Beltway Insider: France Dominates; Graphic Image; WH Strategy; Quad of Terror; Refugee; Election 2016

President Obama has extended an invitation to French President François Hollande to meet in the Oval office, this week, to discuss the French strategy and United States involvement in dismantling ISIS in the wake of the horrific terror attacks.

According to Gallup, President Obama's job approval, over the past week, decreased five percentage points to 45% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President increased seven percentage points to 52%.

France Dominates Media

French President Francois Hollande moved quickly initiating a two-fold strike against the Islamic Fighters who launched an unprecedented terror strike against the nation's capital on November 13, 2015.

Within days the trail led to neighboring Belgium where officials have remained vigilant believing one of the terror suspects that managed to escape would return to his former city of residence. The ongoing investigation resulted in the president of Belgium issuing the highest terror warning on the capital city of Brussels, closing subways and transportation systems, cancelling sporting events and large scale gatherings as word a terror strike was imminent.  

Scores of military, police and special teams units descended on a house in Saint-Denis, outside the city limits, where over a seven hours firefight, five suspects were arrested and two others, one female detonated explosives as police were entering the building. Five French police were wounded and a member of the canine unit, Diesel, was killed.

The Russian Interior Ministry in show of support and solidarity in the fight against the Islamic State fighters have offered to replace the beloved and decorated canine police veteran.

Cell phone videos have begun to appear on YouTube and other sites allowing he world to witness the horror and terror of those moments and in the case of the Le Bataclan hours. The band Eagles of Death Metal finally broke their silence.

Survivors of lost loved ones are speaking of love lost, heartache, grief and a refusal to give the terrorist what they so desperately wanted, fear, an altered lifestyle and mental state. Hatred which consumes and fear which incapacities don't seem to be part of the French vernacular.

All members of the world's media have descended upon Paris and are following with intensity the quickly unfolding situation.

President Obama will host President Francois Hollande of France for a meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday, November 24, in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris of November 13.  

This visit will underscore the friendship and solidarity between the United States and France, our oldest ally. President Obama and President Hollande will consult and coordinate our efforts to assist France's investigation into these attacks, discuss further cooperation as part of the 65-member counter-ISIL coalition, and reiterate our shared determination to confront the scourge of terrorism.

President Obama Addresses Coalition Successes

 

Which brings me to the point I want to emphasize today.  For more than a year, the United States has built and led a broad coalition against ISIL of some 65 nations.  I want to take a moment to recognize how our allies and partners help advance every element of our strategy.  

Nearly two dozen nations, among them Turkey and our Arab partners, contribute in some way to the military campaign, which has taken more than 8,000 strikes against ISIL so far.  

 

Fifteen countries have deployed personnel to train and support local forces in Iraq.  The United Arab Emirates and Germany are organizing 25 coalition partners in helping to stabilize areas in Iraq liberated from ISIL.  Italy is coordinating the multinational effort to train Iraqi police.  

 

More than 40 countries have now passed or strengthened laws to prevent the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, and 34 nations, including the United States, have arrested foreign terrorist fighters.  Saudi Arabia is helping to coordinate the crackdown on ISIL financing.  

 

The United Arab Emirates' new messaging center is working to discredit ISIL's propaganda, and Malaysia just announced the creation of its own center to do the same.  And by joining our summit at the United Nations that we organized this fall, more than 100 nations, more than 20 multilateral institutions and some 120 civil society groups -- including many leaders from Muslim communities around the world -- have become part of a global movement against ISIL and its twisted ideology.

 

All of which is to say that our coalition will not relent.  We will not accept the idea that terrorist assaults on restaurants and theaters and hotels are the new normal -- or that we are powerless to stop them.  After all, that's precisely what terrorists like ISIL want, because, ultimately, that's the only way that they can win.  

 

That's the very nature of terrorism --they can't beat us on the battlefield, so they try to terrorize us into being afraid, into changing our patterns of behavior, into panicking, into abandoning our allies and partners, into retreating from the world.  And as President, I will not let that happen.  President Barack Obama at Press Conference Kuala Lumpur    

WH Containment, Dismantling Strategy

President Obama has come under fire recently for his position on the growing Islam-phobic hysteria which is griping many nations including the United States. Survivors of September 11, 2001, those whom have a reference for 9/11, an actual reference, leaders, citizens, first responders who were on site or saw, who experienced the loss, the horror, have no issue understanding the need for stronger immigration entry requirements.

Also - Beltway Insider: Obama Loyal To France; Hollande Declares War; Airstrikes Begin; G20; Charlie Sheen

Compassionate understanding of this horrific situation is the call of the day; and as the families of those massacred in France retrieve their loved ones wise rule is also the call of the day. It is also important to understand a three or five year old does not need to be vetted, his parents however do.

In every war or conflict the United States has entered children were the pawns used to detract the solider, to cause the alertness to drop.

With Islamic State fighters we see female suicide bombers so it is not a stretch of the imagination to the day when the world stands in shock and horror over the latest tool used by the terror networks in their ideological fight. Handing a baby to a solider or leaving a suicide bomb or vest strapped to a baby in a stroller is not below our enemy nor to distant in the future.

