Exclusive: Obama's Newest Statement On Iran Protests "We respect Iran’s sovereignty, but we also are witnessing peaceful demonstrations" (Video)

In an interview taped Friday at the White House which was scheduled for broadcast on Sunday by Dawn News, Pakistan's first 24-hour English-language news channel, President Obama discussed a myriad of Middle Eastern topics including the current chaos in Iran.



Dawn.com reports:

Asked to comment on Ayatollah Khamenei’s statement that the US was interfering in Iran’s internal affairs, Mr Obama said what’s happening in Iran was remarkable. ‘To see hundreds of thousands of people in peaceful protest against an election that obviously raised a lot of doubts tells us that this is an issue that the Iranian people care deeply about.’

The US and the West, he said, had been very clear that this was not an issue between the West and Iran; this was an issue about the Iranian people seeking justice and wanting to make sure that their voices were heard.

‘And it’s unfortunate that there are some inside Iran and inside that government that want to use the West and the United States as an excuse,’ he said.

‘We respect Iran’s sovereignty, but we also are witnessing peaceful demonstrations, people expressing themselves, and I stand for that universal principle that people should have a voice in their own lives and their own destiny. And I hope that the international community recognises that we need to stand behind peaceful protests and be opposed to violence or repression.’

Mr Obama said that since there were no international observers in Iran, he could not say if the elections were fair or unfair. ‘But beyond the election, what’s clear is that the Iranian people are wanting to express themselves. And it is critical, as they seek justice and they seek an opportunity to express themselves, that that’s respected and not met with violence.’

‘Your speech in Cairo indeed was a speech that created a lot of stir, both in the US and in the Muslim world. Was it the beginning of something bigger to come, or was it just a one-off thing? He was asked.

‘No, I think that this is going to be a sustained process. As I said in Cairo, one speech is not going to transform policies and relationships throughout the Middle East or throughout the world,’ Mr Obama responded.

‘But what I wanted to do was to describe very clearly that the United States not only respects Muslim communities around the world but that there’s an opportunity for I think a new day, where there’s mutual understanding, mutual tolerance; where the United States is seen as somebody who stands with people in their daily aspirations for an education for their children, for good jobs, for economic development,’ he said.

‘And just as the United States at times has, I think, not fully understood what’s happening in Muslim communities, sometimes there have been countries that haven’t understood the rich history of Muslims in America,’ he added.

CNN has more: Obama gives exclusive interview to Pakistani media outlet

Gen. David Petraeus On Afghanistan/ Pakistan/ Taliban Threats, Says Al Qaeda No Longer Operating In Afghanistan (Video)

U.S. Central Command commander Gen. David Petraeus appeared on "Fox News Sunday" to discuss the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.



From Fox News:

The head of U.S. Central Command said Sunday that Al Qaeda is no longer operating in Afghanistan, with its senior leadership having moved to the western region of Pakistan.

Gen. David Petraeus said affiliated groups have "enclaves and sanctuaries" in Afghanistan and that "tentacles of Al Qaeda" have touched countries throughout the Middle East and northern Africa. But he said the terrorist group has suffered" very significant losses" in recent months, and agreed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai's recent assessment that there is no Al Qaeda based in his country.

Still, he said he believes Usama bin Laden and his No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri remain in charge of the terrorist network.

"They surface periodically. We see communications that they send out," Petraeus said.

Though Petraeus said nobody can provide an accurate location for either terrorist, he said Al Qaeda senior leadership clearly is now rooted in the border region of western Pakistan.

"There's no question that Al Qaeda's senior leadership has been there and has been in operation for years," Petraeus said.

The head of U.S. Central Command, speaking on "FOX News Sunday," warned of the severe threat extremist groups now pose to Pakistan but praised the U.S. ally for what he described as a coordinated campaign to beat back an uprising of Taliban forces.

He said that the Taliban's effort to extend their territory beyond the northern Swat valley seems to have "galvanized all of Pakistan" against the group.

"There is a degree of unanimity that there must be swift and effective action taken against the Taliban in Pakistan," Petraeus said, warning of the dire consequences of a Pakistan defeat.

