Pentagon Stonewalling the Closing of Gitmo

Posted on December 29, 2015December 29, 2015 by Denise Simon

Go General Kelly, keep it open, stay the course sir. There is no country that will take Khalid Sheik Mohammed and if there are 17 slated to be transferred in January it will leave an estimated 90 detainees that no country will accept. While Congress has law forbidding detainee transfers to the United States, Barack Obama can still use an executive order. The last complete study estimated $500 million to retrofit an existing facility in the event they do get transferred to the United States to a Federal facility. Given where the world is on fighting terror, capturing jihadis rather that killing them would be a benefit at this juncture. Gitmo is perfect for the Islamic killers.

Pentagon thwarts Obama’s effort to close Gitmo

Reuters: Charles Levinson and David Rohde – In September, US State Department officials invited a foreign delegation to the Guantanamo Bay detention center to persuade the group to take detainee Tariq Ba Odah to their country. If they succeeded, the transfer would mark a small step toward realizing President Barack Obama’s goal of closing the prison before he leaves office.
The foreign officials told the administration they would first need to review Ba Odah’s medical records, according to US officials with knowledge of the episode. The Yemeni has been on a hunger strike for seven years, dropping to 74 pounds from 148, and the foreign officials wanted to make sure they could care for him.
For the next six weeks, Pentagon officials declined to release the records, citing patient privacy concerns, according to the US officials. The delegation, from a country administration officials declined to identify, canceled its visit. After the administration promised to deliver the records, the delegation traveled to Guantanamo and appeared set to take the prisoner off US hands, the officials said. The Pentagon again withheld Ba Odah’s full medical file.
Today, nearly 14 years since he was placed in the prison and five years since he was cleared for release by US military, intelligence and diplomatic officials, Ba Odah remains in Guantanamo.
In interviews with multiple current and former administration officials involved in the effort to close Guantanamo, Reuters found that the struggle over Ba Odah’s medical records was part of a pattern. Since Obama took office in 2009, these people said, Pentagon officials have been throwing up bureaucratic obstacles to thwart the president’s plan to close Guantanamo.
Negotiating prisoner releases with the Pentagon was like “punching a pillow,” said James Dobbins, the State Department special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2013 to 2014. Defense Department officials “would come to a meeting, they would not make a counter-argument,” he said. “And then nothing would happen.”
Pentagon delays, he said, resulted in four Afghan detainees spending an additional four years in Guantanamo after being approved for transfer.
In other cases, the transfers of six prisoners to Uruguay, five to Kazakhstan, one to Mauritania and one to Britain were delayed for months or years by Pentagon resistance or inaction, officials said.
To slow prisoner transfers, Pentagon officials have refused to provide photographs, complete medical records and other basic documentation to foreign governments willing to take detainees, administration officials said. They have made it increasingly difficult for foreign delegations to visit Guantanamo, limited the time foreign officials can interview detainees and barred delegations from spending the night at Guantanamo.
Partly as a result of the Pentagon’s maneuvers, it is increasingly doubtful that Obama will fulfill a pledge he made in the 2008 presidential election: to close the detention center at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Obama criticized President George W. Bush for having set up the prison for foreigners seized in the “War on Terror” after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US, and then keeping them there for years without trial.
When Obama took office, the prison held 242 detainees, down from a peak of about 680 in 2003. Today, with little more than a year remaining in his presidency, it still holds 107 detainees.
Pentagon officials denied any intentional effort to slow transfers.
“No foreign government or US department has ever notified the Department of Defense that transfer negotiations collapsed due to a lack of information or access provided by the Department of Defense,” said Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross, a US Navy commander.
Myles Caggins, a White House spokesman, denied discord with the Pentagon. “We’re all committed to the same goal: safely and responsibly closing the detention facility,” Caggins said.
Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said in an interview that it was natural for the Pentagon to be cautious on transfers that could result in detainees rejoining the fight against U.S forces. “Look at where most of the casualties have come from – it’s the military,” Hagel said.
The Pentagon’s slow pace in approving transfers was a factor in President Obama’s decision to remove Hagel in February, former administration officials said. And in September, amid continuing Pentagon delays, President Obama upbraided Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in a one-on-one meeting, according to administration officials briefed on the encounter.
Since then, the Pentagon has been more cooperative. Administration officials said they expect to begin transferring at least 17 detainees to foreign countries in January.
Military officials, however, continue to make transfers more difficult and protracted than necessary, administration officials said. In particular, they cite General John F. Kelly, in charge of the US Southern Command, which includes Guantanamo. They said that Kelly, whose son was killed fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, opposes the president’s policy of closing Guantanamo, and that he and his command have created obstacles for visiting delegations.
Kelly denied that he or his command has limited delegation visits. “Our staff works closely with the members of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and Joint Task Force Guantanamo to support the visits of all foreign delegations,” he said in a written statement, “and have never refused or curtailed one of these visits.”–Reuters
Even if Obama manages to transfer all low-risk detainees to other countries, closing Guantanamo won’t be easy. Several dozen prisoners considered too dangerous to release would have to be imprisoned in the US, a step Republicans in Congress adamantly oppose because, they say, it would endanger American lives.
In a press conference earlier this month, Obama said he still hoped to strike a deal with Congress. He added, however, that he reserved the right to move the prisoners to the US under his executive authority.
The Bush administration faced no political opposition on transfers and was able to move 532 detainees out of Guantanamo over six years, 35 percent of whom returned to the fight, according to US intelligence estimates. The Obama administration has been able to transfer 131 detainees over seven years, 10 percent of whom have returned to the fight.

