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Krauthammer: France terror attacks 'the third stage of the jihadist war against us'

Charles Krauthammer told viewers Friday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that this week’s terror attacks in France are “the third stage of the jihadist war against us.”
Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor, said the first stage “of course is 9/11. All of the attackers were from the Middle East. And then for the last year or two, we have seen the lone wolf attacks, usually home grown but fairly unstable.”
Now, he said, “it’s as if there’s a critical mass of these dissident jihadists in the West who are now in a position rather than act like the single guy in Australia or the single guys acting separately in Canada, as a group, as a cell, and as an organized wave. And that could be what we’re facing right now.”

'The Man Who Would Not Be Washington': Historian Jonathan Horn on Gen. Robert E. Lee

Editor's note: Fox News anchor and former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino recently sat down with Jonathan Horn, author of the new biography on Robert E. Lee, "The Man Who Would Not Be Washington: Robert E. Lee's Civil War and His Decision That Changed American History" (Scribner, January 6, 2015) to talk about the book and its larger lessons.

 Jonathan Horn

Dana Perino: How did you come to be so interested in Robert E. Lee's life, and why did you think it was important for people to know more about him?
Jonathan Horn: What first drew me to Robert E. Lee’s story was geography. I grew up near the Potomac, the same river Lee called home. He spent his childhood in the town of Alexandria, which now is part of Virginia but then was part of the District of Columbia. He married his wife at Arlington House, the columned mansion across the Potomac from where the Lincoln Memorial now stands. And at the start of the Civil War, leaders on both sides of the river recruited Lee for high command.  
The more I studied the choice Lee faced in 1861, the more I wanted to tell his story. He faced an agonizing decision between his devotion to the Union and the duty he felt to follow his native state of Virginia into rebellion. We often focus so much on historical movements and trends that we lose sight of how history can pivot on the decision of one individual. Here was such a moment. The decision Lee made forever changed the course of American history.  
Perino: Explain the title: "The Man Who Would Not Be Washington."
We remember George Washington as the man who would not be king. The title of my book plays off that phrase and speaks to a tragic tension in Lee’s life: that one decision could turn an army officer so closely bound to George Washington’s family against the Union that represented Washington’s greatest legacy. 
For generations, Washingtons and Lees had lived along the Potomac. Lee’s father was Washington’s most famous eulogist, author of the famous words “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Meanwhile, Lee’s father-in-law was George Washington’s adopted son.
These connections were so powerful at the start of the Civil War that an emissary for the Lincoln administration actually tried to persuade Lee to accept command of the main Union army by arguing that the country looked to Lee as “the representative of the Washington family.” Lee’s place in history today would be very different had he accepted that offer instead of casting his fate with Virginia.
Perino: Is there anything in your new book that we may not have known before?
Researching this book revealed just how fraught the Washington-Lee relationship was. For example, what most entangled Lee in slavery—the institution that caused the Civil War—was his marriage to the daughter of George Washington’s adopted son. Lee spent a few years before the war actively managing an estate that included slaves descended from George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation.
The decision Lee made to fight against the Union tore his ties to its founder in shockingly personal ways that I think will astonish readers, even history buffs who already know something of how federal authorities captured and converted the Arlington estate, where Lee married, into the cemetery we know today.
Perino: During your extensive research, you seem to come to know Lee personally, noting that he had a sense of humor. What was it like to delve so deep into the libraries and archives to piece together the characteristics of someone from another place and time?
Poring over 19th century correspondence makes you feel grateful to the family members and archivists who preserved these documents. It also makes you feel privileged because Lee’s personal letters, like our emails today, express feelings and thoughts that he never intended to share with the public. 
You quickly realize that historical figures defy the simple ways we often characterize them. 
It is true that Lee had a sense of humor, but he also suffered from fatalistic gloom. A general widely remembered for his ability to seize the initiative on the battlefield privately believed himself a captive of circumstance.
Perino: Given all that you learned about Lee and the excruciating decision he made, "the inner turmoil," did it give you a bigger appreciation for how difficult it is for a soldier to take up arms against his own country? While not relevant to America today, there are many countries in the world that are being torn apart by civil war.
It was an especially excruciating decision for Lee because while he believed his duty lay with his native state of Virginia, he personally opposed secession. When Lee turned down command of the main Union army, his mentor in the military told him, “You have made the greatest mistake of your life.” Lee’s wife described the act of resigning from the U.S. Army as “the severest struggle of his life.”
Perino: In present day, there are still major debates about what the Founders intended, which is something Lee wrestled with as well. What do you think Lee would think about how far we've come as a nation?  And is there anything that was learned during that time that is applicable to today's policy debates?
The debates we have today over what the Founding Fathers would do show how our understanding of the past can influence our future. 
We can take solace in knowing that our debates today are nowhere near as divisive as they were at the start of the Civil War. Back then, Unionists and secessionists both cited George Washington’s actions as precedents for their own. Lee himself took the view that the Founding Fathers would have condemned secession, though his opinion on that question changed later in life.
Perino: In the book's acknowledgements, you note that your wife, Caroline, told you to "just go write." I'm wondering, for a project like this, where do you even begin?
I once read an interview where the great American historian David McCullough said, “I try to write the kind of book that I would like to read.” That’s the goal I had in mind when I started this book. There is nothing more fun to do.

