Intelligence report commissioned by White House says ISIS not contained

A new intelligence report commissioned by the White House says that the ISIS terror group will grow in numbers and territory unless it suffers significant losses in Iraq and Syria.
The findings sharply contradict previous statements by President Obama and other White House officials that ISIS has been "contained" by a program of U.S.-led airstrikes and the deployment of approximately 3,500 U.S. forces to train and otherwise aid moderate Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters.
On Sunday, a U.S. official told Fox News that ISIS has been able to effectively recruit and attract affiliates despite losses on the ground, and has now supplanted Al Qaeda as the primary global jihadist threat.The official said that going forward, the entirety of the ISIS threat must be addressed, and the group's main base of operations in Syria must be “degraded.”
The findings were first reported by The Daily Beast, which said the White House asked for the assessment prior to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, in which ISIS militants killed 130 people in a series of coordinated shootings and suicide bombings.
In response to the report, The Daily Beast said President Obama had directed Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford to come up with new strategies against ISIS.
One recommendation, announced by Carter Tuesday, is a special operations cell with the ability to capture senior ISIS leaders in the hope of finding out more about their networks.
However, the Daily Beast reported that Carter's announcement took military planners by surprise, since they had yet to finalize important details, including the rules of engagement under which such raids would be carried out.
The eight-page report was compiled by a team of analysts from the CIA, NSA, and other agencies, the website reported.
"This intel report didn't tell us anything we didn't already know," an official told The Daily Beast. "It was lots of great charts showing countries highlighted across the globe, with some groups having pledged allegiance to ISIS and others leaning towards it."
The report also described how the terrorist group with aspirations of founding an extremist Islamic caliphate already has a network of groups that have pledged allegiance or are vying for membership in a dozen countries.

K-1 Visa Cartoon

Before the Fact: FOX News Poll: Majorities say call it 'radical Islam,' oppose Syrian refugees

Most American voters believe Islamic terrorists will strike the U.S. soon.  A Fox News national poll released Sunday also finds Democrats and Republicans united against President Obama’s plan to accept Syrian refugees -- as most voters think at least one will be a terrorist who will launch a successful attack here. 
Here are five findings on the war against terrorism.  Voters feel:
-- The U.S. is at war with radical Islam, and Democrats who refuse to call the enemy by that name are doing the wrong thing.
-- Obama has not fought the war against ISIS aggressively enough, and that war is going badly.
-- Terrorism is now the top problem facing the country, and an attack is likely soon.
-- Bringing Syrian refugees into the U.S. is a bad idea, and a religious test would be shameful.
-- Closing Gitmo is wrong, and Obama should not side step Congress to do so.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE POLL RESULTS
Here are the details behind those findings:
Today 66 percent consider the country “at war” with radical Islam, up from 56 percent in January.
The poll asks about Democratic presidential candidates rejecting terms like radical Islam and Islamic terrorists to describe those who committed the Paris attacks. Fifty-six percent think they are doing the wrong thing by refusing to identify clearly the nature of the threat. Thirty-three percent feel Democrats are doing the right thing by being careful not to blame Muslim ideology.
More than 6 in 10 say the U.S. fight against ISIS is going badly (63 percent).  At the same time, voters continue to oppose sending a “significant” number of U.S. ground troops to fight the extremists (42 percent favor vs. 51 percent oppose).  However, opposition is decreasing; it was 37 percent in favor vs. 57 percent opposed in June.
While 26 percent think the actions of the Obama administration have been “about right” in trying to stop ISIS, most -- 65 percent -- say Obama hasn’t been aggressive enough. That includes 39 percent of Democrats, 61 percent of independents and 91 percent of Republicans.
The current situation has pushed the president’s job rating to a low point for the year. Forty percent of voters approve of the job Obama is doing, while 54 percent disapprove. It was 45-50 percent earlier this month. Some of the decline comes from Democrats: 78 percent approve now, down from 84 percent (Nov. 1-3, 2015).  Overall, Obama’s worst rating was 38 approve vs. 56 disapprove in September 2014.
In the wake of the Paris attacks, terrorism now tops the economy as the most important issue facing the country.  Twenty-four percent of voters say terrorism, up from 11 percent in August.  Currently 21 percent say the economy is the top issue, down from 30 percent this summer.  There’s a substantial gap before foreign policy (7 percent), health care (7 percent), immigration (7 percent) and the deficit (5 percent) are mentioned.  Only three percent say climate change is the priority.
Fifty-six percent think it is “very” likely Islamic terrorists will try to attack the United States soon, up from 50 percent who felt that way in January.
Two-thirds of voters -- and nearly half of Democrats -- oppose the administration’s plan for the U.S. to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next year, and 77 percent think it’s likely at least one of those coming in through this process will be a terrorist who will “succeed in carrying out an attack on U.S. soil.”
Obama says it’s shameful to have a religious test for bringing Syrian refugees into the country -- and 64 percent agree with him. Fewer than one in four says it makes sense to only allow Syrian refugees who are Christian to come to the U.S. (23 percent).

