Category: Enemies Domestic

This elitist snob starts with an opinion that he states as fact and then moves on from there building a large sand castle

Textualist or not, does Johnson, or anyone, really, believe that if we could question Madison today, he would say that it was his intent to allow this country to be awash in guns, including automatic weapons that serve no good purpose other than as instruments of war or mass killings?

The obvious answer is YES! Madison and his fellow patriots had just fought off what they considered a tyrannical government, and they believed the people had that right and that responsibility to ensure a free state. “Weapons of War”™ (*gasp* Horrors!) were exactly the kind of “arms” the second was intended to protect, just in case the government was stupid enough to not realize that in the future. That does not even address the issue that there exists tens of millions of these rifles in the nation that are used for lawful purposes daily.

He claims he is ‘incredulous’. I find myself also being incredulous that someone who has held and holds such positions can also hold such a flawed opinion, especially after the Supreme Court had ruled on the matter so many times, starting in the 1800s with Cruikshank and on to just last year in Bruen. Actually I wish he would hold his breath.

Speaker Johnson’s hypocritical First and Second Amendment contradictions

From Court to Campus: Former Federal Judge John E. Jones III Takes Helm ...
Former (thank God) Federal Judge John E. Jones III, President of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

I am a college president. And I am afraid.

The mass killing last week in the college town of Lewiston, Maine, is the 36th this year in the United States, according to an AP/USA Today/Northeastern University mass killings database. The 18 who were murdered bring us to a total of nearly 200 victims of these ghastly events.

Sadly, it is easy to predict that there will be more of them before the year is out. Which community — college town or not — will bear the weight of the next tragedy?

I am also a former federal judge. And I am incredulous.

The House of Representatives has a new Speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.). During a 2016 sermon at the Christian Center in Shreveport, La., Johnson blamed mass school shootings on a “series of cultural shifts” in the United States that included teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution and erasing creationism from society. Last week, Johnson opined that it was inappropriate to discuss gun control “in the middle of a crisis” and that “it’s not the weapon, it’s the underlying problem.”

The suspected Maine shooter reportedly used a “Ruger SFAR” rifle “chambered for high-powered .308 ammunition.” The weapon is “larger and more powerful than the regular ammunition carried in the rifles of soldiers and SWAT teams.”

Johnson is a staunch defender of what he believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution represents. Its wording, which includes “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” has for generations been the subject of various interpretations and countless lawsuits.

Interestingly, the same Bill of Rights that contains the Second Amendment also features the First Amendment. Within it is the establishment clause, which prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.”

In 2005, I presided over the landmark case of Kitzmiller v. Dover in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. At its conclusion, I ruled that a school district’s policy introducing a concept known as intelligent design into the ninth-grade biology curriculum was, in fact, tantamount to teaching creationism, and thus violated the establishment clause. In rendering this opinion, I carefully followed the First Amendment’s dictates as well as Supreme Court precedent. The decision was not appealed and still stands.

It is my educated guess that Speaker Johnson, a trained lawyer, sees himself as a textualist. That is, he believes in the ordinary meaning of a legal text. I have always thought that to be an interesting interpretive theory so far as it goes, but far too unrealistic in practice. The Second Amendment was drafted largely by James Madison, who of course later served as president of the United States.

Textualist or not, does Johnson, or anyone, really, believe that if we could question Madison today, he would say that it was his intent to allow this country to be awash in guns, including automatic weapons that serve no good purpose other than as instruments of war or mass killings? It is absurd to think that Madison, a brilliant scholar and statesman, would endorse that view. In fact, I think he’d be as incredulous as I am that anyone could so torture the amendment he carefully drafted in this fashion.

I find myself endeavoring mightily to explain to my students how we arrived at this point, and why we lack the political will to pass reasonable gun legislation that would make us all safer. I have no good answers to their inquiries. They are afraid, and I share their apprehensions.

And so, I ask new Speaker Johnson and his colleagues these questions: Where is your courage, and when is the right time to pass legislation designed to end these slaughters? I will not hold my breath waiting for answers.

Well, if the goobermint would have secured the border…….