PRIORITY FROM THE START
Two days after Obama was sworn in as president in 2009, he signed an executive order mandating an immediate review of all 242 detainees then held in Guantanamo and requiring the closure of the detention center. A year later, a task force that included the Defense Department and US intelligence agencies unanimously concluded that 156 detainees were low enough security threats to be transferred to foreign countries.
Members of Congress, meanwhile, seized on reports that transferred detainees had returned to the fight to demand that Guantanamo remain open.
Among those former detainees was Abdul Qayum Zakir, also known as “Mullah Zakir,” who hid his identity from Guantanamo interrogators and became the Taliban’s top military commander after his release. He was responsible for hundreds of American deaths after returning to Afghanistan, according to David Sedney, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia from 2009 to 2013.
In late 2010, Congress passed a law requiring the secretary of defense to personally certify to Congress that a released detainee “cannot engage or re-engage in any terrorist activity.”
Detainee transfers out of Guantanamo slowed to a trickle. In 2011 and 2012, only a handful were released under an exception to the new law that allowed court-ordered releases to bypass the newly legislated requirements. By January 2013, the outlook was so bleak that the State Department shuttered the office tasked with handling the closure of Guantanamo.
Michael Williams, the former State Department deputy envoy for closing Guantanamo, said that during that period, William Lietzau, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee policy, “was not supportive of a Guantanamo closure policy” and an obstacle to transfers inside the Pentagon.
Lietzau, who left his job in 2013, denied obstructing transfers. He said in many cases, delays resulted from his concerns about the ability of foreign countries to monitor transferred detainees. “You have guys who are cleared for transfer, but there is no way to get the assurances, so what do you do then?” Lietzau said.
In May 2013, President Obama unveiled a new push to close the prison. He appointed two new envoys, one at the Pentagon and one at the State Department, to oversee the prison’s closure. One of their top priorities was to transfer as many prisoners as possible to countries willing to take them.
The State Department then proposed that four low-risk Afghan detainees be transferred back to Afghanistan. The four men – Khi Ali Gul, Shawali Khan, Abdul Ghani and Mohammed Zahir – then ranged in age from their early 40s to their early 60s. All had been at Guantanamo for seven years but never formally charged with a crime, and all had been cleared for release by the interagency review board years earlier.
In the case of Gul, State Department officials argued that he was almost certainly innocent. “The consensus was that he had never had any contact with the insurgency or al Qaeda,” said Dobbins. “I can say with confidence we have captured, detained and released thousands of people who have done worse things than these four.”
US officials had offered in secret peace talks with the Taliban in 2012 to swap the four Afghans for captured American soldier Bowe Bergdahl. Taliban negotiators said they didn’t want the four men because the four weren’t senior Taliban members.
Afterwards, State Department officials began referring to them as the “JV four” or “Junior Varsity four,” for their seeming lack of importance to Taliban fighters.
When the State Department added the four Afghans to a list of detainees prioritized for transfer in the summer of 2013, Defense Department officials resisted. At a meeting at the Pentagon, a mid-level Defense Department official said transferring the four “might be the president’s priority, but it’s not the Pentagon’s priority or the priority of the people in this building,” according to current and former administration officials present at the meeting.
With the White House’s backing, the State Department moved forward. By spring 2014, the four Afghans were about to be sent home. Then, General Joseph Dunford, commander of US forces in Afghanistan at the time, sent a memo to the State Department warning that the release of the four detainees would endanger his troops in Afghanistan.
When State Department officials read Dunford’s memo, they realized he was citing intelligence about a different group of Afghans who were more senior Taliban. State Department officials pointed out the error, but it was too late. The transfer was halted.
Sedney, the former deputy defense secretary, said that there was broad resistance within the Pentagon to releasing the four Afghans because between 30 and 50 percent of the roughly 200 Afghan detainees repatriated by the Bush administration had rejoined the fight. The government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai often freed detainees as soon as they returned home, Sedney said.
The four men were finally flown back to Afghanistan on Dec. 20, 2014 – nearly five years after they were cleared for release. Since then, none have returned to the fight, according to US intelligence officials.
Gul declined a request for an interview. Zahir, now in his early 60s and one of the three Afghans considered low-level Taliban, works as a guard at a school in Kabul. He said that the primary evidence against him – Taliban documents found in his home – were from his work as an administrator in the Intelligence Ministry when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. He said that when American soldiers flew him to Afghanistan for release, one spoke with him briefly before handing him over to Afghan officials. “The American soldier tapped on my shoulder and said, ‘I am sorry,’ “ Zahir said, adding: “I don’t know why they kept me there for 13 long years without proving my guilt or crime.”