Views by Party
Forty-nine percent of Democrats join majorities of independents (67 percent) and Republicans (86 percent) in opposing Obama’s plan to bring Syrian refugees into the U.S.
By an overwhelming 91-8 percent margin, Republicans think it’s likely a terrorist will sneak in as a refugee and carry out an attack.  Democrats agree that’s a likely scenario -- just by a smaller 62-35 percent margin.
Republicans (37 percent) are nearly four times as likely as Democrats (10 percent) to think a religious test for Syrian refugees makes sense.  Even so, a plurality of Republicans (49 percent) agrees with the large majority of Democrats (81 percent) who feel it’s a shameful idea.

Guantanamo Bay
Two days after the Paris attacks, the White House announced the transfer of five Guantanamo Bay detainees to the government of the United Arab Emirates.  That’s part of the Obama administration’s ongoing plan to close the facility -- a plan that by a two-to-one margin voters think is the wrong course of action (59-31 percent).
Even more voters, 73 percent, oppose Obama bypassing Congress to close the detention center by executive action. That’s widely seen as the only way he could close Gitmo given lawmakers’ opposition.
While a plurality of Democrats thinks closing Gitmo is the right thing to do (48 percent), a slim majority opposes Obama going around Congress to do it (53 percent).
Most say they would not be willing to have Gitmo detainees moved to a prison in their state (68 percent), however, nearly 3 in 10 say they would be (28 percent).
The Fox News poll is based on live telephone interviews (landline and cellphone) with 1,016 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from Nov. 16-19, 2015. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.

Federal judge bans school's live Nativity show

U.S. District Court Judge Jon DeGuilio, OBAMA JUDGE.

 God less America?

A federal judge has banished the Baby Jesus and the Three Wise Men from an Indiana high school’s Christmas musical.
U.S. District Court Judge Jon DeGuilio, appointed to the bench by President Obama, issued an injunction against Concord Community Schools on Dec. 2.
Click here to join Todd’s American Dispatch –a must-read for conservatives!
The court order forbids students from presenting a live Nativity scene during the Concord High School’s Christmas Spectacular. The judge said that portion of the show is overtly religious in nature.

The kids in Elkhart have been staging a Christmas Spectacular since 1970. The show is modeled after the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.

“The living nativity scene impermissibly conveys an endorsement of religion and thus runs afoul of the Establishment Clause,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
There’s a reason the Living Nativity is “overtly religious,” your Honor. It’s because Christmas is about the birth of Jesus.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation and the ACLU of Indiana had filed a lawsuit on behalf of a family whose child is in the production.
The FFRF and the ACLU are anti-Christian bullies -- vicious rabble rousers -- on a crusade to eradicate Christianity from the public marketplace. They will stop at nothing to silence followers of Christ. 
“Holiday celebrations that proselytize students are inappropriate in public schools,” ACLU attorney Heather Weaver said in a prepared statement.
The unnamed father and his child were offended by the inclusion of the nativity as well as Bible readings.
Weaver said the ruling “makes clear and ensures that all students and families, regardless of faith or belief, will feel welcome at Concord High’s winter concert.”
The school had already tried to accommodate the disgruntled father and child by removing the Bible readings – but apparently that wasn’t good enough.
They alleged in court papers that the inclusion of the nativity sent a message “that Christians are favored by the school while non-Christians such as themselves are outsiders.”
Judge DeGuilio determined the live nativity “conveys solemnity and reverence, as if the audience is being asked to venerate the nativity, not simply acknowledge or appreciate its place in the winter holiday season.”
The kids in Elkhart have been staging a Christmas Spectacular since 1970. The show is modeled after the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.
And until last August – there were absolutely no problems.
Supt. John Trout issued a statement saying they are “disappointed” but will comply with the judge’s anti-Christian order.
Once again a public school system is under attack from an activist judge doing the bidding of a bunch of godless bullies.
The school district needs to stand up for religious liberty and disobey Judge DeGuilio's unconstitutional ruling.
I mean what is he going to do -- throw Mary and Joseph in jail?
Then again, anything is possible in today's fundamentally transformed God less America.

