President Barack Obama hasn't kicked the smoking habit, takes Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/politics/obama_checkup_excellent_health_still_p

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama hasn't kicked the smoking habit, takes anti-inflammatory medication to relieve chronic tendinitis in his left knee and should eat better to lower his cholesterol, his team of doctors concluded today after the 48-year-old's first medical checkup as commander in chief.

The hoops-happy chief executive, who has endured an exhausting White House run and yearlong battles with congressional Republicans, was otherwise declared in excellent health and fit for duty.

The White House physician, Navy Capt. Jeffrey Kuhlman, said Obama should stick with "smoking cessation efforts," the use of nicotine gum, and come back in August 2011 after he turns 50.

REUTERS

OFF THE WAGON -- Obama hasn't given up smoking, but docs still say the 48-year-old is in "excellent health."

Obama cholesterol levels have crept up to borderline high and he should alter his diet accordingly, according to a report the White House released after the 90-minute examination at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. While at the facility, he visited 12 military service members receiving treatment and rehabilitation for injuries suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The president is the picture of health, eats modest portions and exercises regularly. He is an avid basketball player and golfer. The slightly elevated cholesterol levels, tendinitis in his left knee and occasional smoking were the only negatives noted.

Obama said at a June news conference that he still had an occasional cigarette. It was his first public acknowledgment that he hadn't kicked the habit. He chews nicotine gum to avoid regular smoking, and his doctor said that should continue.

Kuhlman also said the president should modify his diet to bring his LDL, or bad cholesterol, below 130. At the time of his last exam, Obama's total cholesterol was 173, while his LDL was 96 and HDL, or good cholesterol, was 68.

This time, total cholesterol was up to 209, with HDL down slightly at 62. LDL was up to 138. Borderline high cholesterol starts at 200, with LDL considered in the same category at 130.

Kuhlman said Obama last checkup was in July 2008 when he was seen by the attending physician to Congress when Obama was an Illinois senator. During the 2008 White House race, his campaign released a statement from his longtime Chicago doctor saying Obama was in excellent health when examined January 2007.

Sunday's report said Obama is 6-foot-1 and weighs 180 pounds in shoes and exercise clothing. His pulse rate is 56, which is very good, as is his blood pressure — 105 over 62. The doctor said Obama's vision was 20/20 in both eyes for both distance and near vision.

The president was checked for and found free of colon cancer with a virtual colonoscopy, a scan that avoids the more invasive visual inspection with a camera device that is passed into the large intestine.

The tendinitis that Obama suffers in his left leg could be the result of his regular basketball playing.

Kuhlman said that there was mild popping and grinding in Obama's left knee and "some weakness" in his left hip, also possibly a result of rigorous and extended periods on the basketball court.

The doctor said Obama should:

—Have another exam for colon cancer in five years

—Continue smoking cessation efforts, a daily exercise program, a healthy diet, moderation in alcohol intake, periodic dental care, and remain up to date with recommended immunizations.

—Keep up a modified exercise regimen to strengthen his legs to ward off more difficulties with his knee.

—Modify his diet to lower his LDL cholesterol below 130.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/politics/obama_checkup_excellent_health_still_p4cnqNMCY3VineErslej4I#ixzz0pLbMSCoh

CAIR's bid to Islamize America won't stop by itself Help resist assault on speech and get free copy of blockbuster expose 'Muslim Mafia'

Posted: May 27, 2010
1:00 am Eastern

© 2010 WorldNetDaily

And there will be other cases, too.

"Real, old-fashioned investigative journalism like WND does, and only WND does, tends to attract lawsuits," said Joseph Farah, editor and chief executive officer. "WND has faced its share over the years and expects to continue to face more in the future. It's hard to fund the investigations and defend them in the courtroom against adversaries with deep pockets."

Your contribution to resist this serious assault on America's freedom and security is greatly appreciated.

Barack Obama declares the 'War on Terror' is over President Barack Obama has rejected George W. Bush's doctrine that placed the "war on terror" at th

By Toby Harnden in Washington
Published: 10:00PM BST 27 May 2010

Barack Obama Photo: REUTERS

The US president has instead replaced it with a softer approach stressing "new partnerships" and multilateral diplomacy.

"Our long-term security will not come from our ability to instill fear in other peoples but through our capacity to speak to their hopes," Mr Obama said in a message introducing a new national security strategy.

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In the 52-page document, drawn up after 16 months of deliberations, Mr Obama outlines a much broader set of priorities and methods than Mr Bush's tightly-focused determination to eradicate Islamism by any means possible and alone if necessary.

"We will always seek to delegitimise the use of terrorism and to isolate those who carry it out," it states. "Yet this is not a global war against a tactic – terrorism – or a religion – Islam.

"We are at war with a specific network, al-Qaeda, and its terrorist affiliates who support efforts to attack the United States, our allies, and partners."

Mr Obama distances himself from Mr Bush's concept of pre-emptive wars to prevent emerging threats, instead citing the national security implications of global economic crises and climate change.

American global leadership, the document argues, depends on a strong economy and a determination to progress in the areas of "education, clean energy, science and technology, and a reduced federal deficit".

It highlights home-grown terrorists who become "radicalised" on American soil. "Our best defences against this threat are well informed and equipped families, local communities, and institutions.

"The Federal Government will invest in intelligence to understand this threat and expand community engagement and development programs to empower local communities."

It does note that for more than a decade, the United States has been involved in a struggle against a "far-reaching network of violence and hatred". Military superiority will remain "a cornerstone of our national defence and an anchor of global security".

But also important will be "new partnerships with emerging centres of influence" and a "push for institutions that are more capable of responding to the challenges of our times". American innovation is "a leading source of American power".

The document presents the Obama administration as realist in nature, an implicit rebuke to the neoconservatives who hoped to reorder the world based on American values. "To succeed, we must face the world as it is," it states.

There should be tough engagement "without illusion" with foes like Iran and North Korea but isolation would be the result of their continued intransigence. In his last national security strategy in 2006, Mr Bush declared that "the war on terror is not over".

In a preview of the document, John Brennan, Mr Obama's senior counter-terrorism adviser, said that there was a "new phase" in al-Qaeda tactics in which terrorists who did not fit the "traditional profile" would carry out attacks.

These included Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who attempted to explode an underpants bombs on a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day, and Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani American accused of leaving a car bomb in New York's in Times Square this month.

"As our enemy adapts and evolves their tactics, so must we constantly adapt and evolve ours, not in a mad rush driven by fear, but in a thoughtful and reasoned way that enhances our security and further delegitimises the actions of our enemy," Mr Brennan said.

It was wrong, he added, to "describe our enemy as jihadists or Islamists" because that would "play into the false perception" that al-Qaeda and its allies were "religious leaders and defending a holy cause, when in fact, they are nothing more than murderers".

Why are we (US) WND Exclusive U.S. trying to deport 'Son of Hamas' Feds see 'terrorist' in Christian convert who spied for Israel

Posted: May 27, 2010
10:35 pm Eastern

By Art Moore
© 2010 WorldNetDaily


Mosab Hassan Yousef
The Department of Homeland Security is trying to deport the son of a Hamas founder who told of his conversion to Christianity and decade of spying for Israel in a New York Times best-seller.