VIDEO GAMES
Pentagon obstacles delayed and nearly derailed other transfers. In early 2014, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev offered to take as many as eight Guantanamo detainees. The Central Asian leader, eager for a counterweight to an increasingly assertive Russia, hoped to strengthen his relationship with Washington.
Kazakhstani officials asked to send a delegation to Guantanamo for three days to videotape interviews with prisoners before deciding which ones to accept. Kazakhstani psychologists and intelligence experts wanted to study the interviews for signs of deception.
According to multiple current and former administration officials, Pentagon officials forbade the delegation to videotape the interviews, nixed plans for a multiday visit, ordered detainee interviews shortened, and put new restrictive classifications on documents requested by the Kazakhstanis.
Senior commanders at Joint Task Force Guantanamo – the military unit responsible for administering the detention center – said the visiting Kazakhstanis would be allowed one hour with each prisoner and one day at the detention center.
Allowing taped interviews had been common practice with foreign delegations. This time, the Pentagon banned them on the grounds that the practice would violate the Geneva Conventions’ prohibition on using prisoners of war for “public curiosity.”
After two weeks of failed talks, the Kazakhstanis said they were canceling the visit and wouldn’t take any detainees. An alarmed White House intervened, ordering the Pentagon to compromise, according to current and former administration officials.
The Kazakhstanis would be allowed two hours with each detainee, the Pentagon said, and would be allowed to stay one night at Guantanamo. They said the Kazakhstanis would not be allowed to bring recording equipment with them. Instead, the US military agreed to videotape the interviews and provide the Kazakhstanis with copies of the tapes. The Kazakhstanis visited the prison.
Six weeks later, the Kazakhstanis still hadn’t received the videos. “They were calling us every couple of days, saying, ‘Where are the videos?’ “ said an administration official.
The White House ordered the Pentagon to hand over the videos. The Pentagon complied, and sent the videos to the State Department, but with a new classified designation on it, “Secret/NOFORN,” which means it is illegal to share the material with a foreign country. Administration officials complained again. Days later, the video came back with a more lenient classification. The video was sent to the Kazakhstanis.
Two days later, the Kazakhstanis called Washington. The videos had been processed to look as if it had been shot through dimpled glass. For the Kazakhstanis, who wanted to scrutinize detainees’ body language and facial expressions, the videos were useless.
For a third time, White House officials intervened to force the Pentagon to compromise. Finally, in December, nearly a year after the process began, the five prisoners were transferred to Kazakhstan.
In private meetings, some Pentagon officials have been dismissive of Obama’s policy. After the president publicly pledged early this year to respond to a five-year-old British request for the repatriation of British detainee Shaker Aamer, a senior Pentagon official mocked that vow at an interagency meeting on transfers.
“We will prioritize him – right at the back of the line where he belongs,” the Pentagon official said, according to an administration official present at the meeting. A senior NSC official snapped back: “That’s not what the president meant.” Aamer was transferred to Britain in October.
In autumn this year, a foreign government was invited to Guantanamo to interview eight detainees for possible transfer – a process that can take several days. General Kelly’s command, which oversees Guantanamo, instituted a new policy, suddenly banning the delegation from spending the night at the detention center, according to administration officials. (Officials declined to identify countries involved in transfer negotiations out of concern that doing so would jeopardize the process.)
As a result, the delegation was forced to commute 90 minutes by plane each morning and afternoon from Miami, adding tens of thousands of dollars in government plane bills to US taxpayers. In December, the country decided to take no detainees.
During another foreign delegation’s visit to Guantanamo in autumn, Kelly’s command further cut interview times with detainees, to as little as 45 minutes each, making it harder for foreign officials to assess potential transfers.
Ba Odah, the hunger-striking detainee, is now in his late 30s. Multiple members of the National Security Council have intervened to demand that the Pentagon turn over his complete medical file. The Pentagon has held firm, citing patient privacy concerns.
Ba Odah’s lawyer, Omar Farah, said the Pentagon’s justification is baseless.
“Invoking privacy concerns is a shameless, transparent excuse to mask intransigence,” Farah said. “Mr. Ba Odah has provided his full, informed consent to the release of his medical records.”

2015: A Year in Review

Posted on December 28, 2015December 28, 2015 by Denise Simon

Dramatic and a year for historical significance. This photo essay is by no means a complete 2015 diary and is not in order of occurrence.

Charlie Hebdo Attack in Paris

Terror struck in Paris one week into the New Year when a group of men with extensive ties to terrorist organizations targeted the offices of a famed satirical newspaper. Two men shot their way into the offices of Charlie Hebdo while a third waited near the getaway car. The shooters forced their way into the publication’s offices, killing a maintenance man and police bodyguard assigned to protect the editor after he received death threats. Once arriving at the office, they proceeded to kill nine others, mostly editorial staff gathered for their weekly meeting, injuring an additional 11. A faction of al Qaeda claimed responsibility.

The attacks continued in France for two more days, taking the lives of six others, including two police officers and four people held hostage at a kosher grocery store in Paris. The three perpetrators also died.

PARIS 1/11/2015

More than 40 world leaders marched in honor of the 17 victims of terrorist attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket.

Germanwings Plane Crash

PHOTO:A screengrab taken from an AFP TV video on March 24, 2015 shows search and rescue personnel making their way to the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps above the southeastern town of Seyne.

A major aviation mystery in 2015 differed from the series of crashes the previous year in that the plane’s recording device led investigators to a suspect shortly after the deadly crash: the co-pilot. The recording from inside the cockpit of Germanwings Flight 9525 during the March 24 flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf indicated that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked the lead pilot out of the cockpit during a break and proceeded to direct the plane toward the mountains of the French Alps, killing all 150 passengers and crew on board.

“The intention was to destroy the plane,” Brice Robin, the public prosecutor of Marseille, said during the investigation.

PAYNESVILLE, LIBERIA 1/26/2015

Benetha Coleman, a nurse’s aide and Ebola survivor, comforted an infant girl with symptoms of the disease in a high-risk treatment area.

Amtrak Train Crash

PHOTO:Emergency personnel work at the scene of a deadly train derailment, May 13, 2015, in Philadelphia.

A train derailment in Philadelphia killed eight and injured more than 200 Amtrak passengers in May after the Northeast Regional train sped around a curve and went off the track. The train’s engineer. who survived, could not explain what caused the deadly crash. The National Transportation Safety Board led the investigation into the accident and determined that the train accelerated before the crash and had been traveling in excess of 100 mph, which was more than twice the speed limit for that area of the track.

MIRONOVKA VILLAGE, NEAR DEBALTSEVE, UKRAINE 2/17/2015

A child played cards in the local Palace of Culture, used as a bomb shelter during fighting between the Ukrainian Army and Russian-backed militants.

Prison Escape in New York

PHOTO:In this handout from New York State Police, convicted murderers David Sweat and Richard Matt are shown in this composite image.

