Feinstein Strongly Disagrees With The President
[guest post by Dana]
On Face the Nation this morning, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D), voiced her disagreement with claims made by the Obama administration regarding the details of the deal involving five Taliban detainees exchanged for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
Feinstein, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, joins a chorus of Republicans, veterans, families of deceased soldiers, and other critics of both the deal for Bergdahl’s release and the administration’s failure to give advance notice to Congress before releasing detainees from Guantanamo Bay, as required by a 2013 law.
Feinstein noted that after the release of the five Taliban officials to Qatar, it will be difficult at best to ensure that they don’t pose a continuing threat to American interests.
“There is no house arrest,” Feinstein said. “They have the country, which is very small, to be about in. Secretary [of State John] Kerry made a very strong statement this morning, saying, ‘Oh, we have ways, and we will see that they do not defect, move, speak, whatever.’ And we’ll see*.”
“You’re not as comfortable about that as he is,” host Bob Schieffer asked.
“Well it’s hard to be comfortable when you haven’t been briefed on the intricacies of carrying out this agreement,” Feinstein said.
The senator also said administration officials are not telling the truth when they claim senators are never briefed about “an ongoing operation.”
“That isn’t necessarily true,” Feinstein shot back. “We have been briefed — the chairman and the ranking member — Senator [Saxby] Chambliss and I have been briefed on operations under way. We understand the security of that; we have never violated that. But at least you have some knowledge, and you can make some comment. That’s never been the case with this particular situation. So it hits us as a real surprise.”
Note: Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to CNN this morning regarding concerns about the five released Taliban detainees:
“I’m not telling you that they don’t have some ability at some point to go back and get involved (in fighting). But they also have an ability to get killed doing that. ” Kerry said in his first public comments on the controversial prisoner exchange.
Kerry defended the swap and told CNN the former detainees will be monitored closely — and not just by officials in Qatar, where they were flown after being released. He wouldn’t say who else will be watching, but he said the United States is confident the conditions of their release will be honored.
“And if they’re violated, then we have the ability to be able to do things,” he said, warning that the United States would do whatever is necessary to protect Americans “if these guys pick a fight with us in the future, or now, or at any time.”
–Dana
“And if they’re violated, then we have the ability to be able to do things,
Gazzer (d67463) — 6/8/2014 @ 6:26 pmWell, I for one feel a whole lot better knowing Fwancois is on it.
Yeah, this Feinstein thing. I saw this interview earlier.
It’s one of the reasons I honestly don’t think the WH spin is going to fly with anybody.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/8/2014 @ 6:29 pmAnd it’s a self inflicted wound as all they had to do was tell her on the low down which would have fed her ego and bought her silence. The arrogance of TFG knows no bounds. Thankfully.
Gazzer (d67463) — 6/8/2014 @ 6:37 pmit’s the Winter Soldier treatment 2.0, but it’s thin gruel, so they jump the shark rather quickly
http://themoderatevoice.com/195665/bergdahl-and-the-price-of-war-part-ii/
narciso (3fec35) — 6/8/2014 @ 6:49 pmhoochie is very very selective about what ruffles her peacock fethers
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/8/2014 @ 6:55 pmTrue, and she’s giving a valentines to the terrorist by July 4th, but it’s what we can get for now;
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/06/rep-mike-rogers-bergdahl-swap-has-empowered-the-taliban-video/
narciso (3fec35) — 6/8/2014 @ 7:03 pmSo much for checks and balances and having co-equal branches of government, huh?
elissa (01a218) — 6/8/2014 @ 7:17 pmOh no, Senator Feinstein “strongly disagrees” with the President! Next thing you know she might be really angry at him. Remember when Bill Clinton had Feinstein out on the hustlings vouching for his character in the early days of the Monica Lewinsky scandal? Remember then how upset and angry she purported to be when it turned out that Clinton had in fact been doing everything that he was accused of? She pretty much vowed that Clinton would forever be persona no grata with her, but within a few months she was fully back on the reservation and today is one of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s biggest backers, notwithstanding the role that Mrs. Clinton played in that whole sleazy mess.
So in other words, my friends, let’s not count on Dianne Feinstein to do anything other than play hack Democrat party loyalist in this latest instance of a President who has no respect for the law.
