Lessons from the Terror Arrests of Americans in Pakistan

By Ryan Mauro

The capture of five Americans with links to al-Qaeda illuminates many challenges of the terror war.

Five Americans from the northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., area have been arrested in Pakistan on their way to committing jihad. The fact that they were caught before they got to hook up with those to-die-for 72 virgins (the ones that, according to one Saudi preacher, are white and have no phlegm, feces, urine, or perhaps most appealingly, menstrual cycles) is itself a success in the War on Terror. In order to capitalize on this success, though, we need to learn several lessons from the episode. [more...]

KT McFarland in the Media

KT McFarland will co-host a national security show for FOX News' Strategy Room, DEFCON 3, every monday from 10-11 am EST. DEFCON 3 will devote an hour to a crisis topic of the week, with leading expert guests weighing in, and email questions and comments from viewers.
Next Monday's show will be about Pakistan and its war against the Taliban. Watch it live at 10 am EST at http://live.foxnews.com/strategy-room

Last week's debut of DEFCON 3 (12/7/09) was on the pros and cons of Obama's Afghan War. Here is a clip of the show.

KT on FOX and Friends Obama's Afghan speech 12/1/09 (FOX News)

DEFCON 3 by KT (video blog)- Can Obama's Afghan War Succeed? 12/10/09 (FOX News)

The Live Desk - 12/2/09 (FOX News)

Geraldo at Large on Obama's Afghan War - Muddled message 12/6/09(FOX News)

KT was on set for the Dylan Ratigan's Morning Meeting show discussing Afghan War, Obamacare, Deficits 12/4/09 (MSNBC)

New Evidence of Saddam-Terrorism Links

By Ryan Mauro

Yes, Saddam Hussein’s regime was a supporter and active participant in radical Islamic terrorism.

The rationale for pushing forward in Afghanistan is that it is the “right” war, the “war of necessity,” the true base of the terrorists that attacked us on 9/11 and would try to attack us again. Essentially, those opposing the war in Iraq while supporting the war in Afghanistan try to frame the latter conflict as justified in every way the former is not. As the war in Iraq ever so slowly comes to a close and the history books begin being written, new evidence has emerged to challenge the narrative that the war in Iraq was something different than the war on terror. [more...]

The Threat at Home

By Ryan Mauro

As the United States turns its attention to security threats abroad, the disturbing trend of extremism in America’s Somali communities is a reminder that there are also real and present dangers at home. A growing body of evidence suggests that Somali communities in the United States have become fertile ground for terrorist groups to recruit and implant operatives. On November 23rd, the federal government announced eight more indictments of Somali-Americans in Minnesota on charges of recruiting members of their community to join the al-Shabaab terrorist organization in Somalia. This brings to 14 the number of Somalis from Minnesota who have been indicted for helping the Al-Qaeda-linked group. [more...]

New Tape Shows Terror Training on U.S. Soil

By Ryan Mauro

On the heels of a deadly FBI shootout with a radical imam in Detroit and a Muslim extremist in the military launching a shooting attack at Fort Hood killing 13 people, a new videotape has been publicized showing American Muslims training in similar tactics, almost without a doubt on American soil. The tape was given to me as the national security researcher for the Christian Action Network by a reliable law enforcement source. This source has provided me with other credible information on the Jamaat ul-Fuqra group that operates in the U.S. under the name of “Muslims of America” and the International Quranic Open University, among others. [more...]

Hit-and-Run Jihad Comes to America

By Ryan Mauro

A radical Islamic terrorist attack doesn’t necessarily need several participants or a direct connection to a terrorist organization. It doesn’t need to be spectacular or done by someone motivated by nothing other than theology. It just needs to be an act of violence aimed at instilling fear in order to advance the cause of radical Islam, and it is because of this failure to understand what qualifies as a “terrorist attack” that the country does not see how many such acts have actually occurred. The increasingly ridiculous argument over whether Major Hasan's Fort Hood shooting can be considered a terrorist attack underscores this point. [more...]

Bill Gertz on Afghan Troop Speech

The Obama administration is expected to sound retreat from Afghanistan by putting unrealistic conditions on the Afghan army and government. He will be caving in to his liberal base in Congress and although he will authorize 30,000 troops, it will be conditional support for Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for more troops for a counterinsurgency strategy that requires large numbers of forces to win support of the Afghan people against the Taliban.

Harvey Kushner Knows Firsthand What We Can Expect at 9/11 Trial

The decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) to stand trial in federal court in the Southern District of New York was met with much controversy. And now the defendant's attorney, Scott Fenstermaker, is saying that his clients will plead not guilty and use the trial to dispute American foreign policy and justify their actions. The outrage cuts across party lines while media coverage has seen pundits debate what it all means. Little discussion is informed and based on facts. Misinformation abounds.

In 1998, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed was one of numerous al-Qaeda suspects who were indicted and one of the four who were convicted and sentenced to life without parole for his part in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania. Mr. Mohamed was convicted and sentenced in the weeks before the 9/11 World Trade Center bombing in the same federal court where KSM is scheduled to stand trial.

Noted terrorism expert, Dr. Harvey Kushner, was on the defense team of Khalfan Khamis Mohamed. Dr. Kushner helped prepare the background for saving Mr. Mohamed's life during his trial and the subsequent penalty phase, and can describe in detail how Mr. Mohamed's life was spared, and, more importantly, why. His valuable real-world experience will shed light on what we can expect during the KSM trial and how KSM might be sentenced to life without parole. Dr. Kushner can also discuss from firsthand experience security issues surrounding the 2000/2001 trial as well the upcoming trial of KSM.

Iraq Confronts Syria over Terrorism as U.S. Dithers

By Ryan Mauro

Iraq has had enough. Faced with ongoing attacks from forces supported by Syria, the Iraqis are taking an increasingly hard line and are refusing to back down. They are fully aware that a confrontation brings the risk of further instability, but the Iraqis recognize that the only way to ultimately stop the violence is to stop those enabling it. Already, their new stance towards Syria is bringing results, while the U.S. keeps rewarding Syria through inaction - a silent way of confirming to the Syrians that we understand that our security is dependent upon them. [more...]

Inviting Sharia in the UK

By Ryan Mauro

Radical Muslims seeking to spread their ideology in the United Kingdom have found a surprising ally - the British government. London has had many successes in combating terrorists like Al-Qaeda. Yet it is helping more politically adept Islamists gain power and prestige by accepting their pose as “moderates.” Several recent appointments in the government show how the Islamists are gaining access inside the government. [more...]