One of the biggest stories of the summer seemed like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. It involved two prisoners, a sexual liaison with a prison worker who smuggled tools hidden in frozen meat and a midnight escape with a smiley-faced getaway note. David Sweat and Richard Matt, both convicted murderers, escaped from the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York on June 6, crawling out of sewage pipes and digging through cell walls a la “The Shawshank Redemption.”

TAIPEI, TAIWAN 2/4/2015

A picture from a video of a TransAsia Airways plane as it struck an elevated highway before plunging into a river, killing 43 people.

On-Air Shooting in Virginia

PHOTO:WDBJ-TV7 news morning anchor Kimberly McBroom, center, gets a hug from visiting anchor Steve Grant, left, as meteorologist Leo Hirsbrunner reflects after their early morning newscast at the station, Aug. 27, 2015, in Roanoke, Va.

The gunman in another tragic shooting claimed it was the racism of the Charleston church shooting that prompted him to create a scene of carnage in the late summer. Vester Lee Flanagan, a disgruntled former news anchor, shot two of his former colleagues while they were on the air on location for a Roanoke, Virginia, TV station. The Aug. 26 shooting left reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward dead. Flanagan later posted a video on social media of the shooting that he appeared to have filmed during the attack using a portable camera. He also sent a manifesto and called ABC News after the shooting. He shot himself to death during a car chase with police later that day.

SELMA, ALA. 3/7/2015

President Obama marched with thousands across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Major Murder Trials

PHOTO:Former Marine Cpl. Eddie Ray Routh stands during his capital murder trial at the Erath County, Donald R. Jones Justice Center in Stephenville Texas, Feb. 24, 2015.

Four of the biggest trials of the year all resulted in guilty verdicts and one of those murderers now faces a death sentence. The first verdict came in February when Eddie Ray Routh was found guilty of killing “American Sniper” Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield. Though Kyle was well-known before the trial because of his bestselling book, the case gained even more national attention when his biopic came out just over a month before the trial started. Routh received a sentence of life without parole. He has filed a notice of appeal.

HILLAR CLINTON email scandal

A key aid to Hillary Clinton is the focus of a separate FBI investigation into the former secretary of state’s use of a private unsecured server. Bryan Pagliano, who invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 500 times to avoid testifying before a House Committee investigating the Benghazi terrorist attack. Investigators are trying to determine more about Clinton’s use of a private server that contained highly classified material.

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT HACK

The massive hack into federal systems announced last week was far deeper and potentially more problematic than publicly acknowledged, with hackers believed to be from China moving through government databases undetected for more than a year.

MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND 3/3/2015

Secretary of State John Kerry, center, took a break during a meeting with Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, over limiting Tehran’s nuclear program.

PHOTO:Aaron Hernandez watches as Robert Kraft entered the courtroom during the murder trial of former New England Patriots tight end at Bristol County Superior Court in Fall River, Mass., March 31, 2015.

Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was found guilty in April and sentenced to life in prison without parole after killing Odin Lloyd, who was dating Hernandez’ fiancee’s sister. The case turned into a family drama as both Hernandez’s fiancee, who was granted immunity for her testimony, and her sister took turns on the witness stand. His appeal is underway.

PHOTO:In this June 24, 2015, file courtroom sketch, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, right, stands before U.S. District Judge George OToole Jr. as he addresses the court during his sentencing, in federal court in Boston. — PHOTO:In this June 24, 2015, file courtroom sketch, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, right, stands before U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. as he addresses the court during his sentencing, in federal court in Boston.

In another case, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving brother of a pair of siblings, was found guilty in April of all 30 charges that he faced in connection to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and his ensuing flight from police, which included the killing of an MIT police officer. One month later, he was sentenced to death after the conclusion of the penalty phase of his trial. The first of many expected appeals is underway.

BALTIMORE 4/28/2015

Community members formed a buffer between the police and protesters at dusk, a day after protests over the death of Freddie Gray turned violent.

EL CHAPO GUZMAN ESCAPE from prison

PLANNED PARENTHOOD VIDEOS, BABY PARTS

WASHINGTON 4/16/2015

President Obama, in the Rose Garden, signed the so-called doc-fix bill, which permanently ended automatic Medicare payment cuts to doctors.

CATHEDRAL CITY, CALIF. 4/3/2015

In California, where lush developments like this one abut bone-dry desert, the governor imposed mandatory water restrictions after a long drought.

BHAKTAPUR, NEPAL 4/29/2015

Residents retrieved belongings from homes four days after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the country and left over 9,000 dead.

IN THE ANDAMAN SEA OFF THAILAND 5/14/2015

Rohingya migrants on a fishing boat, part of an exodus in which thousands of people took to the sea to flee ethnic persecution in Myanmar.

ROOSEVELT ISLAND, N.Y. 6/13/2015

Hillary Clinton was joined onstage by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, at a rally to kick off her presidential campaign.

SANA, YEMEN 6/12/2015

Yemenis searched for survivors at a Unesco World Heritage Site after an explosion that witnesses said was caused by Saudi airstrikes. Saudi Arabia denied responsibility.

COLUMBIA, S.C. 7/10/2015

The massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston was a catalyst for the permanent removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s state house.

ATHENS 7/10/2015

A pensioner waited to withdraw money from Greece’s national bank. The country implemented more austerity measures to address its debt crisis.

MANHATTAN 7/10/2015

The United States women’s soccer team celebrated at a ticker-tape parade after winning the World Cup.

KOS, GREECE 8/15/2015

Laith Majid, an Iraqi, broke out in tears of joy, holding his son and daughter, after they arrived safely in Kos on a flimsy rubber boat.

HORGOS, SERBIA 8/31/2015

A mother rested with her daughter and other relatives in a field during their almost two-month journey to escape violence in Syria.

