U.S. military says force in Afghanistan isn't big enough

Military commanders with the NATO mission in Afghanistan told President Barack Obama's chief envoy to the region this weekend that they did not have enough troops to do their job, pushed past their limit by Taliban rebels who operated across borders...

Mexican Flag-Wearing La Raza Member Attacks Texas Town Hall Attendees

Gateway Pundit: Honestly, is it really a smart move for the La Raza folks to celebrate Obamacare with Mariachi Bands and Mexican flags...

Gateway Pundit: La Raza Activists Provoke & Attack Rep. Gene Green Town Hall Attendees--- Bring In Mariachi Band & Mexican Flags (Video) ...Updated

Disabled Marine Veteran Gives Congressman an Earful at WA Town Hall

Gibbs: Obama Willing to Be One-Term President to Pass His Agenda...

Oh my: Obama being called a fascist now … on Air America

Via Red State, proof positive that there are some Obama lies so shameless that even the left won’t spin them for him. This is Naked Emperor News’s second video on The One’s oh-so-shady backroom deal with the pharmaceutical lobby; the first one was entitled “Obama’s Mother of All Political Lies,” a description I don’t agree with but which Air America apparently does. Watching this, it’s not just the dishonesty of his campaign promises that galls, it’s the sanctimony he displayed in misleading his cultists to believe things would be drastically different under Hopenchange. The pandering during the Billy Tauzin clip in particular is enough to make you queasy. Like the lady says, “a charming liar.”...

President Obama Issues Ramadan Video After Downplaying National Day of Prayer

OBAMA HIKES 10-YEAR DEFICIT TO $9 TRILLION...

The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to approximately $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday...

Obama Embarks on 10-Day Vacation to Camp David, Martha's Vineyard

President Obama left the White House on Friday for a 10-day vacation, taking with him the beloved family dog and leaving behind an acrimonious debate about a proposed overhaul of the nation's health care system.Obama left the White House's South Lawn by Marine helicopter early in the afternoon for the presidential retreat at Maryland's Camp David. He and his family then head on Sunday morning to Massachusetts' Martha's Vineyard, where they will stay at a private 28-acre estate and are expected to keep mostly to themselves.....

Obama Continues Outreach to Muslim Community as Ramadan Begins

President Obama on Friday cast U.S. military efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of his drive to forge a new relationship between America and the Muslim world.In a video message to Muslims getting ready for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Obama said U.S. efforts to end the war in Iraq and to isolate extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan is in keeping with America's responsibility to build a more peaceful and secure world....

White House: Obama's 'Wee-Weed Up' Comment Refers to Bed-Wetting

President Obama puzzled people when he said Washington "gets all wee-weed up." The White House offered a translation Friday: Folks are wetting the bed over the health care debate.White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked during his daily on-camera briefing what Obama meant on Thursday when he decried the way his push for an ambitious health care overhaul had been played in the media....

"Tea Party" Organizers Plan Anti-"Obamacare" Rallies Across the Country

If Democratic lawmakers thought all the furor over President Obama's health care plan expressed this month at town hall meetings was dying down, they might be in for a surprise Saturday.That's when citizens are planning anti-"Obamacare" rallies across the country Saturday in all 435 congressional districts.And their message is clear: We will not stand for socialized, government-controlled health care...

Click here for more information on the rallies.

Picture Left:Demonstrators stage a rally against health care reform before a discussion on health care by U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., at the South County Civic Center in Delray Beach, Fla. on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. (AP)

VOIGHT:"Is Obama creating a Civil War in America....?"

A Hollywood conservative has headed East. It's "Freedom Concert" time for Jon Voight. The Academy Award winner will join Sean Hannity in Cincinnati and Atlanta this weekend to honor fallen soldiers and present college scholarships to surviving children. Mr. Voight -- a warrior himself in many ways -- has been cogitating about the state of America, meanwhile.
"There's a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?" Mr. Voight tells Inside the Beltway....

Stephanopoulos: Americans "Worried He's Getting in Over His Head"...

The biggest problem for President Obama in today's ABC News/Washington Post poll is this: only 49 percent of Americans are confident that he'll "make the right decisions for the country's future" -- down from 60 percent in April.Voters still like Obama. His overall job approval is steady at 57 percent.But they're screaming "listen to us" and "slow down."And they're worried he's getting in over his head.....

Obama: Republican conspiracy out to kill health reform...

President Obama speaks during a radio interview Thursday with Michael Smerconish in the Diplomatic Room at the White House. (Associated Press)

President Obama took to the conservative airwaves Thursday to charge that Republican leaders are engaged in a vast right-wing conspiracy to kill health care reform in order to repeat the 1994 mid-term takeover of Congress, which followed the defeat of President Clinton's reform plan....

