Joint Chiefs chairman opens door to US boots on ground in ISIS fight

The top U.S. military leader opened the door Tuesday to U.S. troops on the ground in the fight against the Islamic State, testifying before Congress that he could recommend "U.S. military ground forces" if the international coalition being formed proves ineffective against the terror group.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey made the statement during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Though President Obama vowed last week that the U.S. would "not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq" and military leaders say ground troops are not needed at the moment, Dempsey said he could change his recommendation if he found circumstances "evolving" in the region.
one example of a scenario



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U.S. Forces 'Do Not And Will Not' Have Combat Mission In Iraq
Obama Insists

White House: No ‘combat role,’
but US troops could ‘forward deploy’ with Iraqis



Corker Slams Obama, Kerry for

'Exercising the Worst Judgment Possible' on ISIS



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1 In 4 Americans Open To Secession

BOSTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The failed Scottish vote to pull out from the United Kingdom stirred secessionist hopes for some in the United States, where almost a quarter of people are open to their states leaving the union, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Some 23.9 percent of Americans polled from Aug. 23 through Sept. 16 said they strongly supported or tended to support the idea of their state breaking away, while 53.3 percent of the 8,952 respondents strongly opposed or tended to oppose the notion.

The urge to sever ties with Washington cuts across party lines and regions, though Republicans and residents of rural Western states are generally warmer to the idea than Democrats and Northeasterners, according to the poll.

Anger with President Barack Obama's handling of issues ranging from healthcare reform to the rise of Islamic State militants drives some of the feeling, with Republican respondents citing dissatisfaction with his administration as coloring their thinking.
Angry With Washington,



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WASHINGTON – The Senate gave final approval on Thursday to President Obama’s plan to train and arm Syrian rebels, endorsing a key plank of the president's strategy for taking on the Islamic State.

The Senate, in a 78-22 vote, authorized the mission as part of a must-pass, stopgap spending bill to keep government agencies operating into December.

The House passed a similar measure on Wednesday 273-156, with Republicans backing the president’s measure by more than a 2-1 margin.

Speaking at the White House immediately after the vote, President Obama said he wanted to thank congressional leaders for the "speed and seriousness" with which they approached the issue and praised the "strong bi-partisan support in Congress for the new training effort."
Congress approves mission to train, arm Syrian rebels




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Eric Holder To Step Down As Attorney General

Holder Went Down as We Forced DOJ's Hand on Fast and Furious in Court

Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement on Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder is resigning as his group is close to nailing the Department of Justice on Operation Fast and Furious.

Judicial Watch:



Race to replace Holder begins

Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation announcement has set off a flurry of speculation over who might replace him – and, perhaps more importantly, who could survive the bruising confirmation process on Capitol Hill.

“I have a hard time coming up with anyone the president could trust who would have an easy road,” said Holder critic Hans von Spakovsky, who published the book, “Obama’s Enforcer: Eric Holder’s Justice Department,” in 2013.

The president did not offer any hints when he formally announced Holder’s decision to step down after six years on the job. He said Holder would stay on until a successor is named.
The next ‘top cop’?



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Just this month, a man carrying a knife was able to jump the White House fence and sprint into the front door. The agency was also embarrassed by a 2012 prostitution scandal in Cartagena, Colombia, that revealed what some called a wheels-up, rings-off culture in which some agents treated presidential trips as an opportunity to party.


Secret Service fumbled response after gunman hit White House residence in 2011



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Obama administration sharply criticizes
new Israeli housing projects

US in bind as Palestinians push UN resolution
demanding broad Israeli withdrawal



Netanyahu's warning to the world
VIDEO:




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SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR RESIGNS...

Julia Pierson, Secret Service Director, Resigns Under Pressure About Breaches
WASHINGTON — Julia Pierson resigned under pressure as director of the Secret Service on Wednesday after failing to quell a bipartisan political furor over repeated breaches of White House security and losing the confidence of the president her agency is charged with protecting.
SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR RESIGNS...