Univision seeks to dismiss $500M Trump lawsuit over Miss USA cancellation

NEW YORK –  Univision struck back Friday at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's $500 million lawsuit claiming that it unjustly broke a contract to broadcast beauty pageants, citing his "disgraceful allegations" about Mexican immigrants.
Univision lawyers filed papers in Manhattan federal court asking a judge to toss out the lawsuit Trump filed in July.
The lawyers said Trump destroyed the value of Univision's rights to broadcast the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants when he announced June 16 that he was running for president.
"Trump offended millions during that announcement when he made disgraceful allegations about Mexican immigrants, whom, he claims, 'Mexico sends' across the border to America," the lawyers wrote.
They said his remarks "outraged Mexican Americans, Mexican immigrants, Hispanics, and other Americans of all backgrounds," prompting at least 20 companies and the city of New York to terminate business relationships with Trump and his brand in the weeks after the announcement.
Trump's lawsuit claimed breach of contract, defamation and First Amendment violations.
Matthew Maron, an attorney for Trump, said Univision's attempt to dismiss the suit is "laughable."
"Univision can try to distract the court and the public from the real issues in dispute all it wants. The fact remains that Univision willfully breached their contract, acted in bad faith and caused my clients to suffer significant damages," Maron said. "For this, Univision will pay in the end."
Univision lawyers noted that the network was the leading media company serving Hispanic America when Trump delivered "extreme and controversial opinions on race and national origin."
"Through his diatribe, Trump destroyed the value of those broadcast rights, and neither Trump nor Miss Universe did anything to repair the damage in the aftermath of his speech," Univision's lawyers said in a document signed by attorney Randy M. Mastro.
In January, Univision signed a five-year license agreement for the exclusive right to air the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants in Spanish in the United States.
Univision's lawyers said Trump worsened the damage caused by his initial remarks about Hispanics by saying in the days afterward that his statements were "totally accurate."
Univision announced on June 25 that it was ending its business relationship with the pageants.
"By the end of June, it was clear that Trump's anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant views would be a focal point of his campaign and that the damage done to Univision's programming deal was irrevocable," the lawyers wrote. "Trump shocked the nation's conscience by accusing almost every Mexican immigrant (and many Univision viewers) of being criminals and rapists — then promising to become president of the United States on the strength of that indictment."

Terrorist Tashfeen Malik and a K-1 Visa.

Malik entered the United States last year, traveling with a Pakistani passport and a K-1 visa -- a special visa for the betrothed that permits people to enter the country to marry an American citizen

Defense Secretary Ash Carter Cartoon

Senate OKs Republican bill unraveling health care law

WASHINGTON –  With Republicans openly welcoming a preordained veto, the Senate on Thursday approved legislation aimed at crippling two of their favorite targets: President Barack Obama's health care law and Planned Parenthood.

With a House rubber stamp expected in days, the bill would be the first to reach Obama's desk demolishing his 2010 health care overhaul, one of his proudest domestic achievements, and halting federal payments to Planned Parenthood. Congress has voted dozens of times to repeal or weaken the health law and repeatedly against Planned Parenthood's funding, but until now Democrats thwarted Republicans from shipping the legislation to the White House.

Thursday's vote was a near party-line 52-47.

Republicans said an Obama veto — which the White House has promised — will underscore that a GOP triumph in next year's presidential and congressional elections would mean repeal of a statute they blame for surging medical costs and insurers abandoning some markets. They lack the two-thirds House and Senate majorities needed to override vetoes, assuring that the bill's chief purpose will be for campaign talking points.

"President Obama will have a choice," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "He can defend a status quo that's failed the middle class by vetoing the bill, or he can work toward a new beginning and better care by signing it."

Republicans blame the bill for surging health care costs and insurers abandoning some markets. Government officials said this week that health care spending grew at 5.3 percent in 2014, the steepest climb since Obama took office.

Democrats noted that under the law, millions of people have become insured and said their coverage has improved, with policies now required to insure a wide range of medical services.

"Do they talk to their constituents? Do they meet with them?" Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said of Republicans.

With just a 54-46 edge, Republicans had previously failed push such legislation through the Senate. This time, they used a special budget procedure that prevents filibusters — delays that take 60 votes to halt — and let them prevail with a simple majority.

