http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/12/07/you-see-racism-everywhere-judge-jeanine-pirro-slams-president-obamas-racial-bias 











OH MY!

HOUSE COMMITTEE RELEASES REPORT ON FDIC’S INVOLVEMENT IN OPERATION CHOKE POINT
By Patrick Lagreid @phxcigarguy · On December 8, 2014
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released the latest chapter in the investigation into Operation Choke Point earlier today, a 20-page document detailing the involvement of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in a program that was described as violating “the most fundamental principles of the rule of law and accountable, transparent government.”

Since its launch in 2013, Operation Choke Point has been causing numerous retailers across the country to be denied banking services, including at least five premium cigar retailers since late September. The program was launched in what has been described as an attempt to prevent consumer fraud and to deny banking services to illegal businesses, but speculation has suggested that there may be personal vendettas by senior administration officials against certain types of businesses as well.

Among the key findings in the report, it was determined that the FDIC targeted legal industries as part of the operation via “circular agreement” policymaking, as there was no articulated justification or rationale for the original list of high-risk merchants. Additionally, FDIC was found to have used this list of high risk merchants to make sure that banks “got the message” that offering services to a certain group of businesses would carry enormous regulatory risk and the possibility of full-blown investigations.

In other words, the FDIC bullied banks into dropping certain accounts with the threat of lengthy and costly federal investigations.

Additionally, a number of e-mails produced as part of the report showed that senior FDIC officials had personal animus towards payday lenders, and used FDIC’s supervisory authority to try and eliminate them. E-mails released as part of the report reveal that FDIC’s senior-most bank examiners “literally cannot stand payday,” leading for the directive to banks “to terminate all relationships with the industry.” To convey their disdain, directives from a senior FDIC official directed FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg to always mention pornography when mentioning payday lenders and other targeted industries, in an effort to convey a “good picture regarding the unsavory nature of the businesses at issue.”

Finally, it was determined that the FDIC did indeed partner with the Department of Justice on Operation Choke Point, and may have misled Congress about this partnership.

While the focus of the report focuses primarily around payday lenders and firearms sales, tobacco retailers get a pair of mentions that chronicle their addition to the list of high-risk retailers. In September 2011, online sales of tobacco products became part of the Financial Institution Letter (FIL) being drafted on the matter, getting lumped in with offshore companies, online gambling-related operations, online payday lenders, credit repair schemes, debt consolidation and forgiveness, pharmaceutical sales and telemarketing entities. In a December 2011 draft, tobacco retailers were put side by side with firearms retailers in a list of high-risk businesses for fraud.

That doesn’t mean that cigar stores aren’t part of the conversation about Operation Choke Point.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner published the same day the report came out, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, specifically mentions cigar shops as being one of the retailers targeted by the FDIC and Obama Administration under Operation Choke Point. He said that “the FDIC and others are trying to put entities out of business, including payday lenders but also including cigar shops and a host of other companies.”

The report furthers the case of numerous retailers and trade organizations, including the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) in fighting Operation Choke Point.

“The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has proven what we have suspected throughout our advocacy against Operation Choke Point,” said Kip Talley, senior director of federal legislative affairs for the IPCPR, to halfwheel. “The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) have been pressuring banks to cut off financial services and payment processing for businesses they view as ‘high risk’ – including premium cigar stores. The IPCPR will continue to fight for our constituents and educate Members of Congress about this deeply troubling program aimed at small business retailers.”

They must think we're stupid,,,,,,, oh wait,,,,,,,,,,,, they do.

obumber and his bunch of thieves should be on the Top 10 Most Wanted.

Thanks for posting Mikey, she Nailed it and None of Sotoros WaterBoyz can argue with one point made here!!!!

Is that a puff piece, or what (?)

16 pm July 10, 2014

A month or two ago news broke that Obama’s HHS was calling for private contractors to help transport illegal aliens throughout the interior United States. What made this already big news even bigger is the fact that the original call for proposals came out in January, long before the bulk of the illegal alien surge began.

