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President Obama today said that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is “wrong” that there was not adequate intelligence shared in the days and months leading up to the Boston Marathon bombings.
“Based on what I’ve seen so far, the FBI performed its duties, the Department of Homeland Security did what it was supposed to be doing,” President Obama said today. “But this is hard stuff.”
In the two weeks since the bombings in Boston, Graham has criticized the Obama administration, asking why more was not known about the foreign-born Tsarnaev brothers who are suspected in the bombings or shared among agencies.
“This administration is letting its guard down, and it is beginning to show,” Graham said on Fox News last week.
He echoed the sentiment in the hallways of Capitol Hill last Thursday after an all-senators briefing on national security issues by Secretary of State John Kerry, where Boston, among other topics, was discussed.
“Boston is becoming to me a case study is system failure,” Graham said. “Between Benghazi and Boston, our systems are failing and we are going backwards. We need to understand that bin Laden may be dead but the war against radical Islam is very much alive. Radical Islam is on the march and we need to up our game.”
Today, at a presidential press conference in the Brady briefing room, President Obama was asked by a reporter about claims by Graham and other senators that in the years after the 9/11 terrorists attacks the nation has gone backward on national security.
“No, Mr. Graham is not right on this issue, although I’m sure [he] generated some headlines,” the president answered curtly.
Graham issued a news release minutes after the president left the podium at the White House.
“With all due respect Mr. President, Benghazi and Boston are compelling examples of how our national security systems have deteriorated on your watch,” Graham said. ”If Benghazi is not an example of system failure before, during and after the attack what would be? If Boston is not an example of a pre-9/11 stovepiping mentality what would be?”
Though they’re sparring publicly, Obama and Graham also depend upon each other for passing the big ticket items that are in each of their interests legislatively, such as immigration reform and battles over the debt.
Graham is one of the Republican members of the bipartisan Gang of Eight that recently proposed a sweeping immigration reform bill in Congress. The group will rely heavily on President Obama’s endorsement, support and public push for the bill in the weeks and months ahead.
President Obama, 100 days into his second term, has set immigration reform as one of his top second-term priorities, a goal that will only be reached with Congress’ help.
Today, he said that although there is “dysfunction” on Capitol Hill, he still has the juice to get his agenda though a divided Congress, though Graham sometimes leads the charge against him.
READ: Obama: I’ve Still Got Juice
“As Mark Twain said, rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated at this point,” the president said today.
Lindsay Graham is wrong when he thinks these terrorists (common criminals) should be treated with the respect given to enemy combatants. Even the Geneva Convention doesn’t recognize them as such. All he’s doing is advancing their cause.
Posted by: tmferretti | April 30, 2013, 4:29 pm 4:29 pm
Lindsay Graham, is, always will be, an idiot…he should never be re-elected…all I hear from him and his cohorts is no no no to whatever this president says. He is for the party, not the country. They should all be fired. A bunch of old men who are narrowminded and confused…
Posted by: Barb | April 30, 2013, 4:31 pm 4:31 pm
Lindsey is spot on and this admin. is a pathetic excuse for keeping this country safe. This will not be the last time we have to deal with terrorist due to Obama’s incompetance.
Posted by: Billy Bob | April 30, 2013, 4:37 pm 4:37 pm
LOL! It ain’t about national security if it’s all talk, Dude.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) couldn’t, or wouldn’t, stand up to the NRA, and vote for background checks for gun purchasers, but now, he’s an “expert” on national security. This is coming from the guy who couldn’t even stand up to Rush Limbaugh. Appearing on talk shows, and Fox “News”, doesn’t make you an expert in anything – except fertilizer, Dude.
Posted by: I-Vote | April 30, 2013, 4:48 pm 4:48 pm
Fort Hood Shooting “workplace violence”
Benghazi “disaffected youths upset about a youtube video”
Boston “positively acted alone”(determined within 24 hours)
This Administration’s complete denial of islamist extremism puts us all in danger, regardless of political affiliation.
