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Obama Flouts Law on Terrorism Report

By Larry Johnson on July 31, 2012 at 5:05 PM in Current Affairs

You would think that the annual report on terrorism is something the President and the Congress would care about. Apparently not. But I am not talking about some routine, irrelevant report. I am talking about the Annual Report on Terrorism that The United States Department of State is required by law to submit to Congress by April 30th. Don’t believe me? Read it for yourself at the Department of State website:

U.S. law requires the Secretary of State to provide Congress, by April 30 of each year, a full and complete report on terrorism with regard to those countries and groups meeting criteria set forth in the legislation. This annual report is entitled Country Reports on Terrorism. Beginning with the report for 2004, it replaced the previously published Patterns of Global Terrorism.

I have contacted State Department’s Office of Public Affairs and asked why. Still waiting for an answer. There is no excuse for such a delay. While U.S. national security is not jeopardized by such a lapse, the failure to follow the law is becoming a theme of the Obama Administration.

Unfortunately, this one is on Secretary Clinton. She is the one ultimately responsible at the Department for ensuring this part of the law is followed. The current Ambassador for CounterTerrorism, Daniel Benjamin, ought to be fired for this failure to comply.

Then there is the Congress. I can understand the Democrat controlled Senate not doing or saying anything, but what the hell is going on with the House of Representatives?

I will provide more analysis and commentary later tonight.

  • Flop_Flipper

    I’m going to take a shot in the dark and speculate that the reason the report has not been provided is because it is politically embarrassing.

    • foxyladi14

      sounds reasonable.

  • HELENK2

    backtrack bunch

    we do not have to obey no stinkin law!!!!!!!!
    no budget
    no report

    but a lot of fundraising and speechifying

  • HELENK2

    http://www.wnd.com/2012/07/claim-u-s-forces-on-syrian-border/

    Larry
    I hope this is just BS.
    Russia claims they have spotted US troops on the border between Turkey and Syria

    • alicewolf

      Russia being who?

  • arabella_trefoil

    Oh come on. Who has time to read stupid reports when there is a campaign to run? The only reason Obama can be motivated to read anything is to see if his name is mentioned.

    • KenoshaMarge

      But only if his name was mentioned in a positive, preferably heroic, way.

      • arabella_trefoil

        Or better yet, if the report contained flattering photos of himself.

        • KenoshaMarge

          How about this? It’s one of my favorites.

          • HoosierinDixie

            Well Joe Biden did say Obama carried a “big stick.” He just failed to mention it was on the end of his nose. Thanks for the picture Marge. It really captures his true spirit.

            • KenoshaMarge

              I thought so.

  • win43

    I followed the link in your post, and the report was right there on that page. The links are dated 7/31/12, so it looks they just went up today. The report itself is dated April 2012.

    Maybe they were submitted to Congress but weren’t yet posted on the website? Or maybe finished late this year? Dunno, but they’re publicly available now.

    • win43

      Hmm… looks like the DoS under Clinton has published them in July or August every year. They appear to have always been on time during the Bush years.

      Sort of interested in what damning implication you’ll seek to draw from a pattern of tardy, but ultimately published, reports.

      • http://noquarterusa.net Larry Johnson

        Are you a moron? The law requires the report to be put out and submitted to Congress by 30 April. That’s not a fucking suggestion. It is the law.

        • TeakWoodKite

          Might I make a suggestion? (LOL)

        • arabella_trefoil

          I tried telling the IRS that filing my tax return by April 15 was “a suggestion” and it didn’t go over well at all. Even if you file for an extension for the “suggested” deadline, the IRS wants the estimated amount due by April 15.

        • alicewolf

          Mr Johnson. What can we do to get this resolved? We need Congress to stay insession beyond the end of this week and sort out the mess we are in. Otherwise there will be a black op or something happening that will help them to outlaw all the existing rules and declare themselves SUPREME RULERS, if only for a few hours before the whole thing goes up in smoke.