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Disabled Woman Opposed to Obamacare Claims ACORN Assaulted Her

Obama fires back at political critics

US President Barack Obama launched a mocking counter-attack Thursday at pundits who believe the euphoric early promise of his presidency is evaporating amid bitter political warfare.Obama, who has watched his poll ratings dip sharply over recent months, drew comparisons to his 2008 presidential campaign, which was several times all but written off by media experts who set prevailing political wisdom...
Obama on DC ‘Handwringing’:"Everybody in Washington Gets All Wee Weed Up!"

White House Spokesman Explains What Obama Meant by "Wee Weed Up"

Constitutional Patriots Hold Town Hall Meeting in Senator’s Absence

She couldn’t come, but they pretended she was there, saying her absence wouldn’t silence their opinions about health care reform.So, at Saturday’s “mock” town hall meeting, leaders of the local Constitutional Patriots hung an enlarged photo of Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and announced plans to send a video of all speakers’ questions and comments to her office.Almost everyone who spoke to the crowd of more than 150 people seated at New Hanover County Northeast Library – and to Hagan’s photo – was opposed to the health care reform legislation lawmakers are considering....

Hillary Clinton on Sidelines as Diplomacy With Rogue Nations Evolves

In the last few weeks, a former president traveled to North Korea to negotiate the release of two imprisoned Americans; a U.S. senator flew to Burma to bargain for the release of yet another American; and envoys of the reclusive North Korean regime have come to the U.S. for talks with America's former ambassador to the United Nations.And throughout all of it, one question grows: Where is America's top diplomat, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?

Bill Clinton Briefs Obama on North Korea Mission

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that information her husband brought back from North Korea has been "extremely helpful" by providing a window into what's happening in the reclusive country.But it did not change the Obama administration's position on North Korea, which is under pressure from the U.S. and its allies to end its nuclear weapons program....

Picture Left:President Obama meets with former President Bill Clinton in the situation room of the White House, including NSC Senior Director for Asian Affairs Ambassador Jeff Bader, Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, NSC Advisor General Jim Jones and Vice President Biden, August 18, 2009. (The White House)

Former Bush aide says politics colored US "terror alert"

Former US homeland security chief Tom Ridge charges in a new book that top aides to then-president George W. Bush pressured him to raise the "terror alert" level to sway the November 2004 US election.Then defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and attorney general John Ashcroft pushed him to elevate the color-coded threat level, but Ridge refused, according to a summary from his publisher, Thomas Dunne Books...

BLACKWATER CONTROVERSY

CIA Hired Blackwater for Al Qaeda Hit Squads

The CIA hired private contractors at Blackwater USA in 2004 as part of a secret program to kill top-level members of Al Qaeda, FOX News has confirmed.
At the time, Blackwater was under contract with the CIA to help the agency with training at its North Carolina facility, sources told FOX News...

Obama Struggles to Strike a Health Care Deal Palatable to All Sides

For President Obama, striking a deal that satisfies all the parties involved in the health care debate may turn out to be harder than overhauling the health care system itself.The president finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place, going round and round in a dizzying cycle of give and take that doesn't seem to be advancing his top domestic priority. As soon as he makes a concession to one group, he loses support from another....

Great Doubt For Benefits Of Stimulus Package

We had a bank go on Thursday and now we have a continuation of the Friday Night FDIC Financial Follies.Federal and state regulators closed two small Arizona banks Friday evening, but depositors won’t feel any pain.One of the biggest banks in Florida has been shut down by regulators and its assets sold to a rival in a move that underlines the continued frailty of the American banking and property sectors.Phoenix-based Community Bank of Arizona and Union Bank in Gilbert were shuttered, with deposits of both institutions purchased by Oklahoma-based MidFirst Bank...

Rep.Frank,Critics Face Off at Town Hall Event:More than 500 showed up Tuesday night, with some shouting and booing as the Democrat spoke

It was a tough crowd Tuesday night at the senior center in Dartmouth, Mass. But neither Rep. Barney Frank nor his critics seemed to back down.
The often contentious town hall-style event with the Democratic congressman, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, drew more than 500 people, some shouting and booing as Frank spoke...

Outbursts at Frank's Town Hall

Rep. Barney Frank lashed out at protester who held a poster depicting President Barack Obama with a Hitler-style mustache during a heated town hall meeting on federal health care reform...

ANGRY at AARP:Why 60000 members have left in protest for the health reform plan...

AARP IS LYING TO THEIR MEMBERS...

