Given what Senator Clinton formerly said about General “Betrayus”, and given the backstory of former CIA Analytical Director Mike Morell’s admitted manipulation of talking points and stand-in status for Petraeus; and given the fact that Petraeus gave testimony to congress that he didn’t know who changed the Benghazi talking points but claimed it was not the CIA; and given the fact Eric Holder was investigating Petraeus over the affair with Paula Broadwell at the time of Benghazi, well, something is three dimensional Machiavellian about this latest water-carrying. 

(Via MediaIte)  In the new book HRC, by The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Bloomberg’s Jonathan Allen, General David Petraeus praised Hillary Clinton as a potential president, specifically citing what many consider her biggest obstacle as a candidate: her role as Secretary of State overseeing the American compound in Benghazi when it was attacked in 2012.

“She’d make a tremendous president,” Petraeus said. “Like a lot of great leaders, her most impressive qualities were most visible during tough times. In the wake of the Benghazi attacks, for example, she was extraordinarily resolute, determined, and controlled.”

On This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Jon Karl brought this up to Representative Tom Cole (R-OK) and asked if it “took the wind out of the sails” of Benghazi as an anti-Hillary talking point.  (read more with video)

There is a lot to digest in this story.  A LOT !   

The Summary Version is:  IOWA Police execute a search warrant based on suspected credit card fraud – However, they smashed down the door in a “no-knock” raid replete with full battle armor.   Then the police tried to destroy the CCTV system which was recording their behavior.

When questioned about the ridiculously excessive “use of force” things get worse because the police justify the execution of the warrant, the extreme measures invoked, based around the principle the occupant was a legally registered gun owner and therefore represented a more significant risk to them.   <—- Think about that.

Personally I have come to the difficult determination that the police are now a danger to us.  We have as much likelihood to be victimized by paid law enforcement as we do criminals.   It has taken me several years to accept this ‘new-normal’ reality with police militarization; however, there is simply too much empirical evidence to dismiss the obvious.    This story is only atypical in that the owner had CCTV systems to document the reality.

Several reports to review.   Here is the original story:  Family calls Ankeny police raid excessive –  Justin Ross was in the bathroom next to his bedroom when a squad of Ankeny police officers rammed through a side door of his home. (more…)

In order to fully conceptualize. It is perhaps important to reference 2001 “The Dawn Of Man” segment which introduced 2001 – A Space Odyssey.

Only after watching the above – should you consider the below:

(more…)

When Clinton, Rice and Power launched operation R2P in Benghazi Libya they specifically helped the Libyan “Rebels” to overthrown Kaddaffi.   This gave the al-Qaeda operatives, who made up the majority coalition of the “rebels”, immediate access to weapons warehouses and massive stockpiles of ManPads (Man Portable Air Defense Systems), otherwise known as surface to air missiles – the missiles were a specific manufacture coming originally from Russia.   20,000 such missiles immediately went missing.

This past weekend one of those missiles was used.

All five soldiers in the helicopter were killed, security officials said.

“This is what everyone has long assumed could happen, and it is a confirmation of those fears — that substantial and advanced weaponry came into the country in the aftermath of the Libyan war,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, an Egypt scholar at the Century Foundation in New York.

New York Times – Islamist militants shot down an Egyptian military helicopter in the Sinai Peninsula with a surface-to-air missile over the weekend, raising new alarms about the terrorist insurgency that developed there in response to the military takeover last summer.

(more…)

EGYPT – Egypt will hold a presidential vote before parliamentary polls, President Adly Mansour said on Sunday, in a change to a political roadmap that could pave the way for the swift election of army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Parliamentary elections were supposed to be held first under the timetable drawn up after the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July following mass protests against his rule.

The decision to revise the order of elections is likely to deepen tensions in Egypt, which is struggling to cope with waves of political violence. Forty-nine people were killed in anti-government marches on Saturday, the third anniversary of the popular uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. (more…)

BigfurHat@iOTW Notes the “creepy factor” of the NSA for Kids website.  https://www.nsa.gov/kids/

In my humble opinion, it’s not really all that creepy.

Central U.S. Government agencies have been doing this for years under a few semi-secretive programs that measure IQ, aptitude and propensity for problem solving. In the modern era it’s appropriately called DAAD’s.

What’s new is the platform, the internet.   In the “olden days” it was puzzle books and subscriptions.   Or, sometimes trade craft engagement could come from word of mouth (old school word for networking) inside various educational platforms such as “Spelling Bees”, “Debate Teams” or the various state “science fairs”, the latter still being predominantly utilized today. (more…)

GREG HICKS – Shifting blame to our dead ambassador is wrong on the facts. I know—I was there.

Last week the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence issued its report on the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya. The report concluded that the attack, which resulted in the murder of four Americans, was “preventable.”

Some have been suggesting that the blame for this tragedy lies at least partly with Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the attack. This is untrue: The blame lies entirely with Washington.

The report states that retired Gen. Carter Ham, then-commander of the U.S. Africa Command (Africom) headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, twice offered to “sustain” the special forces security team in Tripoli and that Chris twice “declined.”

Since Chris cannot speak, I want to explain the reasons and timing for his responses to Gen. Ham. As the deputy chief of mission, I was kept informed by Chris or was present throughout the process. (more…)

Juice and Birdman, both short straws, were on a telethon for malaria trip when AJ slapped his neck for the eleven millionth time and frustratingly bitched “why the f**k do I always get the saw palms” and, more importantly, “why do these damned things say do not eat“?….

….The response from the wire holder was blandly delivered: “because, dipsh!t, somewhere in the vast world of the unflinching stupid, a dumbass is going to try and eat it“.

Houston, I do believe we have located said suspect:

Most people know al-Qaeda (as a terror entity) has evolved over the past 10+ years.   Recently the Obama administration has doggedly tried to parse and obfuscate around a principle that CORE al-Qaeda has been destroyed.

This claim is essential to framing any success around the Obama administration’s foreign policy and defense effort.     However, the claim is false and the success simply does not exist.

al-Qaeda is NOT on the run.

As a network of affiliated enterprises, with the same ideological goal, it has grown in influence specifically as a direct result of their own evolutionary intentions.

CORE al-Qaeda, or a centralized body from which all decision making stemmed, was never their intent.   al-Qaeda intended for terrorism to be “cellular” or operationally self-sustaining and widespread.    Bin Laden specifically intended the network to be a group of ideologically aligned but unaffiliated franchises all working on a common approach. (more…)

Since the initial publication of this article (2011) about Private Berghdahl – new information has come to light which reflects he actually intentionally disserted his post. Apparently his goal, according to those within his squad who knew him best, was to join the Taliban.

His unit, and the military members who knew the motives of PFC Berghdahl were sworn to secrecy about his defection to radical Islam. They were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements which would preclude the military from discussing the facts of his desertion.

It was against that unknown backdrop that most support for Bowe Bergdahl existed.

No-one should feel remorse, shame or guilt for expressing concern for a missing service member. You had no way to know the official U.S. position was to lie and be deceitful of the events in order to save the Obama administration embarrassment. Unfortunately people died trying to rescue Bergdahl, and the families of the fallen were lied to.

————————— Previously ——————————-

CNN reporting:   The U.S. military has obtained new video apparently made by those holding the lone American prisoner of war, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

A U.S. military official told CNN the clip shows the Wood Valley, Idaho, native in diminished health from the effects of close to five years in captivity.

He was seized in Afghanistan in June 2009 and is believed held by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in Pakistan, the official said.

The so-called proof-of-life video, the first of him in nearly three years, has a reference to December 14, 2013. (more…)