Party leaders initially encountered objections from some more moderate Republicans leery of cutting Planned Parenthood's funds and from presidential contenders, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, who threatened to oppose the measure if it wasn't strong enough.

In the end, Cruz and Rubio voted "yes." Moderate GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois voted no, the only lawmakers to cross party lines, while Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., did not vote.

The Senate bill would all but erase the health care overhaul by dismantling some of its key pillars, including requirements that most people obtain coverage and larger employers offer it to workers.

Also eliminated would be its expansion of Medicaid coverage to additional lower-income people and the government's subsidies for many who buy policies on newly created insurance marketplaces. And it would end taxes the law imposed to cover its costs, including levies on higher-income people, expensive insurance policies, medical devices and indoor tanning salons.

The bill would also terminate the roughly $450 million yearly in federal dollars that go to Planned Parenthood, about a third of its budget. Federal funds can be used for abortions only in rare cases.

A perennial target of conservatives, the group has been under intensified GOP pressure this year for its role in providing fetal tissue to scientists. Citing secretly recorded videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing such sales, some abortion foes have accused the organization of illegally providing the tissue for profit. The group says the videos were deceptively doctored and say it's done nothing illegal.

Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Dawn Laguens said the Senate had given the group's millions of clients "the cold shoulder of indifference."

Senators voted on over a dozen amendments — all symbolic, since the measure was destined to never become law.

They rejected two amendments that would have restored Planned Parenthood's money. They blocked proposals for tightening gun curbs, a response to Wednesday's mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, last week's fatal attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado and last month's terrorist massacre in Paris.

They also voted 90-10 to permanently repeal taxes on high-priced "Cadillac" insurance policies, a strong signal of growing congressional momentum for erasing that levy.

GOP lawmakers said the overall bill could serve as a bridge to a future Republican health care law. Though Obama's overhaul was enacted five years ago, Republicans have yet to produce a detailed proposal to replace it.

"It's either repeal or nothing," Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who heads the Senate Democratic campaign committee, said of the GOP's failure to propose an alternative. "I'll take that to the polls and we'll talk about it until the cows come home."

Republicans argued voters were on their side.

"We've reached a pretty scary time in our nation's history where we have Americans writing and calling their elected representatives saying they need relief from their own government," said No. 2 Senate Leader John Cornyn of Texas. "We have a mandate, I believe, to repeal this terrible law."

Carter telling military to open all combat jobs to women

Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday ordered the military to open all combat jobs to women, rebuffing requests by the Marine Corps to exclude women from certain front-line combat jobs.
Declaring that "we are a joint force," Carter said that while moving women into these jobs will present challenges, the military can no longer afford to exclude half of the population from grueling military jobs.
He said that any man or woman who meets the standards should be able to serve, and he gave the armed services 30 days to submit plans to make the historic change.
Carter's order opens the final 10 percent of military positions to women, and allows them to serve in the military's most demanding and difficult jobs, including as special operations forces, such as the Army Delta units and Navy SEALs.The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Joseph Dunford, former Marine Corps commandant, had argued that the Marines should be allowed to keep women out of certain front-line combat jobs, citing studies showing that mixed-gender units aren't as capable as all-male units.
Carter said he came to a different conclusion, but he said the integration of women into the combat jobs will be deliberate and methodical and will address the Marine Corps concerns.Dunford did not attend the news conference to announce the change, and when asked about that absence, Carter said he has discussed his decision multiple times with the chairman. In a prepared statement, Dunford said he provided his best military advice on the issue, and now his focus is "to lead the full integration of women in a manner that maintains our joint warfighting capability, ensures the health and welfare of our people, and optimizes how we leverage talent across the joint force.
"While noting that, on average, men and women have different physical abilities, Carter said the services must assign tasks and jobs based on ability, rather than on gender. He said that would likely result in smaller numbers of women in some jobs. Equal opportunity, he said, will not mean equal participation in some specialty jobs. But he added that combat effectiveness is still the main goal, and there will be no quotas for women in any posts.
The decision comes after several years of study, and will wipe away generations of limits on how and where women can fight for their country.Only the Marine Corps sought any exceptions in removing the long-held ban on allowing women to serve in dangerous combat jobs. The Army, Navy and Air Force have moved steadily toward allowing women to serve in all posts, and only the most risky jobs remain closed.
A senior defense official said the services will have to begin putting plans in place by April 1. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Carter has hinted at this decision for months, telling U.S. troops in Sicily in October that limiting his search for qualified military candidates to just half the population would be "crazy.
"He had given Dunford until the end of October to forward his review of the services' recommendations on which jobs, if any, should remain closed to women. As Marine commandant, Dunford was the only service chief to recommend that some front-line combat jobs stay male-only, according to several U.S. officials.
Carter had pledged to thoroughly review the recommendations, particularly those of the Marine Corps, but said he generally believes that any qualified candidate should be allowed to compete for jobs.
But the senior defense official said that while Carter recognizes there may be difficulties in opening the jobs to women, he has made his decision and all the services will follow it.
Answering a question from a Marine in Sicily, Carter said, "You have to recruit from the American population. Half the American population is female. So I'd be crazy not to be, so to speak, fishing in that pond for qualified service members."For that reason, the defense secretary said the military should recruit women into as many specialties as possible.