"This is not a U.S. fight that Pakistan is carrying out at this point ... This is a Pakistani fight, a Pakistani battle, with elements that as we've mentioned threaten the very existence of the Pakistani state."

Petraeus spoke Sunday on "FOX News Sunday" and CNN's "State of the Union."

Pakistani Army Vows to Oust Taliban Militants (Video)

Pakistan's army vowed Friday to eliminate militants from a northwestern valley, but warned that its under-equipped troops face thousands of Taliban extremists.

And I'm sure they will receive no real help from the Obama Administration.

Which President Let the Taliban Become So Strong? Hannity: "No Discernible Plan At All" In Afghanistan (Video)

Karl Rove and Sean Hannity discuss recent comments from President Obama about Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and the war on terror.

Hillary Clinton Blames U.S. Again: "We are Reaping What We Sowed In Pakistan" (Video)

Yet again, Team "O" blames the United States for terrorism? Granted, there is some truth to the US funding Afghanistan in its fight against the Soviet Union, but let's not get carried away saying our actions 20 years ago is fueling hatred and terrorism, Madam Secretary.



Cover you ears while I scream at the top of my lungs.



Where is Perez Hilton? Ms. Clinton is the "stupid bitch", not Miss California. Good god what is happening around here?

Hmmm...sounds a lot like "America's chickens, have come home to roost".

VIDEO: Obama To "Disrupt, Dismantle and Defeat" Taliban and Al-Qaida

I thought Team "0" was supposed to cozy up to the "moderate Taliban" despite being an illogical oxymoron?

Tough words, but we all know how little faith we can place on the TOTUS.

President Barack Obama on Friday ordered 4,000 more military troops into Afghanistan, vowing to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Obama Privately Supports "Safe Haven" For Taliban Extremists Despite US Officials Publicly Calling It A "Negative Development"

American officials have privately backed Pakistan's "Sharia law for peace" deal with Taliban militants in the Swat Valley despite publicly criticising it as a "negative development".


And to think, just yesterday we applauded the President for initiating a troop surge to fight The Taliban and Radical Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Evidently, that was mere smoke screen.

Is Obama stupid? Naive? Scandalous? He cannot really be "pro-terror" can he?

Is this the kind of "Change" you want to believe in!?!?!


The Daily Telegraph reports:


The deal, under which Sharia law will be introduced in the Malakhand and Kohistan districts of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province if Taliban militants end their armed campaign in the Swat Valley, has been met with alarm by Nato chiefs and British and American officials.


Nato fears the deal would create a new "safe haven" for extremists, said a spokesman on Tuesday night, while a statement from Britain's High Commission in Islamabad said: "Previous peace deals have not provided a comprehensive and long-term solution to Swat's problems. We need to be confident that they will end violence, not create space for further violence."


President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan voiced the greatest concern about the strength of Taliban militants in Swat as he ended his first visit to the region since taking up his post.


"I talked to people from Swat and they were, frankly, quite terrified. Swat has really deeply affected the people of Pakistan, not just in Peshawar but in Lahore and Islamabad," he said, while a Defence Department official described the deal as a "negative development".


On Tuesday night however, US officials in Islamabad privately backed the deal as an attempt to drive a wedge between Swat's Taliban, which is focused on its demand for Sharia law, and the al-Qaeda-linked Taliban led by Baitullah Mehsud, the notorious commander who controls much of North and South Waziristan and other tribal areas along the Afghan border.


While they expressed fears that the deal might yet be sabotaged by some Swat Taliban militants who support al-Qaeda, they said that if successful, the deal would break up the alliance between the two groups, which has caused alarm throughout Pakistan and in Washington.


Of the two Taliban groups, Mehsud's is the most feared – he has been accused of masterminding the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and trained Osama bin Laden's son as one of his commanders – but it is the alliance with Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah which alarmed Pakistanis in the country's main metropolitan centres.


Swat is less than 100 miles from Islamabad, just a few hours from where Fazlullah's men have bombed girls' schools and murdered opponents and those who have defied its fatwas against "immoral behaviour". They included a popular dancing girl whose body was dumped in the main square of the valley's largest city, Mingora, last month.