Posted by: dmb | April 30, 2013, 4:57 pm 4:57 pm
maybe you had better tell the people that were injured and killed what a bang up job the FBI did under your watch 0dumbo!
Posted by: huh? | April 30, 2013, 5:00 pm 5:00 pm
Senator Graham is joke. He only cares about his party, not this country.That is all these politicians do this days. Blame Blame Blame. Shift the argument. Never comeup with a solution only proclaim why it doesn’t work. Do your jobs.
Posted by: Your Friendly Neighborhood Moderate | April 30, 2013, 5:00 pm 5:00 pm
“President Obama today said that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is “wrong” that there was not adequate intelligence shared in the days and months leading up to the Boston Marathon bombings.” If this is wrong, then Hussein admits they actually had adequate intelligence… but as usual, they failed and now I would simply wait for Hillary to make a crying speech scream “It doesn’t matter why they died!” Just the fact that the terrorists won, just as in Benghazi, it doesn’t matter. People were killed and dismembered and that’s good enough.
Posted by: TexBork_2013 | April 30, 2013, 5:05 pm 5:05 pm
You mean kinda like 0dumbo blaming Bush for the horific job he has done with the economy?
Posted by: huh? | April 30, 2013, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm
President Anti-Lincoln is blinded by the failings of his Misguided Muslim Outreach Program.
He doesn’t know when he’s wrong and is in denial.
Posted by: Noz | April 30, 2013, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm
I guess when your backing Solyndra, Fiskars, and all the other green garbage maybe Boston doesn’t look so bad. Especially if your an incompetent liar.
Posted by: huh? | April 30, 2013, 5:10 pm 5:10 pm
All we heard was how Bush dropped the ball with the LIMITED information they had before 9/11. “”"” THEY SHOULD HAVE CONNECTED THE DOTS “”"” !!!!!! Now when its the CHOSEN ONE’S time with THE DOTS, you’re finding CONNECTING is sometimes difficult, if not impossible. Thank God it wasn’t worse than it was. This is not OVER, don’t stick your heads back in the sand and hope the next time will only have a few casualties. With OUR OPEN BORDER policy, we have NO IDEA who is here or how many….It may be one or a thousand…..
Posted by: wildbill6996 | April 30, 2013, 5:16 pm 5:16 pm
Whew!!! There for a minute, I thought Barry was actually going to have make a real decision as the President… thankfully, he just kicked THAT can down the road like all the rest, leaving the problem for the next guy. Now, what’s his tee time for tomorrow?
Posted by: Government_We_Deserve | April 30, 2013, 5:18 pm 5:18 pm
Complete failure by Homeland Security, CIA and FBI …
DMB: Perfect comments, right on…
Posted by: Freedom | April 30, 2013, 5:18 pm 5:18 pm
Sure he hit back. he has to cover up any lie that he or anyone tied with him has told. Just like Holders guns for drugs in Mexico or just like Hillary and the Embassy killings. Funny how the main stream has gone silent on that one is it not? Oh sorry you lib’s think this is normal government at it’s best.
Posted by: Jimmy | April 30, 2013, 5:20 pm 5:20 pm
Hate to break it to Mr. Graham, but he’s a complete MORON, if he truly believes his own theories. Just to break the lines he spewed forth about “why more was not known about the foreign-born Tsarnaev brothers”, but that is the most idiotic thing I’ve read. Just because you’re “foreign-born” doesn’t really make a lick of difference. I was foreign born, and if the FBI or Homeland Security knows “more” about me, what’s that really matter? Someone can have a crystal clear background, no bad history, and yet still one day snap. But, really… making sure to point of the “FOREIGN” born? It could have easily been someone from this country, lest we forget the psychos from the past. Mr. Graham needs to stop trying to “get into the spotlight” from a tragic event, it makes him look like a show-stealer, and a selfish dolt who’s trying to get his own persona and ego inflated.
Posted by: Yi-Phan Tua | April 30, 2013, 5:31 pm 5:31 pm
Leading on rumors, innuendos, heartfelt musings who is responsible for chemical warfare… is not a reason to take steps for war. We used that approach in our involvment in Irag and it has put our whole country in jeopardy.