AARP Organizers Walk Out On Members

AARP Organizers Cancel Listening Session after participants refuse to keep their comments quiet...

Florida AARP Meeting Turns Rowdy

"Why wouldn't AARP insist the government fix Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security before we discuss anything...?..."

AARP, Losing Members Over Health Care, Faces Challenge From Grassroots Senior Advocacy Group

Look out AARP. There's a new senior advocacy group on the block offering a conservative alternative to seniors.The Atlanta-based American Seniors Association (ASA), which is opposed to President Obama's health care plan, is trying to capitalize on growing public dissatisfaction with the AARP.About 60,000 seniors have quit AARP since July 1 due to the group's support for health care reform, a spokesman for the organization said this week...

Picture Left:Retired U.S. Army Sgt. Cameron Jones tears up his AARP membership card.(FOX News)

Consulting Firm Tied to White House Given Millions for Health Care Ad Campaign

A media consulting firm with ties to White House senior strategist David Axelrod has been hired to produce a multi-million dollar ad campaign touting the Obama administration's health care overhaul.But while lobbying analysts say the move is logical, some Republicans are questioning whether Axelrod stands to gain from the profits...

Federal Deficit to Hit U$S 1.58 Trillion This Year....

The White House plans to announce the federal deficit will be about $262 billion less than officials predicted earlier this year -- in part because the administration has provided less aid than expected to Wall Street.The federal deficit this year will total $1.58 trillion, a senior White House official said late Wednesday...

Picture Left:This graph purports to show the impact of a Democratic health care proposal on the deficit (Republican Ways and Means Committee Staff)

At Least 97 Killed in Baghdad Attacks

At least 97 people are dead, and more than 400 more wounded, after a truck bomb exploded across the street from Iraq's Foreign Ministry near the Baghdad Green Zone Wednesday, knocking out concrete slabs and windows and leaving a mass of charred cars outside, FOX News confirms.The U.S. Embassy issued a statement condeming the wave of violence across Baghdad...
Picture Left:Aug. 19: Smoke rises near the Iraqi Foreign Ministry after a massive bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq.(AP)

"ALL HE DOES IS SMIRK":Victim's family member reacts to bomber release......

Lockerbie Bomber Freed From Prison on Compassionate Grounds

Scotland freed the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds Thursday, letting him go home to Libya to die and rejecting American pleas to show no mercy to the man responsible for the 1988 attack that killed 270 people...

AFGHANISTAN ON HIGH ALERT:Taliban threaten to cut off fingers of voters if they participate in upcoming election

"Foreign troops produce no significant results in Afghanistan":Russia Today

Afghan people hope the new president will be able to bring change to the country, Ghulam Mokhammed, leader of the Afghan community in Moscow told RT...

"Afghans must rally around national leader":Russia Today

The Chairman of the Russian State Duma's Constitutional Law Committee Vladimir Pligin assures that Russia is ready to co-operate with any political figure in Afghanistan properly elected by the Afghan people....

AFGHANISTAN:Polls close amid claims of vote irregularities

Polls Close in Afghanistan as Election Workers Begin Counting Millions of Presidential Votes

Taliban threats appeared to dampen voter turnout in the militant south Thursday when Afghans chose the next president for their deeply troubled country. Insurgents launched scattered rocket, suicide and bomb attacks that closed some polling sites....

‘Exercising My Rights’: Man Explains Why He Carried Rifle Near Obama Event

“I think people need to get up and do it more.”

Man carries assault rifle to Obama protest -- and it's legal

A man is shown legally carrying a rifle at a protest against President Obama on Monday in Phoenix, Arizona.

A man toting an assault rifle was among a dozen protesters carrying weapons while demonstrating outside President Obama's speech to veterans on Monday, but no laws were broken. It was the second instance in recent days in which weapons have been seen near presidential events...

Dozen Armed With Guns Protest Obama Speech

About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday -- the latest incident in which protesters have openly displayed firearms near the president...
Picture Left:Aug. 17: A man carries a military style AR-15 rifle during an Obama opposition rally in Phoenix. (The Arizona Republic via AP)

Sebelius:"Nothing Has Changed" About White House Support for "Public Option"

The Obama administration on Tuesday insisted that "nothing has changed" about its support for a government-run health insurance plan, after liberal Democrats threatened to abandon a health care reform bill that doesn't include the so-called "public option." Liberal members of the party had protested after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and President Obama in public remarks over the weekend referred to the option of a government-run plan as a non-essential element of reform....

White House Blames E-Mail Controversy on "Sinister Conspiracy Theories"...