      • http://twitter.com/jbjdjbjd jbjd

        Yes, but look at the 2003 report (released in 2004). The web site says,

        Corrected Year in Review, Appendix A, and Appendix G
        were posted on June 22, 2004. Numbers in the text, specifically numbers
        of killed and wounded, were revised to reflect the corrected
        Appendices.

        http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2003/index.htm

        This means to me that, the corrected figures had been previously submitted to Congress, on time; but, the revised figures were only posted to the web site on June 22, 2012. And, indeed, the date “June 22, 2012″ appears on the top of the corrected Appendix; in the same spot as the July 31, 2012 date in the presently posted report.

      • Retired_from_SPOnaj

        The damning implication that I draw is the willful violation of the law. Kind of like filing your tax returns and paying your taxes after April 15th: Tardy, but ultimately filed and paid.”

        • Popsmoke

          At least under law you can get an extension for filing your return. But not that terrorism report…..

    • http://noquarterusa.net Larry Johnson

      “Looks like?” No, it did. They held the press conference today releasing the report. The reporters, like you, have their heads up their ass and are incapable of understanding simple English.

      • http://twitter.com/jbjdjbjd jbjd

        Oh oh, I just posted a comment similar to win43, up thread…

  • shelldoll2

    Mr. Johnson I’m getting reports from another state that Obama has no intention of leaving office even if he loses. For those waiting to scream racism I am getting this info from my own community: the Black community. OT I know but just saying.

    • arabella_trefoil

      I believe you, sister. I stand ready to help the Obama family pack up and leave the White House at a moments notice. I have lots of boxes and packing tape at hand.
      Those two Obama girls look as if they’re ready to leave on their own any minute. Lately they look extremely surly in their photos. (And who can blame them? Puberty is no fun to begin with, and being hauled around the country with two totally lame parents only makes it worse.)

      • TeakWoodKite

        “lots of boxes and packing tape …”
        naw mate…why waste good cardboard when black plastic garbage bags will do just fine?

        • Dissentispatriotic

          Why bother packing? They can just get new duds and digs when they’re out. Doubt for a NY minute they plan to return to the violence of Chicago as it’s just not plush enough anymore. MIchelle’s tired of her clothes anyway and the girls are growing out of theirs. Obama can throw his swim suit and flipflops in a backpack and will never have to wear a suit again.

          • arabella_trefoil

            But I wanted to go in and do grief counseling with the Obama family. I wanted to be like the therapists in the TV show “Hoarders.”
            I wanted to draw pictures on the packing boxes with rainbows and unicorns. I wanted to turn a negative situation into a positive one.
            (I also wanted to get a TV show out of the process, starring me, but that is beside the point.)

            • Flop_Flipper

              I would pay to watch you in action. You are one funny person.

              • arabella_trefoil

                Thanks! But it’s not on purpose. Lots of times people laugh at me and I ask “what’s so funny?”

                • Flop_Flipper

                  I’ve gotta ask… What would be the name of your proposed show?

                  • arabella_trefoil

                    It’s still in development, so I have to keep quiet about it.

          • Flop_Flipper

            I’ve heard, a rumor mind you, that the Obamas were seriously considering moving to one of those 7 extra states he visited.

            • alicewolf

              They could probably buy one of them at the moment. They are all seriously broke.
              They could buy Italy. Why not. Then Obama could be the next Pope and Michelle could be the PASTA!!!! Ha Ha

          • Retired_from_SPOnaj

            In a maneuver that will forever be known as a “reverse Clinton.”

        • Flop_Flipper

          I don’t know. Those black bags seem racist to me. Perhaps biodegradable “green” bags would be less bigoted.

          And since it is obvious that Obama is an empty suit, perhaps some kite string and a strong wind would suffice.

          • foxyladi14

            lololol

          • TeakWoodKite

            I can help with the string.

    • Popsmoke

      Holy Shit! They said the same dam thing about Bush… Your community is either being spun by the republicans to suppress minority votes or is either listening to way to much Coast to Coast AM….

      • Flop_Flipper

        Are you absolutely certain it isn’t a psy-op by the Dems?

        • Popsmoke

          They are not that smart….

          • Flop_Flipper

            You have a point.