KT McFarland in the Media This Week

KT on The Live Desk with Trace Gallagher on why we didn't see Maj. Hassan coming? 11/12/09 (FOX)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHXYw2qA6nQ

KT with Bill O'Reilly on the The Factor on FOX 11/12/09 - Obama Dithering on Afghan (FOX)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2INSAoIZGk

KT with Neil Cavuto on OBama's trip to Asia, hat in hand. 11/13/09 (FOX)
http://blip.tv/file/2855752

KT with Dylan Ratigan on Obama's Failure to define Afghan Mission 11/16/09 (MSNBC)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2INSAoIZGk

All of KT's media appearances and columns under one roof at KTMcFarland.com. She is on Facebook/ KTMcFarland.com, YouTube/KTMcFarland.com and Twitter/KTMcFarland.com.

Iranians and Saudis Fight a Proxy War in Yemen

By Ryan Mauro

The two heavyweights of the Islamic world square off in Saudi Arabia's backyard.

Iran is now waging a proxy war against Saudi Arabia and Yemen by supporting a radical sect of Zaydi Shiites described as the Houthis, after the founder of their movement. The Iranians aren’t merely trying to destabilize Arab countries that are aligned too closely to the U.S.; they are trying to create a Shiite empire extending from Iran through southern Iraq to Syria - where the Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Muslims, are in power - to Lebanon. Now Iran is trying to create a Shiite enclave in northern Yemen. If Iran gets nuclear weapons, it is easy to predict where they will go next: Bahrain, whose population is majority Shiite, and Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, which conveniently for Iran is 75% Shiite and is the location of 90% of the country’s oil. [more...]

DIA on China's New Fighter

By Bill Gertz

The Defense Intelligence Agency is sticking by its estimates of when China will deploy a fifth-generation jet fighter after recent remarks by a Chinese general that Beijing's most advanced jet could be fielded by 2017 - years earlier than U.S. intelligence projections. "We believe that first flight of a Chinese fifth-generation fighter will occur in the next few years; however, we also believe it will take about 10 years before the [People's Liberation Army] begins to operationally deploy a fifth-generation fighter in meaningful numbers," DIA spokesman Donald Black told me. As reported last week, Gen. He Weirong, the deputy commander of the Chinese air force, told Chinese state-run media that the new advanced jet would fly soon despite U.S. intelligence projections that it will not be ready for combat for at least 10 years. Gen. He said the first jet could be deployed by 2017, and his remarks have sparked renewed debate over whether to continue production of the Pentagon's most advanced jet, the F-22. Production of the jet, beyond 187 more planes already in the pipeline, was effectively canceled by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates earlier this year. [more...]

Saudi Link to Ft. Hood Shooter?

By Ryan Mauro

Analyst Gal Luft explains in a report by Harvard that Saudi Arabia has spent millions of dollars to convert American soldiers to Islam (and obviously, their version of Salafi Islam) since the Gulf War:

Nearly two decades have passed since the Saudi conversion campaign, and most of the converts may no longer be in uniforms,” the analyst, Gal Luft, said. “But the seeds sown during the Gulf War have germinated, creating scores of radicalized Americans who are a threat to their comrades in uniforms as well as to their civilian communities.” At one point, Saudi commander and now deputy defense minister, Prince Khaled Bin Sultan, bragged that more than 2,000 U.S. troops converted to Islam in 1991. Some of the U.S. officers were said to have been given as much as $30,000 to convert.

This doesn’t mean that the Saudis directly converting Hasan necessarily, but we should look into the circumstances of whether he was radicalized to a more strict form of Islam due to Saudi-funded networks or mosques, or perhaps one of these soldiers who has been converted in this campaign. [more...]

Trial in New York is Triumph for al-Qaida

By Roger Hedgecock

Five jihadi warriors, including the mastermind of the attacks of Sept. 11, will return to New York to face the consequence of their crime in a court of law. Editorial writers in the Obama press over the weekend waxed eloquent about the triumph of American justice: The long night of torture, rendition and endless incarceration under the evil Bush is at last over and due process is restored even for our attackers, to show the world how fair and civilized America has once again become under President Obama - or, as the Chinese call him, "Oba-mao."

With both Attorney General Holder and President Obama promising convictions in the case, it looks like the Bush plans that kept America safe from attack between Sept. 11, 2001, and this month's massacre at Fort Hood will become public knowledge. But even more importantly to accomplish the fervent goal of the international Left, the trial would thus force into the open the factual bases for indicting Bush and Cheney for crimes against humanity and bringing them to trial before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

It will be for al-Qaida a triumph of propaganda, a bonanza of intel, and a mighty blow against "the evil Bush" and his resistance to Islam conquering the world. As with all appeasements, Obama's craven "show trial" and its proclaimed "fairness" will not stop the attacks on our country but rather encourage new attacks as the enemy perceives a fatal deterioration in the American will to resist. [more...]

Cleansing South Waziristan

By Ryan Mauro

The Pakistani military is continuing its offensive to clear South Waziristan of the Taliban and other extremists. The fighting is hard and Pakistan’s forces have suffered 42 deaths and 142 injured, with an estimated 450 militants having been killed. Approximately 155,000 have fled. As the country waits for President Obama to make a decision on a new strategy for Afghanistan, the world’s eyes need to be watching the equally important developments in Pakistan. [more...]

Brigitte Gabriel: PC Destroying U.S. Military

In a recent lecture at the Joint Forces Staff College on C-SPAN, a Muslim Army Major questioned Brigitte Gabriel about whether Muslims should be allowed to serve in the U.S. Military. She replied emphatically, "No, because their allegiance is first to Islam and then to the U.S. Constitution" - a viewpoint also expressed by the Ft. Hood shooter.

Best-selling author, Brigitte Gabriel, says, "Because of my straightforwardness in addressing this issue of Muslims in the military and the warning signs we need to watch out for, I was blocked from getting the message out because of Muslim pressure within the military to stop experts like me from speaking. The intimidation was so far up the chain of command that the top brass were canceling lectures out of utter fear due to political correctness.

"When my book, "They Must Be Stopped," came out last September, I was suppose to speak at the Norfolk Naval Base and have a book signing. The head brass at the base called off my lecture and canceled it three days before the scheduled date. Intimidation was running full strength at the Norfolk Naval Base.

"I was also canceled from speaking at the Air Force Academy in Colorado to 7,000 members at their annual leadership conference. When I inquired about the cancellation, the military official that booked me did not even respond to my e-mails.