JVW (feb406) — 6/8/2014 @ 8:05 pmLefty Senators disagreeing with their lefty President because they can, since they will never be voted out of office, is what? There is a word, I just can’t think of it.
It’s not hubris. It’s not audacity. It’s not courage. What is it?
Oh, yeah. It’s stupid. She followed the lead of a junior Senator — who was indeed elected to office by the people of the United States twice without the experience necessary for the office — while sitting by for the party.
What did she expect?
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 6/8/2014 @ 8:05 pmShe looks angry. But maybe that’s just Dem 2014 politics talking?
Ed Rollins threw out the wild speculation, or worry, that the outing of the CIA chief in Kabul was part of the package. It was a week earlier than Bergdahl’s release. I dunno. I would hope Obama warned him to scram before he did this, but…
Patricia (be0117) — 6/8/2014 @ 8:32 pmHow is it crazy, the head of the Iran task force, was dispatched with a similar deft move,
narciso (3fec35) — 6/8/2014 @ 8:37 pmStrongly disagrees, but can bring herself to do anything about it. People will have to die to clarify why these animals should have rotted in Gitmo.
Hadoop (f7d5ba) — 6/8/2014 @ 8:47 pmwho nominated sleazy sleazy Qatar anyway as the place where these turds get flushed?
Qatar has nice beaches but it’s infested with royalty what’s even more perverted and sexually deviant than those Saudi royal Abdullahtrash whores for example
and that my friend is exceedingly trashy
god bless america
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/8/2014 @ 8:52 pmQatar had the Nusra account in Syria, the Nour party in Egypt, the Watan in Libya, they have an office for not only the Taliban, but Hamas, they have all the dance cards
narciso (3fec35) — 6/8/2014 @ 9:10 pmnobody tells me anything except Mr. narciso
there aren’t enough oreos in the whole world to thank you but you can have half of mine
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/8/2014 @ 9:13 pmShe’s an old woman. She’s got one vote out of a hundred and impotent pique. There’s nothing she can do except complain.
nk (dbc370) — 6/8/2014 @ 9:44 pmQatar may not be the best neutral arbiter, if Doug Ross’ story is correct:
http://t.co/uyp71Y1osB
Did a missile intended for Libyan rebels being shipped through Qatar in 2011 shoot down a US Chinook heliocopter?
Estragon (ada867) — 6/8/2014 @ 9:58 pmDiFi criticizes Barry….he must have really infringed upon her little section of turf.
askeptic (8ecc78) — 6/8/2014 @ 10:29 pmDon’t worry Di, you have only marginally better cred than he does.
The idea that I might somehow be on the same side of an issue as DiFi is very strange.
htom (412a17) — 6/8/2014 @ 10:39 pmYou’re sincere. She is not.
Gazzer (d67463) — 6/8/2014 @ 10:49 pmShe pretty much vowed that Clinton would forever be persona no grata with her, but within a few months she was fully back on the reservation and today is one of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s biggest backers
What’s really sick is that Feinstein has long been considered a less leftwing, less devout type of Democrat. But whether observing her or any other variety of modern-day liberals/Democrats, they epitomize the phenomenon of — in the words of Daniel Moynihan — defining deviancy (and socio-economic corruption overall) down, way down. And, consequently, out pops an Obama.
If it’s true that great nations have a shelf life of around 200 years, then people like Feisnstein will be one of the reasons for such an expiration date.
Mark (99b8fd) — 6/9/2014 @ 12:07 amFineswine is an execrable lying POS, a crook of the first order, and a hypocrite.
she’s also a gun grabbing fascist who had a CCW card issued by Frisco, a town that won’t let average honest citizens protect themselves, even in their homes. if she’s taking the time out to do this sort of public comment, she’s w*rking an angle.
the question then is, what angle, for who, and what’s in it for her?
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/9/2014 @ 1:17 amhere’s an interesting article on the Bergdhal fiasco through the lens of politics as distraction
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/9/2014 @ 1:24 amAmerica is cooked
mg (31009b) — 6/9/2014 @ 2:55 amCowardice population
Serve the wealthy
Die in a waiting line
A Powerline blog guesses Bergdahl will be pardoned. It’s likely correct. The issue is timing for the necessary work to be done:
a. focus group research
b. speech wordsmithing
c. vetting the speech
d. coordinate with the Media
e. closely monitoring the polling
f. analyze the impact of other things (ala, the “crisis of children” being dumped
For Muslims, the key dates would be:
a. June 13 Lailatul Barat
b. June 28 Ramadan start
The most desirable is likely Fathers Day, June 15. However, this year Fathers Day coincides with Trinity Sunday on the Christian calendar.