‘A Time for Vigilance’: FBI Dir. Christopher Wray Warns of Heightened Threats to the Homeland

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Tuesday morning. The hearing was titled “Threats to the Homeland.”

In conjunction with his appearance, Wray submitted a 15-page statement covering the following topics:

  • Key Threats and Challenges
  • National Security
    • Terrorism Threats
    • Cyber
    • Foreign Intelligence Threats
    • National Counterintelligence Task Force
    • Transnational Repression and Other Counterintelligence Threats
  • Criminal Threats
    • Violent Crime
    • Transnational Organized Crime
    • Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking
  • Reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

But it was Wray’s testimony regarding the heightened risk of attacks here in the U.S. that really caught the attention. This exchange between Wray and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) highlights the danger of the times.

WRAY: What has now increased is the greater possibility of one of these foreign terrorist organizations directing an attack in the United States. We haven’t seen evidence that it’s actually happening yet, but what we have seen is — and I listed them off in my opening remarks — one terrorist organization after another calling for attacks.

SCOTT: We should wake up.

WRAY: It is a time to be concerned. We are in a dangerous period.

SCOTT: So, is the FBI able to track all threats and prevent these individuals from conducting an attack on U.S. soil?

WRAY: I couldn’t say that we’re able to detect all individuals. The people that we know about — as Secretary Rumsfeld used to say, ‘the known-known’ — we’re quite good at, together with our partners. But it is the unknown-unknown that I worry about quite a bit.

SCOTT: So, Director Wray, can you say that we do not have either individual foreign terrorists or terror cells affiliated with foreign groups currently operating in the United States?

WRAY: Well, we’re not — we’re not tracking that, but again, I come back to what it is: The gaps in our intelligence are real, and it’s something that we have concerns about.

SCOTT: So, Director Wray, so…what would you say right now to the American public — because, like, in my state, I’ve got a significant Jewish population. They’re scared to go to synagogue, Chabad. They’re scared to send their kids to day schools. So — but it’s not just them. It’s other individuals, like my daughters called me and said: Should they be sending their kids to school? What would you tell Americans right now about the threat today as compared to before?

WRAY: This is not a time for panic, but it is a time for vigilance. We shouldn’t stop conducting our daily lives, going to schools, houses of worship, and so forth. But we should be vigilant. You often hear the expression “If you see something, say something.”  That’s never been more true than now. And that’s probably partly why the American people are reporting more tips and leads to us and we’re pursuing those threats and leads as vigorously and responsibly as we can.

Wray acknowledged the very real threat of terrorist groups like Hamas conducting attacks on U.S. soil.

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California Democrats Disarm Synagogues

Here’s a story I missed from September that takes on an even more sinister cast in retrospect.

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the filing of a new Second Amendment lawsuit challenging multiple parts of California SB2, which unilaterally declares numerous locations as “sensitive places” where California will now ban the carry of firearms by licensed, law-abiding Californians. The complaint in Carralero v. Bonta can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“SB2 restricts where persons with licenses to carry a concealed weapon may legally exercise their constitutional right to wear, carry, or transport firearms. And it does so in ways that are fundamentally inconsistent with the Second Amendment and the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen,” argues the complaint. “The Second Amendment does not tolerate these restrictions. This Court should enter judgment enjoining their enforcement and declaring them unconstitutional.”

“With Gov. Newsom’s signing of SB2 today, California continues to exhibit its disdain for the rights of Californians, the U.S. Constitution, and the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision,” said Cody J. Wisniewski, FPC Action Foundation’s General Counsel and Vice President of Legal, and FPC’s counsel. “Unfortunately for California, and contrary to Governor Newsom’s misguided statements, the state does not have the power to unilaterally overrule individual rights and constitutional protections. Fortunately, courts across the nation have already struck down laws just like SB2, and we expect the same result here.”

FPC is joined in this lawsuit by three individuals, Orange County Gun Owners, San Diego County Gun Owners, and California Gun Rights Foundation.

If Democrats actually revered the Supreme Court as much as they claim to, Bruen would have ended their attempts to pass Second Amendment infringing legislation. But the goal of disarming the civilian population is only slightly less sacred a Democratic Party cause than taxpayer-funded abortions. So they soldier on trying to thwart the Constitution.