JPOA IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

European Refugee Crisis

PHOTO:A refugee holding a boy react as they are stuck between Macedonian riot police officers and refugees during a clash near the border train station of Idomeni, northern Greece, Aug. 21, 2015.

Tens of thousands of people fleeing war-torn Syria and other areas in the Middle East and Africa spent much of this summer making the laborious, and dangerous, trek through Europe toward countries including Germany and Sweden in hopes of finding asylum. The influx of refugee families prompted international disputes and policy shifts as countries such as Hungary started to close some of their borders and put up fences with razor wire to prevent people from entering. President Obama’s plan to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States met with stiff resistance from some House Republicans who have called for stricter certifications that none of the immigrants poses a security risk.

Same-Sex Marriage Debate

PHOTO:The front of the White House is lit in the color of the rainbow, June 26, 2015, after the United States Supreme Court issued the decision in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that same-sex marriage is legal in all states.

The Supreme Court made a landmark decision in June, voting to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide. The 5-4 decision was praised by many, including President Obama, who called it a “victory for America.” But not everyone was pleased with the decision. A county clerk in Kentucky became a touchstone for the national debate after she claimed it was against her religious beliefs to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Kim Davis was jailed for nearly a week for defying a judge’s order to issue any marriage licenses in Rowan County.

Pope Francis Visits the US

PHOTO:Pope Francis places a white rose on the names of the September 11 victims at the edge of the South Pool of the 9/11 memorial in New York, Sept. 25, 2015.

One of the biggest moments of national excitement came when Pope Francis made his inaugural visit to the United States, sweeping the country up in a serious case of Pope-mania. His visit started in Washington, D.C., after a trip to Cuba, and he went on to visit New York and Philadelphia before returning to the Vatican. Some of the highlights of the trip included a historic address to Congress, frequent rides in his Fiat and a particularly memorable moment shared with a baby girl dressed up like a pope.

WASHINGTON 9/23/2015

President Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House during the pope’s first visit to the United States.

Another Terror Attack in Paris

PHOTO:A photo shows a makeshift memorial for a tribute to the victims of a series of deadly attacks in Paris, in front of the Carillon cafe in Paris, Nov. 23, 2015.

A series of coordinated terror attacks struck fear through the heart of the French capital on Friday Nov. 13. A combination of shooters and men wearing explosive vests targeted a football stadium, restaurants and a concert venue that evening, leaving 130 people dead.

French officials determined that the attackers had ties to ISIS, which has claimed responsibility. The alleged ringleader of the attacks was killed five days later when authorities raided his apartment in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. An international manhunt is still underway at this time for at least one other suspect.

GREECE-MACEDONIA BORDER, NEAR IDOMENI, GREECE 8/26/2015

A child stood near police controlling a rush of refugees into Macedonia.

CLEARLAKE, CALIF. 8/3/2015

A firefighter was silhouetted by his headlamp as he battled the Rocky Fire, a wildfire that spread over three counties and burned over 60,000 acres.

HAVANA 8/14/2015

Workers hanging the seal of the United States at the reopened American Embassy.

TIANJIN, CHINA 8/15/2015

Rows of motor vehicles were destroyed in chemical explosions that killed 160 people and were strong enough to register on earthquake scales.

Russia’s air campaign in Syria has killed hundreds of civilians and caused massive destruction in residential areas, according to a report released Wednesday by Amnesty International.

SHANKSVILLE, PA. 9/3/2015

A new visitor center and museum told the story of Flight 93, forced down by passengers after it was hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001.

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY 9/5/2015

A Syrian father, center, slept with his son and other family members on the floor of a bus driving from Budapest to Vienna.

HUNGARY-SERBIA BORDER, NEAR HORGOS, SERBIA 9/16/2015

A man tried to save his child as Hungarian police officers fired tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons at migrants trying to cross into the country.

BODRUM, TURKEY 9/2/2015

Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler whose drowning off the coast of Turkey drew public sympathy to the refugee crisis.

KOBANI, SYRIA 10/27/2015

Nine months after coalition airstrikes and Kurdish fighters repelled an invasion by the Islamic State, the city was still in ruins.

MANHATTAN 10/21/2015

New York City police officers stood at attention as the remains of Officer Randolph Holder, who was killed on the job, were taken from a Harlem hospital.

WASHINGTON 10/29/2015

Representative John A. Boehner hoisted a box of tissues to laughter during his farewell remarks before the House elected Paul D. Ryan to replace him as speaker.

The Metrojet Airbus 321, bound for St Petersburg and carrying mostly Russian citizens, crashed in Egypt’s Sinai desert just 23 minutes after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh.

PARIS 11/13/2015

A victim outside the Bataclan theater, where 90 people were killed during coordinated terrorist attacks that left 40 more dead across the city and in a northern suburb.

SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. 12/7/2015

A candlelight vigil commemorated the 14 victims of a mass shooting by a radicalized Muslim couple.

BEIJING 12/8/2015

Schools were closed, driving restricted and factories shut down after China’s capital issued its first ever “red alert” for air pollution.

WASHINGTON 12/12/2015

The lectern in the Cabinet Room of the White House where President Obama announced a historic agreement among 195 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

RAMADI, Iraq 12/27/2015

Iraqi forces with U.S air support are taking back ‘some’ neighborhoods in the Anbar Province.

DALLAS, Texas 12/27/2015

Tornado devastation in Texas killing 48.