But regardless, a pardon he’ll receive. No military court-martial. No Congressional investigation. Maybe even no Congressional hearings on dealing with terror swapping.
Oh, and we’ll see the dribbling out of Gitmo. If you’re planning on visiting the Holy Land, do so ASAP. After all, Iran will have the bombs before the Pres leaves office.
cedarhill (a49f0f) — 6/9/2014 @ 4:24 amthat’s not a battle date, or one of martyrdom, like the 25th of Shawwal,
http://www.truthrevolt.org//news/hillary-it-doesnt-matter-if-bergdahl-deserted
narciso (3fec35) — 6/9/2014 @ 5:10 amWhile distraction plays
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/9/2014 @ 5:39 amObama opens border
Great Mex Southwest Flood
It might be good enough for John Kerry to kill these guys and 50 bystanders with a hellfire missile a month after they kill some innocent people in a terror attack, but to most people that is not really a super plan.
Dustin (7f67e8) — 6/9/2014 @ 5:44 amnot science fiction
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/9/2014 @ 5:49 amIncredible Shrinking Prez
teh show must go on!
not Arnold Palmer
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/9/2014 @ 5:54 amObama works on golf game
while country smolders
Preezy Obama
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/9/2014 @ 6:07 amis not as smaht as he thinks
he’s a shallow man
Minions doing business
mg (31009b) — 6/9/2014 @ 7:31 amWalking the plank
Stock market is up
Freedom dwindles
Patricia (be0117) — 6/8/2014 @ 8:32 pm
Ed Rollins threw out the wild speculation, or worry, that the outing of the CIA chief in Kabul was part of the package. It was a week earlier than Bergdahl’s release. I dunno.
I wouldn’t trust Ed Rollins about most of anything. He deliberately fed Democrta conspiracy claims about voter suppression after Christine Todd Whitman, somewhat surprisingly, won the New Jersey Gubernatorial election in 1993. It was alsmost like falling on his sword, and it was a lie. even though you could sort of stretch the truth to make it look like a half truth.
What Ed Rollins is saying now about Bergdahl is probably what bill and Hillary Clinton want him to say.
In 1992, Ed Rollins had joined with Perot and then backed out. It looks like he was really trying to help Clinton.
After he fell on his sword, the reaction was so strong that Ed Rollins started making excuses. Now something very interesting: In his excuse he mentioned that he wa shead of the National Fire Academy and claimed that is why he used the word supprerssion.
Head of the National Fire Academy? (Yes, during the Carter Administration. and you thought he was only a Republican.)
So – I don’t know if should put two and two together..
here is where I am speculating and I don’t knwo if this hits close to the truth.
Did he find the fire experts for President Clinton who could examine the Davidian compound after the fire before it was bulldozed and would say the Davidians started it?
And more to the point, tell Clinton or key aides before the fire how to do it and not make it look like the FBI had caused it?
Were they the source of the knowledge that supposedly non-flammable CS tear gas was really very very flammable in the right cirumstances and it could look like the fire broke out in different places at the same time (CS tear gas is flammable when the concentration is not too high and not too low., so if it was injected at heavy concentration at various points, fire would break out somne distance from the point of the injection, more or less simulatenously)
That could explain why he would do such a personally destructive thing like he did in the fall of 1993 – Clinton might hve had really something on him. But I don’t know.
I am not sure how to read him.
One thing that is coming out now (see the March 31, 2014 New Yorker) is that the Davidians didn’t start the fire, but it was started by the tear gas.
Now you see that means something. If the FBI did it accidentaly they would not have been prepared with a story
What’s more – injecting tear gas wasn’t even really part of the official plan!
The official plan that Janet Reno signed (while some other people were off for the weekend) wa that the compound’s perimeter woudl be shrunken. And if they wer firfed upon they could return fire, <i. or inject tear gas
On April 19, 1993, the FBI claimed they were being fired upon. All surviving Davidians deny this.. And the FBI claimed they were so good, they didn’t return fire. (mostly true, but there was somew firing to keep people inside the building so they could be burned up later. And also they had to kill David Koresh and two other key Davidian witnesses to the events of February 28, 1993, and anybody around them who would know they had bene shot to death and not killed by the fire. If they had waited for the fire, they might have survived , and anyway clinton wanted a few survivors, but not Koresh and not the children.)
