:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::
"Everything is being compressed into tiny tablets. You take a little pill of news every day - 23 minutes - and that's supposed to be enough." -Walter Cronkite, RE TV news. The Web has changed that for many, however, and here is an extra dose for your daily news cocktail. This prescription tends to include surveillance and now war-related links, along with the occasional pop culture junk and whatever else seizes my attention as I scan online news sites.:: 12.29.2009 ::
:: President Obama pledges to scour world for terror cells ::
Times Online UK
President Obama vowed to track down and destroy terror cells all over the world last night as he finally ended his silence over a failed Christmas Day plot to blow up an American passenger jet.
The White House said that Mr Obama’s reticence to speak out was designed to reduce the attention focused on an extremist group based in Yemen calling itself al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Islamist organisation led by a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the botched attack in a statement yesterday.
The President took a few minutes out of his holiday in Hawaii to pledge that he would work to keep America safe from attack with further foreign interventions where necessary.
“We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us,” Mr Obama said.
“Whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the US homeland."
A new front in the battle against extremists has already been opened in Yemen, where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a former student in London, spent three months earlier this year.
Yemeni government forces, acting on US intelligence and using what officials have admitted was American military hardware, launched air raids on suspected militants in the east of the country on December 17 and again on December 24. At least 60 people were understood to have been killed.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed that the Christmas Day plot was a response to those raids but plans are believed to have pre-dated the US-backed assaults.
Mr Obama has proved willing to sanction military intervention but appears to be less tough than his predecessor in terms of rhetoric.
George W. Bush, who was elected in 2000, responded to the September 11 2001 attacks by pledging to seize bin Laden “dead or alive”. He said would “smoke” extremists out, and taunted “bring ’em on” when asked about insurgents in Iraq.
Despite the potentially devastating impact of Mr Abdulmutallab’s attempt to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Mr Obama was measured in his response.
“The American people should be assured that we are doing everything in our power to keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season,” he said.
The incident prompted stiffer airport boarding measures and authorities warned travellers to expect extra delays in the coming weeks.
Read more here.
A L S O
Obama blames 'systemic failures' in US security
Reuters
A N D
An Obama Christmas
ABC News (blog) - Jon Garcia
posted by me
:: 8:09:00 PM [+] ::
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