Fazlullah, who is known as "Maulana Radio" for the illegal FM stations he uses to broadcast his latest fatwas and justify recent Taliban murders, is the son-in-law of Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the leader of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM), who once led thousands of militants to fight US forces in Afghanistan. Mr Muhammad has negotiated the Sharia law deal with local government officials and was on Tuesday night meeting Maulana Fazlullah to finalise their ceasefire.


Some senior Pakistan People's Party leaders have privately condemned the deal as "surrender", but government sources last night said it needed to bring peace to the valley, so that girls could return to school and business return to normal.


The valley had a long history of Sharia law, and its introduction was a popular measure among Swat's long-suffering people, they said.


American officials in Islamabad said they hoped it would divide Fazlullah's Swat Taliban and his father-in-law's TNSM from Baitullah Mehsud's Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).


"The strategy has to be to divide the two groups. The TNSM and Baitullah's TTP found some common cause briefly, but a peace deal will separate them," said one US official, who explained that while Mehsud's TTP is part of the global jihad, Maulana Radio is regarded as more focused on local issues and the campaign for Sharia law.


One source suggested it reflected the "smart power" thinking outlined by Hillary Clinton in her Senate confirmation hearing as secretary of state.
Mehsud's Taliban on Tuesday night appeared unruffled by the prospect of a peace deal in Swat.


"If a true Sharia was enforced, we shall fully support it," said Maulvi Omar, a spokesman, adding that the group backed the involvement of TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad in any deal.



(Hat Tip: Gateway Pundit)

Will Obama Follow Through In Afghanistan Troop Surge; Or Will He Cave To The Leftwing Lunatics In Denial Of Terrorism

Last week President Obama asked his military chiefs to review their Afghanistan plan and pondered "What is the end game?"

I noted then that it would seem The President should have his own game plan, considering much of his campaign rhetoric revolved around how much we screwed up in Iraq and that the "real" war on terror, or whatever the administration is calling these days, should be fought in the mountains of Afpakia (Afghanistan and Pakistan).

"As President, I would deploy at least two additional brigades to Afghanistan to re-enforce our counter-terrorism operations and support NATO’s efforts against the Taliban." - then candidate Obama last August.

It's also worth nothing that Afghan President Karzai told Obama to "Settle down" and "Use better judgement".

From The Wall Street Journal:

The regents are on the ground and commanders are crafting new battle plans: President Obama is girding for a war surge in Afghanistan. Let's hope he's willing to see it through when his most stalwart supporters start to doubt the effort and rue the cost.

...

Among other useful things, Mr. Obama's surge may help to educate his friends on the political left about Islamist terror. The National Security Network, an outfit that never missed an opportunity to bash President Bush, has quickly come into line behind the new President. The group says Mr. Obama's strategy must be focused "first and foremost on preventing the Afghanistan-Pakistan region from becoming a staging ground for terrorist attacks against the U.S. and other nations or a source for instability that could throw Pakistan into chaos."

Sounds good to us -- and sounds a lot like the Bush strategy. America's goal isn't to turn a backward Central Asian country into the next Switzerland, but to keep al Qaeda and its Taliban allies from using it as a safe haven. Toward that end, the U.S. and its allies can help build Afghanistan's institutions and army and help a weak Pakistan government flush out the terrorists in its wild west.

Also like the Bush Administration, Team Obama recognizes the Pakistan dimension to the Afghan problem -- even calling the place "Afpak." The Taliban came back in the past three years only after finding sanctuary around Quetta, in southern Pakistan, and in the country's northwest tribal regions. The U.S. has also won Islamabad's sotto voce cooperation to strike terror leaders, though more should be done around Quetta.

Mr. Obama's special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, has been in Afpak for a week's fact-finding. Before arriving, he said, "In my view it's going to be much tougher than Iraq." Even by Holbrookeian standards, that's hyperbole. The government in Kabul isn't in danger of collapsing, the Taliban isn't popular where it has ruled, and the insurgents are no match for the U.S.-led force on the battlefield.

The Obama team wants to play up Afghanistan's troubles so it can look good by comparison a year from now. But soon enough Mr. Obama will own those troubles, and talking down Afghanistan carries risks. Our allies and the American people may come to doubt that the conflict is winnable, or worth the cost.