"Son of Hamas" author Mosab Hassan Yousef revealed on a blog hosted by his publisher he is scheduled to appear June 30 before Immigration Judge Rico J. Bartolomei at the DHS Immigration Court in San Diego.

Yousef said the DHS informed him Feb. 23, 2009, he was barred from asylum in the U.S. because there were reasonable grounds for believing he was "a danger to the security of the United States" and "engaged in terrorist activity."

An incredulous Yousef said the U.S. government's belief he is a terrorist is based on a complete misinterpretation of passages of his book in which he describes his work as a counterterrorism agent for the Israeli internal intelligence service Shin Bet.

From the world of radical Islam to the world of the radically transformed. Order your copy of "Son of Hamas" from the WND Superstore now!

Yousef said he's not so much worried about himself as he is "outraged" about "a security system that is so primitive and naive that it endangers the lives of countless Americans."

"If Homeland Security cannot tell the difference between a terrorist and a man who spent his life fighting terrorism, how can they protect their own people?" he asked in his blog post.

Yousef said whatever Judge Bartolomei decides will be appealed, "and this insane merry-go-round can go on like that for decades."

Yousef's asylum case – A 088 271 051 – was filed Aug. 22, 2007, about seven months after he arrived in the U.S. from Israel.

The office of DHS Senior Attorney Kerri Calcador, who is handling the case, referred WND's request for comment to Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack, who said the agency is barred by policy from commenting, or even confirming or denying the existence of any case.

WND tried to reach Yousef for further comment, but he was not available.

(Story continues below)



As WND reported, Yousef worked alongside his father, Sheik Hassan Yousef, in the West Bank city of al-Ghaniya near Ramallah while secretly embracing Christian faith and serving as one of the top spies for Israel's internal security arm. Yousef was recruited by Shin Bet in 1996 at the age of 18 while at an Israeli detention facility.

Since publicly declaring his faith in August 2008, he has been condemned by an al-Qaida-affiliated group and disowned by his family.


Mosab Hassan Yousef in 2008 interview with Al-Hayat TV (Middle East Media Research Institute)

His chief Shin Bet handler, "Captain Loai," has confirmed his account and praised him in media interviews for disrupting dozens of suicide bombings and assassination attempts by Hamas, saving hundreds of lives.

'Material support'

Yousef said he recently received a document from DHS in which attorney Calcador pointed to passages in his book as evidence of terrorist activity.

Calcador cites a passage in which she says "a member of Shin Bet shows the respondent a list of suspects implicated in a March 2001 suicide bombing and asks the respondent whether he knows the individuals. The respondent indicates that he does know five of the people on the list and states that he previously drove them to safe houses."

In the DHS document, Calcador concludes, "At a bare minimum, evidence of the respondent's transport of Hamas members to safe houses … indicates that the respondent provided material support to a [Tier I] terrorist organization."

Yousef's response: "Is she kidding? Either Homeland Security's chief attorney has zero reading comprehension, or else she intentionally took the passage out of context. And I am not sure which is worse."

Yousef explained his job as a Shin Bet agent required him to be involved with his father's activities.

"So when he asked me to go with him to pick up these guys when they were released from the Palestinian Authority prison, I went," he said.

He insisted that no one at the time – not his father or even Israel – knew the five men were involved in suicide bombings.

He further argued he was the one who later provided Israel the evidence that connected the men to the terrorist bombing at the Hebrew University cafeteria in July 2002.

"And Homeland Security would do well to remember that there were five American citizens among the dead," Yousef said of the attack. "Apparently the agency needs also to be reminded that I was the one who located the terrorists and led to their arrest or death."

For that, he said, Homeland Security "today tells me 'thank you' by trying to deport me!"

He explained it was "part of his job" to pose as a terrorist and participate in "terrorist meetings" with Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat, his father and other Hamas leaders.

"I passed on to the Shin Bet all the information I gathered during those meetings and saved the lives of many people – including many Americans," he said.

'Exposing the weaknesses'

Yousef said his intent for writing the blog post was to alert Americans to the danger they face.

"I believe that God is using this situation to expose the weaknesses of Homeland Security and to put pressure on it to make changes that can save lives and preserve freedom," he said.
Hamas rally on 22nd anniversary in Gaza

He recalled that when he arrived in America Jan. 2, 2007, he "walked into the airport like anyone else on a tourist visa."

When he went to the Homeland Security office seven months later, he said, he knocked on the door and told them, "Hey, guys, I am the son of Sheik Hassan Yousef, my father is involved in a terrorist organization, and I would like political asylum in your country."

He said the officials were shocked.

"I wanted them to see that they have huge gaps in their security and their understanding of terrorism and make changes before it's too late," Yousef explained.

Yousef said that when DHS demanded evidence of his claims, he presented a draft of his book "Son of Hamas."

"Surely this would make everything perfectly clear," he thought. "They would discover that I was an intelligence agent, not a terrorist. That I tracked down terrorists and put them in prison. That I was an asset, not a threat."

But Homeland Security, according to Yousef, doesn't "get it."

He said the FBI, in contrast, "has a much better understanding of terrorism and recognizes me as a valuable asset."

"They told Homeland Security that I am not a threat and advised them to drop the case. But Homeland Security shut its eyes and stopped up its ears and told the FBI, 'You have nothing to do with this. It is our job,'" Yousef said.

The agency's performance, he asserted, "should worry the American people."

"If Homeland Security cannot understand a simple story like mine, how can they be trusted with bigger issues?" he asked. "They seem to know only how to blindly follow rules and procedures. But to work intelligence, you have to be very creative. You have to accept exceptions. You need to be able to think beyond facts and circumstances.

"Homeland Security has absolutely no idea of the dangers that lie ahead," he said.

'Imagine suicide bombers in America'

He warned the U.S. is not prepared as al-Qaida adapts its strategy to lessons learned from terrorist groups like Hamas.
Suicide Bomber Hits Southern Israeli Town Of Dimona

"For nearly 30 years, I watched from the inside as Hamas dug its claws deeper and deeper into Israel. They started awkwardly, clumsily, but they got good at it. And al-Qaida is becoming more like Hamas," he said.

The strategy of Hamas, Yousef explained, has always been to destroy Israel through a "slow bleeding war."

"They don't have nuclear bombs, so they send a suicide bomber here, another one there. And over the years, they severely damaged the economy and gave Israel a bad reputation all over the world," Yousef said.

While al-Qaida began with massive attacks like 9/11, Osama bin Laden "understands how effective the Hamas strategy will be on American soil," he said.

The U.S. has experienced nothing like Israel has endured, said Yousef, and the country is not ready.

"Try to imagine attacks by suicide bombers and car bombers, attacks on schools, in shopping malls, in the gridlock of rush-hour traffic, week after week, month after month, year after year, here and there, in big cities and rural towns," he said.

"No one feels safe anywhere. There seems to be no reason behind the attacks, no pattern. Everyone is a target."

Having been raised on the inside of this kind of environment, from both sides, he said he is only asking Homeland Security "to be humble and listen, so they can learn."

"Exposing terrorist secrets and warning the world in my first book cost me everything," he said. "I am a traitor to my people, disowned by my family, a man without a country. And now the country I came to for sanctuary is turning its back."

