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Ex-homeland security chief says he felt pressured

nonothing

Well-known member
Ex-homeland security chief says he felt pressured to raise terror alert before 2004 election





By Deb Riechmann,Eileen Sullivan, The Associated Press



WASHINGTON - Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge claims in a new book that he was pressured by other members of President George W. Bush's Cabinet to raise the country's terror alert level just before the 2004 presidential election.


Ridge says he objected to raising the security level despite the urgings of former Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, according to a publicity release from Ridge's publisher. In the end the alert level was not changed, but Ridge said the episode convinced him to follow through with his plans to leave the administration; he resigned on Nov. 30, 2004.


The Homeland Security Department, which Ridge was the first Bush Cabinet secretary to lead, faced criticism in 2004 from Democrats who alleged that raising the alert level was designed to boost support for the Bush administration during an election year.


Bush's former homeland security adviser, Frances Townsend, said Thursday that politics never played a role in determining alert levels.


Two tapes were released by al-Qaida in the weeks leading up to the election - one by terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and the other by a man calling himself "Azzam the American." Terrorism experts suspected that "Azzam the American" was Adam Gadahn, a 26-year-old Californian whom the FBI had been urgently seeking.


Townsend said the videotapes contained "very graphic" and "threatening" messages.


Townsend said that anytime there was a discussion of changing the alert level, she first spoke with Ridge and then, if necessary, called a meeting of the homeland security council comprising the secretaries of defence and homeland security, the attorney general and CIA and FBI directors. The group then made a recommendation to the president about whether the colour-coded threat level should be raised.


"Never were politics ever discussed in this context in my presence," she said.


Asked if there was any reason for Ridge to have felt pressured, Townsend said: "He was certainly not pressured. And, by the way, he didn't object when it was raised and he certainly didn't object when it wasn't raised."


Ridge's publicist, Joe Rinaldi, said Ridge was out of town and was not doing interviews until his book, "The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege ... and How We Can Be Safe Again," is released on Sept. 1.


In 2004, Ridge explained why he didn't feel the alert should be raised. "We don't have to go to (code level) orange to take action in response either to these tapes or just general action to improve security around the country," he said then.


In 2005, months after he resigned, Ridge said his agency has been the most reluctant to raise the alert level. "There were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said, 'For that?"' he said during a panel discussion in May 2005. But his book appears to be the first time he publicly attributes some of the pressure to politics.


Ridge, a former Republican congressman and governor of Pennsylvania, was widely named as a potential running mate to John McCain in 2008 before the Republican candidate chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
I wouldn't think a President could put so much pressure on someone or an Official, until I read this...

Hawaiian Officials Under Duress?


Posted on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 11:42:06 PM

This is in follow-up to my post on Tuesday: "The Day I asked a question and got the MOTHER of all answers"

The implications of the following account is that the President's REAL NAME did not appear on any ballot, in any state.

That's just one of MANY implications. Let me preface by saying an AMENDED birth record could indicate that the President was adopted by either Lolo Soetoro and/or His grandparents, the Dunhams.

My story:

I have serious reasons to believe that Janice Okubo and/or Director Fukino, Department of Health in Hawaii are under duress. Something is preventing Director Fukino from making statements that she has the statutory authority to make.

And my story coincides with the recent revelation that the President is a Natural Born Citizen and born in Hawaii, all along.

On Monday, on a whim I decided to try my hand at a question for Ms. Okubo, Communications Director for the Department that holds the President’s vital records.

In a nutshell, this is what I asked her:

–Ms. Okubo–

If the Director made this statement:

““Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai‘i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai‘i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures… ”

…she has the statutory authority to answer this question:

“Is the Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, able to state they have verified that the Hawai’i State Department of Health has President Barack Obama’s AMENDED original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures?”

Please reply with her answer.



You see, they have the same statutory authority over an Amended Original Birth Certificate that they have over an (unamended) Original Birth Certificate.

No one has to attest to an Amended Original Birth Certificate’s existence. By virtue of STATUTORY AUTHORITY she can make this statement, AND she clearly says so.

But, to my surprise, at 11:47 p.m. on Monday, July 27, 2009 I got the press release in answer to my question with the recent revelations and now the words ‘VITAL RECORDS’ are referenced.

Now, taken at face value, the press release seems to affirm the question I asked, but I wanted clarity. So I asked specifically if the Director could make a statement that she has the STATUTORY AUTHORITY TO MAKE:

“As Director of Health for the State of Hawai‘i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, I have personally seen and verified that the Hawai‘i State Department of Health has President Barack Obama’s AMENDED original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.”

But I got this in return: “The director has nothing further to add to her statements.”

More than once. I even asked if she can make the statement if she was compelled to. Nothing.

I let Ms. Okubo know that I fear something is preventing them from making statements they have the authority to make. And told her I was compelled to tell someone.


Not that anyone will care, but I have alerted the media in detail.

I have the emails to corroborate.

I am VERY concerned.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Nonothing was wondering where all the birthers went.


I thought the topic was "Presidents that pressure" people to do things to his/her political benefit.

Can't you stay on topic just ONCE hypo? This article and issue is an important one having to do with politics and national security that is worth discussing.

yes, issues like these are important to national security, and should be answered, don't you think, Reader?

The original definition of "natural born Citizen" gives our Constitutional Republic the best chance of having a President and Commander in Chief of the Military who has sole and absolute allegiance, loyalty, and attachment to the United States. By satisfying all conditions of this definition, all other avenues of acquiring other foreign citizenships and allegiances (jus soli or by the soil and jus sanguinis or by descent) are cut off. Having all other means of acquiring other foreign citizenships or allegiances cut off is unity of citizenship which is what the President must have at the time of birth. Additionally, by requiring the child’s parents to be U.S. citizens best assures that those parents most likely will have absorbed American customs and values which, in turn, they will transmit to their child.



It was the fear of foreign influence invading the Office of Commander in Chief of the military that prompted John Jay, our first U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, to write to George Washington the following letter dated July 25, 1787: “Permit me to hint, whether it would be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government; and to declare expressly that the Commander in Chief of the American army shall not be given to nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen (underlying "born" in the original). Jay’s recommendation did make it into the Constitution. Article II, Sec. 1, cl. 5 of the Constitution provides in pertinent part: “No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President. . .” In this clause and in Articles I, III, and IV, the Founding Fathers distinguished between "Citizen" and "natural born Citizen." Per the Founders, while Senators and Representatives can be just “citizens,” the President must be a "natural born Citizen." Through this clause, the Founders sought to guarantee that the ideals for which they fought would be faithfully preserved for future generations of Americans. The Founders wanted to assure that the Office of President and Commander in Chief of the Military, a non-collegial and unique and powerful civil and military position, was free of all foreign influence and that its holder has sole and absolute allegiance, loyalty, and attachment to the U.S. The “natural born Citizen” clause was the best way for them to assure this.

http://puzo1.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-natural-born-citizen-clause-is.html
 
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