When it mattered, when it could have made a difference, he was willfully blind and silent.
Now, post facto, he’s filled with President Obama should have’s…

(more…)

The insufferable Leon Panetta has a new book revealing how President Obama, Denis McDonough, Valerie Jarrett and Ben Rhodes constructed every encountered policy, including defense, through a domestic political lens.  Duh! 
This short-sighted and naïve world view is why the foreign policies of the Obama administration -from Libya and the support for al-Qaeda, to Iran and the almost certain nuclear bomb they will acquire- have been catastrophic in consequence. But it really doesn’t matter now does it?

The value in Panetta’s public push back -against the amateur crowd occupying the White House- would have been important when those disastrous policies were being debated, planned and executed. But now, not so much – the Rubicon has been crossed, and hundreds of U.S. military have been killed.
It should also be remembered that Panetta the Prog is responsible for constructing ‘Operation Zero Footprint’ with Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. A State Dept. and CIA operation which eventually led to the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. Neither Clinton nor Panetta have been held to account.
(Via Washington Post) Tell-all memoirs can be tough when they actually, well, tell all. But it would be hard to surpass the shot that Leon Panetta, President Obama’ s former CIA director and secretary of defense, takes at his former boss and the White House foreign policy team in his new book: “Worthy Fights.” (more…)

What are the odds this mysterious weekend described is the long Thanksgiving weekend of 2012?  If Raymond Maxwell is describing “Sunday” of that specific Thanksgiving weekend then a whole lot of other dots connect….

(Via Sharyl Attkisson) As the House Select Committee on Benghazi prepares for its first  hearing this week, a former State Department diplomat is coming forward with a startling allegation: Hillary Clinton confidants were part of an operation to “separate” damaging documents before they were turned over to the Accountability Review Board investigating security lapses surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.
According to former Deputy Assistant Secretary Raymond Maxwell, the after-hours session took place over a weekend in a basement operations-type center at State Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. This is the first time Maxwell has publicly come forward with the story.

At the time, Maxwell was a leader in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, which was charged with collecting emails and documents relevant to the Benghazi probe.
“I was not invited to that after-hours endeavor, but I heard about it and decided to check it out on a Sunday afternoon,” Maxwell says.
He didn’t know it then, but Maxwell would ultimately become one of four State Department officials singled out for discipline—he says scapegoated—then later cleared for devastating security lapses leading up to the attacks. Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were murdered during the Benghazi attacks. (more…)

The House Select Committee on Benghazi is set to hold its first public hearing this week on September 17th.

The Select Committee on #Benghazi will hold its first public hearing next week. pic.twitter.com/KwpANrqvPb

— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) September 10, 2014

However, a note of caution should be added not to expect too much “substance” as an outcome.
As most readers are now aware the Benghazi FUBAR is essentially two-thirds a result of bad policy, and one-third a result of terrible decisions as a result of that bad policy. To date nothing has surfaced to undermine the essential research we have shared within the Benghazi Brief.
Actually, to the contrary “The Brief” has withstood relentless scrutiny. Unfortunately that also means Trey Gowdy will be hard pressed to deliver sunlight to the construct because most, if not all, of the flaws are within the intelligence aspects. (more…)

Let’s hope that Fatah el-Sisi can destroy them before they have the capacity to carry out their threat. Radical Islamist Fighting Groups are beginning to congregate around a new Libyan banner “Libyan Dawn”.

LIBYA – Islamist militias in Libya took control of nearly a dozen commercial jetliners last month, and western intelligence agencies recently issued a warning that the jets could be used in terrorist attacks across North Africa.
Intelligence reports of the stolen jetliners were distributed within the U.S. government over the past two weeks and included a warning that one or more of the aircraft could be used in an attack later this month on the date marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, said U.S. officials familiar with the reports.
“There are a number of commercial airliners in Libya that are missing,” said one official. “We found out on September 11 what can happen with hijacked planes.”
The official said the aircraft are a serious counterterrorism concern because reports of terrorist control over the Libyan airliners come three weeks before the 13th anniversary of 9/11 attacks and the second anniversary of the Libyan terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi. (more…)

This represents Obama’s foreign policy in a nutshell. In 2012 we armed ISIS in Syria with the goal to destroy President Assad. In 2014 we are giving President Assad the intelligence information to destroy ISIS, and the weapons we gave them to kill him.

(Hat Tip WeaselZippers) You just can’t make this stuff up.  

In Libya – Egypt and the UAE are attacking President Obama and Hillary’s “rebels”.  You remember, those folks we had a responsibility to protect.   The ones we ARMED.

In Syria – We are now assisting Russia and Assad, to attack President Obama, Hillary and John McCain’s “rebels”.  Yes, yet again – the ones we ARMED !  

The Benghazi Brief

WASHINGTON DC – The U.S. has begun reconnaissance flights over Syria and is sharing intelligence about jihadist deployments with Damascus through Iraqi and Russian channels, sources told AFP on Tuesday.