Related offer:

Order your copy of "Son of Hamas" from the WND Superstore now!

Menendez (NJ SEN) sends Afshin Mohamadi is sent in to stop Recall of NJ. Senator

Posted: May 28, 2010
10:35 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

However, those who want Menendez removed point out the Constitution does not address the recall of senators, who originally were named by state legislatures, not a popular vote. Also, the Tenth Amendment reserves to the states all responsibilities not specifically given to the federal government in the Constitution.

In 1993 voters in New Jersey decided by a split of 3-1 to add to their own state constitution the provision, "The people reserve unto themselves the power to recall, after at least one year of service, any elected official in this state or representing this state in the United States Congress."

The high court, which is expected to rule soon, accepted a friend-of-the-court brief from a coalition arguing on behalf of the right of the citizens of New Jersey to not only adopt the provision but follow through with the action it allows.

The brief was filed by the Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund, Institute on the Constitution, U.S. Justice Foundation, Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of America Inc., Vision to America, the Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, Public Advocate of the United States, Inc., U.S. Border Control, U.S. Border Control Foundation, American Coalition for Competitive Trade, and the Constitution Party Committee.

"The power to recall senators is reserved to the people by the Tenth and Seventeenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution," the brief argues.

It notes that "qualifications" for the post are set by the federal Constitution, but the "mode" of electing members of the Senate "has never been vested in any 'federal authority.'"

"Menendez would have this court rule that the powers conferred upon the House and Senate to 'judge … elections, returns and qualifications of its own members' would limit the power of the people to elect 'whom they please to govern them' by denying to the people any power to recall an elected member of Congress," the brief argues.

The argument cites a letter from George Washington, who wrote that representatives of the people, when they refuse to work in the people's "best interests," "can and undoubtedly will be, recalled."

Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation told WND voters in New Jersey passed a law addressing the issue, in the absence of national constitutional language.

"If the recall goes forward, it's not like he's out of office. People just have the right to decide," he said.

But instead of responding to the dissatisfaction that is apparent, Menendez is "using every legal maneuver" to avoid responding to voters, he said.

"He's saying, 'Nah, I don't care what the voters think, I'm above the law,'" Kreep said.

New Jersey Tea Parties United and the Sussex County Tea Party originally worked together to recall Menendez.

But the secretary of state, Nina Wells, refused to cooperate. A three-judge appellate panel then ruled earlier this year the tea partiers' notice of intent to recall Menendez must be accepted.

The tea partiers explained to the New Jersey Herald their senator "does not represent the people the way his oath requires that he does," as evidenced by his votes on Medicare, health care and "extravagant, excessive multimillion-dollar projects that offered little or no short-term economic benefits."

No U.S. senator, however, has ever been subjected to a recall vote.

If the tea partiers are given to go-ahead, they would have 320 days to obtain the signatures of 25 percent of registered voters in New Jersey, roughly 1.3 million names, to place a recall on the ballot.

The effort to recall a senator is not entirely new, nor is it limited to New Jersey.

Peter Ferrara, a lawyer for the American Civil Rights Union, which is helping the tea partiers with their case, told the Washington Times nine states, including 12 Democratic senators who are not up for re-election otherwise, could all be on the ballot with a recall.

"Given what they're doing on health care this year," he added, "that's just going to be a huge boost to the recall effort."

The other states that could attempt recalls of their congressional representatives are Colorado, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Louisiana, where an effort is already underway to oust Democratic Sen. Mary L. Landrieu.

A Republican, Rep. Ahn Cao, also heard the stirrings of recall when some Louisiana citizens who objected to his vote against the stimulus bill sought to remove him last year. The attempt failed to generate enough signatures before the state's 180-day time limit expired.

Jihad is a holy struggle- John Brennan- The president's top counterterrorism adviser

Jihad is a holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam, meaning to purify oneself or one's community, and there is nothing holy or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women and children. - The president's top counterterrorism adviser John Brennan during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The case of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan Christian

A conflict of values:

	"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Emphasis ours).
	"Whosoever turns back from his belief, openly or secretly, take him and kill him wheresoever ye find him, like any other infidel. Separate yourself from him altogether. Do not accept intercession in his regard." Sura 4: 88-89

Overview:

As noted in our essay on apostasy in Islam, people who have left the religion of Islam have been rarely executed in the 21st century. However, most Muslims feel "a powerful sense of rage...when one of their number forsakes the community." ₁ They consider it a profound insult to Allah and to all Muslims. Some predominately Muslim countries have laws which require the death penalty for any adult who abandons Islam. Afghanistan is one such country. Abdul Rahman, an Afghan Christian, was arrested in 2006-FEB, and was expected to be placed on trial for apostasy. There was worldwide concern that he might be executed.

If he had been raised a Christian and remained Christian all his life, he would have had no problem. There are a few dozen -- at most a few hundred -- Christians in Afghanistan out of a population of about 30 million. About 99% of the population are Muslim -- 80% Sunni and 19% Shi'a. 1% are Hindu. ₂

Rahman's case was dismissed on 2006-MAR-26 because of lack of evidence.

The case:

Abdul Rahman, 41, was born a Muslim in Afghanistan. While working for an Christian aid group in Peshawar some 16 years ago, he converted to Christianity. He left the country and worked in Germany for nine years. He recently returned to Afghanistan in 2002 where he attempted to gain custody of his daughters who had been living with their grandparents. His parents reported his religious conversion to the authorities. He was arrested during 2006-FEB. Rahman was found to be carrying a Bible when he was taken into custody.

He was placed on trial for an "attack on Islam" by his action of leaving Islam for another religion. Under the draft constitution of the country, the punishment is death by hanging.

Judge Alhaj Ansarullah Mawlawy Zada will be trying his case. He said:

"The Attorney General is emphasizing he should be hung. It is a crime to convert to Christianity from Islam. He is teasing and insulting his family by converting,...."We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law. It is an attack on Islam."

On another occasion, he told The Times that Rahman:

"...was a Muslim for 25 years more than he has been a Christian. We will request him to become a Muslim again. In your country two women can marry I think that is very strange. In this country we have the perfect constitution, it is Islamic law and it is illegal to be a Christian and it should be punished."

The Associated Press quoted Zada on 2006-MAR-23 as saying:

"There is no direct pressure on our court so far, but if it happens we will consider it as an interference." He added that he expects to rule on the case in the next few days. ₈

Prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, offered Rahman his freedom if he would only renounce Christianity and return to Islam, but he has refused. Wasi said:

"He would have been forgiven if he changed back. But he said he was a Christian and would always remain one. We are Muslims and becoming a Christian is against our laws. He must get the death penalty."

The media has not been able to talk to Rahman. Prison officials said that they had been threatened with dismissal if they allowed an interview. However, Sayad Miakhel, 30, a cell mate of Rahman said:

"He is standing by his words he will not become a Muslim again, he has been a Christian for over 14 years. It is what he believes in. His father complained to authorities after he said he wanted to take his daughters abroad. He is an intelligent man and his faith belongs to him."