    • Retired_from_SPOnaj

      I wonder what Mr. Obama is going to do when the U.S. military shows up on his doorstep to heave his former President butt out of the People’s House? The military is pledged to support and defend the Constitution, not a particular President’s desire to stay in office in perpetuity. Should Mr. Obama attempt to “stay in office” if he fails re-election, his historical legacy will permanently be sealed as that of a deluded fool no matter what race he is.
      If otherwise reasonable people in the black community are discussing this seriously, then whoever is instigating these discussions is doing his fellow citizens in that community an unprecedented disservice.

      • scottymac54

        What about if there was an “emergency”?

  • http://twitter.com/jbjdjbjd jbjd

    I, too, followed the link provided here on NQ, to the site of the SoS. I was disappointed that they, too, failed to cite to the actual law, which I wanted to see for 2 reasons. 1) I wanted to determine whether any provisions allowed a late issue of the report. 2) I wanted to find publication requirements.

    Here is a link to the law. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/22/2656f Then, I followed the U.S. Code to find any updates; there are none.

    As for publication requirements; well, I found none (unless provisions elsewhere require all reports generated under law, which are transmitted to Congress must also be posted on the SoS web site…)

    In other words, while I can attest it would appear that, the April 30 date is a fixed deadline by which to file the report with Congress (specifically, “to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate”); I am still unclear why LJ insists the report was issued past the deadline prescribed by law, and not that it was (just) posted 3 months after issuance.

    • http://noquarterusa.net Larry Johnson

      Because it was issued today. It was not “just posted.” It was released for the first time. It is real simple. The report was required to be submitted to Congress on 30 April. It was not.

      • http://twitter.com/jbjdjbjd jbjd

        But how do you know that?

        As I wrote below; the 2004 report, based in 2003, was evidently submitted to Congress on time but then was amended on June 22, 2004, on the web site. And that June 22 date appears on the amended posting in the same spot as the July 31, 2012 date appears on the current report. However; you claim the present report was not only posted on July 31, 2012 but also released (for the first time to Congress as well as the rest of us) on that same date.

        I am just saying; absent more evidence that the date appearing on the present posted report is its release date and not just its web posting date, your conclusion that it is the one but not the other is as good as anyone else’s.

        And all the name calling in the world doesn’t alter these facts.

        • http://noquarterusa.net Larry Johnson

          Because I called fucking State Department you dumb ass and asked them. Jesus, is there any limit to how far up your ass you can shove your thick coconut of a skull?

  • TeakWoodKite

    current Ambassador for CounterTerrorism, Daniel Benjamin….
    They leave it to an “Ambasador” ? Sorry, LJ but the the word connotates “improving relations”.
    With Churchill it was…

    “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.”

    With Obama it’s…

    “I cannot forecast to you (for the sake of transparency) the actions of MY administration. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an oxymoron; but perhaps there is a key. That key is my completely lawless self absorbed national interest.”;”

    After 18 hours in the “wheel house” …sailing these turbulent summer seas, there he goes again telling me I didn’t build the oceans I sail on….are they not MY dreams? Did someone else “invent” me”?
    What’s the first thing a criminal wants to do about the law, weather sea or land? That’s the Obama syndrome.

  • Popsmoke

    “but what the hell is going on with the House of Representatives?”

    They went on early vacation….

    • alicewolf

      We have to keep them in Washington until they get this mess cleaned up. We need to get some proper people ready to run for president for example, to accept the present situation and the report that has not been published is just the tip of the iceberg, means that the candidates are no good. They need to be replaced by some guys or gals who will stand up for the Constitution and reinstate Glass Steagall, and start uttering credit through a new National Bank to finance infrastructure projects that will put our people back work. NAWAPA is a good example of this. Get NASA back to work, open up the US Steel Industry, the US Concrete making industry, the US Railroad Construction Industry to create a new mag lev system etc. We can’t put up with this crazy stuff any longer, it’s NOT GOING ANYWHERE. It is just over and tired and we need to stand up and say we had enough already. WE HAVE TO CALL OUR REPRESENTATIVES NOW.

      • Flop_Flipper

        The President has the Constitutional authority to call Congress into session or to cancel their vacation should he choose. But he would have to be in Washington himself to do so. Ain’t gonna happen as he is enjoying his perpetual campaigning vacation.

        Good thing we (the people) get to send him on a permanent vacation very soon.

