It’s another version of the “depends on what your definition of ‘is’, is”….

I’m still betting the decisions ultimately came from Denis McDonough and Tom Donilon during those critical hours….   both Obama and Biden were indisposed.

Washington DC – On Thursday, while denying that a “stand-down order” was given to Special Forces members ready to help Americans who were under siege at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi last September, one of the heads of the Benghazi Accountability Review Board (ARB) admitted that a “hold in place” order was in fact given.
Testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Admiral Mike Mullen said that the direction given to Special Operations Command Africa commander Lt. Col Gibson was to “hold in place” on the night of the attacks.
Gibson is the boss of Gregory Hicks, the former deputy chief of mission in Libya who had testified that a “stand down” order was given to Special Forces who wanted to help Americans who were under assault in Libya.  (continue reading)

Today, during a House Hearing, as the family members of the Benghazi victims began to speak about their concerns, the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee walked out!

After ARB testifies, only 2 @OversightDems decide to stay & hear testimony from family members on 2nd panel PHOTO: pic.twitter.com/zfOjjppU0V
— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) September 19, 2013

The following House Committee Members walked out: (more…)

Under Secretary of State Patrick Kennedy said the government of Libya is not allowing U.S. law enforcement into the country to arrest individuals connected with the Benghazi attack because the Libyan government “is not in control to that degree” Wednesday in a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
Kennedy explained ever since the events of September 11, 2012 the country has taken a “serious turn for the worse.”

Something really odd just came on the radar.    Let me begin by saying it’s probably nothing, just a mere coincidence – but odd nonetheless.
2 years ago a local library finished upgrading to computer based reference material.   As a shot in the dark I called and asked if I could buy all the reference cards, along with the wonderful little wooden 3×5 drawers they were all in.  They said yes, and so I did.
I use the blank back of the alphabetized cards to jot down new reference material.   Names in the news, countries, events, places, etc
As I was putting one back from research into the La Belle nightclub bombing, something struck me as oddly connected.   An hour later and I find myself sitting at a desk looking at 20 to 30 reference cards that all seem to associate.    Again, it’s probably nothing, but…. (more…)

Riddle Me This:

If the Syrian “Rebels” are not *TERRORISTS* then why does President Obama need to provide a Terrorist Waiver for the ‘Armed Control Export Act’ to provide them weapons?

WASHINGTON DC – President Obama waived a provision of federal law designed to prevent the supply of arms to terrorist groups to clear the way for the U.S. to provide military assistance to “vetted” opposition groups fighting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Some elements of the Syrian opposition are associated with radical Islamic terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, which was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., in 2001. Assad’s regime is backed by Iran and Hezbollah. (more…)

Syria’s Bashir al-Assad was questioned about “opposition” in his country by Charlie Rose for a 60 minutes interview.   Assad’s response was very direct.   Assad replied: “Opposition?  What  did you call the people who flew the airplanes into your World Trade Center twin towers”… “did you call them ‘the opposition'”? 

(UK Telegraph) Nearly half the rebel fighters in Syria are now aligned to jihadist or hardline Islamist groups according to a new analysis of factions in the country’s civil war.
Opposition forces battling Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria now number around 100,000 fighters, but after more than two years of fighting they are fragmented into as many as 1,000 bands.
The new study by IHS Jane’s, a defence consultancy, estimates there are around 10,000 jihadists – who would include foreign fighters – fighting for powerful factions linked to al-Qaeda..
Another 30,000 to 35,000 are hardline Islamists who share much of the outlook of the jihadists, but are focused purely on the Syrian war rather than a wider international struggle. (more…)

From what can be gathered within a myriad of media reports is that Sec. Kerry / POTUS have agreed to leave “U.S. threat of force” out of U.N. resolution against Syria for non-compliance.   Meaning if Assad does not comply with U.N. mandate to disarm himself of chemical weapons, the U.S. had conceded a strike by us will not be one of the consequences.
Instead, the “stick” per se’, to non-compliance from Syria, would be a return to the U.N. Security Council for a resolution allowing the “use of force”.  
D’oh..  Russia can, by structural Security Council set-up, veto any such follow-up proposal.