Romney says he’s weighing 2016 White House bid

Mitt Romney told a group of supporters in New York on Friday that he is considering a third run for the White House, after denying interest for months in a 2016 bid, Fox News has confirmed.
The former Massachusetts Republican governor, who ran against President Obama in 2012 and lost, made the remarks during a meeting with 30 former large donors in Manhattan.
According to a Romney senior adviser who was in the meeting, he said, "Everybody in here can go tell your friends that I'm considering a run."
The development comes after repeated denials in the press.
Romney told “Fox News Sunday” in September, “I’m not running, and I’m not planning on running.”
Romney’s wife Ann told The Los Angeles Times in October: "Mitt and I are done. Completely. … Not only Mitt and I are done, but the kids are done. Done. Done. Done.”
But in recent days, big-name potential candidates have started moving closer to a Republican presidential bid.
In the last week, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush quit all his major corporate and nonprofit board memberships, and launched a new leadership political action committee (PAC). He announced he was exploring a run last month. Bush reportedly was in Romney’s old stomping ground in Boston on Friday for a fundraising luncheon.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee also announced last weekend he is leaving Fox News as the host of “Huckabee” as he weighs a presidential run. He ran and lost in the 2008 Republican primary – as did Romney.
Though he has long denied rumors of another White House run, Romney still polls well. He topped an early Iowa caucus-goers poll in October with 17 percent. In a December Fox News poll, Romney dominated the GOP field. He came in with 19 percent among self-identified Republicans, followed by Bush at 10 percent. No other candidates garnered double-digit backing.
Romney, a man of considerable family wealth, would nonetheless have to raise millions to jump-start a renewed campaign on the road to the Republican primaries.
He raised over $446 million for the 2012 race, with his top five contributors hailing from Wall Street – close to his donor meeting on Friday.

Report: FBI and Justice Department prosecutors recommend felony charges against Petraeus

FBI and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against former CIA director David Petraeus, the New York Times reported Friday night.
The paper, citing “officials,” said the charges related to Petraeus allegedly providing classified information to his former mistress.
If true, Attorney General Eric Holder would then have to decide whether to seek an indictment against Petraeus. Holder originally had been expected to decide about charges by the end of 2014.
The Times said the Justice Department investigation stemmed from an affair Petraeus had with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and whether he gave her access to his CIA email account and other classified information. Petraeus, a retired four-star general, has said he never provided her with classified information.
The Associated Press quoted a U.S. official as saying the Justice Department was "weighing" whether to bring criminal charges.
It also said a lawyer for Petraeus declined comment.

Authorities hunt most wanted woman in France; fears of new terror attack

French police forces continued Saturday the intense manhunt for the wife of one of the terrorists who was killed after taking hostages the day before at a kosher grocery store in Paris.
Hayat Boumeddiene, who is suspected of being involved in the killing of a policewoman in a Paris suburb on Thursday is also believed to have been an accomplice for her boyfriend, Amedy Coulibaly, who was killed in the police raid at the store Hyper Cacher. Four hostages were killed before authorities gained entry.
Early reports indicated that Boumeddiene was inside the store at the time of the hostage taking, but there is no evidence to support that information.
Boumeddiene married Coulibaly in an Islamic religious ceremony in July 2009 -- a union not recognized by French law. A circular distributed Friday by French police said Boumeddiene should be considered dangerous and potentially armed. The couple reportedly travelled several times to the French countryside to fire crossbows. 
It is unclear what, if any, links Boumeddiene has to the store attack, but prosecutors said she has ties to Cherif Kouachi, one of the brothers whose attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine Wednesday left a dozen dead. Cherif and his brother Said, who both died Friday in a separate raid at a printing facility about 25 miles outside Paris, were radicalized and are believed to have ties to Al Qaeda in Yemen.
The Paris prosecutor's office told The New York Times that Boumeddiene had been in "constant and sustained" contact with Cherif’s girlfriend. The report said Cherif and Couibaly were followers of a French-Algerian jihad supporter named Djamel Beghal. He served time in prison for involvement in a plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Paris and was released.
VIDEO: British security chief makes sobering admission on terror
Le Parisien newspaper reported that she lost her job as a cashier because she insisted on wearing a niqab.
French authorities planned to meet Sunday with various security officials to discuss the ongoing terror threat and warned of the possibility of more violence.
"We can't lower our guard," Prime Minister Manuel Valls said.
Sky News reported that Boumeddiene may offer authorities valuable information on a larger extremist cell. Indeed, it appears that the attack's planning may reach far into terror networks.
An Al Qaeda member on Friday provided a statement in English to The Associated Press saying "the leadership of AQAP directed the operations and they have chosen their target carefully."
There was no independent confirmation of the report, and U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials say it is too early to conclude who is responsible for the massacre on Wednesday that left 12 dead.
However, Cherif told a French TV station before Friday's raid at an industrial park that he was sent by Al Qaeda in Yemen and had been financed by the cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Yemen in 2011.
If confirmed, the attack would be the first time Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen has successfully carried out an operation in the West after at least two earlier attempts.
Days of unrest in Paris culminated Friday after two tense, hours-long standoffs, one at a printing plant north of the city and the other at a kosher supermarket on Paris' east side, where four hostages were killed, as many as 15 were freed. 
A hostage held north of the city by the brothers was reportedly freed. The fast-moving developments, signaled by explosions and gunfire at a printing plant in Dammartin-en-Goele, followed by similar sounds at a Jewish supermarket in eastern Paris. The police raids left both brothers and Coulibaly dead.