Obama is taking a careful approach to stepping us into ANOTHER war. I support him for finding the facts, taking advice from many counselors, assessing just exactly what the dire cost involving ourselves in another country’s civil war. He has my support and my respect for leading us in a way that is not the “cowboy” approach we used in the past administration.
Posted by: mixie | April 30, 2013, 5:51 pm 5:51 pm
The FBI should have identified Tsarnaev as a potential suspect within minutes of the Boston bombing. They had interviewed him as a possible extremist. He lived near Boston. Check the database! They had to have his picture in their files, yet they had to go to the public to try to get an ID. Had they made the ID, maybe they could have found these terrorists before they had an opportunity to kill the MIT security officer.
Posted by: free-2-choose | April 30, 2013, 5:55 pm 5:55 pm
There were 400 National Guard soldiers on site monitoring this event. They were searching people with bags. How did two men that “look” Middle Eastern casually walk straight to the finish line carrying two large back packs without being searched? This makes me wonder if the guardsmen were there to prevent a disaster, or to control the aftermath. It seems that there was enough Intel, but it’s not being communicated to everyone.
Posted by: Robert | April 30, 2013, 6:01 pm 6:01 pm
I love how Benghazi is brought up all the time.. as if its the first time a US Embassy was ever attacked..
In 2002 when the US Consulate in the Karachi, Pakistan, was attacked and 10 were killed?
Or in 2004 when the US embassy in Uzbekistan was attacked and two were killed and another nine injured?
How about in 2004, when the US Consulate in Saudi Arabia was stormed and 8 lost their lives?
There is more: In 2006, armed men attacked the US Embassy in Syria and one was murdered.
Then in 2007 a grenade was thrown at the US Embassy in Athens.
In 2008, the US Embassy in Serbia was set on fire.
In 2008, bombings in the US Embassy in Yemen killed 10.
Notice the dates, all before the Obama administration.
Posted by: Dale | April 30, 2013, 6:59 pm 6:59 pm
CIA knew the truth about the murder case in 2011. CND FOX knows everything.
Posted by: CND FOX is government agent hacker | April 30, 2013, 7:56 pm 7:56 pm
Why are you hiding, CND FOX? The only other time you were running for your life was when Wen Jiabao collapsed in China.
Posted by: CND FOX is government agent hacker | April 30, 2013, 7:57 pm 7:57 pm
hey dale,good facts. where was the big mouth from south carolina when all that was taking place
maybe he was in argentina with his fellow repulbican former governor. its a known fact that south carolina isnt at the top of the list when it comes to education but when this idiot keeps opening his stupid trap all that comes out is trash.just what did he think the fbi could do? follow everyone around whom they think may be an extremeist.oh yeah isnt he always stating how we must cut spending.i think he should donate some time and follow someone around 24/7
Posted by: guy nolan | April 30, 2013, 7:57 pm 7:57 pm
“I love how Benghazi is brought up all the time.. as if its the first time a US Embassy was ever attacked.”.
——Ok Dale, so in all those examples compiled no doubt by Media Matters, how many involved the death of an American Ambassador?-Answer—-None. In case you haven’t noticed,here’s the official Democrat position—-What difference at this point does it make?
Posted by: free-2-choose | April 30, 2013, 8:07 pm 8:07 pm
Dale, how many americans died in those attacks?? ZERO. They were defended and those died defending are heros and had the right support. Unlike Bengazi. Where the US ambassador was killed but someone like you probably doesn’t care. Just defend the failures of the president. Maybe terrorist will come to your town next.
Posted by: Jack | April 30, 2013, 8:13 pm 8:13 pm
At least Homeland Security has bought more ammo per unit than the DOD has! They really proved their worth in Boston. Good job! You again, 5 for 5 stopped none! Why are you buying all those bullets if you refuse to use them against terrorists? Who are you holding out for? If not for the terrorists, for us then I suppose. Hussein said he wanted this during his campaign for president.