Photo essay taken in part from the two websites below, that offer additional text and photos.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/year-review-13-biggest-news-stories-2015/story?id=35852690 and http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/27/sunday-review/2015-year-in-pictures.html?_r=0

2015: a Year of U.S. Warriors

Posted on December 23, 2015December 23, 2015 by Denise Simon

http://www.defense.gov//News/Special-Reports/1215_yip?source=GovDelivery

Tactical Transport – CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters transport senior leaders from the Resolute Support mission and Afghan army to Tactical Base Gamberi in Laghman province, Afghanistan, July 30, 2015. The helicopter crews are assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade

Canal Leap – U.S. soldiers leap over a canal after patrolling through a field near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, March 24, 2015. The soldiers are assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment.

Growler Catapult – A U.S. seaman directs an E/A-18G Growler to the catapult on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the U.S. 5th fleet area of operations, May 28, 2015. The carrier is supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, which includes strike operations in Iraq and Syria as directed.

Firing Flares – Two U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthogs release flares after receiving fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker to support Operation Inherent Resolve over Southwest Asia, Oct. 13, 2015. The Warthogs are assigned to the 163rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron and the Stratotanker to the 340th Expeditionary Aerial Refueling Squadron.

Pallet Transfers – U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Port directs pallet transfers during a replenishment between the guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook and the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS John Lenthall in the Mediterranean Sea, Feb. 12, 2015. The Cook is operating in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility.

Hawkeye Launch – U.S. Navy Lts. Morgan George, foreground, and Kieth Ferrell launch an E-2C Hawkeye aboard the USS George Washington during Talisman Sabre 2015 in the Timor Sea, July 9, 2015. The biennial exercise involves nearly 30,000 U.S. and Australian service members.

Bubble Watch – U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Scott Hudson and Petty Officer 2nd Class David Stewart watch an aircraft launch from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis at sea, Feb. 1, 2015, as they sit in the bubble. The carrier is preparing for future deployments.

Nangarhar Handshake – Afghan Brig. Gen. Mohammad Nasir Safie shakes hands with U.S. Army Col. Gregory Stokes, commander of the Police Advisory Team assigned to Train, Advise and Assist Command East, as other U.S. military leaders look on during a visit in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, March 3, 2015.

Coral Sea Ships – The guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee pulls next to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to prepare for a refueling operation in the Coral Sea, June 26, 2015.

Resolve Refueling – A U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper receives fuel from a KC-135R over Southwest Asia, Sept. 3, 2015. The KC-135R is assigned to the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron. Coalition forces fly daily missions to support Operation Inherent Resolve.

Redeployment Pallet – A U.S. airman prepares a pallet before crews load it onto a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Sept. 12, 2015. The airman is assigned to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron.

Refueling Twins – Two F-15E Strike Eagles wait to receive fuel from a KC-135R Stratotanker during exercise Red Flag 15-1 on their way to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Jan. 23, 2015. The F-15s are assigned to the 4th Fighter Wing.

Child Handshake – A U.S. Marine shakes hands with an Afghan child while on patrol near Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, April 6, 2015. The Marine is assigned to the Georgian Deployment Program.

Moonlight Rebalance – U.S. sailors perform ground turns on an unmanned aircraft system aboard the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth in the South China Sea, May 1, 2015. The sailors are assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 35, which is supporting the Indo-Asia-Pacific rebalance.

Refueling a Spirit – An Air Force B-2B Spirit receives fuel from a KC-10A during a training mission near Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., April 11, 2015.

Airborne Operations – U.S. Army paratroopers conduct an airborne operation from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter over Juliet drop zone in Pordenone, Italy, Sept. 30, 2015. The paratroopers are assigned to the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade

Night Flight – U.S. Air Force Capt. Thomas Bernard performs a visual confirmation with night vision goggles during a training mission over the Kanto Plain in Japan, Oct. 14, 2015. Bernard is a C-130 Hercules pilot with the 36th Airlift Squadron.

Fire Ball – U.S. soldiers fire the 120 mm main gun of an Army M1A2 Abrams tank to prepare for a live-fire tank shoot during Operation Speed and Power as part of Atlantic Resolve South on Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria, June 24, 2015. The soldiers are assigned to 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment.

Canine Chat – Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua Rettschlag talks to his military dog, Onur, during Gunfighter Flag 15-2 on Saylor Creek Range, Idaho, April 15, 2015. Rettschlag is a military working dog handler assigned to the 366th Security Forces Squadron, which participated in the exercise to train in realistic scenarios with joint service members in a tactical environment.

Venom View – Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Zachery Johnson prepares to engage targets from a UH-1Y Venom helicopter during training over San Clemente Island, Calif., Feb. 28, 2015. Johnson is a crew chief assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Combat Training – Marines shield a simulated casualty from the debris of a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey during composite training on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Oct. 30, 2015.

Javelin Launch – A Marine fires a Javelin at a simulated enemy tank during Operation Lava Viper at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, May 29, 2015. The Marines are assigned to Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

Howitzer Fire – U.S. paratroopers load an M119A2 howitzer to support British army units during exercise Wessex Storm at the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command’s Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, July 28, 2015. The paratroopers are assigned to 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade

Airborne Training – U.S. paratroopers and Italian soldiers conduct an airborne operation from a C-130 aircraft during a combined air assault and seizure mission over Lidia drop zone during exercise Mangusta 15 in Siena, Italy, Oct. 26, 2015.

Exit Salute – A U.S. soldier salutes his fellow soldiers while jumping from a C-130 Hercules aircraft over a drop zone in Germany, Feb. 24, 2015. The soldier is assigned to 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group.

The Wall – Defense Secretary Ash Carter stands in front of the Facebook wall during his visit to the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., April 23, 2015. Carter is on a two-day trip to Silicon Valley. Before visiting the company, Carter delivered a lecture at Stanford University, where he unveiled the Defense Department’s new cyber strategy.