All those who escaped did so through holes in the walls and only after the fire started.)
The whole claim was that they did the more restrained thing – inject tear gas.
Now it is impossible to stay in place when CS tear gas is fired. Gas masks or no gas masks. NNow till they were ready to start the fire they fired in CN tear gas. CS tear gas was not being fired in all morning The fiirst time they used CS tear gas. the fire started, helped along of course by the numerous kerosine lanterns that were lit.
Sammy Finkelman (e280e6) — 6/9/2014 @ 7:44 amEstragon (ada867) — 6/8/2014 @ 9:58 pm
Did a missile intended for Libyan rebels being shipped through Qatar in 2011 shoot down a US Chinook heliocopter?
I think you should note that this missile was given to Qatar while Qaddafi was still in power, in 2011, not in 2012. Ambassador Stevens was trying to prevent any missiles from being sent out of Libya, and Qaddafi’s own stockpile was Chinese, not Stingers.
Sammy Finkelman (e280e6) — 6/9/2014 @ 7:48 am28. Dustin (7f67e8) — 6/9/2014 @ 5:44 am
It might be good enough for John Kerry to kill these guys and 50 bystanders with a hellfire missile a month after they kill some innocent people in a terror attack, but to most people that is not really a super plan.
It’s good enough if you only care about American soldiers, not Afghans or other foreigners or even American civilians in Afghanistan.
And you notice President Obama has bene talking only about American soldiers. Nobody else. This is a betrayel of Afghans. And what does thios do to alliances?
Sammy Finkelman (e280e6) — 6/9/2014 @ 7:51 amGreetings:
Wasn’t it Senatress Feinstein who first said, “You can take my Senate seat when you pry it from my cold, dead ass.” ???
11B40 (844d04) — 6/9/2014 @ 9:09 amIt destroys them.
The Afghans, as I noted on another thread, are not the least pleased with this swap. It is starting to dawn on people that Congress already rejected this exact trade years ago when it included concessions from the Taliban.
So this is Obama’s idea of negotiation. When your adversary rejects your demands, just give up those demands.
That’s what surrender looks like. Obama keeps going on about how wars end. Obama is too stupid to realize it, but wars still only two ways. You either win them, or surrender.
Not pleased is an understatement; the Afghans are livid. Barack Obama isn’t ending the war. It will go on for the Afghans. We are just retreating from the field of battle in surrender. And now Prom Queen is betraying our allies still on the field, because they have no place to go, by replenishing their enemy by returning their top commanders.
The Obama administration spin about the Soldier’s creed, that you don’t leave anyone behind, is going to ring hollow because the soldier’s creed never included surrender and betrayal in order to ensure you don’t leave anyone behind. Obama and his minions are actually insulting everyone in uniform when they say they’re living up to the creed, because they’re actually pissing on it.
It will be further insult if Prom Queen pardons Berghdahl. Because while maybe the Army may decide Berghdahl doesn’t need much prison time (30 days in the stockade, with early release for good behavior, is what they gave Jenkins) he does need a dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank to E-1, and forfeiture of all pay and benefits.
The idea of a man who deserted his post in the face of the enemy getting all that back pay and keeping his benefits will be an intolerable insult to everyone who ever served honorably.
When you combine that fact with the increasing likelihood the administration will attack the soldiers who served with Bergdahl, who didn’t abandon their posts, who lived up to their oath and risked their lives looking for Bergdahl, as political opportunists and “swiftboaters” they’re likely to start a mutiny.
Anybody who would countenance desertion and insult soldiers who don’t desert is unfit to be a Seaman Recruit let alone the Commander in Chief. The military already has contempt for this gum-chewing SCOAMF.
Is a short sighted idiot, frankly. He thinks only of himself. He thought this trade would benefit himself personally; hence the Rose Garden photo op that somehow required a blessing in Pashto. But he’s PO’d a lot of people by making it, not all of whom are American, and apparently he plans on making himself intolerable to a lot more.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/9/2014 @ 12:39 pmOuting the Kabul Chief-of-Station:
askeptic (8ecc78) — 6/9/2014 @ 1:27 pmMy take is that his outing was pay-back for opposing the swap, and probably saying a few choice words about The President, the SecState, the NatSecAdvisor, and the anyone else in on the deal – all well deserved IMHO.