Here is the relevant text of SB2.

This bill would remove those exemptions, except as specified. The bill would make it a crime to bring an unloaded firearm into, or upon the grounds of, any residence of the Governor, any other constitutional officer, or Member of the Legislature. The bill would also prohibit a licensee from carrying a firearm to specified locations, including, among other places, a building designated for a court proceeding and a place of worship, as defined, with specific exceptions. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Well, it’s not like any particular houses of worship are under particular threats from particular terrorist organizations, now is it?

Just four years ago on the last day of Passover, a man armed with a rifle burst into a synagogue in Poway, near San Diego, fatally shot one woman and injured three other congregants, including the synagogue’s rabbi.

A year before, an even more horrific attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue left 11 dead.

In the aftermath of the attack on Israel, many American Jews are arming themselves. But in California, not only will Jews and worshippers in other faiths be banned from protecting themselves in their houses of worship, but would-be killers will know that potential victims in “sensitive” areas will be unarmed.

Everywhere in the west, the radical left is protesting to support Hamas, despite (or perhaps because) of the latter’s calls to completely destroy the Jews. Meanwhile, Gavin Newsom and California Democrats are disarming law-abiding Jewish American citizens in their synagogues.

What are the odds?

Everything the social justice crowd told us was a lie.

Everything the social justice crowd has said for the past 15 years has been a lie.

The movement gained a foothold in American culture around 2008, riding a wave of popular reexaminations of race relations, political divisions, and systemic disparities. It styled itself as an honorable call to right the wrongs of society, both historical and contemporaneous.

The past three weeks, however, have served as definitive proof that the benevolent emperor is a naked tyrant. The warriors for the oppressed are not so noble and selfless as they claim. Neither are they singularly motivated by the ideals of “inclusivity,” “equity,” and “diversity.” They’re as greedy, vicious, prejudiced, and hateful as the oppressors they accuse.

The “social justice” crowd has only ever cared about acquiring power and influence, creeping toward this goal via emotional blackmail, intimidation campaigns, and even occasional violence. Theirs is not a cause for justice, but for self-enrichment; a relatively bloodless conquest for power and treasure. They simply disguise their self-interest in the language of “justice” and altruism, all the while plotting new ways to seize for themselves the “privilege” and “power” they envy in others.

Nothing has done so fine a job of laying bare this reality as Hamas’s Oct. 7 slaughter of 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, including children. Since that day of mass murder, social justice activists have flooded city streets and college campuses across the West, cheering war crimes and calling for the destruction of Israel.

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They’re not anti-war. They’re just on the other side.

Yale campus newspaper censors pro-Israel writer’s column on Hamas beheading men, raping women.

Maybe Jill Biden Is Sauron

Longtime readers of this Briefing know that I find First Lady DOCTOR Mama Jill Biden to be an extraordinarily loathsome human being. If the woman had even an ounce of decency, she wouldn’t have let her husband near a camera after his tenure as vice president was up in 2017.

Jill Biden is a power-hungry lunatic though, so she doesn’t care if her husband continues to embarrass himself in front of the whole world. As long as she gets power, access, and a curious amount of money for a teacher, she doesn’t care if her husband’s sad and rapid decline is witnessed by everyone on Earth.

Victoria wrote a lengthy examination of Doctor Mrs. Sir Sniffsalot, and hit on an angle that I hadn’t yet thought of:

Americans are beginning to think that Joe’s smiling, 72-year-old presidential arm candy didn’t have the country’s needs at heart when she told her husband, “You gotta run.” It’s in that way she reminds Americans of Hillary Clinton.

Call her Jillary.

The reasonable criticism goes that any person who pushes their mentally incapable husband to become president is naturally a bad person committing an act of elder abuse, but Jill Biden’s happy warrior-like smiles may hide something even more sinister. Could Jillary be the force behind the so-called Biden Crime Family?

Whoa, if true.

There must be some brains behind the operation somewhere, and the missus does seem the most likely candidate when you think about it.

We talk a lot about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline these days because it’s important to acknowledge that the President of the United States has completely lost it. The thing about Joe Biden, however, is that he never really completely had it.