“The cooperation has already begun and the United States is giving Damascus information via Baghdad and Moscow,” one source close to the issue said on condition of anonymity.

The comments came a day after Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Syria was willing to work with the international community against the jihadist Islamic State group, and U.S. officials said they were poised to carry out surveillance flights over Syria. (more…)

Fatah el Sisi going it alone.  Didn’t even bother to tell the U.S.  ROFLMAO – Go Si-si, Go Si-si.   Defending Israel, attacking Hamas, and now launching strikes against the Brotherhood in Libya !    

Git R’ Done !!

[…]  The issue has caused a rare schism among the Arab monarchies of the gulf because Qatar has taken the opposite tact. In contrast to its neighbors, it has welcomed Islamist expatriates to its capital, Doha, and supported their factions around the region, including in Libya.

And who does President Obama side with ?  Why, Qatar of course !

CAIRO — Twice in the last seven days, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have secretly launched airstrikes against Islamist-allied militias battling for control of Tripoli, Libya, four senior American officials said, in a major escalation of a regional power struggle set off by Arab Spring revolts.

The United States, the officials said, was caught by surprise: Egypt and the Emirates, both close allies and military partners, acted without informing Washington, leaving the Obama administration on the sidelines. Egyptian officials explicitly denied to American diplomats that their military played any role in the operation, the officials said, in what appeared a new blow to already strained relations between Washington and Cairo. (more…)

Libya is vitally important for several reasons.  The nation is the gateway between Africa and the Middle East, as well as the primary gate between Africa and Europe.   What happens in Libya has profound consequences for Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Unreported by the Western media some EU nations -and possibly the U.S.- have been covertly using air strikes to try and stop the assembly forces of the radical islamists.  As we previously shared the Benghazi, Mizrata and Darnah brigades, the Libyan Fighting Groups, have assembled under one banner called “Operation Dawn”.
However, the “mysterious airstrikes” have been futile given the scope of the islamists moving on the ground.   The Tripoli International Airport has been completely destroyed.  Islamist Fighting Groups are now in control of the Capital city.

Things are bad folks, really bad.  48 hours ago I lost contact with my source in the area – please say a prayer for all the innocent Libyans now suffering as a consequence of stupid U.S. policy. Samantha Power, Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton and President Obama caused this.

(more…)

The “rebels” who benefited from Samantha Power, Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton’s R2P intervention in Libya are now in control of the primary international airport in Tripoli.

In essence this means al-Qaeda now has access to internationally capable 747’s.   Um, well, heads’ up.

LIBYA – Islamist fighters in the Fajr Libya (Libyan Dawn) coalition said on Saturday they have captured Tripoli’s battered international airport after many days of clashes with nationalist militiamen.

The claim followed a setback the previous night when a mystery warplane raided Islamist positions, killing at least 10 fighters, a Fajr Libya spokesman said.

If independent sources confirm the airport has changed hands, it would be a major defeat for the nationalist fighters from Zintan west of Tripoli who have held the airport since the fall of long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

A statement shown on screen on An-Nabaa television, regarded as close to the Islamists, said: “Fajr Libya announces that it totally controls Tripoli international airport.”  (read more)

As with all complex stories the valuable discoveries come with time.

This Brief has been updated to include newly spotlighted research on Syria and ISIL. Most importantly the previously unknown “Second Presidential Finding Memo” to the CIA in 2012 specifically directed to arm/aid ISIL in Syria. The new information from the month before the Benghazi attack explains the motive of the Turkish delegation toward Chris Stevens.
Grab a cup of coffee because it’s a long read with over 350 citations and reference source links for conformational material.   We think you’ll get hooked and find 95% of your Benghazi questions answered.   And if you can find a factual flaw I’ll buy the coffee.. SD

We know from the Bret Baier interview with Hillary Clinton that she was physically located at her 7th floor office in Washington DC on the night of the attack. Unfortunately we also know during the November 2012 Thanksgiving holiday a mysterious fire took place in that building. Well, actually directly above her exact office – cause undetermined.
A “fire” which preceded an unfortunate slip and fall for the Secretary, resulting in a concussion, which led to the discovery of a blood clot, that ultimately delayed her congressional testimony before a Senate Hearing into the events of the night in question.
We know the Libyan uprising began on February 10th of 2011, and we also know that sometime around the end of February 2011 President Obama signed a presidential directive authorizing the State Dept and CIA to begin a covert operation to arm the Libyan “rebels”.
We also know of a Second Presidential Finding Memo authorizing additional CIA covert action in 2012, this time in Syria. However, unlike the 2011 Libyan operation we do not know the operational name of the second action in 2012 Syria.
We know the Libyan “rebels” were positioned in two strategic places. Benghazi, and the port city of Darnah, both located in Northeastern Libya.
We know this 2011 Libyan covert operation came to be known as “Operation Zero Footprint“, and fell under the military command authority of NATO not (important to repeat), NOT, the U.S. Military. (more…)