Steve, betrayal is what the Left is best at, ask the South Vietnamese.
askeptic (8ecc78) — 6/9/2014 @ 1:28 pmPunishment for Bergdahl?
askeptic (8ecc78) — 6/9/2014 @ 1:30 pmThey could give him a choice:
6-mos in the brig, or a weekend with Susan Rice?
askeptic, let’s really make it hurt.
Madeleine Albright.
Steve57 (61329d) — 6/9/2014 @ 4:19 pmAs well my paisans, the Hmong, the Iranians, the Nicaraguans, I’m sure I left some group out,
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/06/09/andrea-mitchell-not-buying-state-dept-s-spin-on-bergdahl-swap/
narciso (3fec35) — 6/9/2014 @ 4:39 pmI know when I want the truth, I always wonder: what does Andrea Mitchell think?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/9/2014 @ 5:19 pmhttp://www.drybonesblog.blogspothttp://www.drybonesblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/quote-of-day.html.com/2014/06/quote-of-day.html
Sammy Finkelman (2d4607) — 6/10/2014 @ 6:19 amJohn F. Kerry isn’t the only famous American Catholic whose maternal grandparents were Jewish
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/nyregion/cardinal-john-joseph-oconnor-jewish-mother-genealogy.html?hp
He knew his mother was a Catholic convert but not what she converted from Kerry knew his grandmother was a Catolic convert but not what she converted from.
How much of this was going on in the beginning 1900s?
Sammy Finkelman (2d4607) — 6/10/2014 @ 4:00 pmBreaking news:
Iraqi army outgunned, breaks. Mosul falls to ISIS, thoudands at least fleeing the city, Maliki calls it an emergency, State Departmenbt says it is very serious.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/10/iraq-sunni-insurgents-islamic-militants-seize-control-mosul
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/world/middleeast/militants-in-mosul.html?hp-sunni-insurgents-islamic-militants-seize-control-mosul
Meanwhile the big headline here is another school shooter in Oregon who killed himself, with Obama saying nothing will pass Congress, but he’s hoping to work with groups to prevent this.
Sammy Finkelman (2d4607) — 6/10/2014 @ 4:05 pmAlso, a “Friendly Fire” incident in Afghanistan, the most serious since the start opf the war.
A B-1 bomber bombed the position of 5 American special forces who called for air strike.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/world/asia/friendly-fire-strike-kills-5-special-operations-soldiers-in-afghanistan.html?hp
Sammy Finkelman (2d4607) — 6/10/2014 @ 4:09 pmPresident Feckless has AQ on the run… running to take over the second largest city in Iraq. Unbelievable incompetence and inattention.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/10/2014 @ 4:17 pmI am afraid some people may get the feeling that America can’t do anything right.
Sammy Finkelman (2d4607) — 6/10/2014 @ 4:42 pmWhat also happened in the l;ast few days:
1) An assassination attempt agaonst the leading Presidential candidate in the runoff in Afghanistan scheduled for Saturday – that, among other things, would have cancelled the election had it suceeded, and they would have had to start over. He sounds like a prettyy good guy. It failed because his car was armored. But all that that means is that the Taliban/al Qaeda need a bigger bomb – one that could kill in amuch larger radius, like the bomb that killed Rafiki Hariri in Lebanon.
2) An assault on Karachi airport by the Pakistani Taliban.
They are clearly afetr Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
Sammy Finkelman (2d4607) — 6/10/2014 @ 4:50 pm“I’m not telling you that they don’t have some ability at some point to go back and get involved (in fighting). But they also have an ability to get killed doing that.” -Frankenkerry
This is maybe the stupidest thing ever said by a man who has made a career of saying stupid things.
Paraphrase: “We’ll take of them after they’re armed and shooting at us. A pound of cure is, OBVIOUSLY, far better than an ounce of prevention.”
This is just like the Fast and Furious method of tracking weapons: Sell them to drug cartels and find out where they went by finding them at the murder scene.
This administration has the innocent blood of our allies and neighbors on its hands.
arik (02de93) — 6/11/2014 @ 6:42 pmWord.
Steve57 (4ea7ad) — 6/20/2014 @ 11:45 am