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After months of fighting, today the Libyan Prime Minister announced that Moammar Gaddafi is now dead. Rebel forces overran the last stronghold of forces loyal to Gaddafi, and in the ensuing battle the long time Libyan leader was killed.
http://militarybriefingbook.com/browse.cfm?category=Africa&subcategory=North%20Africa
This reads like a Hollywood movie, unfortunately this is reality. The U.S. uncovered a terror plot orchestrated by Iran, where individuals linked to Quds Force, part of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, tried to pay the Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas, to bomb the Israeli and Saudi Embassy in Washington.
The same plotters also were aiming to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States. The plan never progressed as the suspects were dealing with an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
In the coming day's more details will be unveiled on the complexities and scope of this attempt to launch terror attacks in the United States. The real question has to be addressed, when will the U.S. realize that the policy of engagement, and the administrations Iranian policy are not working.
The administration came into office stating, if the Iranian leadership unclench their fists, we will open our hands. Since 2009, the Iranian government has had the blood of Americans on its hands in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus the continued progress of obtaining nuclear weapons. What will happen if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon?
The time has come for a different Iranian strategy!
http://militarybriefingbook.com/browse.cfm?category=Terrorism&subcategory=Transnational%20Threat
The Labor Department announced today that the economy created 103,000 jobs, and the prior two months were revised upward. Half of the jobs created were a result of striking Verizon workers returning back to work.
This report is better than most economists had predicted, but nowhere near the number of jobs needed for the economy to begin reducing the persistent high unemployment rate. The nation's economy has to begin creating at least 150,000 jobs a month, just to keep up with population growth.
The President has been crisscrossing the country trying to gather support for his job plan, unfortunately the attention has been focused on Republican opposition, but many Democrats oppose this job proposal, including many Senate Democrats.
The real opposition to sustained job growth is fear, which has permeated through businesses across the country. Businesses will not begin to hire until they know what their tax rates will be, unsure of what regulations will come out of Washington, and only beginning to feel the effects of health care reform.
http://militarybriefingbook.com/topic.cfm?topic=U.S.%20Politics
Fear has gripped this economy and will only end after the 2012 Presidential election
As the economy sinks deeper into the abyss of economic stagnation, Washington is engulfed in partisan warfare, with another government shutdown looming on the horizon. Both political parties portray this strictly in partisan terms only appeasing to the base of their party, virtually ignoring the crisis American's are suffering through.
Missing is any sense of leadership! Right now the President has been crisscrossing the country on a partisan trip blaming others for the state of the economy, without looking at his own administration polices, which have contributed to the lack of job creation.
Republicans act like they control all elements of national power and must understand they control only one part of government and have to compromise, but unfortunately this is anathema to many Congressional Republicans.
Democrats, who for two years had a super majority in Congress, and had the largest Democratic majority since 1978, instead of governing in a bi-partisan manner, embarked on liberal agenda which appeased only their base. Democrats blame Republicans on the lack of a budget, but Democrats and the administration have failed to pass a budget since 2009. The Presidents own budget was defeated 97-0 in the Democratic controlled Senate.
This country needs leadership, but unfortunately it is getting only partisan politics from the two dominate parties.
http://militarybriefingbook.com/topic.cfm?topic=U.S.%20Politics
With all the focus on the U.S. economy and the President's response to persistent high unemployment and stagnate economic growth, another crisis is brewing, one that will have dramatic effect of the image and standing of the United States; that is in foreign policy.
Within days of assuming the presidency, President Obama was selected as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and would be awarded this prestigious honor nine months later. This distinguished award was not given to the President for what the Nobel Prize Committee believed he would accomplish in the realm of peace, but more a repudiation of the polices of his predecessor; President Bush.
Unfortunately, the polices of President Obama have failed to live up to the lofty expectations many had for this perceived transformational president. This week the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will address the United Nations and issue a formal request to the UN Secretary General for full UN membership for a Palestinian state.
The United States has now been placed in a difficult situation by having to utilize its veto in the Security Council and would rather the situation be dealt with in negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. The President's own policies have contributed to this situation. Last September, the President unveiled his "Peace in a Year" initiative which failed to revive the peace process.
The "Arab Spring" revolution which swept the region, caught the administration totally by surprise, and it seems the President has always been one step behind world events. The difficulties the President is facing domestically are now manifesting themselves overseas.
The lofty aspirations many had for him after receiving the Nobel Prize were never rooted in reality!
http://militarybriefingbook.com/browse.cfm?category=Defense%20Policy%20and%20Budget&subcategory=U.S.%20Foreign%20Policy
For months the President has ridiculed Congressional Republicans for playing politics with the nation's economy, but the President has done exactly what he has criticized Republicans of doing. Today, the President has unveiled his debt reduction plan, but instead of a bold and comprehensive strategy to rein in the nation's massive national debt, the President offers only a partisan plan that appeals to the base of his party.
The main theme of the President's debt reduction is raising over $1.5 trillion in new taxes, mainly coming from new tax's on the wealthy. Unfortunately this approach has been tried before, in 2010 the Democratic controlled Congress rejected any tax increase, but now the the President is playing class warfare and partisan politics as he prepares for his re-election in 2012.
The plan offered by the President would do little to reduce the deficit, much like his jobs plan will do nothing to end persistent high unemployment in this country. If the President truly wants to reduce the massive U.S. federal debt, then get American's back to work!
The time has come for an overhaul of the nation's tax code by reducing corporate and individual tax rates, ending loopholes, but not applying selective capitalism on companies the President's base doesn't like. Reforming the tax code in a true bi-partisan manner, as was accomplished in 1986 by President Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neill, would go along way to increase revenue.
Uncertainty is strangling the economy as the business community is not sure what the tax rates will be, what new regulations will emanate from Washington, and what impact health care legislation will have on their business.
As the President continues injecting uncertainty into the economy the business community will respond by waiting for the outcome of the 2012 presidential election before they begin to hire again.
http://militarybriefingbook.com/topic.cfm?topic=U.S.%20Politics