        • foxyladi14

          Can’t wait.

      • Hokma

        “We have to keep them in Washington until they get this mess cleaned up”
        You’re right. They should not leave until they are finished “putting the scrambled eggs back in the toothpaste tube” . . . . . Where the heck did you get that expression from?:):):)

  • KenoshaMarge

    Obama, and his DOJ, and now the State Department, seem to have a penchant for flouting laws they find inconvenient. As do many others in government. The lawless making and enforcing the laws. Just doesn’t seem right somehow does it?

    • alicewolf

      Back in the day it was called being an outlaw.
      Call your congressman or woman everybody, tell them to reinstate Glass Steagall, by signing onto HR 1489 the Return to PRudent Banking Act and getting it passed this week. Tell them to stay in session until all these loose ends are tidied up, like the above mentioned report and all the other things that are hanging over our head. The threat of thermonuclear war which is the end game if this continued war game is carried on and the “terrorists” funded and trained by the US or NATO or our afflliates in Saudi Arabia etc. Tsk tsking about this report means that we have to take further steps, we have to get our representatives to take the necessary precautions needed to rid our republic of those people who have shown themselves to be acting contrary to the US Constitution and the citizens it upholds.
      We have a right to insist that we have decent candidates running for president. The two people who are the front runners are not decent, they are unfit to represent the United States. There are any number of decent men or women in the Democratic party who could run for office and with this change in mind there would no longer be a need for there to be only one GOP candidate. Their current candidate is only popular because he “isn’t Obama” and even Obama is said not to be who he says he is, so where does that leave the voters. Up a gum tree would be one way to look at it.
      To get back to your comment, the answer is that it is unacceptable and we shouldn’t accept this behavior any longer from our representatives. They have to stay in session beyond the end of this week and get their act together to save the United States, Timothy Geithner is busy in Europe planning more rack and ruin and we need to take steps to have him retired along with the rest of the Administration so that we can save the nations from a Dark Age of Dark Ages. We have our hands full and so do they. ON your marks, get set, GO

      • Popsmoke

        Actually economically speaking… Its better they say on an extended vacation…. Lot less damage will be done …

        • alicewolf

          Thanks everyone for all your imput. It’s great to be on the same page as at least a few people.
          Question of the day………………. what’s the latest on Bandar Bush? Congress should be puzzling over
          that too. They really have their hands full. With cookies from the cookie jar no doubt.

  • alicewolf

    It’s hard to put the scrambled eggs back in the toothpaste tube okay? That’s what one banker said when one of the banks was busted wide open for laundering drug money, which in some cases it has been suggested has been used to channel funds to terrorists. It could be an admission of guilt that they would have to submit and that would have to be authorized by the DOJ. Maybe Mr Holder is preparing a “finding” that would cover all the bumps in the road. Those scrambled eggs are messy.

  • TrumanTown

    The reason why no one is making any noise is that everyone, even the crazy-ass Republicans, know that the requirement for the report as it’s defined is just bureaucratic BS. “Send me a report, Fillmore. If you don’t, I’ll throw your sorry ass in jail.” But when they look at the report as they’ve defined it on the dated they’ve required it, they know it’s useless and just toss it. That’s not so say that there isn’t lots of good information to be had and that it can’t be had. Truth is, some staffer way back when defined the requirements for this report, and it sounded like a good idea. Over the years, as it’s been published and read, no one in Congress gives a crap because the information, as it’s published is useless. The day after it comes out, it’s stale and needs to be updated. Print off an old copy and start campfires with it.

  • Eyes Wide Open

    So no has the courage in Congress to demand they follow the law? Or are there too many fires that need putting out all at the same time?

  • HELENK2
    • HELENK2

      (Reuters) –
      President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S.
      support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
      and his government, U.S. sources familiar with the matter said.

    • Flop_Flipper

      So we are arming the rebels even if it isn’t being officially sanctioned. Just hope these fools realize that if you break it you’ve bought it. Heard something on NPR that stated that as bad as Assad is he has kept his truce with the Israelis. And they are very concerned that whoever takes his place, should that happen, will not do so.

  • Popsmoke
  • kaola519

    tinyurl.com/cyk9xz2