This should not come as a surprise.   Think about it.   If one of our air assets was shot down by a U.S. stinger missile – the administration would be in a real conundrum.

WASHINGTON (WSJ) —President Barack Obama decided against immediate air strikes on marauding Sunni extremists in Iraq, opting instead to pursue strategies such as providing intelligence to the Iraqi military, addressing the country’s political divisions and seeking support from regional allies.
Mr. Obama will convene a White House meeting Wednesday with Republican and Democratic leaders from the House and Senate to brief them on what officials call this new comprehensive approach. (more…)

Yesterday, it was announced the Obama administration had moved on Sunday to arrest a Benghazi al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Abu Khattala.   Many people, including Fox’s James Rosen pointed particular questions to the State Dept. about “why now”?

As unbelievable as this might sound, the most likely answer has little to do with what’s currently being pondered as a motive for this administration, “squirrel”.    The reality is within the Bergdahl deal, and the GITMO-5 to Qatar, there is a far more likely reason.
Ahmed Abu Khattala is directly connected to the covert transfer of U.S. arms from Qatar to Libya in the initial 2011 decision to arm the Benghazi “rebels”.
Against the backdrop of recent discoveries about Qatar giving some of the aforementioned arms, specifically stinger missiles, to the Taliban in Afghanistan – Khattala became a risk of exposure to the White House.
They needed to throw a bag over him.
Bear with me through the complexity and I’ll outline the events with all citations included for reference.
On March 30th 2011 Reuters News Agency reported that President Obama had already signed a secret order authorizing the CIA to provide covert support to the Libyan opposition, an operation that would become known as “Zero Footprint”.

2011- U.S. officials also have said that Saudi Arabia and Qatar, whose leaders despise Gaddafi, have indicated a willingness to supply Libyan rebels with weapons. (link)

Ultimately a joint decision between the State Department (Hillary Clinton) and CIA (Leon Panetta) [*Note General David Petraeus did not take the position until Sept 2011] was reached to use friendly nations as cover for direct shipment of U.S. arms into Libya as part of Operation Zero Footprint. (more…)

It’s an interesting interview from the perspective of direct questions.
What are your thoughts?

Because the lie is so solidified in the mind of the electorate, she has to keep repeating it – even when it seems absolutely absurd to do so.

“This was the fog of war. My own assessment careened from the video had something to do with it, the video had nothing to do with it. It may have affected some people. It may have not affected other people. I think the conclusion to draw is we were not just monitoring what was happening in Benghazi, but remember we also had a very dangerous assault on our embassy in Cairo.”

FLASH BACK TO 2012

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VP/Kerry/Hagel/Holder/McDonough/Rice/Podesta/Power/Eggleston/Clapper/Brennan/Dempsey/Winnefeld/Blinken/Monaco/Rhodes/McGurk/Beecroft

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 17, 2014

• Vice President Joe Biden
• Sec. of State John Kerry
• Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel
• Attorney General Eric Holder
• Chief of Staff Denis “fixer” McDonough
• Senior White House Foreign Policy Advisor Susan Rice
• Senior Advisor to the President John “skippy” Podesta  (representing Hillary Clinton’s interests)
• UN Ambassador Samantha Power
• White House Chief Legal Counsel Neil Eggleston
• Direction of National Security James Clapper
• Director of CIA John Brennan
• Chairman of Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey
• Vice-Chair Joint Chiefs Admiral James Winnefeld
• National Security Advisor Tony Blinkin
• Asst. To the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco
• White House Communications Director Ben Rhodes
• Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Iraq and Afghanistan, National  Security Council Brett McGurk
• U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Robert Stephen Beecroft

That's the list of who was in POTUS's Iraq options meeting tonight.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 17, 2014

WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama told Congress on Monday the United States was deploying up to 275 military personnel to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the country’s embassy in Baghdad after militants seized control of the north of the country.

“This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat,” Obama said in a letter to lawmakers. “This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed.”   The president said he was notifying Congress under the War Powers Resolution (read more)

I guess Donilon, McDonough, Blinkin and Rhodes don’t have as much political confidence as they did with the Libyan R2P fiasco.  Then again, I’ve never been able to figure out the filter they use for application of the “Responsibility To Protect” doctrine…. 

Remember what we shared before? CLICK HERE

Sometimes you just have to shake your head:

U.S. and Iran hold “very brief discussions” about Iraq and ISIS threat, State Department spokeswoman tells CNN. http://t.co/vE9Sr9IDMn

— CNN International (@cnni) June 16, 2014

State Official emphatic that US won't engage in military coordination or strategic determinations with Iran about Iraq’s future.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 16, 2014

To round up the basic positioning taking place within the U.S. administration vis-a-vi Iraq, it’s useful to look at similarly minded influential ideologues in and out of the current administration.   Once you understand the mindset of the fellow travelers you can predict what the White House will do.

We start with Mike Morell, and his current position.

All Politics All The Time – Mike Morell was the CIA interim replacement for General Petraeus after Benghazi (and the affair that took Petraeus out of the picture with the help of FBI [Eric Holder]).   Morell is a like-minded fellow traveler to Clinton/Obama and currently under Clinton employ while working for CBS.  Morell was the sympathetic receipient of WH Communication Director Ben Rhodes evolutionary talking points around Benghazi and defender of all things Hillary during Senate Hearings.

Remember too – as you watch this – Morell’s Benghazi cohort, Ben Rhodes, is the brother to current CBS News President, David Rhodes.   In addition to his Clinton employment, David Rhodes (CBS) employs Morell as a Senior Security Analyst:

So there, we essentially have the framework outlined this morning for the current White House position.

So, is that indeed the message the day delivers? (more…)

Y’all already know the topic of this captured moment.  However, in case anyone needs a reminder (more…)

Back in 2011, amid the discussions of withdrawal from Iraq, and the debate over how many troops would be needed to maintain a stable environment, two influential names rose to the surface, Tom Donilon and Denis McDonough. Both Donilon and McDonough overrode the Pentagon advice, and advised President Obama to dismiss the military and heed their counsel instead.

New York Times October 2011:

In August [2011], after debates between the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House, the Americans settled on the 3,000 to 5,000 number, which was reported in August. According to two people briefed on the matter, one inside the administration and one outside, the arguments of two White House officials, Thomas E. Donilon, the national security adviser, and his deputy, Denis McDonough, prevailed over those of the military.

Intelligence assessments that Iraq was not at great risk of slipping into chaos in the absence of American forces were a factor in the decision, an American official said.  (link)

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