Obama paid Iran $400 million ransom for American hostages: report

Obama and officials deny this was ransom money, claiming it
was a separate deal, but seriously doubts arise about the veracity
of that claim. And since the time this has happened,
there have been more hostages taken.

Obama administration secretly airlifted $400 million in cash to Iran in January at the same time Tehran was releasing four jailed Americans, payment that a top congressional Republican is calling “ransom.”

The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. and European officials and congressional sources, reported that the administration procured the money from central banks in Switzerland and the Netherlands. The money was stacked on wooden pallets and flown to Tehran in an unmarked cargo plane.
www.washingtontimes.com...

This can't be right, how can he get away with this? Had to transfer it into foreign currency?

How much can he get away with?

a reply to: burntheships

Yeah, I read this earlier. I don't think it was coincidence that the nuclear deal included 'variations' to the contract - like 'give up your program and release prisoners and sell us your oil - in exchange we give you the caassshhhhh"

That is how it would have gone down.

and as much as I hate to admit it, I would pay the same for American citizens to be returned home safe from political incarceration.

Except Iran didn't give up their nuclear program. They still have it, and now they have all kinds of money pouring in to fuel it.

a reply to: burntheships

That action endangered every American overseas, including our military.

Obama even said this:

As President, I also have to consider our larger national security. I firmly believe that the United States government paying ransom to terrorists risks endangering more Americans and funding the very terrorism that we’re trying to stop. And so I firmly believe that our policy ultimately puts fewer Americans at risk.

So, if he paid ransom, then he knows that he endangered Americans and funded terrorism.
That's traitorous.

Statement by the President on the U.S. Government's Hostage Policy Review

a reply to: BlueAjah

wow.. did you just say that the country of Iran are terrorists?

We'll see how the MSM ignores this tomorrow.
It's illegal...it's ransom...it's negotiating with terrorists holding hostages.

also from the story ...

n January, the announcement of the $1.7 billion settlement raised suspicions in Congress of a possible ransom payment.

Republican lawmakers are called for an inquiry.

Lawmakers also criticized what they said was an imbalance in the prisoner exchange: The White House released seven Iranians and dropped extradition proceedings against another 14 in exchange for the Americans.

Sounds a little lop-sided doesn't it.

But $100 million each?
No, sorry but I can get cheaper hostages somewhere else.
Maybe Somalia...

a reply to: xuenchen

Well not if they're all as sterling in character as Bowe Bergdahl. It takes a lot of top notch ME talent to get back just one citizen of that caliber.

It's because it's Obama. had any one else done what u are accusing him of, they would be praised.

originally posted by: BlueAjah
a reply to: burntheships

That action endangered every American overseas, including our military.

Obama even said this:

As President, I also have to consider our larger national security. I firmly believe that the United States government paying ransom to terrorists risks endangering more Americans and funding the very terrorism that we’re trying to stop. And so I firmly believe that our policy ultimately puts fewer Americans at risk.

So, if he paid ransom, then he knows that he endangered Americans and funded terrorism.
That's traitorous.

Statement by the President on the U.S. Government's Hostage Policy Review

It is , he is funding terrorism, where is Congress?

There are five others held in Iran what about them?

originally posted by: IAMTAT
We'll see how the MSM ignores this tomorrow.
It's illegal...it's ransom...it's negotiating with terrorists holding hostages.

It is illegal, isn't, it?

If Donald Trump was being advised properly, he could tie this in with the horrible IRAN deal and also to how Hillary Clinton will carry the mantle forward.**

**Assuming he REALLY wants to be President, which many of us are starting to doubt.

a reply to: choos

State Sponsors of Terrorism

Designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1984, Iran continued its terrorist-related activity in 2014, including support for Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, Lebanese Hizballah, and various groups in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. This year, Iran increased its assistance to Iraqi Shia militias, one of which is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), in response to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) incursion into Iraq, and has continued to support other militia groups in the region. Iran also attempted to smuggle weapons to Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza. While its main effort focused on supporting goals in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, Iran and its proxies also continued subtle efforts at growing influence elsewhere including in Africa, Asia, and, to a lesser extent, Latin America. Iran used the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to implement foreign policy goals, provide cover for intelligence operations, and create instability in the Middle East. The IRGC-QF is the regime’s primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad.