The White House is blaming the controversy over its Web site and mass e-mails on viral rumors, "fear-mongering" and "sinister conspiracy theories" even as it acknowledges problems with its online practices.After confirming to FOX News over the weekend that third-party groups could be responsible for official White House e-mails that have been sent to people who never signed up for them, President Obama's new media director took to the official White House blog to "clear up" the confusion....

Picture Left:Macon Phillips, the White House new media director, has responded to the controversy over administration e-mails. (AP Photo)

E-Mailers Contacted by White House Through Variety of Online Services

Third-party groups and their online petitions might not be the only reason people across the country received unsolicited e-mails from the White House, even though that's the explanation given by the administration...

As Egypt's Mubarak Comes to Washington,Labor Unrest Surges at Home

Saad al-Husseini may be a member of a banned political organization, but he's feeling the wind at his back. At the entrance to al-Mahalla al-Kubra, one of Egypt's largest industrial towns, the tall, bearded "independent" Member of Parliament from the Muslim Brotherhood - whose members are regularly arrested and tortured by the state - hops into a car, buoyed by signs of local dissent."There are two strikes in Mahalla today," he says, cheerfully."We will show you."....

Securing the Afghan vote

Violence Rises Ahead of Afghan Poll

Army Seeks to "Mentally Toughen Up" Combat Troops With Resiliency Classes

In an effort to address the mental health problems of some combat troops, the U.S. Army wants all of its 1.1 million soldiers to start taking emotional resiliency classes.
The new $117 million dollar program is based on the research of Dr. Martin Seligman, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center, who has been consulting with the Pentagon and whom the Army calls "Dr. Happy."...

UK Defence Minister savaged by family of 200th Briton to die in Afghanistan...

The two latest British troops to be killed in Afghanistan died as they tried to rescue their injured commander, it emerged today.Fusiliers Simon Annis and Louis Carter were part of the team trying to carry the mortally wounded Lance Corporal James Fullarton to safety near Sangin on Sunday when an explosion killed all three.Their senior officers lined up to pay tribute to the bravery of the two junior soldiers, who raced forward to help the injured commander despite the obvious danger...
Picture Left:Fusilier Simon Annis with his wife Caroline on their wedding day in February 2009 just a few weeks before he deployed to Afghanistan.

Attacks rock Afghan capital ahead of vote,8 die

Insurgents struck twice in the Afghan capital Tuesday, two days before national elections, firing rockets or mortars at the presidential palace and unleashing a suicide car bomber on a NATO convoy. Eight people died and 55 were wounded, Afghan authorities said.In eastern Afghanistan, two U.S. service members were killed and three wounded in a separate bombing, the U.S. military announced, pushing the death toll this month for the American force to 26...

Captured Pakistani Taliban Spokesman Admits Leader Is Dead

Security forces captured the Pakistani Taliban's top spokesman,and he acknowledged the death of the group's leader in a recent U.S. missile strike, officials said Tuesday — further signs the militants are in disarray since the American attack...

Ayatollah sees global Islamic "Mahdi" army: Calls for Muslim nations to unite militarily under messianic figure

Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei yesterday called on Muslim nations around the world to unite militarily in response to the imminent coming of Islam's messianic savior – the Mahdi. Khamenei, through his spokesman Ali Saeedi, specifically beckoned the nations of Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan and Afghanistan to join together with Iran in preparation for the Mahdi's soon coming....

ISLAMIC INVASION WATCH:No Burquini, No Bathing: British Pools Impose Muslim Dress Codes on All Swimmers

British swimming pools have begun hosting special Muslim swim sessions during which swimmers — including non-Muslims — are banned from entering the pool if their swimming attire doesn't comply with dress code required by Islamic custom....

3 Somali gunmen die in attack on UN compound

Gunmen stormed a U.N. aid compound in Somalia overnight, sparking a gunbattle that killed three of the attackers and wounded one, the agency said Monday.The attack started when up to 10 gunmen opened fire on guards who refused to let the men into the U.N.'s World Food Program compound in Wajid, an aid base in southern Somalia, said Peter Smerdon, a spokesman for WFP. The guards returned fire and the gunbattle lasted about 15 minutes, Smerdon said...

Top U.S. Commander in Iraq Wants Troops in Disputed Territories

The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Monday that he wants to deploy American soldiers to disputed territories in northern Iraq following a recent spike in bombings there.The move would be a departure from the security pact that called for Americans to pull back from populated areas on June 30...