Cemetery Coin – Defense Secretary Ash Carter leaves a challenge coin at the gravesite of Army Spc. Christopher David Horton at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., May 22, 2015. Carter and his family members are friends with Horton’s mother. Cemetery visitors often leave small rocks or personal markers on graves to let family members know they visited their loved ones.

Carry Team – Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley render honors as an Army carry team moves the transfer case of U.S. Army Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler during a dignified transfer on Dover Air Force Base, Del., Oct. 24, 2015. Carter attended the ceremony to pay his respects to the fallen soldier.

Baghdad Meeting – Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi, right, meets with U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the Iraq Ministry of Defense in Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 20, 2015.

Veterans Day Flags – Air Force Staff Sgt. Louis Hurst and his son, Ethan, place a flag beside a burial site at the Utah Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Bluffdale, Utah, Nov. 10, 2015. More than 100 airmen from Hill Air Force Base participated in the event organized by Air Force Sergeants Association Chapter 1163.

70th Anniversary – U.S. Marines and veterans render honors to the American flag during the playing of the national anthem during the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima at the Reunion of Honor memorial in Iwo To, Japan, March 21, 2015.

Gravesite Visit – Brittany, left, and her son, Christian, 4, visit the grave of her husband and his father, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Christopher Jacobs, on Memorial Day in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., May 25, 2015. Christian is wearing his father’s cover.

Working Together – U.S. and Nepalese service members gather relief supplies delivered by members of Joint Task Force 505 at an outlying village near Kathmandu, Nepal, May 7, 2015.

Helping a Victim – U.S. Marine Cpl. Brian Schmidt helps an earthquake victim on a UH-1Y Huey helicopter while transporting her to safety during Operation Sahayogi Haat in Nepal, May 19, 2015.

Escape Routes – Army Maj. Brian Vorse, left, and Army Cpt. Chris Jones fly a UH-72A Lakota helicopter over South Carolina’s major hurricane escape routes, June 10, 2015.

Smoky View – Army Capt. Bob Drexel scans the right side of a CH-47D Chinook helicopter above the Rocky Fire near Clear Lake, Calif., Aug. 1, 2015. Drexel’s position on the aircraft requires him to scan for potential hazards and help direct the release water from a large bucket.

Helicopter View – An aerial view from a Coast Guard helicopter shows the effects of flooding from Hurricane Joaquin in Berkley and Williamsburg counties in South Carolina, Oct. 7, 2015.

Black Hawk Help – A Texas Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter helps fight wildfires threatening homes and property near Bastrop, Texas, Oct. 14, 2015.

Touching Moment – Melissa Gonzales shares a moment with her service dog, Bindi, after swimming laps during the fourth day of an introductory adaptive sports and rehabilitation camp on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., April 16, 2015. Gonzales is an Air Force wounded warrior athlete.

Capitol Visit – Military athletes participating in the 2015 Department of Defense Warrior Games pose for a photo with U.S. representatives during a tour of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., June 24, 2015. About 250 athletes competed in the games.

Impeach John Kerry over Allegiance to Iran

Posted on December 23, 2015December 23, 2015 by Denise Simon

Incredible…..John Kerry with the Obama administration’s approval proves more loyalty to Iran than to the United States. It is no longer deniable that Iran’s best partner is John Kerry with Barack Obama’s approval. It is all about the waiver, meaning agreements, treaties and accords have no teeth, the pen is mighty when waivers unwind objectives and our own Congress.

In part from Politico: “Has anybody in the West been targeted by any Iranian national, anybody of Iranian origin, or anyone traveling to Iran?” Zarif asked. “Whereas many people have been targeted by the nationals of your allies, people visiting your allies, and people transiting the territory of, again, your allies. So you’re looking at the wrong address.”

Zarif mentioned the 9/11 attacks, as well as the recent San Bernardino and Paris attacks. His remarks were veiled references to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, whose citizens have been implicated in those and other lethal strikes. Neither nation is singled out in the new visa law.

Despite Kerry’s letter, the National Iranian American Council remained wary of the visa law. “It remains unclear how these steps will ensure that dual citizens are not discriminated against solely on the basis of their nationality,” the group said Sunday.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/iran-visa-waivers-kerry-nuclear-deal-217014#ixzz3v93uDvMt

Iran Nuclear Deal Restricts U.S. More Than Congress Knew

By Eli Lake & Josh Rogin

Members of Congress knew the Iran nuclear deal came with strings attached. They just didn’t know how many.

When the administration presented the agreement to Congress, lawmakers were told that new sanctions on Iran would violate the deal. Now the administration is trying to sidestep a recently passed provision to tighten rules on visas for those who have visited Iran.

Since the accord was struck last summer, the U.S. emphasis on complying with its end of the deal has publicly eclipsed its efforts to pressure Iran. In that time, Iranian authorities have detained two American dual nationals and sentenced a third on what most observers say are trumped up espionage charges. Iran’s military has conducted two missile tests, one of which the U.N. said violated sanctions, and engaged in a new offensive with Russia in Syria to shore up the country’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad.

In the latest example of the U.S. effort to reassure Iran, the State Department is scrambling to confirm to Iran that it won’t enforce new rules that would increase screening of Europeans who have visited Iran and plan to come to America. There is concern the new visa waiver provisions, included in the omnibus budget Congress passed last week, would hinder business people seeking to open up new ventures in Iran once sanctions are lifted.

U.S. officials confirmed over the weekend that Secretary of State John Kerry sent his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, a letter promising to use executive powers to waive the new restrictions on those who have visited Iran but are citizens of countries in the Visa Waiver Program. These officials also told us that they have told Iranian diplomats that, because they are not specific to Iran, the new visa waiver provisions do not violate the detailed sequence of steps Iran and other countries committed to taking as part of the agreement. Even so, the State Department is promising to sidestep the new rule.