"A lecture was canceled at the FBI academy for fear of offending one Yemeni officer who was on an exchange program with our government. The FBI officer who was working with me on the lecture was afraid that I would say something that would offend him and that he would complain to his government who in return may complain to our government about what is happening at the FBI. Political correctness robbed 100 top agents at the FBI from hearing the truth about Islamic infiltration of our country because of one Yemeni Muslim and his Islamic sensitivities."

Insider intelligence sources revealed privately that a blitz of arrests of Muslims in the military is coming down the pipeline in the next few weeks. They say the reason they didn't pay much attention to Hassan is because he was the least threatening of the people they are monitoring. After what happened at Fort Hood, the military right now is not taking any chances and is now reviewing all the files of those military Muslim members with links to terrorist organizations and devoted to the ideology of Jihad.

The Grand Deception: Jihadis Among Us

By Joy Tiz

Steve Emerson is the Executive Director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, an independent, non- profit organization. Which means Emerson is not beholden to the government nor hamstrung by the lethal political correctness that has infected media and government. Emerson does, however, provide briefings to U.S. government and law enforcement agencies as well as congress. The lack of bureaucratic baggage allows Emerson and his organization to infiltrate and gather intelligence that the government isn’t getting.

Having accumulated approximately 2,500 hours of data, Emerson is putting a documentary together describing the great deception being perpetrated on the West by Islamic extremists and an apologetic media. Emerson's research has uncovered a troubling narrative currently running: the radical groups cry ' Islamophobia' at any attempt to examine or criticize terrorism. The goal is to convince us that our thinking about Islam as a motivator for terrorism is irrational and extreme. We are already seeing this in Europe with rapid movement toward criminalizing critical statements about Islam. Among the top leaders of this Islamic terrorism apologist movement is, according to Emerson: The New York Times. [more...]

Massacred By Political Correctness

By Joy Tiz

Army psychiatrist Malik Nadal Hasan slaughtered 13 people and wounded over thirty others. This was no random shooting spree; Hasan chose his time, place and victims. The Muslim doctor has a history of hatred toward the U.S., saying that the "religion of peace" really ought to rise up against the U.S. The Left is hysterically trying to spin the Islam out of this attack, insisting that Hasan suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), despite the fact that he has never been in combat. The Einsteins at MSNBC are reporting that Hasan caught PTSD by working with returning combat soldiers. They apparently discovered that PTSD is contagious. Presumably, Kathleen Sibelius is whipping up a vaccine, which will soon be placed into the uber-efficient HHS delivery system.

The reasoning is stupefying, even for liberals: Hasan was distraught over the possibility of having to go to a war zone and decided to work through his trauma by creating a bloodbath on an Army base. By the way, was the possibility of combat never mentioned to Hasan during his years with the Army? Having been provided with a free medical education funded by the U.S. taxpayers, Hasan was reportedly upset about being picked on for being Muslim. In a world run by the mainstream press, Islam is a class worthy of the highest possible protection against unpleasantness. It’s not like he tried to put up a Christmas tree or something.

The “vibrant” local Muslim community in Killeen, Texas is outraged at the suggestion that Maj Hasan’s terrorist attack on Ft. Hood could be even tenuously connected to radical Islam, according to the NYT. When a white guy shoots up a post office, they call that going postal,” said Victor Benjamin II, 30, a former member of the Army. “But when a Muslim does it, they call it jihad. [more...]

Jihadi Training Compounds, U.S.A.

By Ryan Mauro

A battle in the war against radical Islam in Detroit was briefly waged on October 28 when the FBI engaged in a deadly shootout with an extremist imam refusing to be arrested. The imam was a leader in “Ummah,” meaning “the brotherhood,” a group said to consist of mostly African-Americans, many of whom converted in prison. This group isn’t the only one trying to create an Islamic state within the borders of the U.S., and this shoot-out should be expected, unfortunately, to be a sign of more violent conflict coming down the line in this country with Islamic militant groups.

The gunfire began when the FBI tried to arrest Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah, whose original name was Christopher Thomas, for his involvement in a crime ring along with followers of his. Abdullah violently resisted and managed to shoot and kill one of the FBI’s dogs before falling to gunfire. The spiritual leader of Ummah is Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, a former Black Panther who is in jail for killing two police officers in Georgia that tried to arrest him. To Abdullah, he was just following in his leader’s footsteps and carrying out the "offensive jihad" against the U.S. government he had long preached about. [more...]

Pakistan Gets Serious

By Ryan Mauro

The Pakistani military has launched a large offensive involving 30,000 soldiers into South Waziristan, one of the tribal agencies most hospitable to the Taliban and like-minded terrorists. Following frightening Taliban attacks on the Army headquarters and an air base suspected of storing nuclear weapons, the Pakistani government began a belated but aggressive campaign. In order for the Pakistanis to succeed, however, the U.S. must demonstrate a similar determination to rout the Taliban in Afghanistan by launching a comprehensive counter-insurgency campaign.

The U.S. has been secretly helping the Pakistanis carry out their offensive, providing them with intelligence from unmanned aerial vehicles and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment. Up to 150 Special Forces are now in Pakistan training and advising their military, a two-fold increase over the past eight months. This assistance has significantly helped the Pakistanis trying to clear South Waziristan, but the U.S.'s inability to secure Afghanistan limits any gains. [more...]

KT McFarland in the Media

DEFCON 3 by KT - Pakistan is the Key

KT on The Live Desk with Martha MacCallum - Pakistan and Afghan bombings 10/28/09 (FOX News)

KT on Studio B with Shepard Smith - President Obama's Afghan War options 10/26/09 (FOX News)

KT's op/ed for FOX Forum - Afghanistan Matters Because of Pakistan

Islamic Terrorists Converts of the Prison System

By Brigitte Gabriel

The latest arrests and killing of the imam in Detroit is the latest alarming example of homegrown terrorism and its spread across America especially in the prison system. All of the followers of Imam Abdullah were African American felons converted in the prison system including him.

Terrorist organizations working with Wahabbi imams in America are actively and rapidly recruiting out of our prison system through the African American community. When these felons leave prison, they are becoming recruiters themselves within the inner cities radicalizing their fellow gang members and families.

Of the almost fifty home grown Islamic terrorists who have been arrested in the last seven months, they are either born into the Islamic faith or have converted to Islam in the prison system. The majority of the converts are African Americans.

Imam Abdullah used his mosque as a weapons training and shooting range to commit terror acts against America and work with like-minded Islamic organizations to establish an Islamic government in the United States.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a front group for Islamic terrorist organizations in America, came out in defense of the Imam and his mosque.

