The Political Fish

There appears to be conflicting reports out today as to the capture of treasonous American Taliban Adam Gadahn. From the AP this afternoon.

KARACHI, Pakistan – The American-born spokesman for al-Qaida has been arrested by Pakistani intelligence officers in the southern city of Karachi, two officers and a government official said Sunday as video emerged of him urging U.S. Muslims to attack their own country.

The arrest of Adam Gadahn represents a major victory in the U.S.-led battle against al-Qaida and will be taken as a sign that Pakistan, criticized in the past for being an untrustworthy ally, is cooperating more fully with Washington. It follows the recent detentions of several Afghan Taliban commanders in Karachi, including the movement’s No. 2 commander.

U.S. officials did not immediately confirm Gadahn’s capture.

Gadahn has appeared in more than half a dozen al-Qaida videos, taunting and threatening the West and calling for its destruction. A U.S. court charged Gadahn with treason in 2006, making him the first American to face such a charge in more than 50 years.

He was arrested in the sprawling southern metropolis of Karachi in recent days, two officers who took part in the operation said. A senior government official also confirmed the arrest, but said it happened Sunday. The discrepancy could not immediately be resolved.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

The first report released from the AP was at approximately 4:30 EST. CBS released the following about an hour after, citing confusion over the militants identity and stating that the arrest was in fact not Adam Gadahn.

An “important Taliban militant” was arrested today in Pakistan. But that is where the confusion started.

Earlier it was reported by Pakistani media that intelligence agents had arrested Adam Gadahn, the American-born spokesman for al Qaeda, in an operation in the southern city of Karachi.

It was further reported by the Associated Press and Reuters that Gadahn had been arrested, sourcing security officials.

CBS News was told by sources in the Pakistan government that it was Gadahn, even after U.S. officials refused to confirm it was the California native for whom a $1 million reward has been posted.

Now, CBS News’ Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad writes that earlier reports the detained individual was Gadahn proved false. According to a Pakistan security official who spoke with CBS News on condition of anonymity, the arrested individual is in fact “a Taliban militant leader who is known as Abu Yahya.”

The official said evidence compiled from an interrogation of the suspect and information exchanged with U.S. officials verified the man’s identify.

The reassessment only added to the confusion surrounding the arrest of a man earlier described by other unnamed Pakistani security officials as Gadahn.

“In the light of our latest information, I can say, this is not looking like Gadahn. But it is still the arrest of an important Taliban militant,” said the Pakistani security official who spoke to CBS News late Sunday.

Looks like confusion is reigning the day on this story. Adam Gadahn for those who are not aware is the American-born spokesperson for Al-Qaeda, who has been prominently featured in numerous propaganda videos railing against the United States and calling for its destruction. Most recently, Gadahn released a video praising the Fort Hood massacre by Major Nidal Hassan. Hassan of course went on a shooting rampage at the largest US military facility and murdered 14 people on November 5, 2009.

JammieWearingFool has continuous updates on the story and other rumors surrounding it.

Updates Here (Samaa News), Here (Dawn.com). Many others are reporting the capture. We will have to wait for the US Military to confirm it is Adam Gadahn. From the GateWayPundit, here is a video of Gadahn from a few years back. HotAir says bummer, wasn’t him.

This man is a traitor and should be executed as such. Let’s just hope it does end up being Adam Gadahn who was captured today in Karachi.

Has it really been one year?

Sure, we all remember President Obama’s inauguration. Two million people crowded the National Mall, he placed his hand on the Bible, Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed the oath of office, Dick Cheney looked like Mr. Potter from It’s A Wonderful Life, Obama gave a speech, and pundits across the radio and television dial hailed the coming of the Golden Age of liberalism.

Let me check my calendar… Yep, that was January 20th, 2009.  One year ago.

So what happened?  Well, let’s recap:

