Veterans Affairs Secretary Caught Lying About His Military Record

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald, an Obama appointee, has been caught making misleading statements about his military background. McDonald falsely claimed to have served in Special Forces during a TV segment that aired on CBS News last month.

The gaffe came while McDonald was speaking with homeless veterans in Los Angeles. One in particular mentioned serving in the Special Forces. “Special forces? What years? I was in special forces!” McDonald replied.

In fact, McDonald served in the 82nd Airborne. Although he was an airborne jumpmaster and reported attended Ranger school, he never formally served in a special operations capacity.

McDonald issued an apology on Tuesday, saying: “I have no excuses. I was not in Special Forces.” He has explained the gaffe by saying that he “reacted spontaneously” while speaking with a veteran who he was trying to “connect with.”

McDonald’s error has drawn condemnations from lawmakers and veterans leaders. Michael Helm, national commander of the American Legion, said: “A lie is a lie. I can’t believe people do this.”

Republican lawmakers have indicated that they will not call for McDonald’s resignation. House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman Jeff Miller said:

“After a rough couple of weeks that also included inflated claims of accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs, I hope Sec. McDonald will redouble his efforts to ensure his statements -- and those of all VA officials -- are completely accurate. This is the only way the department can regain the trust of the veterans and taxpayers it is charged with serving.”

ISIS Ad Campaign Calls For Homegrown Terror

The newest product from the sick and twisted minds of ISIS is an ad campaign to encourage radical Islamists in the West to launch more attacks like the one on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

ISIS released a series of videos last week featuring jihadists calling on their supporters in the West to rise up. In one of the videos, the jihadist says: “Don’t give up and particularly don’t lower your weapons, don’t surrender – kill. Today, it’s our darwa – kill them.”

Although the videos are in French, they also have English subtitles and are targeted toward disaffected Muslims throughout the West.

Some experts believe that homegrown terror is the most immediate threat to the US today. It is harder for counterterrorism officers to predict homegrown terror attacks than any other kind.

“You have individuals who are inspired by the ideology but aren’t directly connected to any specific group,” former Homeland Security official John Cohen said last month. “They are very difficult for our traditional counter-terrorism capabilities to pick up on.”

This makes a Charlie Hebdo - style attack in the United States a very real possibility. All that a disillusioned young Muslim would need to do is buy an AK-47 and then walk into a mall and start shooting.

Just a few hours after the videos were released, a Muslim in southern France stabbed three French soldiers outside of a Jewish community center. Luckily, they all survived.

The victims in the next attack might not be so lucky.

Obama Still In Denial About ISIS

The video of a Jordanian pilot being burned alive by ISIS was a gruesome reminder of why radical Islam must be defeated. Yet President Obama barely acknowledged it.

He merely issued a vague condemnation of the attacks, refusing to even mention ISIS by name. Nor did he address the threat posed by radical Islam, instead saying that ISIS is driven by a “bankrupt ideology.”

Obama has been responding to terrorism with deflections and dismissals for far too long.

When a Muslim extremist de-capitated an Oklahoma factory worker last year, his administration treated it as “workplace violence.”

When fundamentalists shot up the offices of Charlie Hebdo, he refused to send a representative to France to honor the victims.

When ISIS first appeared, he brushed them off as a nuisance that could be handled by the Iraqi Army.

Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. Despite Obama’s recent insistence in the United States was “stopping” ISIS, ISIS actually holds more territory in Syria than ever before.

Taking on radical Islam will require new ideas. It will require new strategies. It will require leadership.

But first, it will require the President to admit to the public – and perhaps to himself – that the threat exists at all.