Let’s be honest — we don’t live in an era when being an intellectual heavyweight is a prerequisite for rising to the top of American politics. Despite the fact that he’s been around Washington since Precambrian times, not too many people have lauded Joe Biden for his brains.

In the interest of being accurate, I should probably say that no one has ever lauded Joe Biden for his brains. Heck, Joe Biden would probably admit that Joe Biden is a dullard, if he knew who Joe Biden was.

Then there’s the boy Hunter. I’ve generously referred to him as a mediocrity here on several occasions, proving that I can be nice when there’s nothing in it for me. I’m available to pick up my humanitarian award at any time.

If Hunter Biden weren’t the son of a politician who had an endless supply of favors to call in, he’d be picking bugs out of his hair in a crack house somewhere in central Florida. In fact, that’s probably what Hunter wants to be doing.

It’s safe to say that the men in the Biden family aren’t masterminding anything.

Jill Biden’s cold-heartedness has been on public display since the 2020 presidential campaign. She’s got the icy veins needed to run a criminal operation. I frequently refer to Joe Biden’s puppet masters. What if Jill is the only one? The cabal may be comprised of several political veterans, but it’s easy to believe that Her Doctorness is the one issuing the marching orders.

Jill Biden may very well be Hillary Clinton sans the drunken bitterness.
Which might make her more dangerous in the long run.

The Bloody Failed Experiment of Gun-Free “Death” Zones

After watching senseless killings in Gun Free Zones time and time again, logical-thinking people start to consider the fact that deaths occur in these locations because people can’t defend themselves when under attack. Mainstream media, in coordination with the Democrat party, is highly tuned in to this awareness and works effortlessly to counteract that thought process through an endless stream of propaganda, rhetoric, and gun-blaming.

They know that logical-thinking people are aware of their anti-gun fear campaign. Still, they also know that there is a good portion of Americans who can be easily manipulated into believing the anti-gun lies.

We wonder how, if they know that they are putting good people in danger with their false narrative, Gun Free Zones, and dangerous gun restrictions, they can continue this experiment in unnecessary loss of human life?

The biggest culprit of unnecessary and preventable death is the Gun Free Zone. It is also becoming quite apparent that the Gun Free Zone is a valuable tool for gun restrictions. At a certain point, the gun-grabbers start to look foolish for continuing dangerous policies with no remorse, but the Gun Free Zone brings with it death, and an excuse to blame guns for human violence. This is the main driver for gun-restriction support.

Don’t believe me? Ask yourself why it is that left-wing media and politicians will start blaming firearms, with total disregard to the suffering families and loss of life before the victims are even removed from the scene.

There are several reasons for this immoral behavior, including the fact that a good portion of our Country values politics over morality.

This could be a result of the demonization of Judaism and Christian values in our society. It could also be the fact that there is a concerted effort to teach people to devalue human life if it doesn’t benefit them.

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The Biden Administration Reaches New Heights of Reprehensibility
Our national security interests are proving to be too much of a hard sell, so Biden goes with the “war is good for business” route to raise money for war.

Has a single member of the White House staff ever held a dying American soldier in his arms as he bled out, calling for his mother?  Have any of them ever loaded the blood-soaked bodies of his wounded and killed onto a medivac helicopter and then endured sleepless nights thinking about the visits that their families are about to get and the ensuing destruction of their lives and dreams?

These were the first questions that popped into my mind today when I saw the report from Politico that the Biden administration is promoting the war in Ukraine because it is good for American business.

I think that the members of the administration could not have experienced these things because if they had, and if they had one ounce of humanity in them, they could not possibly have promoted war on the “it’s good for business” rationale.

Apparently multiple White House aides have been involved in this abomination because Politico is quite specific: “The White House has been quietly urging lawmakers in both parties to sell the war efforts abroad as a potential economic boom at home.

“Aides have been distributing talking points to Democrats and Republicans who have been supportive of continued efforts to fund Ukraine’s resistance to make the case that doing so is good for American jobs, according to five White House aides and lawmakers familiar with the effort and granted anonymity to speak freely.”

The Biden administration is fearful that it cannot sell the additional aid package on the merits and on national security grounds, because “The talking points are an implicit recognition that the administration has work to do in selling its $106 billion foreign aid supplemental request — and that talking about it squarely under the umbrella of national security interests hasn’t done the trick.