Posted by: TexBork_2013 | April 30, 2013, 9:06 pm 9:06 pm
Texbork, did you notice there is not any mentioning of the 2011 murder case where 3 adult male got killed? Let recapture the crime scene again: 3 healthy, strong, 180 pounds also males in one apartment. Bombing suspect cut throat of number 1, without a sound. Bombing suspect cut throat of number 2, without a sound. Bombing suspect cut throat of number 3, without a sound. Do you really believe the bombing suspect did this by himself? Who are other murderers? Are those murderers being trained in US for operations in foreign countries? I bet Hilary Clinton and Obama can not make it in this one:)
Posted by: Jiang Zemin's nephew | April 30, 2013, 10:07 pm 10:07 pm
Dale – “Notice the dates, all before the Obama administration.” Yes..and the first World Trade Center bombing was on Clinton’s watch. So what? Libya was Obama’s Congressionally unsanctioned pet military intervention project, at the height of the Arab Spring movement despite the U.S. military and intelligence agenices reporting that Libya was not an immediate threat to the U.S. that merited military action. Obama send security forces into his brave new world, thereby conceding that all was not well despite requests for security and Clinton’s own testimony that dangerous weapons were being sought in the area? Absolutely untihinkable…and so people died.
Posted by: MyTake | April 30, 2013, 10:40 pm 10:40 pm
Does Graham ever have anything intelligent to say? After ever crisis, everybody thinks they are experts, comes out and starts swinging criticism and find fault. In real life, no matter how careful you plan every move, bad things can happen. Smart ones will begin to find solution and prevention, dumb ones just blame .
Posted by: Anne | April 30, 2013, 11:44 pm 11:44 pm
Did the find the Youtube movie that upset these terrorists yet? I am hoping they’ll arrest the film maker soon. Democrats=idiots
Posted by: Art991 | May 1, 2013, 8:44 am 8:44 am
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sent a written warning about accused Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2012, long before pressure-cooker blasts killed three and injured hundreds, according to a senior Saudi government official with direct knowledge of the document.
The Saudi warning, the official told MailOnline, was separate from the multiple red flags raised by Russian intelligence in 2011, and was based on human intelligence developed independently in Yemen.
Citing security concerns, the Saudi government also denied an entry visa to the elder Tsarnaev brother in December 2011, when he hoped to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the source said. Tsarnaev’s plans to visit Saudi Arabia have not been previously disclosed.
The Saudis’ warning to the U.S. government was also shared with the British government. ‘It was very specific’ and warned that ‘something was going to happen in a major U.S. city,’ the Saudi official said during an extensive interview.
It ‘did name Tamerlan specifically,’ he added. The ‘government-to-government’ letter, which he said was sent to the Department of Homeland Security at the highest level, did not name Boston or suggest a date for his planned attack.
President Obama spent the three weekends prior to the Boston bombing playing golf.
This is a top of the line administration, keeping Bostonians and all other Americans safe one golf game at a time.
Posted by: Dan | May 1, 2013, 9:08 am 9:08 am
Barack Obama should be IMPEACHED and Eric Holder, AG and Janet Napolitano, Head of Homeland Security should be fired. This is the second (third if you include the Fort Hood massacre) terrorist attack after Benghazi during his Presidency. We still don’t know where Obama was during the Benghazi attack, why Hillary Clinton didn’t send help to save the victims and why most survivors were never interviewed? I do not feel safe with this guy as President. On 4/15/13, Obama said regarding the Boston terrorist attack. “We will find these people and they will face the full force of the US Govt”. This is exactly what he said after the Benghazi attack and so far nothing has been done to find, capture or kill the Benghazi terrorists, even though four Americans were killed. This President and his administration are cowards on terror, the terrorists know this and they will not keep us safe.
Posted by: JJO | May 1, 2013, 12:18 pm 12:18 pm
Lindsey is right our no.1 Enemy is radical Islam. Obama is our enemy.
Posted by: Rick Kirby | May 1, 2013, 11:19 pm 11:19 pm