The breaking news you’re about to read is ten times bigger, because the following proves the Obama administration was bankrolling America’s churches back in 2010. And the tens of millions were flowing in to prepare for the invasion currently underway.

The following is a small taste of what’s out there in grant records. This is just the tip of the iceberg, folks.

Between Dec 2010 and Nov 2013, the Catholic Charities Diocese of Galveston received $15,549,078 in federal grants from Health & Human Services for “Unaccompanied Alien Children Project” with a program description of “Refugee and Entry Assistance.”

Last year, the Catholic Charities Diocese of Fort Worth received $350,000 from Department of Homeland Security for “citizenship and education training” with a program description of “citizenship and immigration services.”

Between September 2010 and September 2013, the Catholic Charities of Dallas received $823,658 from the Department of Homeland Security for “Citizenship Education Training” for “refugee and entrant assistance.”

From Dec 2012 to January 2014, Baptist Child & Family Services received $62,111,126 in federal grants from Health & Human Services for “Unaccompanied Alien Children Program.”

Those Bassards..!! 😠

Obama’s Hawaii vacation is over, now it’s time for taxpayers to pay massive tab

President Barack Obama and his family just spent their Christmas and New Year’s holidays in Kailua. Now it’s time for taxpayers to pick up the tab.

While the Obamas and friends who accompany them pay for their own private vacation home rentals on or near Kailua Beach, taxpayers foot a multimillion dollar tab for everything from a stand-by ambulance to the fuel for Air Force One.

Local taxpayers pick up the bill for Honolulu Police Department escorts who guard Obama, first lady Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha around the clock. Figures just released by HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu show HPD spent $277,000 on overtime costs this year during the president’s 16-day vacation. That’s $16,000 less than in 2013, but $60,000 more than in 2012.

The Emergency Management Services department also dispatches an ambulance to be on call for the president, which annually costs the city about $15,890.

The U.S. Secret Service doesn’t disclose information about the expense for its agents to travel to and stay in Hawaii or guard the first family.

Dozens of Secret Service agents were spotted at Ala Moana Hotel checking in the day before Obama arrived. A spokeswoman for the hotel said she couldn’t release details on the number of agents who stayed there, but hotel staff told Watchdog the government rate would be about $200 a night, including taxes.

Secret Service agents, Navy SEALs and Coast Guard officials also rent private homes along the canal near the president in Kailua at a cost of $250 per room per night, according to several residents renting their homes.

The most pricey charge to taxpayers is the flight to Oahu from Washington, D.C.

Records obtained by Washington, D.C.-based Judicial Watch said “the flights to and from Honolulu for the December 2013-January 2014 Christmas vacation totaled 36.9 hours at $210,877 an hour, which comes to a flight expense alone of $7,781,361.30.”

That was an increase of $3.7 million in flight expenses Judicial Watch reported the Obamas incurred for their 2012 Honolulu Christmas vacation.

No estimates for 2014’s travel have been released by the administration.

The cost for USAF C-17 cargo aircraft that transports presidential limos, helicopters and other support equipment to Hawaii has never been disclosed, but the round-trip flight time between Andrews Air Force Base and Hawaii is 21.5 hours, with estimated operating cost of $12,000 per hour, according to an U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

The U.S. Marine Corps provides a presidential helicopter, along with pilots and support crews for the test flights, which travel on another C-17 flight. That totals $258,000, not including costs for the four-to-six-member crew’s per diem and hotel.

The Obamas rented the same five-bedroom oceanfront villa on Kailuana Place they’ve secured for the past four years. Sūmit Capital LLC, a New York investment firm headed by Soumyo Sarkar and his wife Chinyu Sarkar, owns the multimillion-dollar property.

Security upgrades are made to the home, with bulletproof glass, additional phone lines and other detection and defense systems installed.

Since the home sits on the popular Kailua Beach, the U.S. Coast Guard stations a sea vessel nearby, while its officials use personal watercraft and smaller boats to patrol the ocean and canal surrounding the home.

The administration also rents cars for staff and security, and pays additional travel costs for Secret Service and White House staff traveling ahead of the president.

None of those costs have ever been released to the public.