Obama in No Rush on Afghanistan, Giving Islamism a Head Start

By Roger Hedgecock

After 9/11, the nation's heart was ripped nearly in two, and sons and daughters were shipped off to foreign battlefields to confront the brutal killer: Islamism. To this day, nearly 800 American heroes have made the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefields of Afghanistan in the name of liberty. But while those heroes toil and die as their president fiddles, our enemies here at home in states like Massachusetts plot to kill.

The latest incarnation is Tarik Mehanna, an Islamist who planned to attack "soft target" shopping malls with machine guns. Tarik is no stranger to law enforcement. He had been monitored by the FBI since 2001 as he and an associate James Maldonado traveled abroad to receive jihadi training. Maldonado is widely suspected to have been involved in Yemen and Somalia, with Tarik being focused on the Middle East. To hear Tarik tell it, he is just like any other American, except that his computer contained videos of American soldiers being cut down by IEDs and their body desecrated and defiled after death by the jihadi "warriors." Tarik Mehanna had been brought in for questioning by the FBI about Maldonado. In November 2008 he was charged with lying to the FBI. He still faces that charge.

Muslim Matters, a defender of the oppressed members of the religion of peace, immediately sprang into action, defending this righteous Muslim being attacked by the Kafir. Muslim Matters no doubt learned these tactics from the Council of American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, who, according to the book "Muslim Mafia" has made an art form of lying to protect terrorists.
On Wednesday last week, Mehanna was picked up again by the FBI, this time for plotting those attacks on shopping malls with machine guns. Tarik is an American citizen, just like Najibullah Zazi in Queens, N.Y. [more...]

Terrorism Update

By Brigitte Gabriel

The recent arrest of Tarek Mehanna in Massachusetts plotting to kill innocent Americans at shopping malls brings the number of home grown terrorists to 47 arrested in the last 7 months. This rise of home grown jihadists and arrests has forced even Janet Napolitano the Chief of the Department of Homeland Security to admit that terror cells operate all over America today.

While the economy and then health care has moved the issue of national security to the back burner in the minds of Americans, terrorists continued operating full steam.

Here is a list of city where terrorist cells are operating and monitored by the FBI:

Lackawanna, NY - Rochester, NY - Hancock, NY - New York City - Boston - Cleveland - Cherry Hill, NY - Detroit - Columbus, OH - Dearborn, MI - Toledo, OH - Milwaukee - Chicago - Indianapolis - Columbia, MO - Rockford, IL - Charlotte, NC - Memphis - Minneapolis - Kansas city, MO - Denver - Portland, OR - Bly, OR - San Francisco - Santa Clara, CA - Lodi, CA - Los Angeles - San Pedro, CA - San Diego - Tuscon, AZ - Phoenix - Oklahoma city - Fayetteville, AR - Ruston, LA - Arlington, TX - Dallas, Houston - New Orleans - Oxford, MS - Rome, GA - Orlando, FL - Tampa, FL - Boca Raton - Ft Lauderdale, FL - Miami - Atlanta - Raleigh, NC - Washington DC.

Islamic cells are recruiting from the American public and brainwashing them to wage Jihad against Americans. Al-Qaida is actively trying to recruit Americans and even facilitating for those who are trusted and worthy to go train in training camps in Afganistan.

Khamenei’s Demise?

By Ryan Mauro

The Obama Administration may have found its breakthrough in dealing with Iran, but not through its diplomatic engagement. Rumors are spreading in and outside of Iran that Supreme Leader Khamenei, who at 70 years old has been known to be in poor health, is in a coma or dead. The regime denies this, but has failed to offer any proof that he is alive. Khamenei may ultimately prove to be alive, but it is clear something happened to him and his near-term fate is uncertain. The rumors that Khamenei was in a coma began to quickly spread after prominent Iran expert, Michael Ledeen, wrote on his blog on October 13 that an “excellent” source “who is in a position to know such things” had informed him that Khamenei had fallen into a coma on October 13, his health was deteriorating, and could die. His report was picked up by prominent news outlets, even though Ledeen says that a left-wing Iranian website was the first to report on Khamenei’s condition. [more...]

Al Qaida Prepares to Attack Obama's America

By Roger Hedgecock

After the attacks of 9/11/01 George Bush batted .1000: we were not hit again on American soil. Why aren't the terrorists responding to Obama's repeated peace gestures and preparing more attacks against us? What if President Obama's pledged outreach to the Taliban is mistaken by our enemies as a sign of weakness? What if that extension is met with al-Qaida's still clenched fist? We don't have to wonder 'what if?' We have to wonder, 'when?' Terror cells operate all over America today. So said Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano this week. Recent FBI arrests indicate she's right - and, while the FBI is doing heroic work, little is being done by DHS to stop terrorists from coming to America to plot to kill Americans. [more...]

Time for a Hail Mary On Iran

By KT McFarland

Diplomacy without leverage isn’t negotiating, it’s begging. And with Iran standing at the threshold of nuclear weapons, begging is NOT the right strategy.

Iran’s nuclear game is in the final quarter, they’re ahead and they’re playing out the clock. If they can string us along with diplomacy for a few more months, and forestall sanctions, they’ll be the first Muslim country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons.

At this point, is there any way to stop Iran short of bombing? Maybe.

Sanctions, with Russian and Chinese cooperation, might be enough to convince the Mullahs to drop their nuclear weapons program, or encourage the growing dissident movement to force a change of government.

It’s a Hail Mary pass, but we should give it a try – because the only remaining options – bombing Iran or letting Iran get the bomb – would be catastrophic. But the sanctions must be crippling, designed to bring Iran’s economy to an immediate and screeching halt, and they must be imposed now.

If we wait to start sanctions at some vague point in the future AFTER we’ve exhausted diplomacy – the Iranians will make sure negotiations don’t fail but they’ll make sure negotiations don’t succeed either.-- They, like the North Koreans, will keep the West's hope of diplomacy alive right up to the point when they declare BINGO we’ve got the bomb!

Getting Russia and China to cooperate won’t be easy, of course. Russia sells Iran military equipment and China buys their oil, and neither feel directly threatened by a nuclear Iran.

Russia might have been more willing to help out, had we held out the missile shield as a quid pro quo. But President Obama cancelled it recently, hoping that his goodwill gesture would encourage Russia to ‘reset’ relations with us.--Instead it’s got them laughing behind our backs. We’ve thrown away our best bargaining chip and gotten nothing in return.