GOP memo suggests Trump reality check for establishment

'If you can’t beat him, join him’ appears to be the new directive coming from the Republican establishment, as Donald Trump maintains his lead for the 2016 the GOP nomination, months after political prognosticators had predicted his flame-out and demise.
A recently leaked memo by the National Republican Senatorial Committee calls Trump a “misguided missile,” but argues, ultimately, that he is worthy of emulation rather than condemnation.
The success of Republicans running for senate next year could count on it.
“Conventional wisdom has counted Trump out on several occasions.
But, Trump continues to rise and the criticisms seem to make him stronger, writes NRSC Executive Director Ward Bake in the seven-page missive, which was not supposed to be made public but was leaked to The Washington Post.
Several news organizations have reported on it since. Fox News has verified its authenticity.
“Trump has been gaining Democrat adherents and he’s solidifying
GOP cohorts who feel they’ve been totally ignored by the Washington Ruling Class. If the environment aligns properly, Trump could win,” Ward writes. “It’s not a bet most would place now, but it could happen. That’s why it’s important for our candidates to run their own races, limit the Trump criticisms (other than obvious free kicks), and grab onto the best elements of the anti-Washington populist agenda.”
The memo also offers several “lessons” on how candidates can deal with the “Trump phenomenon” without getting tarred when Trump indulges in more explosive policy positions, off-color jokes, or seemingly radioactive political rhetoric.
“Trump is subject to farcical fits,” writes Ward. While trying to keep out of the fray, continue to take “Trump to task on outrageous statements where the media won’t let you off the hook. Choose opportunities to take the moral high ground while exerting your independence.”
This would include what appeared to be his mocking of a disabled reporter and a host of comments about women’s looks, like openly asking if Hillary Clinton is wearing a wig.
“Donald Trump has said some wacky things about women. Candidates shouldn’t go near this ground other than to say that your wife or daughter is offended by what Trump said,” writes Ward. “We do not want to reengage the “war on women” fight so isolate Trump on this issue by offering a quick condemnation of it.”
That said, he memo not only suggests the establishment has accepted that Trump may be the presidential nominee in 2016, but is also willing to walk the fine line between keeping a check on the self-funding billionaire candidate, while taking advantage of the things that make him popular with Republican voters today.
“Trump has risen because voters see him as authentic, independent, direct, firm --- and believe he can’t be bought. These are the same character traits our candidates should be advancing in 2016. That’s Trump lesson #1."
"Trump is saying that the Emperor has no clothes and he challenges our politically correct times. Our candidates shouldn’t miss this point,” continues Ward. “Don’t insult key voter cohorts by ignoring that America has significant problems and that Trump is offering some basic solutions. Understand the populist points Trump makes and ride that wave.”
Contacted by Foxnews.com on Thursday, the NRSC said it was merely engaging in pragmatic political planning. “It would be malpractice for the Senatorial committee not to prepare our candidates for every possible Republican and Democrat nominee and election scenario,” NRSC spokeswoman Andrea Bozek said.
Aside from telling candidates to “run your own race,” and “show
your independence,” the memo suggests tapping into Trump’s ability to resonate with working people who have long decided Washington could not be trusted. It makes suggestions on using constituents to tell the story and “to bring the campaign back to real people and their daily struggle,” and not be afraid to take on China and immigration through the same Trump lens.
“You don’t have to go along with his more extreme positioning,” the memo reads. “Instead you should stake out turf in the same issue zone and offer your own ideas.” Just don’t spend “full time attacking our own nominee,” reads the memo, which Ward said was “written with the assumption that Donald Trump wins the nomination.”
“That will only serve to topple GOP candidates at every level.”