The reprehensibility of these comments cannot be overstated.  Biden’s administration is peopled with a number of “elites” who probably are familiar, at least in a theoretical, intellectual sense, with John Stuart Mill’s dictum, “War is an ugly thing,” ‘but, hey, if it’s good for business, particularly in electoral swing states, let’s go for it.’

I am old enough to remember how the left tarred George Bush, Dick Cheney, and others in the GOP with the argument that they wanted war because it was good for their supporters in big business. I never put any stock in these arguments because I thought that no American could be so evil as to support war as a sop to big business. The Biden administration has changed my mind.

My contempt and revulsion for these people knows no bounds.

Well, I don’t care what anyone says, the man is undoubtedly a moslem, but since he was slick & ‘cool’, the brainless demoncraps & voted for him as others decided not to vote for McCain, and here we are.

On Israel, Biden Picks Up Where Obama Left Off

The former president forever changed the trajectory of the Democratic Party.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken contends that Hamas would gain no “greater” victory “than allowing its brutality to send us down a path of terrorism and nihilism. We must not let it.”

You can hear echoes of Barack Obama’s insufferable moral equivalencies imbued in that statement.

The contention is a not-so-subtle warning to Israel, who will almost surely enter Gaza and try to dismantle the Hamas terror state — which has been indirectly and directly funded not only by Iran, the European Union, and the United Nations but also by the Obama and Biden administrations.

The insinuation, of course, is that Israel needs to temper its inclination to engage in “terrorism and nihilism.” It is a blood libel.

It is not “terrorism” to seek justice for the pregnant woman who had her baby cut from her body or the elderly couple who was burned alive. And eliminating those who committed Nazi-like atrocities against your citizens is no more nihilistic than tracking down Eichmann or demanding Emperor Hirohito unconditionally surrender.

Yet, only days after the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust, Biden was already lecturing Benjamin Netanyahu on how “democracies like Israel and the United States are stronger and more secure when we act according to the rule of law.” The insinuation, again, is that there is something nefarious about winning a war against those who massacre your citizens.

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Will We Survive the Next Intelligence Failure?

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Corrupt bureaucraps…but I repeat myself.

Former U.S. firearms investigator illegally trafficked guns to Mexico, government document alleges
Jose Luis Meneses, who worked as an investigator for ATF, admitted to buying firearm parts online and at a California gun store and then trafficking them to Mexico.

A former investigator for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is accused of smuggling guns into Mexico while employed by the agency in 2017, according to a letter sent to ATF’s head this week by U.S. Senator Charles Grassley.

Jose Luis Meneses, a Mexican national who worked as an investigator for ATF at the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, admitted to buying firearm parts online and at a California gun store and trafficking them into Mexico for profit back in 2017, according to the letter and an ATF memo from the time obtained by Reuters.

The case has not been previously reported.

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Only the gullible were fooled.

Mask Off! ‘Bipartisan Gun Safety’ Group 97percent’s Executive Director Joins Gun Control Group Brady

97percent calls itself as “a bipartisan group of gun owners and non-gun owners,” and describes their purported mission as follows:

We are bringing gun owners directly into the conversation about gun safety — creating spaces where both gun owners and non-gun owners can have an honest, civil discussion about ways to reduce gun-related violence, while respecting the 2nd Amendment.

How bipartisan is this group, and how seriously do they take the concerns of gun owners? For starters, their website has several instances of the phrase “gun safety” but not a single mention of “gun control.” 97percent’s research (archived links) led them to support violent misdemeanor laws, universal gun registry (i.e., universal background checks), red flag confiscations, and permit requirements to purchase any gun. They want these laws implemented federally, and where the Constitution bars the federal government from doing so, they want the federal government to “incentivize” the states to do it. They have expressed concern over Bruen (archived links) because of its removal of corrupt discretion from the hands of government apparatchiks.