Already, canaries on the left are asking a la columnist Richard Reeves, "Why are we in Afghanistan?" The President's friends at Newsweek are helpfully referring to "Obama's Vietnam." Mr. Obama may find himself relying on some surprising people for wartime support -- to wit, Bush Republicans and neocons.

***

I find it very interesting that The Journal states: "The Obama team wants to play up Afghanistan's troubles so it can look good by comparison a year from now."

It sounds very much like his "doom and gloom" economic forecasts that he used to sell the Economic CRAPulus Generational Theft Act.

It's our belief that Obama will govern by popularity and polls, and will continue to use deceit to sell his agenda, making preposterous forecasts that will make him look good by comparison.

He has never taken a stand on anything in his life. He is the kind of man who will take credit when the economy turns around, but if it does not, he will blame Congress and somehow, manage to blame Bush and Republicans.

Unfortunately, we fear he will use similar blame for a failed war on terror, if it comes to that.

The Full Text of Irani President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Chistmas Message

Terrorist Leader Ahmadinejad claims Jesus would side with Islam.

"In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful.

"Upon the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, Son of Mary, the Word of God, the Messenger of mercy, I would like to congratulate the followers of Abrahamic faiths, especially the followers of Jesus Christ, and the people of Britain.

"The Almighty created the universe for human beings and human beings for Himself.

"He created every human being with the ability to reach the heights of perfection. He called on man to make every effort to live a good life in this world and to work to achieve his everlasting life.

"On this difficult and challenging journey of man from dust to the divine, He did not leave humanity to its own devices. He chose from those He created the most excellent as His Prophets to guide humanity.

"All Prophets called for the worship of God, for love and brotherhood, for the establishment of justice and for love in human society. Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the standard-bearer of justice, of love for our fellow human beings, of the fight against tyranny, discrimination and injustice.

"All the problems that have bedevilled humanity throughout the ages came about because humanity followed an evil path and disregarded the message of the Prophets.

"Now as human society faces a myriad of problems and a succession of complex crises, the root causes can be found in humanity's rejection of that message, in particular the indifference of some governments and powers towards the teachings of the divine Prophets, especially those of Jesus Christ.

"The crises in society, the family, morality, politics, security and the economy which have made life hard for humanity and continue to put great pressure on all nations have come about because the Prophets have been forgotten, the Almighty has been forgotten and some leaders are estranged from God.

"If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would stand with the people in opposition to bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers.

"If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would hoist the banner of justice and love for humanity to oppose warmongers, occupiers, terrorists and bullies the world over.

"If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would fight against the tyrannical policies of prevailing global economic and political systems, as He did in His lifetime.

"The solution to today's problems is a return to the call of the divine Prophets. The solution to these crises is to follow the Prophets - they were sent by the Almighty for the good of humanity.

"Today, the general will of nations is calling for fundamental change. This is now taking place. Demands for change, demands for transformation, demands for a return to human values are fast becoming the foremost demands of the nations of the world.

"The response to these demands must be real and true. The prerequisite to this change is a change in goals, intentions and directions. If tyrannical goals are repackaged in an attractive and deceptive package and imposed on nations again, the people, awakened, will stand up against them.

"Fortunately, today, as crises and despair multiply, a wave of hope is gathering momentum. Hope for a brighter future and hope for the establishment of justice, hope for real peace, hope for finding virtuous and pious rulers who love the people and want to serve them – and this is what the Almighty has promised.

"We believe Jesus Christ will return, together with one of the children of the revered Messenger of Islam and will lead the world to love, brotherhood and justice.

"The responsibility of all followers of Christ and Abrahamic faiths is to prepare the way for the fulfilment of this divine promise and the arrival of that joyful, shining and wonderful age.

"I hope that the collective will of nations will unite in the not too distant future and
with the grace of the Almighty Lord, that shining age will come to rule the earth.

"Once again, I congratulate one and all on the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. I pray for the New Year to be a year of happiness, prosperity, peace and brotherhood for humanity. I wish you every success and happiness."

The world is a scary place! We pray for Obama to make the right decisions. We can only hope he does nothing to legitimize Ahmadinejad or terrorists.