Obama, Explosives, and Enemies (Video)

Obama stood at the podium in the Press Briefing Room at the White House late yesterday afternoon. He made a statement about explosives found on planes bound for the United States.

Video.



From CNN:

Suspicious packages found in at least two locations abroad that were bound for the United States "apparently contain explosive material," President Barack Obama said Friday, calling the discovery "a credible threat against our country."

The packages led to increased searches of cargo planes and trucks in several U.S. cities, said law enforcement sources with detailed knowledge of the investigation.

U.S. officials believe that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, commonly referred to as AQAP, is behind the incident.

Obama confirmed that the packages originated in Yemen, the stronghold of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

"We also know that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ... continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies," he said during a press briefing on the incident.

One suspicious package, found in the United Kingdom, contained a "manipulated" toner cartridge and had white powder on it as well as wires and a circuit board, a law enforcement source said. A similar package was discovered in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, the source said. The UAE General Authority of Civil Aviation issued a statement saying the package was to be shipped on a FedEx cargo plane.

Both packages were bound for the United States, "specifically two places of Jewish worship in Chicago," Obama said.

"Initial examination of those packages has determined they do apparently contain explosive material," he said.

White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan, who was the first to brief Obama on the potential threat Thursday night, said that "the materials that were found and the device that was discovered were intended to do harm."

From the Associated Press:

Authorities on three continents thwarted multiple terrorist attacks aimed at the United States Friday, seizing two explosive packages addressed to Chicago-area synagogues and packed aboard cargo jets from Yemen. Parts of the plot might remain undetected, President Barack Obama's counterterror chief warned.

Obama called the coordinated attacks a "credible terrorist threat" amid worldwide fears that al-Qaida was launching a major new campaign of assaults.

"The United States is not assuming that the attacks were disrupted and is remaining vigilant," Obama adviser John Brennan said at the White House.

One of the packages was found aboard a cargo plane in Dubai, the other in England. In the U.S., cargo planes were searched up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and an Emirates Airlines passenger jet was escorted down the coast to New York by American fighter jets.

No explosives were found aboard those planes, though the investigation was continuing on at least two.

Obama's sobering assessment, delivered from the White House podium, unfolded four days before national elections in which discussion of terrorism has played almost no role. The president went ahead with weekend campaign appearances.

The terrorist efforts "underscore the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism," the president said. While he said both packages that contained explosives originated in Yemen, he did not explicitly assign blame to al-Qaida, which is active in the Arab nation and long has made clear its goal of launching new attacks on the United States.

Interesting that Obama spoke of terrorists and terrorism.

His administration was supposed to use a different lexicon and get away from the politics of fear.

It seems strange for Obama to acknowledge foreign enemies of the United States. This stuff doesn't fit with the New World Order of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Obama.

When it comes to Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano doesn't even like to use the term "terrorism." She prefers "man-caused disasters."

From Napolitano's interview with Der Spiegel:

SPIEGEL: Madame Secretary, in your first testimony to the US Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word "terrorism." Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?

Napolitano: Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.

She is a scary woman.

So why is the Obama administration using the term "terrorism" in this case?

What's with all the politics of fear being bandied about? Days before the midterm elections, Team Obama decides to talk "terrorism"?

That's quite a departure.

Yes, Obama has spent quite a bit of his time recently talking enemies and punishing them, but he wasn't referring to Islamic extremists.

From Israel Ortega, the Heritage Foundation:

Appearing on a popular morning Univision radio broadcast called “Piolin por la Mañana,” hosted by Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo, President Obama urged Hispanic listeners to vote for his political party in the upcoming elections and punish the enemies. “If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re going to punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,’ if they don’t see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it’s going to be harder and that’s why I think it’s so important that people focus on voting on November 2.”

You don’t need to speak Spanish to discern that the President was clearly referring to conservatives as the enemy. President Obama went on to remind the listeners not to forget who was on their side come election day.

Speaking of conservatives, Obama says, "We're going to punish our enemies."

Doesn't Obama's language sound positively absurb, especially when put in the context of yesterday's events?

Obama is a disgrace in terms of his divisive rhetoric, an absolute disgrace.

Thankfully, this terrorist plot was foiled.

Clearly, we have enemies that want us dead. Obama should focus his energy on "punishing" them.

It's time for Obama to tone down his radical Leftist, community organizer persona and start working on acting like the president of the United States.