• ECONOMICS – In the middle of the Great Recession, Obama unleashed the $787 Billion stimulus plan.  Obama’s people said without the plan, unemployment would go up to nine percent.  We should consider ourselves to be so lucky.  Conservatives said that the bill would increase unemployment, and sure enough, they were right.  But hey, we did save / create a few jobs in some Congressional districts.  It’s a shame those districts don’t exist.
• FOREIGN POLICY – I suppose Obama’s big Foreign Policy moment came during his speech in Cairo, where he tried to seek common ground with Muslims.  The speech was well-received by both sides of the aisle.  A short time later, Obama showed his support for freedom-seeking Muslims by delivering a rousing speech where he proclaimed that America stood together with the young men and women of Iran who were protesting the sham elections and… oh wait, that last part didn’t happen.  Instead, while Iran was burning, Obama was silent, but at least he did get the chance  to get ice cream.  It wasn’t the first time that ice cream played a part in Obama’s foreign policy, four Gitmo detainees were sent to Bermuda.  And yes, they were allowed to get ice cream.  But no sprinkles!  By the way, the “ice cream diplomacy” should not be confused with the “hot dog diplomacy”, or the infamous beer summit.  Other highlights from Obama’s first year: saying that we would not abandon our missile shield in Poland if Iran continues to pose a threat.  That worked for awhile, until the Russians asked us to change our plans.  We caved to the Russians.  Right after we found out that Iran could build a nuke.
• WAR – I haven’t heard much about it, but I’m pretty sure we’re still in Iraq.  After spending the campaign telling America how George Bush screwed up that war, Obama carried over Bush’s policy.  He also spent the campaign talking about how Afghanistan was the “good” war, then once elected President, he proceeded to dither.  Months after Gen. McChrystal asked for more troops, Obama complied.  Somewhat.  He pledged 30,000 more soldiers, but added a withdrawal date.  In a related note, if the leader of the Taliban said that he was going to train / send more terrorists to reek havoc on the world, but only for 18 months (and then they’d have to stop), wouldn’t it sound like that, I dunno, like he was dealing from a position of weakness?
• TERRORISM – Unfortunately, the terrorists (as a whole), aren’t dealing from a position of weakness.  One-third of the terrorist attacks against Americans occurred in 2009. We saw two attacks on our soil, at Fort Hood and in on a plane above Detroit.  Thankfully, the Detroit bomber was incompetent (much like another would-be terrorist bomber from 40 years ago.  Yes, I went there).  Both incidents happened because America missed the warning signs.  Let us pray Obama can rectify these mistakes in 2010.  As for the “victory over terrorists front”, kudos to Obama for giving the thumbs-up to an operation that rescued kidnapped sea captains from the hands of the Somali pirates.  We sent the right message, and that was the last we had to deal with them.  Oh wait. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t joke about this.  Piracy is no laughing matter.
• HEALTH CARE – And yes, we’ve reached the elephant-in-the-room.  While Americans lacking health insurance is a serious problem, Americans rejected Obama’s solution (e.g., usurping the entire health care system, creating massive new entitlement programs, and basically saddling our great-great-great grandchildren with a debt they could never hope to repay.  And for a more on this disaster of a bill, I refer you to my older brother’s column on the subject.).  Where would Obama be if he didn’t try to usurp one-seventh of our national economy?  Well, for starters, he probably wouldn’t be sitting under 50% in the approval polls.  Second, he probably wouldn’t have lost his filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.  Third, Democrats wouldn’t be quaking in their boots.

So, I suppose that takes us back to today.  January 20th, 2010.  One year ago, Barack Obama entered the presidency with dreams and visions of a New America.  And one day ago, voters from the bluest of blue states got their chance to say they don’t want to be a part of that vision.  Meanwhile, the rest of the country salivates.  On November 2nd, 2010, they’ll get their chance, too.

We are now eight years into the War in Afghanistan and there is not a single justification for its continuation — much less escalation — that withstands scrutiny.

If this war was about bringing Osama Bin Laden to justice, we would not be in Afghanistan but Pakistan, where most credible intelligence indicates he and his minions are hiding.  If the President’s concern is national security, he would secure our national borders.  If the concern is the Taliban, we would be fighting against the Iranians who send the Taliban the weapons they use to kill our soldiers. The pundit class can argue all day long about whether the United States should go to war with Iran, but ultimately that discussion is academic. We are already at war with Iran whether or not we choose to acknowledge it.

So why do we continue in Afghanistan? Because wars like this one take on a life of their own, over time becoming circularly self-justifying. The war must continue, so goes the logic, because we’ve already invested so many years, so many lives, so much money, so much political capital, that to not see it through would be to waste all of the above. Thus the President tells us that “we have to finish the job.” But what is the job at this point other than to finish?

On December 10, 2009, President Obama will be in Oslo accepting his Nobel Peace Prize. That will likely be of little consolation to the now one hundred thousand U.S. troops who will remain in Afghanistan, committed to fighting for at least three more years what is now President Obama’s war. And then on to the next.

I was hoping this video would pop up on the internet, I noticed this last night as I watched the Presidents speech at West Point.