A medical team is examining Rahman; they suspect that his rejection of Islam may be a sign of insanity. If found guilty, Rahman would have had the option of appealing his case to the Provincial Court, and finally to the Supreme Court. President Hamid Karzai would have had to ratify the execution before it is carried out. _3,4,5

Abdul Raoulf, who the Associated Press describes as a moderate Muslim cleric, said "Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die." ₈

Reaction to the case:

2006-MAR-20: State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"Our view … is that tolerance, freedom of worship is an important element of any democracy. And these are issues as Afghan democracy matures that they are going to have to deal with increasingly." ₆

He appears to be missing the point. Minority religions are tolerated in Afghanistan. People are free to worship as they wish. People are able to convert from another religion to Islam. However, individuals who convert from Islam to another religion risk a judicial trial and execution. ₆

	Dominic Nutt of Christian Aid, a non-profit working in Afghanistan, believes that the case is a step backwards for the country. He said: "few practitioners are used to the concept of democracy and toleration … [many] are educated only in Islamic law." 6
	B. Preston posting to Junk Yard Blog states:

"Mr. Rahman’s plight deserves attention. He deserves religious freedom. Afghans deserve freedom to worship as they please and should not be subject to the laws of a religion they don’t serve. Writing Islam into Afghanistan’s constitution—and Iraq’s—may yet undo all the good work our troops have done in both." ₇

2006-MAR-22: President Bush said:

"I'm troubled when I hear, deeply troubled when I hear, the fact that a person who converted away from Islam may be held to account. That's not the universal application of the values that I talked about. I look forward to working with the government of that country to make sure that people are protected in their capacity to worship." ₁₀

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) consulted with members of the Fiqh Council of North America, an association of Islamic legal scholars who interpret Muslim religious law. CAIR then issued a statement calling on the government of Afghanistan to release Rahman. They wrote:

"Islamic scholars say the original rulings on apostasy were similar to those for treasonous acts in legal systems worldwide and do not apply to an individual's choice of religion. Islam advocates both freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, a position supported by verses in the Quran, Islam's revealed text....Religious decisions should be matters of personal choice, not a cause for state intervention. Faith imposed by force is not true belief, but coercion. Islam has no need to compel belief in its divine truth." ₁₂

	2006-MAR-23: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned Afghan President Hamid Karazai on MAR-23. She later said during a press conference: "We look forward, hopefully, to a resolution to this in the very near future.....We have raised it in the strongest possible terms to make clear that it is our great hope and desire that Afghanistan will reaffirm what is already in its constitution, that the universal declaration on human rights will be respected, and that this will be resolved in a way that is consistent with those principles." 10
	Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman said that Rice emphasized to Karzai the: "fact that the United States stands forthrightly for principles of freedom of worship, freedom of expression, and that these are bedrock principles of democracy around the world, these are principles that are enshrined in the Afghan constitution and they're principles that are enshrined in the U.N. Universal Declaration on Human Rights. We're looking for a favorable resolution at the earliest possible time" 10
	William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International stated: "No individual should ever be persecuted — let alone executed — for his or her religious beliefs. The freedom to practice one's own faith without fear of retribution is one of humanity's most sacred rights. If Rahman has been imprisoned solely because he converted to Christianity, he must be immediately and unconditionally released," said Amnesty International" 10
	Bill Frist (R) Senate Majority Leader said: "I am greatly concerned by Mr. Rahman's prosecution and the challenge his case presents to the future of Afghanistan. It is fair to say that the United States has not spent the last four plus years liberating, defending, rebuilding and assisting Afghanistan's democratic development only to see the Afghani people remain subject to laws reminiscent of the Taliban's reign." 10
	The Associated Press interviewed four clerics in Kabul: Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque, said: "The government is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed....[If Rahman is freed] "There will be an uprising. The government will lose the support of the people. What sort of democracy would it be if the government ignored the will of all the people." Raoulf, member of the Afghan Ulama Council said: "The government are playing games. The people will not be fooled. Cut off his head! We will call on the people to pull him into pieces so there's nothing left." Said Mirhossain Nasri of the Hossainia Mosque said: "If he is allowed to live in the West then others will claim to be Christian so they can too. We must set an example....He must be hanged....We are a small country and we welcome the help the outside world is giving us, but please don't interfere in this issue. We are Muslims and these are our beliefs. This is much more important to us than all the aid the world has given us." 11
	2006-MAR-24: The Fundamentalist Baptist Information Service commented: "What more evidence do we need to overthrow George W. Bush's philosophy that Islam is basically a tolerant religion and that only the 'extremists' are the problem. After spending billions of dollars getting rid of the 'extremists' in Afghanistan we are left with a 'tolerant' regime that threatens Christians with death." 9
	2006-MAR-25: The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) called for Rahman's release. They noted that:

"International scrutiny on this issue has cast sharia as clear-cut on the issue of apostasy -- a person who turns his/her back on Islam is an apostate and must be punished by death. In reality, the 'rules of Islam' are not codified, and the Quran mandates that religious freedom be respected. Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad himself never sentenced an apostate to death....We strongly oppose the state's use of coercion in regulating Islamic belief in such a manner, since faith is a matter of individual choice on which only God can adjudicate." ₁₃

Political aspects of the case:

Rahman is clearly admitting that he converted from Islam to Christianity. So his guilt is well established. If he is executed, the country may well lose a great deal of support from the international community. If his life is spared, then the Taliban will be granted a great propaganda victory; they will be able to claim that the government of Afghanistan has abandoned centuries old Sharia law in favor of secularism and human rights. It is a no-win situation for the government.

Resolution of the case:

The case against Abdul Rahman was dismissed on 2006-MAR-26. An anonymous official said: "The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case. The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow."

CNN reported just before midnight on MAR-27 that Abdul Rahman had been released. Because so many Muslim clergy have called for him to be murdered, steps were taken to find a country that will accept him as a refugee. Usually reliable news sources reported on MAR-28 that he was outside of the country.

Other cases:

Compass Direct is an agency that tracks cases worldwide where Christians are persecuted for their beliefs. They stated on 2006-MAR-22:

"An avalanche of media coverage of an Afghan man facing the death penalty for converting to Christianity has apparently sparked the arrest and deepening harassment of other Afghan Christians in the ultra-conservative Muslim country."

"During the past few days, Compass has confirmed the arrest of two other Afghan Christians elsewhere in the country. Because of the sensitive situation, local sources requested that the location of the jailed converts be withheld."

"This past weekend, (MAR-18 & 19) one young Afghan convert to Christianity was beaten severely outside his home by a group of six men, who finally knocked him unconscious with a hard blow to his temple. He woke up in the hospital two hours later but was discharged before morning."