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Biden’s Real Meeting With An Israeli PM, And His Support Of Israel In Hamas War

Twice since the Israeli war with Hamas began, Joe Biden falsely claimed that he met with Golda Meir just before the 1967 Six-Day War. However, Biden’s story was a lie. Levi Eshkol was Prime Minister until Feb. 1969, when he had a fatal heart attack. Golda Meir became PM a month later, in March 1969, a year and 8 months after the Six-Day War. President Biden got his law degree in 1968 and was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1969, almost two years after the Six-Day War.

During the Israeli war to protect herself against Hamas, President Biden has been an excellent ally of Israel, but there are reasons to wonder how long that will last. During his Senate career, Biden was not a great friend. He even refused to participate in easy ways to look pro-Israel. He refused to sign his name to non-binding pro-Israel letters most of his senate colleagues supported.

As a young senator, Biden did get some time with an Israel Prime Minister.

On June 22, 1982, PM Menachem Begin testified before the  Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  

During that committee hearing, at the height of the Lebanon War, Sen. John Biden (Delaware) had attacked Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria and threatened that if Israel did not immediately cease this activity, the US would have to cut economic aid to Israel.

“Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”

When Begin said, “Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens.” He wasn’t talking about the American heroes and those of our allies who put their lives on the line or lost their lives fighting Hitler. He discussed that FDR could have saved up to 200,000 of Hitler’s victims but didn’t want more Jews in the US. Churchill could have saved tens of thousands but lacked the courage.

Not learning his lesson, Senator Biden Senator raised his voice at Begin and banged twice on the table. Begin responded.

“This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. Don’t threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the US lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats. Take note: we do not want a single soldier of yours to die for us.”

The NY Times reported on the aftermath of the meeting

After the meeting, Mr. Begin said: ”I enjoyed the session very much. I believe in liberty, that free men should freely discuss problems and if they have differences of opinion they should voice them in sincerity.”

”I said it was a lively discussion,” he said. ”If you want to use other adjectives. …” He paused, then said, ”Lively is enough.”

Biden began his Presidency by selecting Israeli haters and/or Iran apologists to join his team.

However, since October 7, 2023, the war with Hamas, Biden changed his opinion about the Jewish State. So far, the war has been a great friend of Israel. Changed his policy, not just the speeches but also arms, warships, and other military equipment. Next year, in Nov. 2024, there will be a Presidential election in the United States. It is expected to be close, perhaps, even less than one percent. Will Biden change his pro-Israel strategy to solidify the support of his supporters, will he be the man who banged his desk attempting to intimidate Menachem Begin, or will he remain the Joe Biden he’s been since October 7? Well, we will know soon.

Biden Border Crisis Endangering Us All: 659 Known Terrorists Captured at the Border This Year Alone

As Joe Biden’s purposeful attempt to destroy the U.S. with his wide-open border policies continues, federal data shows that a record of 659 known terrorists have been caught trying to sneak into the country in just the last year alone.

“In fiscal 2023, 659 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) were apprehended attempting to illegally enter the U.S. – with the majority being apprehended at the northern border, according to CBP data last updated Sept. 15. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30,” Just the News Reported.

The numbers show that 432 known or suspected terrorists (or KSTs) were caught trying to sneak in across the northern border, while 227 were caught at the southern border.

These numbers, though, do not count the unknown number who could sneak into the U.S. without being caught. These are called the “got aways.”

With people illegally entering the U.S. from over 170 countries, former ICE Chief Tom Homan told The Center Square some of these countries they are coming from are sponsors of terrorism.

“If you don’t think a single one of the 1.7 million [gotaways] is coming from a country that sponsors terrorism, then you’re ignoring the data,” he said. “That’s what makes this a huge national security issue.”

KSTs are primarily apprehended two different ways by two different federal agents. Office of Field Operations (OFO) agents, who work at land ports of entry, are tasked with stopping “inadmissables,” or illegal foreign nationals, KSTs and a range of other people or contraband prior to entering the U.S.

Border Patrol agents work between ports of entry, patrolling the border to apprehend foreign nationals who’ve already illegally entered the U.S.

OFO agents working at northern ports of entry have apprehended more than those at southwest ports of entry in four out of the last seven fiscal years. OFO agents have also historically apprehended more KSTs at ports of entry than Border Patrol agents between ports of entry due to varying factors.