Iran views Syria as a crucial causeway in its weapons supply route to Lebanese Hizballah, its primary beneficiary, and as a key pillar in its “resistance” front. In 2014, Iran continued to provide arms, financing, training, and the facilitation of primarily Iraqi Shia and Afghan fighters to support the Asad regime’s brutal crackdown that has resulted in the deaths of at least 191,000 people in Syria, according to August UN estimates. Iran publicly admits to sending members of the IRGC to Syria in an advisory role. There is consistent media reporting that some of these troops are IRGC-QF members and that they have taken part in direct combat operations. While Tehran has denied that IRGC-QF personnel participate in combat operations, in 2014 it acknowledged the deaths in Syria of two senior officers (Brigadier Generals Abdullah Eskandari and Jamar Dariswali). Tehran claimed they were volunteers who lost their lives while protecting holy shrines near Damascus.

Likewise in Iraq, despite its pledge to support Iraq’s stabilization, Iran increased training and funding to Iraqi Shia militia groups in response to ISIL’s advance into Iraq. Many of these groups, such as Kata’ib Hizballah (KH), have exacerbated sectarian tensions in Iraq and have committed serious human rights abuses against primarily Sunni civilians. The IRGC-QF, in concert with Lebanese Hizballah, provided training outside of Iraq as well as advisors inside Iraq for Shia militants in the construction and use of sophisticated improvised explosive device (IED) technology and other advanced weaponry. Similar to Hizballah fighters, many of these trained Shia militants have used these skills to fight for the Asad regime in Syria or against ISIL in Iraq.

Iran has historically provided weapons, training, and funding to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, including Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC). These Palestinian terrorist groups have been behind a number of deaths from attacks originating in Gaza and the West Bank. Although Hamas’s ties to Tehran have been strained due to the Syrian civil war, in a November 25 speech, Supreme Leader Khamenei highlighted Iran’s military support to “Palestinian brothers” in Gaza and called for the West Bank to be similarly armed. In December, Hamas Deputy Leader Moussa Abu Marzouk announced bilateral relations with Iran and Hamas were “back on track.”

In March, Israeli naval forces boarded the Klos C cargo ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Sudan. On board, they found 40 M-302 rockets, 180 mortars, and approximately 400,000 rounds of ammunition hidden within crates of cement labeled “Made in Iran” and believed to be destined to militants in the region.

Since the end of the 2006 Israeli-Hizballah conflict, Iran has also assisted in rearming Lebanese Hizballah, in direct violation of UNSCR 1701. General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the IRGC Aerospace Force stated in November that "The IRGC and Hezbollah are a single apparatus jointed together," and Lebanese Hizballah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem boasted that Iran had provided his organization with missiles that had “pinpoint accuracy” in separate November public remarks. Iran has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in support of Lebanese Hizballah in Lebanon and has trained thousands of its fighters at camps in Iran. These trained fighters have used these skills in direct support of the Asad regime in Syria and, to a lesser extent, in support of operations against ISIL in Iraq. They have also continued to carry out attacks along the Lebanese border with Israel.

Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qa’ida (AQ) members it continued to detain, and refused to publicly identify those senior members in its custody. Iran previously allowed AQ facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran since at least 2009, enabling AQ to move funds and fighters to South Asia and Syria.

Iran remains a state of proliferation concern. Despite multiple UNSCRs requiring Iran to suspend its sensitive nuclear proliferation activities, Iran continued to be in noncompliance with its international obligations regarding its nuclear program. Implementation of the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) between the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, coordinated by the EU), and Iran began on January 20, 2014. Iran has fulfilled the commitments that it made under the JPOA. The parties negotiated during 2014 to pursue a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to achieve a long-term comprehensive solution to restore confidence that Iran’s nuclear program is and will remain exclusively peaceful.

So, yes.

They should never be allowed to have nuclear weapons, but thanks to Obama and Hillary Clinton, they are now on the way to doing that as well.

originally posted by: carewemust

**Assuming he REALLY wants to be President, which many of us are starting to doubt.

what total horse crap..

what on earth gives you the impression Trump doesn't want to be President?

a reply to: choos

And as of June 2016:

State Department report finds Iran is top state sponsor of terror

The State Department on Thursday released its annual report on global terrorist activity, listing Iran as the top state sponsor of terrorism and labeling ISIS "the greatest threat globally."

Well, that's pretty despicable. Obama shouldn't have done that.

Iran should be allowed their nuclear program and future nuclear weapons as long as Israel has them though.

I wonder if any of that "payment" money got donated to the Clinton Foundation ?

Hmmm

originally posted by: Stormdancer777

originally posted by: IAMTAT
We'll see how the MSM ignores this tomorrow.
It's illegal...it's ransom...it's negotiating with terrorists holding hostages.

It is illegal, isn't, it?

It is. Unless you call it something else.