[judo photo credit]  (Via Politico)  Journalists emerging from a closed-door briefing at the White House Friday afternoon were informed that President Barack Obama won’t insist that a U.N. resolution governing Syria’s surrender of chemical weapons include a threat of military force if President Bashar Assad doesn’t follow through. (more…)

Due to the graphic nature of the content of this post a substantive backdrop is needed.

A few years ago, against the backdrop of Tunisia ablaze and a visible ember headed to Egypt, we hosted a discussion post about the Middle East.
It is one thing to understand the structural framework for the U.S. Rivkin Project, it is quite another thing to see it actually being implemented.   The latter leads those who understand the globalists within the Obama administration to recognize we were about to bear witness to horror.
The formative discussion was based on the context of President Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech where he stated his policy toward Islam in general, and the Middle East in particular.
Within the Obama speech, he proclaimed the approach outlined in the Rivkin Project.  He denied the cries of the Iranian Green Party movement for freedom, and he advocated or an “unclenched fist” toward Iran.  The Salafists saw the opening.
Those of us who have travelled in the Middle East, and those who have followed Mid-East events, knew immediately how this “open-handed” message would be received by Islamist Ideologues who conflate Political Islam toward Muslim considerations.
Those minority ideologues are the people who would advocate for Islam and Sharia Law implementation, the politicization of Islam, upon a religious Muslim majority.
Those ideologues view moderation as weakness, and they know how to use extremist views toward the West in their favor.
Obama’s weak appearances opened the door, allowing the Islamist ideologues to express years of anger and hatred toward the Zookeepers, Mubarek, Gaddaffi et al, who held a tenuous controlling grip on their behavior and radical intent.
As we discussed the predictable unintended consequences, Zurich Mike provided the exceptional analogy of:  [President Obama] Opening the ‘Big Cat’ cages within the greater Zoo that was the Middle East.   A more apt and encompassing analogy has never been written.
What has followed from that early 2010 prediction to today, is bearing out right now.  We are all witness to the consequences from the “unclenched fist”.   First with the crushing of the Iranian Green “Student” Party;  Later with the rise of the Salafist Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt;  Then the manipulation of the moderate cause in Eastern Libya turning to radical al-Qaeda fighters flooding back from Iraq and Afghanistan;  And now to today in Syria.
The content you are about to read is GRAPHIC in the extreme, and I caution you to consider whether or not you want to Bear Witness.   But this is, in its purest form, the visible outcome from an academic leftist Western approach exhibited by President Obama, Samantha Powers, Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton.

Again, I caution WHAT FOLLOWS IS GRAPHIC and Unsettling !

(more…)

The former head of the KGB is now directing the President of the United States on what to do, how to do it, and what will be acceptable.     Totally flaying the White House because he knows POTUS does not have support of his own people.   In essence he is daring President Obama to have a vote in his own congress.   Putin knows such a vote would fail therefore he can position himself as being on the side of the U.S. majority.  His directions published Swooningly by,…. wait for it….  why, the New York Times of course:

(NYT) . . . A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action.

I welcome the president’s interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations. (more…)

Here’s the White House S.P.I.N….. 

WASHINGTON DC – Secretary of State John Kerry told a closed meeting of House lawmakers that the Russian government is only seeking to help Syria because they believe the U.S. is serious about taking military action, according to multiple sources present.
The comment, which came in a classified briefing of the full House on Monday, mirrors public comments by other Obama administration officials: the threat of a military attack is working to bring the Russians to the negotiating table.
After enduring days of brutal skepticism from lawmakers of both parties, Kerry and other administration officials wasted no time in attempting to link Russia’s proposal to the pressure coming from the White House. Democratic lawmakers agreed.
“This suggestion today by [the Russians] about bring the chemical weapons Assad has under control, I think it’s a direct result of the president saying he’s ready to do whatever is necessary to back up what he’s already said,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said. (link)