" 'Our brother remains steadfast, despite the ostracism and beatings,' one of his friends said. "

"Several other Afghan Christians have been subjected to police raids on their homes and places of work in the past month, as well as to telephone threats." ₁₅

The Family Research Council commented on the Compass Direct statement about the beatings and arrests saying:

"This is the daily reality inside the Muslim world. Americans have a special reason to decry such outrages in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our soldiers have fought and died to bring freedom to these peoples. While we celebrate Abdul's release there remains much work for this Administration to do. Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq must mean religious freedom, too. Otherwise, our efforts there will ultimately be futile." ₁₆

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi, "Apostacy (Irtidad) in Islam," at: http://www.al-islam.org/
2. "Afghanistan," The World Fact Book, at: http://www.cia.gov/
3. "Afghan Christian Could Get Death Sentence," Examiner, 2006-MAR-19, at: http://www.examiner.com/
4. "Christian convert could be executed," Toronto Star, 2006-MAR-20.
5. Tiom Albone, "Afghan faces death penalty for Christian faith," The Times, 2006-MAR-20, at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
6. Michelle Malkin, "Save Abdul Rahman," 2006-MAR-20, at: http://michellemalkin.com/
7. B. Preston "On trial for his faith," Junk Yard Blog, 2006-MAR-20, at: http://junkyardblog.net/
8. "Clerics demand death for Christian convert," Associated Press, 2006-MAR-23.
9. "Christian faces death penalty in Afghanistan," FBIS Mailing List, 2006-MAR-24
10. "Rice Calls Karzai on Christian Convert's Fate," Fox News, 2006-MAR-23, at: http://www.foxnews.com/
11. "Clerics Call for Christian Convert's Death Despite Western Outrage," Associated Press, 2006-MAR-23, at: http://www.foxnews.com/
12. "CAIR calls for release of Afghan Christian," Islam-Infonet, 2006-MAR-24.
13. "MPAC joins calls for release of Afghan Christian," MPAC, 2006-MAR-25, at: http://app.e2ma.net/
14. Daniel Cooney, "Afghan court drops case against Christian," Associated Press, 2006-MAR-26.
15. "Afghanistan: More Christian arrested in wake of 'apostasy:' Two other converts from Islam in custody; another hospitalized after beating," Compass Direct, 2006-MAR-22, at: http://www.compassdirect.org/ This is expected to be a temporary listing that will later be transferred to their news archive.
16. Tony Perkins, "Safe! - For Now," Family Research Council, Washington Update, 2006-MAR-28.

President Obama's $500 million request for border protection and law enforcement activities

President Obama's $500 million request for border protection and law enforcement activities has some U.S. lawmakers and state officials along the border screaming, "Show me the money!"

Obama is expected to send a proposal to Congress next week that calls for sending as many as 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and for $500 million to fund programs for Drug Enforcement Administration, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Arizona attorney general, Terry Goddard, has set up a 10-person team to prosecute crimes that occur related to the border. The state already has $94 million dedicated but expects the Feds to chip in some of that $500 million in supplemental spending for it because border-related crime is a federal issue.

"I believe that's an important commitment of national attention to the real problem we're facing in Arizona and throughout the Southwest, and that is the violent crime fomented by criminal drug cartels," Goddard said at a news conference this week.

At a White House news conference Thursday, Obama touted his request for additional resources, saying, "if we are doing a better job dealing with trafficking along the border, we've also got to make sure that we've got prosecutors down there who can prosecute those cases."

One Republican congressman wants Obama to request $2 billion and send 25,000 additional troops.

"The president's proposal is about 24,000 men short of what's needed," Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said in a written statement, adding that 1,200 troops will do nothing but provide the administration with a photo op.

"President Wilson sent 100,000 National Guard in 1916 when violence spilled across our southern border under his watch, and got the situation back under control," Carter said. "Twenty five thousand is a good number to start with now, but to suggest just 1,200 show a very disingenuous position on securing our border against armed drug gangs shooting our border patrol officers and now even American civilians on their own property."

Arizona's sweeping new immigration law, which requires police to question anyone stopped on other matters whom they suspect of being in the country illegally, has made the topic a national campaign issue. Obama was pushed to take action Tuesday after Republicans threatened to force a congressional vote on sending troops to the border.

On Thursday Senate Republicans were denied a chance to beef up enforcement and security measures at the U.S. border with Mexico, with one senior Senate Democrat telling them, "We cannot just throw money at this problem."

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is leading Senate Democratic efforts to craft a comprehensive immigration reform bill, albeit with no GOP support at this time, called the GOP measures "a grab bag of enormous spending."

Obama, meanwhile endorsed a comprehensive approach on Thursday, telling reporters that in a closed-door meeting with Republicans the previous day, he promised, "I don't even need you to meet me half way, meet me a quarter of the way. I'll bring a majority of Democrats."

But Senate Democrats are not expected to consider a bill this year, if GOP support is not forthcoming.

The amendments offered Thursday to an emergency spending bill by border state Republicans, including Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, and Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, would have added significant muscle at the border. One, trumpeted by McCain, would have sent 6,000 National Guardsmen to the border.

McCain noted that Obama's deployment of guardsmen is only a fifth of what's really needed, saying, "The borders are broken. There has been improvement. We have shown in San Diego, in Texas, even in the Yuma sector of Arizona, we can secure our border, but we need manpower, surveillance and fences. And we can do it," McCain said, "We have an obligation to our citizens to secure our border and allow them to lead lives where they not live in fear of home invasions, property being destroyed, and well-armed, well-equipped drug smugglers as well as human smugglers operate with, if not impunity, certainly great latitude."

"It is in fact the federal government's responsibility to deal with this as the president himself has acknowledged in his recent announcement to send 1,200 additional National Guard to the border. I will tell you that it is a welcome gesture, but it is no more than that a gesture," Cornyn said.

Schumer decried the GOP amendments, which failed to get the necessary 60 votes for passage, as "overmagnified," and "the worst kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul" to use the stimulus funds to pay for border protection, funds that Schumer said are intending to create jobs.

Fox News' Trish Turner and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Hizbullah Threatens to Sink Israel-Bound Ships by Hana Levi Julian

Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened Tuesday that his guerrilla army would sink all vessels sailing into Israel's waters in any future war.

“If you [Israel] put our coasts under siege... I say all military, civilian and commercial ships heading to Palestine's coasts on the Mediterranean will be under the fire of the Islamic resistance fighters,” the terrorist leader said. “Ships heading to Israel [will be bombed], but we will we will allow ships to pass that are carrying civilians and are leaving the Palestinian ports."

Nasrallah's speech, marking the 10th anniversary of Israel's pullout from southern Lebanon, was broadcast live via video link from his hiding place. The Hizbullah chief has rarely been seen in public since the 2006 Second Lebanon War, fearing assassination by Israel.

Thousands of supporters gathered in Shi'ite neighborhoods in Beirut to listen to the speech, delivered on "Resistance and Liberation Day," and cheered him on.

“As for those ships which will go to any port on the Palestinian coast from north to the south, we are capable of hitting it and are determined to go into this,” Nasrallah continued, “if they besiege our coasts. When the world will witness how these ships will be destroyed in Palestine's regional water, no one will dare to go there, just as they will block [others] from coming to our coasts.”

The terrorist leader also commented on Israel's annual nationwide military drill, which began on Sunday and is scheduled to run for five days.

Dubbed “Turning Point 4,” government officials have said this year's drill is the most intensive in the history of the state, testing the readiness of all levels of government and inter-agency cooperation during emergencies and times of war.

“Through all these drills, [Israel] wants to reassure its people and tell them that they are strong and ready to confront any possible war. They are also fooling them,” Nasrallah said. “Carry out your drills, but when the rockets shower the occupied territories, let us see how the drills benefited you.” (IsraelNationalNews.com)

Could US-Trained PA Military Turn Guns on Israel? by Avi Yellin

During a military exercise with the IDF’s elite Kfir Brigade last week at the Tze'elim base in Israel’s south, GOC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Avi Mizrahi warned soldiers of potential challenges they may face in the near future.