More than that the ideology, of which is an unwavering belief, that suffering, death and murder brings reward. The mind-controlling belief that a reward awaits upon death is a driving force in the strength of the terrorist.

In WWII, Vietnam, Afghanistan, children are always used. Why? Because every enemy everywhere understands that deep in the heart of humanity is compassion and the heart of even the hardest can melt by the innocent smile of a baby.

Killing 100 or 1M or one's own child is a sacrifice in this ideology and one they believe is rewarded. Do we need to vet a five year old; no, we need to vet the parents.

Do we need a modern Ellis Island clearing station? Yes. A refugee station where all asylum seekers will pass through. It needs to be a multi-nation supported and operated facility. And held to the standards outlined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The United States is not enacting new and discriminatory immigration policy. The U.S. has never randomly allowed refugees from that area of the world into the country. The European open door policy does not extend to Saudi Arabia, the Arabian Peninsula or that general area. The issue becomes after successful  migration to Europe how long before immigrants freely enter the United States through the Open Door immigration policy the United States does have with Europe.

Quad of Terror

Over the past month international terrorist attacks has risen experientially. Three weeks three major attacks effecting three different countries. The assaults on Paris, Mali, Sinai each brought a unique and definitive response from the effected nation's leader.

Hollande, as the world is aware, promised swift, permanent and effective retaliation. He carried through on his promise. Before all the victims' identities had been fully realized the French President moved against the Islamic fighters.

President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, who also promised the same determined response has not put any plan in place or pursued a definitive retaliation.

While President Obama has spoken, in the strongest language possible, of containment and the same determined plan that calls for a dismantling of the Islamic State fighter organization the fact of the terror network is becoming more obvious.

ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, make up three-quarters of the world terrorist organizations. The last quarter is the fringe, those dedicated, like Wilayat Sinai to the cause of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

With sixteen separate intelligence agencies at the Pentagon it is surprising that the chatter from central Europe of the growth of these terror networks had not been picked up. What function do any of these agencies have if, having sixteen, not one was able to send intelligence warning of a preeminent threat that would not be downgraded to manageable intelligence.

Containment and dismantling one group doesn't end the threat. These four groups are the force behind the ever growing insurgency in every area of the world. Annihilation of the terror quad is the only avenue to completely deconstruction of the terror network.

Words won't work. Hollande has taken a forward position, and his determination in retaliation has endeared him worldwide. The strength in which he initiated the assault upon the Islamic state networks was only matched by his relentless, unyielding and continued response as it was released that an aircraft carrier and the Charles De Gaulle battle ship have moved into waters to prepare for land assault if necessary.

Hollande has made his retaliation as personal as the attacks. No nation will have to assist the French as they pummel the Islamic state. To Hollande, every life touched by the violence mattered. The psyche of the French matter. The protection of the homeland mattered.

The time for peaceful solutions, transitions of power, ulterior motivations, has ended. Thankfully.

Election 2016 - May The Better Candidate Win?

The Know Your Candidate 2015 push is coming to a close with clear front runners and challengers on both side.

No one can deny former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has retained a commanding lead over any Democratic challenger and while it may be neck and neck in the state of Vermont, one state does not ensure victory.

The Republicans are still standing on shifting sand. Billionaire real estate developer Donald J. Trump still retains a commanding lead over any of her more seasoned and clearly groomed politicians.

Some independent pop up surveys which provide a cross section of both parties have placed Trump's popularity at 82%. The more established and groomed media outlets offer him the first pole position and even have his nearest rival Dr. Ben Carson dropping in the percentages.

With that high a number it is important to reflect on another political race where the popular candidates did not in fact win the White House.

George W. Bush verses former Vice-President Al Gore resulted in an unimaginable dilemma. The former Vice-President won the popular vote in the 2000 election over George W. Bush, who won the Electoral College delegates.

After a bitter battle that went to the Supreme Court, it was decided the Electoral College, a system of electors per state that are cast for one of the candidates when the state's final totals are tallied and it is determined which candidate received the most votes, receives the Electoral College votes for that state.

Bigger states, bigger electors. California for example carries 55 Delegates; Texas, 38; New Hampshire 4; Alaska 3 and Hawaii 4. Most states have a winners take all except for two states where a designated percentage is awarded.  

Now back to our current and possible pair up. If the scenario becomes Donald Trump, the Republican choice for the Presidential ticket, his first and most important choice which will become a lightning rod of criticism or expectation for all his decisions will be the person he chooses for Vice-President.

In all probability the match up will be Hillary Clinton as the Democratic choice, her decision for vice-president will also bring the same amount of scrutiny on her camp. The accusation will be redundancy, the same bloated redundancy of yesteryear. The criticism of old boy's club network and a White House built on favoritism.

Both parties understand the popular doesn't win the election. The rules are not changed mid-way to accommodate the possibility if the popular vote falling one way of the other. The Electoral College determines who will occupy the White House.

For more information on President Barack Obama: www.whitehouse.gov

Sources: Whitehouse.gov, Wikipedia.com

La Bataclan image found online.

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