Newly Released E-Mails Reveal Plan To Wow Republicans Into Submission
Hillary Clinton’s longtime confidant Sidney Blumenthal suggested that the Obama administration use photographs of Osama bin Laden’s dead body to turn Congress into “liegemen bowing before” Obama, Clinton’s newly released private e-mails reveal.
Blumenthal further suggested that the post-mortem images should be exploited for debt ceiling negotiations to get “far right-wing Tea Party Republicans” to “admit to the president’s status above them and to his effectiveness.”
The latest batch of 550 e-mails released on Saturday by the State Department contain a May 5, 2011 Blumenthal dispatch to Clinton titled “OBL photos.”
The e-mail was sent in the wake of bin Laden’s May 2, 2011 elimination by U.S. Navy SEALs in Pakistan. Bin Laden’s body was buried at sea and the government has kept photos of his corpse private, fearing the images would trigger violent backlash.
Blumenthal, however, saw an opportunity and suggested the Obama administration could use the post-mortem photos in a publicity blitz with multiple political agendas.
Blumenthal suggested the administration should show the bin Laden images to every member of Congress in a special secure room, “something like when members were permitted to view Abu Ghraib pictures,” he wrote.
“This event should be staged over two or three days, occupying most of a work week, and continuing to dominate the public and congressional mind,” he wrote. “Don’t let the photos serve as trophies; instead take the Congress as trophy using the photos.”
Blumenthal continued:
“Here are the reasons: Having the members file through will provide testimony to the President’s feat. They will be not only acknowledging but also enhancing his power. They will in effect become liegemen bowing before him, but not in any way they will resent or will protest.
“They will serve as witnesses to the magnitude of what he has done. Each of them will emerge speaking to the national and local press on what they have seen. Their words will be descriptive, but they will not be equivalent to graphic images that could be circulated themselves and have mischievous consequences.”
Blumenthal wrote he believed the images should be used to gain leverage with Republicans in debt ceiling talks and to lower the stature of “far right-wing Tea Party Republicans.”
Hamas Members Dare Criticize Their Own Leaders
A Hamas government decision to buy 36 new cars for senior public servants has caused a backlash on Palestinian social media, with Gaza residents criticizing the ruling Islamist group for splurging during times of economic distress.
Some of the critics are active Hamas members, who complain that the government is going too far by renewing its vehicle fleet for the third time in five years. This while the Hamas government has consistently been unable to pay employee salaries on time.
“While public servants cannot afford bread to feed their children, and I mean every word, the treasury approves a decision to buy new cars,” wrote Rami Rayan, an civil service employee of Hamas’s Interior Ministry, to his 2,108 followers on Facebook.
He continued, “How can the prestige of a public official mean more to you than the empty stomach of a child??!! How do you expect us to believe your empty rhetoric about compassion and solidarity when you behave in this satanic way??!”
Other Gazans identified with Rayan’s dismay. One wrote: “Be careful, or you’ll eat your lunch tomorrow at the Interior Minister’s office.” Another commented sarcastically: “It’s the money they collected from cigarette smugglers, it’s dirty money, that’s why they don’t use it to pay you.” And a third commenter wrote, also sarcastically: “It’s their country and their money, they can do whatever they want with it.”
Breitbart Jerusalem Obtains Screenshots Of Suicide Bomber’s Online Chat
Screenshots obtained by Breitbart Jerusalem of an Egyptian suicide bomber’s online chat with another jihadist provide a rare inside glimpse into the Islamic State’s suicide operations.
Abu al-Shuhadaa al-Russy, the terrorist’s nom de guerre, told a jihadist friend based in Gaza via an encrypted chat on the Telegram messaging application that he was “number 15 on the list.” This means there were 15 other ISIS militants slated to carry out suicide bombings before him, according to the suicide bomber.
“Allah is great,” his friend responded, adding: “Are the brothers carrying out suicide attacks every day?”
“No,” al-Russy replied. “It depends on the circumstances.”
“You will soon be in heaven,” the friend reassured the bomber, to which the bomber responded with a smiley face.
The chat buddy of the suicide bomber is an ISIS militant who recently returned to the Gaza Strip after fighting in Iraq and Syria. He revealed to Breitbart Jerusalem the suicide bomber’s real name, Assadullah Abdullah al-Salam, who turned out to be a resident of Cairo’s Giza district.
The chat took place January 27, 2016. Eight days later, Salam carried out a suicide mission in Iraq, the Gazan jihadist said.
Salam’s four brothers have enlisted with ISIS, the Gazan jihadist said. One was killed last year and another severely wounded, both in Iraq, according to the Gazan jihadist.
The jihadist told Breitbart Jerusalem that Salam’s wife and sister recently arrived in Mosul – a jihadi stronghold in Iraq – from Egypt.
On his Facebook page, Salam encourages sympathizers who haven’t joined the “ISIS caliphate” to act as “lone wolves.”
“At this desperate time, Islam has no other choice,” he wrote. “Lone wolf, the nation looks up to you.”
Another post, apparently written by Salam’s sister reads: “The brothers in headquarters have confirmed that my brother was killed. He wasn’t after fame and glory, and didn’t want people to admire him. A few months ago, he asked to be tasked with a suicide operation, told me about it, and asked me to keep it a secret. Only recently, when his turn approached, he made it public. Since he arrived in the Caliphate, his heart went out to Allah.”
The post received many comments praising the suicide bomber and his ISIS-supporting sister.
In another post, Salam was chatting with a friend who joined IS forces in the Libyan town of Sirte and praised him for finishing his training. “I want to see what the security forces will do now. They need to know that our lions are waiting.”
“The West perceives suicide bombers as barbarians,” the Gazan jihadi told Breitbart Jerusalem. “They fail to understand that these are young people who are unimpressed with this life. They yearn for the afterlife, that’s why they compete for suicide missions. They want to get a place in heaven.”
“Being tasked with a suicide mission is a great honor,” he said. “Those who have been selected feel humbled and are admired by many others.”