The Kfir brigade, created December 2005 to deal with unrest in Israel’s Judea and Samaria regions, trained extensively in urban warfare and simulated a scenario in which IDF soldiers were pitted against the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority’s new American-trained military.

Mizrahi told soldiers that the PA security forces, trained in Jordan by United States Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, is a formidable potential enemy and that the IDF needs to know how to fight them if the need should arise.

"This is a trained, equipped, American-educated force," Mizrahi said. "This means that at the beginning of a battle, we will pay a higher price. A force like that can shut down an urban area with four snipers… It is a proper infantry force facing us and we need to take that into account. They have attack capabilities and we do not expect them to give up easily."

Keith Dayton himself has expressed belief that his PA army would likely attack the Jewish state in the event that Israel does not give in to the demands of the Middle East Quartet, comprising America, Russia, the United Nations and European Union. At a May 2009 lecture in Washington, Dayton indicated that if Israel does not surrender Judea and Samaria to the PA within two years, the Fatah forces he and his fellow American officers are currently training could easily turn their guns on the Israelis.

"With big expectations, come big risks," Dayton said. "There is perhaps a two-year shelf life on being told that you're creating a state, when you're not."

Following these remarks, United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates extended Dayton's tour of duty for an additional two years and gave him the added responsibility of serving as deputy to President Barack Obama's Middle East Envoy George Mitchell. The United States has already poured over $300 million into the new PA army and the acknowledged prospect of that army attacking the State of Israel has not deterred Washington from continuing to arm, train and finance it. (IsraelNationalNews.com)

Hamas gains ground as Obama brokers talks Fears rise terror group working to seize strategic West Bank

Posted: May 27, 2010
1:00 am Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Israel and the Palestinian Authority recently seized a large quantity of weapons, including rockets, in the strategic West Bank meant for the Hamas terrorist organization, an informed Israeli security official told WND.

The Obama administration has backed a Fatah-led state in the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Israel's international airport. The U.S. is in the midst of brokering proximity talks between the PA and Israel aimed at the creation of a Palestinian state.

The Israeli security official said there were signs Hamas was gaining strength in the West Bank, in particular by infiltrating Fatah forces and smuggling weapons and cash into key West Bank cities. The official said Hamas has been using young girls to smuggle cash, and that Fatah militants have been instrumental in smuggling weapons on behalf of Hamas.

The Israeli official said that last week, three Palestinian girls from the Al Hayin refugee camp in the West Bank were caught with cash intended for Hamas. The official also said the PA recently clamped down on a Hamas money ring led by a Fatah-linked pharmacist in the West Bank city of Nablus.

The hot new best-seller, "The Manchurian President," by Aaron Klein reveals inside story on Team Obama and its members. Now available autographed at WND's Superstore!

After Israel's evacuation of the Gaza Strip in 2005, Hamas seized the coastal territory, forcibly expelling the U.S.-trained Fatah security forces of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Now, recent occurrences indicate Hamas is attempting to set the stage for an eventual West Bank takeover, the security official stressed.

(Story continues below)

Palestinian security sources previously told WND the PA in recent months discovered millions of dollars in cash with Hamas militants in key Fatah-controlled cities, such as Ramallah and Jenin. Upon interrogation, the Hamas members admitted the funds were to be used to aid in the establishment of a military wing in the West Bank, the security officials said.

PA security officials previously told WND a recent Fatah investigation discovered Hamas attempted with some success to establish a military wing in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, another longtime Fatah stronghold. The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad terror group, however, also has a presence there.

Hamas gunmen in Jenin were thought to be numbered in the dozens. But the PA found out Hamas purchased more than 600 high-powered assault rifles and distributed them to fighters in the city, the security officials said. The officials said Fatah raids confiscated about 100 rifles, but they believe 500 more were handed out by Hamas in Jenin.

Fatah's investigation also found that some members of its declared military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, were recruited by Hamas in Jenin with higher paychecks, security officials said. The issue is significant since Hamas' infiltration of Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip was thought to have been the Achilles' heel that led to the terror group's takeover in 2007 of the entire Gaza Strip.

A PA security official claimed to WND in December that his organization does not know of any significant infiltration by Hamas of Fatah's West Bank security forces, many of whom have received new training by the U.S.

Since the late 1990s, the U.S. has run training bases for PA militias. The U.S. also has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in financial aid and weapons to build up the PA militias.

The U.S. stepped up its efforts to train the PA the past two years, running more advanced courses guided by Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator to the Palestinian territories. In 2007, Dayton initiated an advanced program for Palestinian police that trains 500 to 600 cadets at a time at the American bases.

The U.S. currently operates training bases for the PA police and other militias, such as Force 17 and the Preventative Security Services in the West Bank city of Jericho and the Jordanian village of Giftlik.

Nevertheless, Israeli security officials say they are concerned Abbas' Fatah organization in the West Bank is infiltrated by Hamas just as it was in Gaza in 2007.

Hamas' infiltration of Fatah in Gaza was so extensive, according to top Palestinian intelligence sources, it included the chiefs of several prominent Fatah security forces, including Yussef Issa, director of the Preventative Security Services, the main Fatah police force. Issa regularly coordinated security with the U.S. and Israel.

Israeli security officials said despite recent U.S. training, they were also concerned Abbas is not strong enough in the West Bank to impose law and order without the help of the Israeli army. According to the officials, Fatah's intelligence apparatus routinely hands the Israel Defense Forces lists of Hamas militants that threaten Fatah rule, requesting that Israel make arrests.

Hamas leaders previously warned they would take over the West Bank if Israel pulls out of the territory.

Gas surge shut well a couple of weeks before Gulf oil spill

Powerful puffs of natural gas, called kicks, are a normal occurrence in many deep-ocean drilling operations.

But one intense kick of natural gas caused the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig to be shut down because of the fear of an explosion just weeks before a similar release succeeded in destroying and sinking the platform and sent millions of gallons of oil on a collision course with Louisiana and the rest of the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

Shortly before the accident, engineers argued about whether to remove heavy drilling mud that acted as a last defense against such catastrophic kicks, and the decision to replace the mud with much lighter seawater won out.

Those are some of the new details gathered by Robert Bea, a University of California at Berkeley engineering professor better known in New Orleans as co-leader of an independent team of scientists that conducted a forensic investigation of the causes for the failure of levees and floodwalls during Hurricane Katrina.

Times-Picayune archiveRobert Bea, center, a University of California at Berkeley engineering professor, is better known in New Orleans as co-leader of a team of scientists that investigated the failure of levees and floodwalls during Hurricane Katrina.

In an effort to piece together the cause of the region's most recent calamity, Bea has been gathering statements, transcripts and other communications from about 50 people since the accident, including workers on the rig, engineers who worked with the rig from onshore locations, and engineers and oilfield workers who have been active in drilling for decades.