Now the Russians see very little between them and their dream world-- high oil prices and no competition – which is exactly what will happen if Israel concludes it has no choice but to attack Iran. A military conflict would also likely turn into a larger regional conflict as Iran retaliates by mining the Strait of Hormuz-- the chokepoint for Arab oil-- and unleashes Hezbollah and Hamas on Israel and awakens sleeper cells around the world.

But the United States and hopefully Germany, France and the United Kingdom, should move ahead with banking and financial sanctions even if we have to do it alone. We can give companies a choice-- do business with Iran or with us-- but not both.

President Obama has put great store in diplomacy and his personal ability to get negotiations going. But diplomacy without leverage isn’t negotiating, it’s begging. And with Iran standing at the threshold of nuclear weapons, begging is NOT the right strategy.

Kathleen Troia "K.T." McFarland served in national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations. She is a frequent contributor to the FOX Forum and FoxNews.com's "Strategy Room." She also appears weekly in the Foxnews.com video blog "DefCon3."

Democrats Display Recklessness on Patriot Act

By Ronald Kessler

In large part because of the enactment of the USA Patriot Act, we have not had a successful terrorist attack since 9/11. But with key provisions of the act set to expire, Democrats are seeking to weaken the law under the guise of protecting civil liberties.

The Patriot Act removed the wall - real and imagined - between criminal investigations and intelligence gathering so that leads could be shared between agencies and within them. Before the law was passed, an FBI agent following intelligence leads could not share his knowledge with other agents working the same case on the same squad if those agents were pursuing a criminal case.

The Patriot Act allowed the FBI to wiretap a terrorist regardless of what phone he used. Incredibly, before passage of the Patriot Act, the FBI could employ what are known as roving wiretaps in organized crime or drug trafficking cases, but it could not use them in terrorism cases.

Before passage of the Patriot Act, if a terrorist switched from a home phone to a disposable cell phone or a pay phone, the FBI would have to reapply for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) order, a process that took weeks. In the meantime, the terrorist likely would have changed phones.

Since each roving wiretap has to be approved by a judge, there is no more question of infringing on civil liberties than when a judge approves a search of the house of a suspected child molester. It is a question of making it at least as easy for the FBI to do its job as it is for a terrorist to do his. [more...]

The Inevitable Victory Over Iran

By Ryan Mauro

Iran has admitted to the existence of a second uranium enrichment site that can house 3,000 centrifuges, enough for a nuclear weapon but not enough for nuclear power. This comes three months after Ahmadinejad held a meeting in Qom where he told high-level officials that a “new revolution” has begun, since Iran has been acting more aggressively. While the crisis with Iran is getting more frightening and has the potential to cause incalculable damage, there is a reason for optimism: Over the long-term, the regime cannot survive. Between 60 and 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30, helping to create a population opposed to the theocratic rule of Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad. The regime’s unpopularity with the large majority of the population became evident after the fraudulent presidential elections of June 12 when millions of Iranians protested in the streets. Demonstrations demanding democracy and civil rights continue to be a daily occurrence. [more...]

FBI, CIA Successes Go Unsung by Obama

By Ronald Kessler

In the past several weeks, both the FBI and CIA have scored startling successes, but you would never know it by listening to President Barack Obama. The FBI arrested five men in separate alleged plots to blow up federal buildings or subways, attack Americans, and create mass destruction. All the plotters shared allegiance to radical jihad and devotion to al-Qaida. The CIA, meanwhile, pinpointed an underground uranium enrichment facility Iran has been secretly building. Along with much of the media, Obama has made a career of bashing the CIA and second-guessing interrogations that led to the roll-up of plots that would have killed thousands of Americans. Eric Holder Jr., Obama's attorney general, has decided to reopen criminal investigations of CIA officials involved in the interrogations, sending a message to CIA officers that they may suffer consequences if they take risks to uncover new terrorist plots. According to the Washington Post, before he decided to reopen the cases, "Holder did not read detailed memos that prosecutors drafted and placed in files to explain their decision to decline prosecutions." [more...]

Juan Cole Gives Iran the Benefit of the Doubt

By Ryan Mauro

Reputed Mideast expert Juan Cole didn't trust President Bush for a minute - but he takes the mullahs at their word.

Intellectually grappling with a man of University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole's knowledge base is an intimidating task, but an appearance he made on MSNBC on September 19 cannot go unchallenged. Cole, in remarkable fashion, downplayed the threat from Iran's nuclear program and gave the regime a benefit of the doubt that he never gave the Bush administration and the dreaded neoconservatives. "I think American intelligence has a very good idea of what's going on [in Iran]," he said. "It seems clear that they are not pursuing a nuclear weapon, but they are pursuing the capability to close the fuel cycle, which means that in the future, if they change their mind, they could start up a weapons program." [more...]

KT McFarland in the Media

KT McFarland has a new YouTube channel which is an archive of all her media interviews. To visit the channel, go to YouTube.com/ktmcfarland.

You can also sign up for the RSS feed to automatically receive these interviews as they happen.

FOX News 9/28/09 on Iran's surprise missile test and nuclear site
http://www.youtube.com/ktmcfarland#play/all/0/EsSqjETlXDI

KT on FOX News 9/26/09 on McChrystal Report and Afghan War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OySeEHHzgfc

KT on FOX News 9/26/09 on Iran's hidden nuclear site
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2d2EqijAiw

KT's two part interview on Julie Menin's TV show, Give and Take
Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug5NVusyBSI
Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkHjmkdGJj8&feature=related

Kathleen Troia “K.T.” McFarland served in national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan Administrations. She traveled to Afghanistan in May and observed firsthand the shortcomings of our Afghan war policy.

Joining the Nuclear Club

By John LeBoutillier

Iran has been accelerating their secret program to build operational nuclear weapons for one reason - and one reason alone: once a country has nukes, no one messes with that country ever again! No one preemptively attacks and invades you - as the USA did to Iraq in 2003.

Iran saw what the Bush-led invasion did to their next-door neighbor, Iraq - the dreaded term for dictators: regime change - and they wanted no part of the same possibility aimed their way. Thus they immediately went pedal-to-the-metal - in secret, or so they thought - to build nuclear weapons.

Possessing nuclear bombs deters aggression against you - and it allows you to intimidate your neighbors, i.e. Arab states with which Iran has never had particularly good relations since the 1979 Iranian Revolution brought the radical mullahs to power in Tehran. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has had frosty relations with the arrogant - and rich - leaders of Iran. And the Saudi government recently told Israel in secret that they would allow Israel to fly over Saudi air space on their way to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. [more...]

