Homeland Security

Ranking Republican on homeland security issues wants to "take out Gadhafi" but wants to hear more from Obama.

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President Obama should fire Attorney General Eric Holder for appointing a special prosecutor to investigate potential CIA abuses of terrorist detainees, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) wrote Friday.

Gingrich, in an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, said that the president should dismiss Holder unless the attorney general resigns.

"In the latest skirmish in the Democratic Party's war on the CIA, Attorney General Eric Holder has failed to uphold this fundamental public trust. And for that, there should be consequences," Gingrich wrote. "If Holder and his senior team won't do the right thing and resign their positions, Obama should do the right thing and fire them."

Holder had attracted Republican ire earlier this week for appointing a special prosecutor to investigate abuses that had taken place during the Bush administration.

The White House had emphasized that although the president believes that CIA officials shouldn't face prosecution for following the advice of the prior administration's lawyers, Holder would be able to decide on the special prosecutor independently.

"In the latest skirmish in the Democratic Party's war on the CIA, Attorney General Eric Holder has failed to uphold this fundamental public trust," Gingrich said. "And for that, there should be consequences."

(Hat tip: GOP12)

Adm. Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is poised to serve a second term as the nation's top military officer.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold Mullen's confirmation hearing Sept. 15.

President Obama sent Mullen's nomination to the Senate already in May.

Mullen's first two-year term as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ends Oct. 1. President George Bush nominated Mullen on June 28, 2007. Mullen, who is well regarded on both sides of the aisle, took his post on Oct.1, 2007.

-Roxana Tiron

Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to appoint a prosecutor to investigate allegations of detainee abuse by the CIA serves as a reminder of why "many Americans" doubt President Obama's ability to keep the country safe, former Vice President Dick Cheney said late Monday night.

Cheney, a longstanding critic of the Obama administration's policies -- especially on domestic security -- since leaving office, blasted the current administration's recent work on intelligence issues.

"President Obama

The Obama administration's move to start directly supervising interrogation of high-value terrorist detainees shows a "bizarre" lack of confidence in CIA Director Leon Panetta, Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) said Monday.

Bond, the top Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, condemned the decision by the White House to establish a new interrogation unit under the National Security Agency, first reported Monday by the Washington Post.

The jurisdictional shift would strip the CIA of oversight of such detainees, and move them more directly under White House control.

"What does the White House have against Leon Panetta?

The current H1N1 "swine flu" epidemic is unlikely to reach pandemic proportions last seen during the 1918-19 global influenza strike, a White House report concluded Monday.

A report by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology said that while the swine flu isn't as virulent as the flu of the early 20th century, the virus "poses a serious health threat to the United States," and could result in the infection of up to 30 to 50 percent of the U.S. population.

The council's report anticipates an uptick in swine flu infections this fall, and predicts between 30,000 and 90,000 deaths from the flu, concentrated amongst children and young adults.

"The fall resurgence may well occur as early as September, with the beginning of the school term,
and the peak infection may occur in mid-October," the report's executive summary said.

The council urged the Obama administration to bolster coordination between agencies to respond to a number of potential health scenarios. Among the key variables to monitor would be surveillance of flu cases, the government's response to an outbreak, and the barriers to the spread of the disease.

"The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and Food and Drug Administration, has already made some important progress on the recommendations found in the PCAST subcommittee report and we plan to adopt others to ensure we are doing everything we can to keep Americans healthy and safe," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

"HIN1 influenza has the potential to affect virtually every aspect of our lives, from our economy and national security to our education system," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "It may not be possible to stop influenza, but we can reduce the number of people who become severely ill by preparing well and acting effectively."

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he was "horrified " at celebrations in Libya that greeted the return of the Lockerbie bomber.

He also said the U.S. should introduce a resolution at the United Nations condemning the celebrations, and called for an investigation into whether the release of the bomber was related to oil contracts between Libya and Great Britain.

"That would be despicable," he said.

British officials have said there was no link between the release of the bomber and business between the two countries.

Schumer said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton should all for Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi to apologize for the celerations that greeted the return of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi.

It's become apparent that the Department of Homeland Security's terror threat level system were part of the Bush administration's "political toolbox," Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) said Friday.

Reacting to former Secretary Tom Ridge's revelations in a forthcoming book that he was pressured to raise the threat level around election time, Moran said liberals' suspicions about the manipulation of the system have been confirmed.

"I think the threat alert was the kind of tool they would bring out in their political toolbox," Moran said during an appearance on MSNBC this afternoon.

"Tom is essentially confirming what many of us suspected: the timing was suspicious," he explained. "The reason that George Bush was reeelected in 2004 was because largely because people were scared, and they felt that he would be toughest on the perceived enemies, real or unreal."

Moran blamed the Bush administration for manipulating Americans' sense of fear of another terrorist attack via the infamous, color-coded threat level system.

"I do think that the Bush administration had a habit of using emotions like fear and the need for security and so on for its own political advantage," he said.

The Obama administration expressed disappointment Thursday over the release of the man convicted of bombing Pan Am Fight 103 from a Scottish prison on "compassionate" grounds.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration "deeply regrets" the release of Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 bombing over Scotland, which killed hundreds of travelers, including Americans.

"The United States deeply regrets the decision by the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi," Gibbs said in a statement.

A Scottish judge ordered al-Megrahi released on compassionate grounds. He is suffering from terminal prostate cancer.

The White House has continually urged against the native Libyan's release, Gibbs said.

"As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland," Gibbs said.

U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder, along with White House officials, had been in extensive contact with counterparts in Scotland and the United Kingdom to communicate strong opposition to the release, the White House said.

"The United States is deeply disappointed by the decision of the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

"We have continued to communicate our long-standing position to UK government officials and Scottish authorities that Megrahi should serve out the entirety of his sentence in Scotland," she added. "Today, we remember those whose lives were lost on December 21, 1988 and we extend our deepest sympathies to the families who live each day with the loss of their loved ones due to this heinous crime."

Seven senators had also asked Scotland to keep the convicted bomber in prison. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.Y.) said yesterday that al-Megrahi's release would heighten the risk for terrorist attacks in the U.S.

The White House, meanwhile, expressed sympathy for family members of the victims.

"On this day, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families who live every day with the loss of their loved ones," Gibbs said. "We recognize the effects of such a loss weigh upon a family forever."

A Scottish judge's order to release Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi will only endanger the U.S., one of the lawmakers working to keep the convict in jail said Wednesday.

Al-Megrahri was convicted in the bombing the flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, and was ordered released on Wednesday on "compassionate" grounds; he is suffering from terminal cancer.

"Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was convicted of killing 270 innocent people after a fair trial and was given ample opportunities to appeal his case," Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.Y.) said in reaction. "The man who committed these awful crimes should not be allowed to walk free."

Lautenberg was one of seven senators to write the Scottish judge who released al-Megrahri demanding he be left to die in prison.

Lautenberg said that the former Libyan agent's release increases the risk of attacks on the U.S.

"Releasing Mr. al-Megrahi also sends the wrong message about the consequences of international terrorism and increases the threat of terror in the United States, the United Kingdom and around the world," he said.