Obamacare program costs $50,000 in taxpayer money for every American who gets health insurance, says bombshell budget report

By David Martosko, Us Political Editor For Dailymail.com
21:38 26 Jan 2015

Stunning figure comes from Congressional Budget Office report that revised cost estimates for the next 10 years
Government will spend $1.993 TRILLION over a decade and take in $643 BILLION in new taxes, penalties and fees related to Obamacare
The $1.35 trillion net cost will result in 'between 24 million and 27 million' fewer Americans being uninsured – a $50,000 price tag per person at best
The law will still leave 'between 29 million and 31 million' nonelderly Americans without medical insurance
Numbers assume Obamacare insurance exchange enrollment will double between now and 2025
It will cost the federal government – taxpayers, that is – $50,000 for every person who gets health insurance under the Obamacare law, the Congressional Budget Office revealed on Monday.

The number comes from figures buried in a 15-page section of the nonpartisan organization's new ten-year budget outlook.

The best-case scenario described by the CBO would result in 'between 24 million and 27 million' fewer Americans being uninsured in 2025, compared to the year before the Affordable Care Act took effect.

Pulling that off will cost Uncle Sam about $1.35 trillion – or $50,000 per head.

THE $2 TRILLION DOLLAR MAN: President Barack Obama was in India on Monday when the Congressional Budget Office reported the federal government's gross costs for a decade of Obamacare will be $1.993 trillion +5
THE $2 TRILLION DOLLAR MAN: President Barack Obama was in India on Monday when the Congressional Budget Office reported the federal government's gross costs for a decade of Obamacare will be $1.993 trillion
PROMISES: Obama pledged in 2009 during a speech before a joint session of Congress that his health insurance proposal would cost $900 billion over ten years – a far cry short of current numbers +5
PROMISES: Obama pledged in 2009 during a speech before a joint session of Congress that his health insurance proposal would cost $900 billion over ten years – a far cry short of current numbers
The numbers are daunting: It will take $1.993 trillion, a number that looks like $1,993,000,000,000, to provide insurance subsidies to poor and middle-class Americans, and to pay for a massive expansion of Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) costs.

Offsetting that massive outlay will be $643 billion in new taxes, penalties and fees related to the Obamacare law.

That revenue includes quickly escalating penalties – or 'taxes,' as the U.S. Supreme Court described them – on people who resist Washington's command to buy medical insurance.

It also includes income from a controversial medical device tax, which some Republicans predict will be eliminated in the next two years.

If they're right, Obamacare's per-person cost would be even higher.

President Barack Obama pledged to members of Congress in 2009, as his signature insurance overhaul law was being hotly debated, that 'the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years.'

It would be a significant discount if the White House could return to that number today.

Sen. Ted Cruz / Source: inagist.com

Republican lawmakers Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas joined Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York in firing a letter off Thursday to Secretary of State John Kerry. They demand answers regarding reports that a State Department-funded non-profit organization is bankrolling efforts to unseat a foreign leader.

Specifically, the reports allege that the U.S. non-profit OneVoice, which has received at least two U.S. State Department grants in the last year, is funding an Israeli grassroots effort to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s March election.

Cruz and Zeldin said in a joint statement Thursday:

“Has President Obama launched a political campaign against Prime Minister Netanyahu and his representatives?” Sen. Cruz asked. “This administration’s relentless harassment of Israel is utterly incomprehensible. The Islamic Republic of Iran is pursuing the deadliest weapons on the planet, and there can be no doubt that their first target will be Israel, followed by the United States. This administration should be focusing its animosity on the very real enemies we face, not on our staunch allies.”

The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz made its first report of OneVoice’s funding activities on Tuesday, as well as a five-man team of American campaign experts headed by Jeremy Bird, the Obama campaign’s national field director. That report was quickly picked up by both Israeli and U.S. media

Bird’s name wasn’t lost on social media:


Cruz and Zeldin’s statement continued:

“It is completely unacceptable to use U.S. tax dollars to influence the elections in Israel,” said Rep. Zeldin. “State Department grants should never be given to entities working to overthrow strong allies like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We have great allies around the world, but Israel is our strongest, and a beacon of freedom in a region filled with radical Islamic extremists and state sponsored terrorism. Today, I join with Sen. Ted Cruz in calling for a U.S. Department of State investigation into this important matter.”