At issue is a provision that would require travelers who visit certain countries — including Iran, Sudan, Syria and Iraq — to apply at a U.S. Embassy for a visa before coming to the U.S., even if they are from a country for which such visas would normally be waived.

House staffers who spoke with us say Iran was included for good reason, because it remains on the U.S. list of state of sponsors of terrorism for its open support for Hezbollah and Hamas. The White House did not object until the Iranian government told the administration last week that the bill would violate the nuclear agreement, according to correspondence on these negotiations shared with us.

Since 2013, when the open negotiations with Iran began, the Obama administration has repeatedly told Congress that additional sanctions on the Islamic Republic would wreck negotiations. The resulting agreement obligates the West to lift sanctions in exchange for more transparency and limitations on Iran’s nuclear program. Iran and the White House seem to be interpreting “lift sanctions” more broadly than others expected.

“If the United States Congress cannot implement a more secure visa procedure for those who travel to state sponsors of terrorism like Iran, then the Iran deal ties the hands of lawmakers to a greater extent than even deal critics feared,” Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an expert in Iran sanctions, told us.

Over the weekend, Zarif said in an interview with al-Monitor that Iran’s inclusion on the list might violate the agreement. Zarif called the new restrictions “absurd” because no one connected to Iran was involved in the attacks in San Bernardino and Paris. He also said the provision “sends a very bad signal to the Iranians that the U.S. is bent on hostile policy toward Iran, no matter what.”

The issue is particularly sensitive for the State Department because Iran has yet to implement its side of the deal: The new transparency and limitations on the nuclear program are to begin in the coming weeks. State Department officials have said they fear more hardline elements of the regime in Tehran are trying to scuttle the deal for political advantage over President Hassan Rouhani, whose administration negotiated the accord.

In February, Iran will have parliamentary elections and elections for the powerful assembly of experts, the committee of clerics that would choose the next supreme leader of Iran after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dies. If anti-deal elements win those elections, the future of the nuclear deal will be dim.

These factors explain why Kerry has been willing to overlook Iran’s own provocations while trying to mitigate what Iran sees as provocations from the U.S. Congress. They also explain why Iran seems so intent to provoke the U.S. at the moment it’s supposed to implement the deal to which it just agreed.

Obama Gave Clemency to 95 Convicts, Who are They

Posted on December 23, 2015December 23, 2015 by Denise Simon

Obama gave the warning earlier this year. He also has collaborated with an outside agency on who and why he commutes their sentences.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans to grant clemency to federal offenders “more aggressively” during the remainder of his presidency, he said in a sit-down interview with The Huffington Post on Friday.

Obama has faced criticism for rarely using his power to grant pardons and commutations. In December, he commuted the sentences of eight federal drug offenders, including four who had been sentenced to life. That brought his total number of commutations to 18.

Obama said he had granted clemency so infrequently because of problems in the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney. The former head of that office, who was appointed during the George W. Bush administration, resigned in April amid criticism from criminal justice advocates.

“I noticed that what I was getting was mostly small-time crimes from very long ago,” Obama said. “It’d be a 65-year-old who wanted a pardon to get his gun rights back. Most of them were legitimate, but they didn’t address the broader issues that we face, particularly around nonviolent drug offenses. So we’ve revamped now the DOJ office. We’re now getting much more representative applicants.”

Many of those new applications came from what’s known as the Clemency Project 2014, announced when the head of the Office of the Pardon Attorney resigned. That project, which operates independently of the government, is intended to help DOJ sort through a huge number of applicants to figure out who meets specific criteria laid out by the administration.

4 of the 95 Prisoners Obama Just Set Free Had Nothing to Do With Drug Sentences

On Friday, President Obama granted clemency to 95 convicted prisoners. The vast majority of these individuals received harsh sentences for relatively minor drug offenses. Most of them will become free men and women on April 16, 2016.

Speaking to the press, Obama said:

“Earlier today, I commuted the sentences of 95 men and women who had served their debt to society – another step forward in upholding our fundamental ideals of justice and fairness.”

While they were referred to by the media as “drug offenders,” four of the men and women included were not punished for anything having to do with drugs. Here is some background on these “Freed Four.”

George Andre Axam

Crime: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon

Sentence: 15 years in prison

Though Axam had a history of drug abuse and felony offenses, the crime for which he was imprisoned occurred in December of 2001.

After arguing with his daughter outside his Atlanta house, Axam went back inside, retrieved a gun, then went outside and reportedly aimed it at his daughter’s boyfriend, who was sitting in a car. Axam proceeded to fire “one of two shots in [the boyfriend’s] direction,” then fled into the woods when the police came after him.

Carolyn Yvonne Butler

Crime: Three counts each of armed bank robbery and using a firearm during a violent crime

Sentence: 48 years in prison

Butler robbed three banks at gunpoint in 1991 – one on June 4, another on July 10, and the third on November 22. She reportedly purchased a .25 caliber pistol in San Antonio two days before the first crime.

Though she appealed her guilty verdicts, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld her convictions.

Jon Dylan Girard

Crime: Counterfeiting

Sentence: Six months of home confinement and three years probation

Girard, a physician in Dayton, Ohio, was convicted of counterfeiting in 2002. He was granted a full pardon by the President.

Melody Eileen Homa (née Childress)

Crime: Aiding and abetting bank fraud

Sentence: Thirty days of home confinement, three years probation, 200 hours of community service

Homa committed her crime way back in 1991. Like Girard, the presidential pardon expunged the bank fraud charges from her record.

It’s unclear why these four individuals were tapped for sentence commutation or pardon. Obama has now granted clemency to a total of 163 prisoners in 2015.