"As the job unfolded, ... the workers did have intermittent trouble with pockets of natural gas," said one statement sent to Bea. "Highly flammable, the gas was forcing its way up the drill pipes. This was something BP had not foreseen as a serious problem, declaring a year earlier that gas was likely to pose only a 'negligible' risk. The government warned the company that gas buildup was a real concern and that BP should 'exercise caution'".

A second statement said, "At one point during the previous several weeks, so much of it came belching up to the surface that a loudspeaker announcement called for a halt to all 'hot work', meaning any smoking, welding, cooking or any other use of fire. Smaller belches, or 'kicks,' had stalled work as the job was winding down" in the days before the accident. Bea said he could not name the people who gave the statements or reveal their positions.

Chilling image of explosion, chaos on rig

The material paints a chilling image of the violent force of the rig explosions and the chaos that ensued as rig workers tried to escape spewing mud, seawater and methyl hydrates in the form of icy slush. That same type of frozen natural gas blocked BP's attempts during the weekend to control the well leak with a huge box lowered 5,000 feet to the sea floor.

Back on April 20, the slush forced its way to the rig, shot 240 feet in the air and heated into a gas that quickly ignited into fireballs, Bea's witness accounts say. Among those tossed asunder by the explosions were BP officials who were on the rig to celebrate a seven-year spotless safety record.

Bea also said the statements he has gathered back up a report last week by The Times-Picayune about the questionable choice made by oil giant BP, rig owner Transocean and others to remove heavy drilling mud that was supposed to help tamp down destructive gas kicks.

The witness statements add to the story's clarity just as the Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service begin hearings Tuesday at a Kenner hotel to try to determine what went wrong. The civil courts may provide another vector for understanding the accident, as lawyers continue to file suits against BP, Transocean and other companies connected with the Deepwater Horizon. Among the defendants in those suits: Halliburton, a contractor responsible for installing key cement barriers that were supposed to keep gas out of the well in the first place, and Cameron International, the manufacturer of the blowout preventer valves that were supposed to be a last-ditch way to shut off the well, but failed.

Risk assessment questions raised

Bea believes the narrative he is creating raises serious questions about the risk assessments used by BP and the Minerals Management Service, the federal agency charged with determining whether the drilling plans were adequate.

'The same trail of tears led to Katrina ... and it's showing up here again,' professor Robert Bea says.

They failed to address what's called "residual risk," those things that planners don't think will fail. And in doing so, they underestimated the risk in ways very similar to the engineers who designed New Orleans' levee system, Bea said.

"BP fell into the same damn trap, and they were not engineering; they were 'imagineering,'" he said. "Risk analysis continues to mislead us because we're only looking at part of the risk.

"The same trail of tears led to Katrina, to the Massey Big Branch (coal) mine disaster, and it's showing up here again," Bea said.

"For me, the tragedy of Katrina was floating bodies and the homes and businesses that were destroyed," he said. "This time, it's different. Certainly the people on the rig were killed and the pieces of equipment were destroyed, but like Katrina, there's another non-voting population getting hurt this time and it is those marine animals that are our equivalents."

Frequent gas kicks reported

Bea said he has spent more than 200 hours reviewing first-hand reports of the Deepwater Horizon's operations. A constant theme was that gas kicks were more frequent in this oilfield than others the crew had worked on, and members were concerned.

The situation was particularly tense a few weeks before the accident, when the exploratory drill had made it down the 5,000-foot riser pipe from the rig to the sea floor and penetrated more than halfway down to the oil that awaited some 18,000 feet below that.

"One gas kick that occurred as they got toward the bottom of the hole, approximately 10,000 feet below the sea floor, was such a large gas kick that they had to shut down operations," Bea said. "They were concerned about spark sources (on the rig at the surface) so they had to shut it down, because there was so much gas coming out of the rig and they were afraid of the explosion."

Deposits of oil are not in underground caverns; they ooze in the pores of a sponge-like layer of rock, along with natural gas in both gaseous and the crystallized hydrate forms. But the hydrates also exist throughout the drilled rock formations, and like the oil below, they exert upward pressure when a drilling operation opens a path to the surface.

In the incident that forced Deepwater Horizon to shut down drilling temporarily, workers in the rig's drilling mudroom stabilized the situation by putting a heavier form of "mud," actually a mixture of clay and chemicals, into the drill-pipe as a counter-balance, pushing down against the upward pressure of the gas, Bea said.

'Uh oh'

A transcript Bea collected from a witness says the companies were confident enough they had a lucrative oil source that they decided to convert from an exploratory well to a more permanent production well, a process that requires them to apply a metal and cement casing to the well hole. They chose casing 7 inches in diameter, Bea said, and that was further sealed with cement pumped in by Halliburton. Bea said his sources reported that Halliburton was using a "new" kind of cement for the seal, something the scientist said made him say, "Uh oh."

"The cement is infused with chemicals and nitrogen, and those chemicals and nitrogen form a frothy cement that is like shaving soap sprayed from a can," Bea said. "It was put in there because of the concern about damage or destruction of the seals by methane hydrates."

The crew on the Deepwater Horizon waited 20 hours for the cement job to cure before opening a key valve at the wellhead so they could place a final cement plug about 5,000 feet down the well. Bea gives Halliburton credit for writing "many excellent papers" in the past two years about the challenge of setting cement seals in the presence of large amounts of methane hydrates, which the Deepwater Horizon crew encountered in spades.

"Because of the chemicals they've added, they think the cement can cure rapidly," Bea said.

But Halliburton's awareness of cementing's challenges did not stop the cement from failing in the Deepwater Horizon's well. The chemicals they added for the curing process also create a lot of heat, which can thaw the methane hydrate into the gas that causes dangerous kicks, Bea said.

"I call that 'Uh oh' again," he said.

A heated debate described

One of Bea's witness transcripts describes in detail a heated debate among BP, Halliburton and Transocean officials as they are about to add the final cement plug to the well, 5,000 below the wellhead and 10,000 feet below the rig. They argued about whether to set the plug with drilling mud still in the well and riser, or if they should do it with lighter sea water there instead.

Michael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneA cloud of smoke that could be seen for over 25 miles rises over the gulf as fireboats try to extinguish the blaze on the Deepwater Horizon. Robert Bea said the first explosion occurred in the mud pit room, where drilling mud is mixed and stored. The two engineers ion that room were killed instantly, Bea said.

As The Times-Picayune reported last week, Bea's witness claims the decision was made to displace the heavy mud barrier with water before the final plug was set in order to finish the job more quickly.. The crew was planning to temporarily abandon the well, and before leaving, they would need to remove the riser and the blowout preventer, a massive stack of valves and slicing rams that are supposed to shut off the well in case of an emergency, and some time later another operation would re-tap the well to extract its riches.

The mud in the riser would have to be replaced with salt water before the crew could take the final step of removing the blowout preventer, or else polluting mud and chemicals would spill into the sea, angering environmental regulators. But based on Bea's witness, who describes the debate on board the rig and with officials in Houston, there was still a question about whether to replace the mud before the final plug was set.

"The debate comes back that it's been pressure-tested, the coast is clear, so they will displace the upper 10,000 feet of heavy mud and replace it with salt water," Bea said. "This is a crucial step, and the reason it's crucial is if the seal at the bottom is fine, it's OK, but if it's not OK, we're screwed. We don't have enough pressure (from mud) in the column anymore to fight the reservoir (gas and liquid) pressure."

