
- 2012 Vice Presidential Nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
- Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)
- Columnist Cal Thomas
- Former Rep. Allen West
- And many more outstanding conservative leaders!
There will be educational sessions on a broad range of topics including: the threat to religious liberty, radical Islam, restraining Big Government and responding to the left.
American Values will host a special luncheon on Saturday, October 12th. (To attend the luncheon, you must purchase a separate ticket.) Later that evening, there will be a gala dinner honoring Dr. Ed Feulner, founder of the Heritage Foundation.
To learn more or to register online, click here now. I look forward to seeing you there!