News of the joint press release soon hit social media. Bloomberg Senate correspondent Kate Hunter tweeted:


The letter asked that Kerry clear up eight questions:

How much funding has the U.S. Government provided to OneVoice, PeaceWorks Network Foundation, and any connected initiatives, projects or subsidiaries?
Who approved providing such funds?
What is the oversight and accounting process for how these funds are being spent?
How often and on what dates has such funding been provided?
What were the specific reasons and terms for providing funds, and how are these funds specifically being spent?
Can the Department of State guarantee that none of these funds have been or will be used in the endeavor detailed above, namely the partnership with V15, or any similar effort to exert undue influence over the Israeli political process?
Was there any knowledge from the State Department or other U.S. government officials of the partnership with V15 prior to providing funds to OneVoice?
Does OneVoice’s work with V15 violate its 501(c)(3) status (or the status of the PeaceWorks Network Foundation) as a tax-exempt organization and should such status be revoked?
It sounds as though Cruz and Zeldin are trying to offset the influence of Chicago-style politics in Israel using a little common-sense Texas-style justice.

Obama thinks George Washington ran a brewery out of the White House. He's lived in that building for 6 years & doesn't know that Washington never lived there (?)

Indonesian madrassa US History is scant.

Canadian journalist perspective

Here is a very interesting Canadian view point from Marc Patrone of the Calgary Sun News network!! Sometimes people on the outside looking in have a better perspective of what is going on in the USA than most of our own citizens!!! This Canadian has a profound insight of our midterm election results.
By Marc Patrone, Calgary Sun News network (posted Friday November 7, 2014; you can look it up – it’s online.)
America is on the edge of a second revolutionary war. It may not be bloody like the first one, but it will be hugely important.
Some might suggest it's more a civil war, but with liberty and the Constitution hanging in the balance, revolution seems a more appropriate comparison. There are no British troops or monarchy to fight this time. The shot heard around the world wasn't fired from a musket, it came from the ballot box.
Americans have taken a long hard look at the kind of fundamental transformation promised by Barack Obama and the Democrat party and they want nothing to do with it. The Republican victory suggests Americans are more than just unhappy with the direction the country is headed. Such was the devastating scope of the electoral debacle for the Democrats that it appears Americans are mobilizing for war against the Obama agenda.
They are only now truly beginning to understand the threat to liberty he presents. What's so deeply troubling, albeit not entirely unexpected, is the disdain, arrogance and contempt with which this president dismissed the results.
"So to everyone who voted, I want you to know I hear you. To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you, too" he said. Meaning what?
He seems to be suggesting that by not voting, the majority of Americans agree with what he's doing. Terrifying? You bet. It's taken six years, but the ugly truth about Obama's contemptuous attitudes toward the people who elected him twice is becoming all too evident. Lame duck? Guess again. The man probably realizes that a chance to remake the U.S. according to his far left view of the world may not come around again. His time is running out. Obama's nuclear option is amnesty for millions of illegals. He expects those illegals will become dependents of the state, thus stacking the electoral deck in favor of Democrats by promising the new wards of the state a suite of entitlements.
The depth of this destructive agenda is clear; rip off trillions in wealth (which Obama believes was stolen anyway) and give it to those whom he considers victims of capitalism. The beneficiaries will naturally reward the progressive left with voter support into perpetuity. Voila, the progressive dream of a one-party state is realized.
This has been decades in the making. The left has infiltrated, corrupted, and subverted the institutions that had, up to now, served as pillars supporting freedom, democracy, and prosperity. The bulk of what was once a free and independent media has been reduced to little more than an arm of the Democrats. That tens of millions of Americans are flocking to Fox News, Conservative talk radio and on-line news sites is heartening but doesn't change the fact most TV, print media outlets are in an advanced state of putrid, cancerous liberal rot.
The same cancer has undermined the school system, big labor,' the environmental movement, and the Hollywood culture machine. Even capitalism itself has succumbed to the lure of easy government money, power and cronyism. So who is left to fight for freedom? The rest of America. Obama will attempt to ram through amnesty, climate change, wealth redistribution and he will ignore the Constitution to do it. Republicans have assured Obama impeachment is off the table. And so the battle lines are drawn.
Fasten your seat belts Canada , we're about to get a front-row seat to the battle for the soul of America and indeed the free world. Let's hope that, as in the first revolutionary war, that the right side wins. If it doesn't, we all lose.