Rep. Bartlett: EMP Attack Would Wipe Out U.S. Military

By Ronald Kessler

The nation's military is largely unprotected in the event an enemy launches a nuclear bomb that would fry microchips and the power grid with an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) says Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md.

Since the early 1990s, "Essentially all our new weapon systems have been built with a waiver for EMP hardening," says Bartlett, a scientist and inventor who is the ranking member of the House Armed Services' Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces.

"If an enemy used an EMP enhanced weapon - and Russian generals told our EMP commission that they had developed weapons which emit 200 kilovolts per meter weapon - I've been assured by experts in the area that everything would be down," says Bartlett, who has been the leading member of Congress fighting to recognize EMP as a threat.

In fact, "One of the first things [an enemy] would do is an EMP laydown to deny you the use of all your equipment which is not EMP hardened, which is essentially all our equipment," Bartlett says. "They don't harden against EMP any more." [more...]

KT McFarland in the Media

KT's interview with Bill Hemmer of FOX News 9/21/09 on Obama UN meetings in light of missile shield cancellation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvxrvRmf-Nw

DEFCON 3 by KT this week is on Obama's decision to cancel the missile shield:
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=9904726&referralPlaylistId=3a79636bff5a7d6d749cc0a2eef87b4a546cf613

KT has two front page pieces this week on FOXNews.com's opinion page, FOX FORUM:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/09/18/kt-mcfarland-missile-defense-obama-poland-russia/
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/09/21/kt-mcfarland-afghanistan-obama-troops/

Obama Tosses an Ally Overboard --and We Get Zip, 9/18/09

President Obama not only threw an ally overboard, he got snookered by the Russians, and just moved us closer a world where the mad mullahs have the bomb.Remember Polish jokes? They're politically incorrect these days, so no one makes them. No one, that is, except President Obama. By cancelling the promised missile shield, he in effect cut Poland loose and threw her to the Russians...70 years to the day after of their brutal invasion of the country. Nice timing.

The missile shield was designed to protect Eastern Europe from the growing Iranian missile threat, which threatens to soon go nuclear. It would have put American military personnel in Russia's backyard, in countries that were until recently part of the Russian empire, and which Russia yearns to control again.

The very thought of this drove the Russians nuts. They would have paid dearly to get it dropped. If Obama was willing to renege on a promise and toss an ally overboard, he should have at least gotten something for it-- like getting Russia to cooperate with us to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program.

What could Obama have traded? He could have gotten the Russians to delay or halt delivery of the state-of-the-art air defense system they've promised Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu went to Moscow recently to plead with them to delay delivery. Once Iran gets the S-300 system, an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites would be nearly impossible.

Obama could have gotten Russia join with us in a gasoline embargo on Iran. Iran imports 40% of its gasoline-- an embargo would force them to the negotiating table, quickly, and leave them ready to make a deal. But an embargo would be toothless if the Russians block it at the U.N., or cheats on it once it's been passed.

Obama could have gotten Russia to stop helping Iran enrich uranium. Without Russian assistance, it will be more difficult and take longer for Iran to develop nuclear weapons.

If President Obama had gotten one or more of these concessions, cancelling the missile shield might have made sense, especially if we retained the right to have a ship-based system. But he has apparently cancelled it without extracting anything from Russia, hoping instead that his goodwill gesture would allow us to 'reset' the U.S.-Russian relationship. The administration said there was no "quid pro quo." The Russian Foreign Minister said sanctions against Iran would be a "serious mistake."

President Obama not only threw an ally overboard, he got snookered by the Russians, and just moved us closer a world where the Mad Mullahs have the bomb. If he hasn't learned his World War II history about Poland and the Soviet Union, he may want to read up on what happened to Neville Chamberlain when he tried to curry favor with Hitler.

Kathleen Troia "K.T." McFarland served in national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan Administrations. She is a Senior Advisor to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and the author of DEFCON-3 by KT, a FOX News.com video blog.

Will Obama 'Do a Rumsfeld' In Afghanistan? 9/21/09
What's our end game in Afghanistan? Will the president opt for a "slow bleed" in the region and ignore the need to increase troop levels?

EMP Attack Would Send America into a Dark Age

By Ronald Kessler

In a matter of seconds, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack or a geomagnetic storm would set America back to the 14th century, Gale Nordling, president of a company that protects against such a catastrophe, says.

An EMP attack occurs when a nuclear bomb explodes in the atmosphere. The electromagnetic pulse generated by the blast fries all electronics in line of sight. EMP was first detected after the detonation of the Starfish Prime nuclear test on July 9, 1962. While the explosion occurred near Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean and was not designed to be an EMP blast, it blew out street lamps, television sets, and telephone communications in Hawaii nearly 1,000 miles away.

A single nuclear bomb exploded over the Midwest would generate an electromagnetic pulse that would destroy the chips that are at the heart of every electronic device. While military and intelligence networks may be shielded against EMP, the rest of the country's technological infrastructure is not.

"If a nuclear device designed to emit EMP were exploded 250 to 300 miles up over the middle of the country, it would disable the electronics in the entire United States," says Nordling, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Emprimus. "That would disable the entire electric grid. It would disable communications, it would disable fuel manufacturing and production, it would disable hospitals and medicines, it would disable 911 call centers."

Everything else would be shut down, Nordling says.

Unlike protection against a nuclear blast, shielding to protect against EMP is a relative bargain. For example, the 300 transformers that are critical to the power grid could be protected for $200 million to $400 million.

As noted in the Newsmax story EMP Attack Could Wipe Out U.S., neither Republicans nor Democrats have been willing to spend that small sum. In fact, the U.S. government is doing "nothing" to protect the power grid or the rest of the infrastructure from an EMP strike, confirms Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, a former staff member of the EMP commission who heads EMPACT America, which seeks to call attention to the largely unrecognized threat. But given the reasonable cost, Nordling says, companies could be held liable for not protecting against EMP and solar storms. [more...]

Ronald Kessler is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen nonfiction books, including The Terrorist Watch, Inside the White House, The CIA at War, and The Bureau. A former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reporter, Kessler has won sixteen journalism awards.

Get Ready for an Even More Radical Iranian Regime

By Ryan Mauro

Disturbing signs point to increasing boldness in Iran's confrontation with the West.