Suicide bomb kills 20,injures over 130 in Russia

A suicide bomber rammed a truck into a police station in the Russian region of Ingushetia on Monday, killing at least 20 police in the worst attack to ravage the poor North Caucasus republic in years.The blast, which wounded more than 130 others, undermined Kremlin claims that its efforts to bring calm and prosperity to the impoverished patchwork of ethnic groups, clans and religions were succeeding. It also stoked fears that Ingushetia has replaced Chechnya as the next battleground in the southern Russian region.

Afghan anti-corruption candidate

Afghan president in TV debate

Taliban fears hamper Afghan election

Pakistani Taliban says bombs a 'gift' for US envoy

The Taliban claimed responsibility for two weekend suicide bombings in the northwestern Swat Valley, saying Monday the blasts were a message to a visiting U.S. envoy that the militants remained strong despite recent Pakistani army gains there....

Russian Hackers Stole U.S. IDs for Attacks

Russian hackers hijacked American identities and U.S. software tools and used them in an attack on Georgian government Web sites during the war between Russia and Georgia last year, according to new research to be released Monday by a nonprofit U.S. group....

Senators in Yemen for Terrorism,Gitmo Talks

A delegation of U.S. senators led by John McCain was visiting Yemen on Monday for talks on helping the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country battle the threat from Al Qaeda....

As Afghans vote,US raises the stakes in war...

Afghanistan's elections come at a pivotal moment for the US-led war effort as Washington pours troops and money into an increasingly ambitious mission with no end in sight....
CBC: Security remained high in Afghanistan Sunday, with reports that voters' lives were being threatened if they take part in elections on Thursday for both president and provincial councils. The news of voter intimidation came as NATO and Afghan troops worked to protect voting sites around the country, the day after a car bombing in Kabul killed seven people and wounded close to 100.VIDEO
--CBC: Don't vote, Afghan public warned

UK's Brown defends Afghan role,death toll rises...

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain must remain committed to the war in Afghanistan to help protect the world from al Qaeda attacks as four more British soldiers were reported killed in the conflict...

Mexican Army takes over customs operations on US border...

Mexico's Army took control of customs Sunday on the busy US border, as federal authorities pulled agents off the job in a massive anti-corruption shakeup, officials told AFP. An Interior Ministry official said the dismissals were being carried out at all Mexican border facilities, and that the customs agents were being replaced.....

IS RAHM RUNNING THE SHOW....?

As White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel was the one to bring the hammer down on Sidney Blumenthal,Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wanted to hire Mr. Blumenthal, a loyal confidant who had helped her promote the idea of a “vast right-wing conspiracy” more than a decade ago. But President Obama’s campaign veterans still blamed him for spreading harsh attacks against their candidate in the primary showdown with Mrs. Clinton last year....

Pawlenty:"Obama progress on climate change, he's changing political climate back to Republican...!"

Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty took an aggressive line against President Barack Obama’s proposed health care overhaul Friday and insisted that a rejection of the Democratic plan could usher in a Republican resurgence.“It appears that President Obama is making great progress on climate change, he is changing the political climate in the country back to Republican,” Pawlenty said during a speech to the second annual GOPAC conference in Chicago....

Chavez says Obama "lost in space"...

U.S. President Barack Obama is "lost in the Andromeda" galaxy on Latin American policy, his chief critic in the region, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, said on Sunday, while demanding the closure of U.S. military bases...

Israeli minister:Some of Obama's policies are "borderline anti-Semitic"...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will reject US President Barack Obama's request for a freeze on natural growth in Judea and Samaria, Habayit Hayehudi head Daniel Herschkowitz said Sunday, based on conversations with Netanyahu....

--VIDEO:US House Majority leader Hoyer: Friends have differences from time to time

Town Halls Having an Impact? White House Bends on Health Care Provision in Face of Discontent

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says the so-called public option -- a government-run health care plan that would be just one component of a broader health care overhaul -- is "not the essential element..."

WHITE HOUSE ADMITS E-MAIL SPAM ERROR:Will Change Up Sign Up Rules...

The White House said Sunday night that it will change its e-mail sign-up procedures after some recipients of a health-care e-mail complained that they had not asked to receive updates.....

--White House Passes Blame on Unsolicited Health Care E-Mails:The White House suggests third-party groups are to blame for unsolicited health care e-mails....

RETREAT:"TEAM OBAMA DROPS 'PUBLIC OPTION'"

Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, a leading figure in the liberal wing of his party, said Monday he doubts there can be meaningful health care reform without a direct government role....
--Government-Run Insurance Plan 'Not Essential'...
--Dem: Bill without public option 'would be very, very difficult'...
--Armey: Hyped up outbreak of swine flu could 'scare bed-wetters to vote for healthcare reform'...
--Canada's top doctor: Health care system 'imploding'... 'We all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize'...