In fiscal 2023, OFO agents apprehended 429 KSTs at northern border ports of entry and 76 KSTs at southwest border land ports of entry, totaling 505 at ports of entry at both borders.

Border Patrol agents apprehended 151 KSTs between ports of entry along the southwest border and three between ports of entry along the northern border, totaling 154. patrolling.

All failures – if this can be called that –  especially that of opponents, should also be studied for lessons to be learned.

Consider; If they all became ‘martyrs’ would there be a problem?

Hamas’s Strategy of Human Sacrifice
Never before has a party adopted a war strategy to maximize civilian deaths on its own side.

On October 13, Israeli military commanders told Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate to the south. The northern half of the strip is full of Hamas assets—from rockets to rifles, communications gear to personnel—that Israel plans to destroy in the coming days of the war. But Hamas leaders demanded that the people stay in place. Why?

While some of Hamas’s most brutal tactics, like systematic rape and beheading captives, are long-practiced atrocities for which the armies of Stalin, Hitler, and Genghis Khan are infamous, it is unprecedented for a party to adopt a war strategy to maximize civilian deaths on its own side. This is so strange and evil that it should appall any decent person. Contrary to conventional commentary, this is not a human shield strategy. It’s a human sacrifice strategy.

Since its birth in 1987, Hamas has declared its aim to destroy Israel. Its strategy is asymmetric—that is, because Hamas is smaller and weaker than the Israeli army, it relies on a strategy designed to undermine Israel politically. In hopes (presumably) that it can induce Saudi leaders to drop their plans to normalize relations with Israel, Hamas launched this war with two goals. First, to provoke uprisings among Arabs and Muslims, both within and outside Israel. Second, to cause the rest of the world to view Israel with disgust and hatred.

To achieve these aims, Hamas is ensuring that its war will harm and kill large numbers of Palestinians in Gaza. To bring this about, it has strategized and laid groundwork for years. Its aim is to propagandize a gullible world—to put the blood of Palestinian victims on Israel’s hands.

Defense officials in numerous countries, for operational reasons and to comply with international laws of war, take pains to locate their military assets away from their civilians and to maximize protection for the latter. Hamas officials do the opposite. As United Nations officials and others have disapprovingly noted, Hamas stores ammunition in schools, puts missile launchers adjacent to mosques, sets up command centers in hospitals, and generally bases its operations in densely populated civilian neighborhoods.

This is not simply a human-shield strategy, where the aim is to deter an attack by using innocent lives as a barrier. Hamas is doing something far more insidious: it’s ensuring the mass death of Palestinians. Here is Hamas official Ali Baraka summing up the difference between the two worldviews: “The Israelis are known to love life. We, on the other hand, sacrifice ourselves. We consider our dead to be martyrs.”

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All successes, even (and maybe especially) that of opponents, should be studied for lessons to be learned.

Hamas attack exposes gaping eye-in-the-sky blind spots
Crucial gaps in satellite surveillance coverage underline need for more integrated US system – including to foresee a China invasion of Taiwan

Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel has exposed the limits of space-based surveillance, putting into question the adequacy of existing heavenly watch intelligence-gathering technologies and spotlighting the need for a more integrated approach that better synergizes artificial intelligence (AI) with human guidance and insight.

Defense One reported that the recent Hamas assault on Israel has highlighted the need for persistent coverage from orbit, as space-based sensors are not a “cure-all” for US intelligence needs.

The report says that while the US Pentagon via the Space Development Agency has commenced building a network of military satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) known as the “Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture,” Hamas’ ability to avoid detection will likely spur nations to increase the capacity and coverage of their space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, including those that use radiofrequency sensing.

Defense One notes that while the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is working with other intelligence agencies to ensure that US satellites are capable and relevant and that it remains confident in its ability to detect threats around the world, officials are still investigating why preparations for the attack went undetected while seeking further intelligence on Iran’s possible role in the assault.

The report says that Hamas appears to have used “old-school techniques” such as in-person communications to share information. Defense One notes that relying on ISR techniques that use technology to remote-monitor adversaries can be dodged if the subject can avoid signals or movements easily detected and analyzed from space or electronic sensors.

The report also suggests that the US should use more AI-enabled algorithms to assess information including human intelligence, social media posts and physical movements.

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