Hours Before Pierson Resigned, WH Said It Stood ‘Solidily Behind’ Her
CONFUSION:



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OBAMA TRIES PIVOT, BUT VOTERS WANT FOLLOW THROUGH
Improbable as it may sound, President Obama today will deliver a speech in Chicago explaining why Americans are wrong about the condition of the economy. The message: You are better off than you were six years ago, you just don't know it. Not only are voters are unlikely to reappraise their dismal view of the economy, that’s not the topic they are most interested in right now. Whether it is the arrival of Ebola on our shores or the growing concerns that the war against ISIS is not making adequate headway, what Americans are really talking about – and really concerned about – are things that require action rather than explanation. Just look at the polls.

Eye off the ball - In a new Fox News poll, 78 percent of voters expressed concern about an attack on U.S. soil by Islamist militants, which helps us to understand why, in a remarkable turnabout, 51 percent would support the use of ground forces if air strikes weren’t enough to root out ISIS. Worse, 64 percent of respondents did not believe President Obama had a clear strategy to defeat ISIS and 54 percent said it is “crazy” to announce war plans in advance. While the president stopped his summer-long slide in the polls, his job performance rating stood at 40 percent, only 2 points better than it was just before his Sept. 10 announcement escalating the war. We can’t know whether the president’s pivot is any good on the golf course, but his record at issue pivots in public is pretty dire. There’s little reason to believe that given the deepening anxieties on epidemics and Islamism that this one will be anything but a hozzle shot.




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US airstrikes against ISIS reportedly suffer from intelligence gaps

U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are proceeding despite intelligence gaps that inhibit the Pentagon's ability to determine their effectiveness, according to a published report.

The Associated Press, citing current and former U.S. officials, reported Wednesday that the Defense Department is relying on satellites, drones and surveillance flights to pinpoint targets for airstrikes, as well as assess the damage afterward and determine whether civilians were killed. Officials say that system stands in sharp contrast to the networks of bases, spies and ground-based technology the U.S. had in place during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
suffer from intelligence gaps



The first wave of U.S. military attacks against ISIS has cost nearly $1 billion, according to a military think tank.

And costs could rise to as much as $1.8 billion a month if the U.S. military presence grows to 25,000 ground troops, as some have suggested, said the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment (CSBA).
U.S. has already spent nearly $1 billion fighting ISIS



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Top doctor 'not surprised' if US has another Ebola case, downplays use of virus in bioterror attack
The United States’ top infectious-disease doctor suggested Sunday that more people inside the country will be diagnosed with Ebola, but dismissed as “far-fetched” concerns about somebody bringing the deadly disease across the U.S.-Mexico border in a bio-terror attack.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, told “Fox News Sunday” that 50 people inside the country are now being monitored for the deadly virus and that the country’s first confirmed patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, is back in critical condition at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas.
open to any "workable" suggestion that "won't backfire"




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ISIS bearing down on Baghdad even as world watches Kobani siege

Waves of U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State fighters appear to have done little to stem the terrorist army’s advance in Syria, and now the militants are close to overrunning key positions on the outskirts of Baghdad.

With the world’s eyes on the terrorist army’s siege of the Syrian border city of Kobani, where U.S.-led airstrikes are backing Kurdish fighters, some 500 miles southeast, Islamic State fighters are within eight miles of the Iraqi metropolis. The Islamic militants have reportedly infiltrated the Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib, not far from the runway perimeter of Baghdad's international airport. The suburb is perhaps best known to the west as the site of an infamous prison operated by the U.S. military during the Iraq war.

Iraqis in city fear possible ISIS attack
Baghdad priest:




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Q: Is it true that George W. Bush took more vacation days than Barack Obama?

A: Yes.

Before his two-week trip to Martha’s Vineyard in August, Obama’s count was 125 full or partial days and Bush’s total at the same point in his presidency was 407.

The clowns are a joke when they complain about the President taking vacations.

quote:

Q: Is it true that George W. Bush took more vacation days than Barack Obama?

A: Yes.

Before his two-week trip to Martha’s Vineyard in August, Obama’s count was 125 full or partial days and Bush’s total at the same point in his presidency was 407.

The clowns are a joke when they complain about the President taking vacations.

ZERO/Barney Fife

He needs a permanent vacation in Kenya.