I find it ironically funny that a Canadian is writing about the US crumbling when Canada itself is basically in shambles. Socialized medicine, week economy, french separatist, etc... 🐴

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/jan/28/stuart-varney/will-aca-cost-50000-enrollee/ 

🌫

Carey Wedler
February 2, 2015
(ANTIMEDIA) Though President Barack Obama often masquerades as a savior of the oppressed and downtrodden, his actions speak louder than his rhetoric. His stance on the War on Drugs is no different. In the budget the president just submitted to Congress, he allocates $1 billion more than last year ($26.34 billion to $27.57 billion) to continue the War On Drugs — the war that in rhetoric, he acknowledges has been unsuccessful. Before he was president, he said, “The war on drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws. We need to rethink how we’re operating the drug war.”
In 2012, he then backtracked on decriminalization.
Nevertheless, his 2015 budget claims to be a,
“21st century approach to drug policy that outlines innovative policies and programs and recognizes that substance use disorders are not just a criminal justice issue, but also a major public health concern…”
He calls for
“….an evidence-based plan for real drug policy reform, spanning the spectrum of prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery support, criminal justice reform, effective law enforcement, and international cooperation.”
While he preaches high and mighty, Obama has appropriated an increase in funds directed toward the War on Drugs. According to Obama, to fight it, the Departments of Justice, Defense, and Homeland Security (as well as the Drug Czar) alone should receive over $14.5 billion.
The decades old Drug War funding ratio of law enforcement vs. treatment and prevention is still 60:40. While the DOJ, DOD, and DHS get $14.5 billion, Health and Human Services get $10 billion ($6 billion of which goes to Medicare and Medicaid).


As further detailed by Alternet:
“Justice Department drug war spending would increase from $7.79 billion this fiscal year to $8.14 billion next year under the president’s proposal. That includes nearly $3.7 billion for the Bureau of Prisons (up $187 million), $2.46 billion for the DEA (up $90 million), $519 million for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (up $12 million), and $293 million for the Office of Justice Programs (up $50 million).”
The $27 billion toward drug control overall spans 16 agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Agriculture.
In classic Obama smoke-screen style, there are some decreases in funding with regard to the Office of National Drug Control Policy ($375 million to $307 million), the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program ($245 million to $193 million) and the Department of Defense drug spending (1.307 billion to $1.267 billion).
Obama further asserts in his budget that the recent D.C. legalization of marijuana will stand, in spite of Congressional attempts to nullify it in a recent spending bill.
Nevertheless, the president’s past and present actions show he has no intention of actually reforming or ending the Drug War. His DEA was still raiding medical marijuana dispensaries last year and continues to, even after Congress banned the use of DOJ funds to interfere with state laws. His new attorney general, Loretta Lynch, is a dedicated drug warrior, the DEA still classifies marijuana as a dangerous Schedule I drug, and the IRS, under his watch, still sneakily attempts to drive marijuana shops (where it’s legal) out of business.
These halfhearted attempts to appease public outrage mirror other Obama trends. He similarly called for an investigation into police militarization and brutality, only to appoint a corrupt police commissioner to consult on the project. His agencies refused to press charges against Darren Wilson. While putting police militarization under “review” and scrutiny, he continues to condone arming police with military equipment (throwing in a few restrictions and hurdles). He also spent his most of his administration facilitating this militarization.