The conflict with Iran is entering a new, more dangerous phase. Video of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad holding a meeting with high-level officials on June 13 in Qom has leaked out, giving us insight into how he sees the near future. "A new revolution has begun,” he says, as the Islamic Revolution finds its “true destiny” and enters a more difficult period. He speaks with genuine optimism and enthusiasm, and says it will not be limited to Iran. The tape clearly shows that Ahmadinejad believes that something has just changed that makes this moment in history special and directly related to Iran’s role in Allah’s plans. The tape also brings bad news for Iran’s students. Ahmadinejad calls for an expansion of “Islamic culture” in the universities, attributing domestic unrest to a lack of training of the younger generation. Students should expect a complete rewriting of the curriculum to “Islamize” the education, and even stricter puritan-like enforcement of Sharia law and indoctrination. From the sound of it, a second Iranian cultural revolution is on the way. [more... ]

Honor the Victims of 9/11 with Action

By Ryan Mauro

On 9/11, the outrage and fear we felt was matched with an equally intense determination to do something. Some signed up for the military, others performed acts of charity, and others contributed to the sense of unity and patriotism we all enjoyed basking in but have since long lost. Yet we still haven't been given such instructions. We were just told to go shopping, an essential act to get the economy going again after the attacks, but one that left us feeling unfulfilled and unrecognized as the valuable assets in the War on Terror that we are. As we passed the eighth anniversary of 9/11, let's go beyond remembering the emotion of that horrible day. Let's take action. The first action to take is to watch The Third Jihad, which is, in my opinion, the best documentary produced about the jihadist threat. It is not just a wake-up call meant to frighten us, but is filled with facts covering the many different angles of the radical Islamic threat facing us. [more...]

Obama’s CIA Actions Belie 9/11 Words

By Ron Kessler

On Sept. 11, President Barack Obama said all the right words to commemorate the tragedy that took place eight years earlier. Yet, as when Obama claimed his budget moves America “from an era of borrow and spend” to one of “save and invest,” his actions belied his words. Obama has turned the CIA into a personal punching bag, dealing one blow after another to the agency, which is our first line of defense against another attack. After releasing Justice Department memos detailing the CIA’s enhanced interrogation tactics, Obama spoke to CIA employees. As if speaking to a kindergarten class, Obama said, “Don’t be discouraged that we have to acknowledge potentially we’ve made some mistakes. That’s how we learn.” What mistakes did CIA officers make? Their “mistake” was to patriotically do what their government told them to do and subject three terrorists to waterboarding. While Obama has referred to waterboarding as a “brutal” tactic, it inflicts no pain. If it were brutal, we would not subject our own special forces to waterboarding during training. [more...]

French Launch Somalia Raid

By Ryan Mauro

The BBC is reporting that French troops have launched a raid into Somalia, attacking Islamist guerrillas. Apparently, French forces attacked the rebels in southern Somalia. The French government supports the small democratic government of Somalia, but has not officially sent troops to the country. The French deny any involvement in the raid, but with a base in Djibouti and local anti-piracy forces right off the coast, it certainly looks likely. At least two of the Islamists died in the raid, with no word of French casualties. This shows that perhaps Europe is getting more serious regarding the collapsing situation in Somalia. They may be recognizing that such failed states could become the next Afghanistan. [more...]

Iranian Government Pressures Opposition

By Ryan Mauro

The Associated Press is reporting here that the government of President Ahmadinejad is putting additional pressure on those protesting his election. World Threats has reported on some of the atrocities committed by the Ahmadinejad government in its quest to stifle opposition to the rule of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to information received by World Threats from inside Iran, protests continue unabated. Students taking exams last Sunday that had been postponed from June chanted anti-government slogans. Quoting from our sources, “Hossein Hasemian, a member of the reactionary Parliament, said, 'according to the information we have, some members of the RGC (Revolutionary Guards Corps) have resigned in protest against the RGC’s interference in the political issues of the country.’” Defections from the IRGC, depending on who has defected and how many have defected, might be significant. [more...]

A Moderate Muslim Revolution

By Ryan Mauro

The extremists are losing the war within Islam.

The war on terror is largely a result of a civil war within Islam. The extremists use terrorism, oppress those who don't agree with them, and establish states based on strict Sharia law. The moderates, who may disagree with U.S. foreign policy but stand for freedom and democratic principles while opposing terrorism, may not have as powerful a voice, but they are decisively winning this conflict, making advances in almost every part of the Islamic world. The Middle East is where the turnaround is the greatest. When the Iranian regime rigged the elections in favor of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 12, the population began a peaceful uprising and today protests against Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader, and chants calling for democracy and human rights are commonplace. The regime is today facing the greatest challenge to its very survival since its creation in 1979. This instability has already caused problems for terrorists relying upon Iranian support and when the regime one day inevitably falls, it will have positive consequences across the world. [more...]

KT McFarland in the Media

KT was on ABC Radio Tuesday night with Curtis Sliwa to discuss the CIA investigations and whether the UK traded the Lockerbie terrorist for oil concessions.
DEFCON 3 by KT: Afghanistan - What's Next?

KT joined host Heather Nauert on FOX's Strategy Room for a one hour special on Americans Veterans - the challenges and opportunities facing when they return home.

KT McFarland has the lead editorial on FOXNews.com's opinion page - CIA Trials Would be a Dangerous Mistake.

Brigitte Gabriel on CIA Interrogation

The Justice Department's move to open an investigation into CIA interrogation techniques is the most dangerous move since we had a change in administration. It is sending a clear message to our allies who are fighting this war with us against Jihadists, and who have proven vital in gathering intelligence for us, that the U.S. is not to be trusted and that whatever intelligence you share with the U.S. is going to be exposed by either the American media or insider politicians.

This is damaging the delicate relationship we have with most of our allies such as the Europeans who are dealing with their own internal problems, with the rise of homegrown Jihadists, and have to balance their cooperation with America with the rise of Islamic population in their own countries.

This is also emboldening the Jihadists who feel they have more of an ally with the current U.S. administration in certain areas instead of an enemy. The damage that this will do to CIA personnel and the agency in general is immeasurable. We are destroying our trusted men and women whose job is to gather intelligence in order to protect America - those who lay their life on the line to do so. We are clipping the wings off of our intelligence agency yet still expecting it to be held accountable when terrorism disasters strike America.

Islamic Honor Killing in America

Brigitte Gabriel, the New York Times bestselling author of They Must Be Stopped and president of Act! for America says "Rifqa Barry, an American young lady from Ohio, was threatened with death by her own father for converting to Christianity. Because of her conversion out of the Islamic faith, she has soiled the family's honor. The only action that will cleanse the family's honor is her blood.

This is such a foreign concept to Western nations. But because of the rise of Islamic immigration to the West, we are seeing these types of cases on the rise. We have had three cases in America in the last year: one in Texas, one in Atlanta and one in New York. Canada had to deal with a few cases as well. As recently as a few weeks ago, four women were found killed in Toronto floating down a river - killed by their own family.