Bea says it's unclear how far down the well the crew managed to get the final cement plug before the destructive blowout. But he said it's clear the process was under way because an important valve in the blowout preventer stack, called the annular valve, was open to allow the plug assembly pipes through. Once the well's lining or bottom plug was breached, the gas had a 10,000-foot path clear of both mud and shut-off valves all the way to the water's surface.

'A geyser of water'

Three witness reports gathered by Bea describe what happened next. "A geyser of water" shot 240 feet into the air, he said, followed by "gas that spills out in the moon pool area, onto the drill deck and begins spreading. They can smell it, they can see it, but in this stage it does not ignite. It looks like ice slush, and they can see the gas emanating from it."

The next thing workers on the drill floor saw was mud, the three accounts say. The workers know there's trouble because the mud can only be coming from 10,000 feet down, not from the riser where it can block a gas kick, Bea said.

"At this point, calls come from the rig asking for more mud," Bea said the transcripts show. "I'm certain these radio calls will ultimately be traced and produced. This is at 7 p.m."

The reason nothing ignited initially is that the 21-by-93-foot moon pool, a well in the center of the drill ship, is carefully designed to remove any sources of sparks. But in the mud room and the galley and elsewhere, there are pumps with exposed metal parts. Soon, the gas did ignite when it came in contact with those, Bea said, and the descriptions in the transcripts are dramatic.

Bea said that the first explosion occurred in the mud pit room, a room where drilling mud is mixed and stored in big bins. The two engineers responding to requests for more mud in an attempt to control the runaway well were killed instantly, he said.

That explosion also blew out the wall leading to the galley, where a party was being held.

"The party is to celebrate the Transocean Deepwater Horizon going for seven years without an accident," Bea said. Present were several BP engineers or executives, who traveled to the rig for the celebration, he said.

'Here's where I broke down ...'

"The explosion hurls them against the other wall" of the galley, Bea said. "Here's where I broke down when I read it.... It describes bodies being broken, necks gashed and people bleeding, and now everybody's in the dark. People are screaming for help. People are busy helping their comrades get to two lifeboats.

"People in the lifeboats are screaming, 'We've got to get out of here!' but the lifeboats aren't full," Bea said. "The doors slam and they drop the (lifeboats), and as they do, they can see some of their colleagues jumping into the sea. They can see their outlines because the rig is burning behind them.

"Back on the drill floor, all hell has broken loose. Explosions are propagating from the mud pit room back toward them," Bea said. "At that point, one transcript that's obviously been an observer heading toward the lifeboats says the drill floor disappears in a ball of flame. And at that point, the three on-board transcripts stop."

Bea said the concluding paragraph from one of those observing the explosion summed up the depth of the failure.

"In order for a disaster of this magnitude to happen, more than one thing has to go wrong, or fail. First, a shitty cement job. The wellhead packoff/seal assembly (the equipment directly below the blowout preventer that connects the lower pipe casing to the preventer) while designed to hold the pressure, is just a backup. And finally, the ability to close the well in with the BOP somehow went away," the witness said.

Deepwater Well Construction 101

Posted by Vladimir (Profile)

Saturday, May 22nd at 6:35PM EDT

24 Comments

By any measure, the construction of a deepwater well involves “Extreme Engineering”. And like other applications of technology at the frontier of knowledge, proper operating practices are often a response to failure, and examination of lessons learned.

The Deepwater Horizon disaster represents the first time deepwater drillers have experienced multiple failures of the redundant systems that are designed to keep a well from flowing uncontrollably. In hindsight, it may well be determined that some combination of questionable design choices, human error and equipment malfunction conspired to cause the blowout and spill. No one (that I’m aware of) has suggested that BP was operating outside of its permitted authority.

BP had a reputation for being fixated on safety. In speaking with folks with direct knowledge of the Deepwater Horizon and BP’s safety procedures and practices, I’ve heard the word “overkill” more than once. Extreme Engineering can be exceedingly unforgiving, and perhaps that is the main lesson of this incident.

The Times-Picayune sketch above conveys quite a bit of information - most of it correct - about how the BP blowout well was constructed. It also gives a couple of hints as to possible failure mechanisms.

The key component of any well design is the pipe called casing, which functions to keep the hole from caving in and to keep wellbore fluids (and pressure) out. This cross-sectional view shows concentric strings of casing, one inside the other like an inverted wedding cake. As you drill deeper, the pipe sizes get smaller.

Casing is held in place by cement. Cement also functions as a seal to prohibit fluid migration outside the pipe in the annular area between the pipe and the borehole, or between the pipe and the next size larger pipe.

In the BP well, an oil-bearing zone was discovered in the portion of the hole around 18,000 feet, measured from the drilling floor of the rig. Rather than plugging the hole as originally planned, BP decided to save it for future production. They ran the long string of casing called the production string (colored green in this diagram). It is 7 inches in diameter at the bottom, and tapers up to 9-7/8 inches at the top of the well. (In this detail, the diagram is misleading. I presume that the well would have fully penetrated the oil-bearing zone, with the casing set all the way to the bottom of the hole.)

As the diagram indicates, the choice of a long production string has come under criticism from some drilling engineers. Conservative engineering, given the high bottomhole pressures, would have called for a 7″ liner, as opposed to a full string to the surface. A liner would have been “hung off” from the shallower 9-7/8″ liner, around 17,000 feet. BP could then have performed positive and negative pressure tests on that liner top, before proceeding with a “tieback string” to complete the connection to the wellhead at the seafloor.

By running a full casing string, BP was exposed to the consequences of a poor cement job. In that case, the annular area, shaded orange in the diagram, has poor pressure integrity and offers an alternate flow path to the surface (indicated by the arrow), one that was never intended. Even though BP ran a seal assembly at the top to isolate that flow path (not shown in the diagram), that system may have failed.

“Poor cement job” is not shorthand for “it’s Halliburton’s fault”. Halliburton is responsible for the quality of the cement slurry that is pumped, but BP is responsible for the well conditions and the timing of pumping the cement job. BP may point to bad cement as a root cause of the accident; Halliburton might counter that the well conditions were not optimum for a good cement job if, for example, there were excessive gas in the mud prior to cementing.

On the other hand, BP has been criticized - as in the linked article - for not running a Schlumberger cement bond log to evaluate the condition of the cement. I’m no deepwater drilling expert, but I would have found it a little unusual for them to run this evaluation so soon after cementing the well.

While we’re on the subject, I found the 60 Minutes coverage of issues related to well construction and control to be confusing and misleading. For one thing, their diagrams depicted the well to be an open hole, as if the entire wellbore were open to the oil-bearing zone at all times. Not true: at the time of the accident, the well was fully cased an operations were underway to temporarily abandon the well.

Another misleading aspect was the discussion of the condition of the annular blowout preventer. Chunk of its heavy rubber bladder were found in the mud returns, an indication of damage. Professor Robert Bea of Cal-Berkeley asserted that this missing rubber would prevent a good seal and lead to misleading pressure test of the casing. On the contrary, a bad annular element, if it were leaking, would create a failed test and cause the BOP to be changed out at that point.