While George Bush was just as violent and corrupt as Obama, the current president has a knack for concealing his true intentions and seamlessly fooling the people. Bumbling Bush was not nearly as conniving or cunning in his swindle of citizens, but Obama has expertly perpetuated total surveillance, corporatism, and war under the guise of freedom, equality, and peace. His stance on the Drug War is yet another example of his commitment to exercising unjust authority in a creatively oppressive way.

known obama boy since the 90s and he was a street corner....... then and nothing has changed

who's the cowboy now? Where's Code Pinko?


White House asking authorization for military to fight IS
By DAVID ESPO and NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House circulated a proposal Tuesday authorizing the Pentagon to fight Islamic State terrorists without an "enduring offensive combat" role, hoping to satisfy lawmakers with widely varying views on the need for U.S. ground operations.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J, describing the proposal to reporters, said President Barack Obama would seek authorization for the use of force that would expire after three years. It would end the approval for operations in Iraq that Congress passed in 2002.

Menendez spoke after he and other Democratic senators met privately with top White House aides, on the eve of an anticipated formal request for legislation from the president.

"Hopefully there will not be a significant delay in Congress acting," said White House press secretary Josh Earnest.

The meetings unfolded against a fresh reminder of the threat posed by terrorists who occupy large areas of Syria and Iraq - the confirmed death of a 26-year-old American aid worker who had been held hostage by the group.

Obama pledged to bring anyone responsible for Kayla Mueller's captivity and death to justice "no matter how long it takes."

Of immediate concern was a legislative struggle - the search for a compromise that could satisfy Democrats who oppose the use of American ground forces in the fight against IS, and Republicans who favor at least leaving the possibility open.

Menendez, in describing the White House's opaque formulation, said it remained subject to modification. "That's where the rub will be," he said.

One senior Democrat, Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, said she has significant questions about the president's proposal. "I don't know what the word 'enduring' means. I am very apprehensive about a vague, foggy word," she said.

Menendez also said it was not yet clear if the proposal would cancel a 2001 authorization for the use of force that Congress approved shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Republicans control both houses of Congress, and presidents generally court bipartisan support for legislation of the type Obama now seeks.

Several other lawmakers who were briefed in earlier meetings, said the president would likely seek legislation targeted exclusively against the fighters seeking establishment of an Islamic state, wherever they are and whatever name they use.

Apart from the midday meeting with Democrats in the Capitol attended by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, some Republicans expressed concern with other elements of the administration's emerging proposal.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said administration officials had told him it would not provide for the protection of U.S.-trained Syrian rebel troops on the ground in the event of an air attack by Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.

"It's an unsound military strategy. I think it's immoral if the authorization doesn't allow for us to counter Assad's air power," he said.

There was little evident dispute in Congress that new legislation was needed, both to replace outdated authorization and also to underscore a bipartisan desire to defeat the terrorists seeking an Islamic state. The group has seized territory in Syria and Iraq, imposed a violent form of Sharia law and beheaded several hostages from the United States and other Western countries. Last week, it distributed a horrifying videotape showing the killing-by-burning of a Jordanian pilot.

Mueller's death was the latest event to produce calls for retaliation.

Among members of Obama's party, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said during the day that some rank-and-file lawmakers want to set geographic limits and restrict the types of forces that can be used.

"They want some time limit so we can reconsider at some point in time, whether it's 24 months, 36 months, 48 months," he said at a news conference.

Republicans praised Obama's willingness to seek legislation, up to a point.

"This president, you know, is prone to unilateral action. But when it comes to national security matters, and particularly now fighting this barbaric threat - not only the region but to our own security - I think it's important to come to Congress and get bipartisan support," said John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate's second-ranking Republican leader.

Many Republicans have said they prefer legislation that at least permits the use of ground troops if Obama decides they may be necessary. Some, including Sen. John McCain, have gone further, saying ground troops are needed if the Islamic State fighters are to be defeated.

Obama so far has relied on congressional authorizations that President George W. Bush used to justify military action after 9/11. He said last year he had the legal authority necessary to deploy more than 2,700 U.S. troops to train and assist Iraqi security forces and conduct ongoing airstrikes against targets in Iraq and Syria.