In Europe, police representatives from many European countries met at The Hague to discuss the problem. Britain re-opened 110 cases last year of murder all suspected to be honor killings. This Ohioan girl's life is on the line if she is to be turned back to her family. If American courts allow this to happen, her blood will be on our hands.

Brigitte Gabriel on Home Grown Terrorists

The latest arrests of the seven men in North Carolina trained for Jihad and practiced military tactics and use of weapons in sleepy Caswell County, North Carolina brings home the reality that terrorist are recruiting wannabe terrorists right here on our soil.

Brigitte Gabriel, the New York Times bestselling author of They Must Be Stopped and president of Act! for America can provide in-depth analysis and commentary on these home grown terrorists.

The wiretapping program which caused such a stir in the media has been the most effective way to track and monitor terrorists operating on our soil. Even though this specific group was not plotting local terror attacks but international ones, they are a part of a group ready and willing to take orders from our enemies such as al-Qaida and other Islamic groups in America when they are needed.

Al-Qaida, as well as other terrorist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and lately Hiz-bu-tahrir, are actively recruiting Muslims as well as African Americans, Hispanics and in some cases Caucasians from the inner cities as well as the prison system. The mental indoctrination into Jihad against Israel in particular is now happening on college campuses all over the U.S., driven by the Muslim Student Association, which was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood.

KT McFarland in the Media This Week

KT McFarland's recent DEFCON 3 by KT for FOX News calls for a gasoline embargo on Iran.

KT has a 40-year retrospective on her former boss, Richard Nixon.

FOX News Channel's 'America's Newsroom' on 7/7 discussing Obama's Moscow trip.

KT on Sean Hannity's Great American Panel on 7/8:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQZPIdbZeI8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkY7JUbb5JM

KT's extensive interview with Julie Menin on her career, women in politics, the future of the GOP and Obama's national security policy.

KT's weekly radio commentary for Long Island Public Radio. The transcript of this week's address, on Russia and Iran, is below:

PUTIN WASN'T BUYING OBAMA; AND WE SHOULD STOP SELLING GAS TO IRAN (full transcript)

President Obama has enjoyed a triumphal romp of the world - and been received with wild whoops of enthusiasm throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. But he hit a brick wall when he got to Moscow. In what was the most amazing displays of body language I’ve ever seen in diplomacy, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made it clear he wasn’t buying what Obama was selling.

While Obama talked about lofty goals and moving beyond Cold War divisions, Putin was picking lint off the sleeve of his suit. When Obama talked about freeing the world of nuclear weapons, Putin gazed off in the other direction, with an extremely bored look on his face.

Behind the scenes it was much the same. Obama was hoping to achieve a grand bargain with the Russians – they would stop Iran’s nuclear program and in exchange, we would give up the Missile Shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Russians said nyet. We tried to sweeten things, presumably for the next round, by agreeing to put the missile shield on hold, but even this concession is unlikely to bring the Russians around anytime soon.

Even if Obama were to give Eastern Europe back to the Russian sphere of influence, it’s not clear the Russians will try to stop Iran or even could if they wanted to. Time is running out on America’s number one national security priority – preventing Iran from getting the bomb. Improved relationships with every country in the world mean little if that world includes a Nuclear Iran. And according to experts, that frightening prospect is only a year away.

So Obama has to try another track to bring the Iranians to the negotiating table - immediately - and ready to do business. The one way to get their attention now is a gasoline embargo.

Iran may be the world’s fourth largest oil exporter, but since it doesn’t refine that oil, Iran still has to IMPORT Forty percent of its gasoline. That gasoline comes from just 5 companies – four in Europe and one in India. The ships that deliver that gasoline are insured by a handful of companies in Britain, France, Germany and Japan. If we can pressure those refining and insurance companies to stop doing business with Iran, we can get Iran in the economic equivalent of a half nelson.

Congressional legislation to that effect has just been introduced by Senator Lieberman and others - to sanction any company that helps Iran import gasoline. Last year, British Petroleum, BP figured this was coming so they stopped selling gas to Iran, figuring they’d prefer to lose out on that business rather than risk their American customers.

If these European, Indian and Japanese companies do what BP did, and stop trading with Iran, others will probably move into fill the void. But they will charge Iran more for the gas – much more – which means the average Iranian has a higher price tag at the pump. That’s bound to make Iranian citizens really mad. Just two years ago, when the Mullahs tried to raise gas prices the Iranian people rioted – torching gas stations and taking to the streets.

Hmm… doesn’t that sound familiar?…

The Mullahs of Iran are unlikely to be lulled into giving up their nuclear weapons program just because we sing them the sweet songs of diplomacy.

On the other hand, the last thing we need right now is a military confrontation with Iran to topple their government.

What we can do, and should do immediately, is cut off their gasoline, so that those Iranian citizens, who have recently taken to the streets to protest a sham election, will take to the streets again to protest an incompetent government. That’s how we helped bring down the Soviet Union, and that’s how we can help bring down the Mullahs.

Brigitte Gabriel on the New Al-Zawahiri Tape

Al-Zawahiri, the second in command of Al-Qaida, released a new video message to Pakistani people yesterday, which shows the desperation of Al-Qaida to keep on going in its supposedl strongest region. Al-Qaida is fighting to survive and has lost its fundamental strength in the last few years. The U.S. government has killed or captured over 60% of Al-Qaida's leadership.

Brigitte Gabriel, the New York Times bestselling author of They Must Be Stopped and president of Act! for America can provide in-depth analysis and commentary on Al-Zawahiri.

Whether you agree or disagree with the previous administration's War on Terror, it has been successful on all fronts:

• We have done major damage to Al-Qaida's operation and leadership destroying 60% of its command structure. Al-Qaida today is even hurting for funds. Al-Zawahiri appealed to the Pakistanis in his video to support the organization with much-needed funding to carry on operations.
• We have brought democracy to Iraq where today there are almost 100 different political groups practicing democracy and participating in the government system. Iraq today is the envy of its surrounding neighbors such as Iran, Syria, Egypt and many others - thanks to the U.S. and its allies.
• We have eliminated the dictator Saddam Hussein who posed a major threat to the region and our interest.
• We have protected the homeland form a major terrorist attacks since 2001.
• Our immediate military involvement in Pakistan working with the secular military and applying pressure on the government has helped choke Al-Qaida in its stronghold.

All the above successes were achieved through strong, authoritative confrontation with terror. Despite all the criticism for the way we fought the War on Terror, the results speak for themselves.