“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.”
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
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.
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…)
(New York Observer) As Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski has written, prosecutorial misconduct has become “an epidemic.” And evidence has come to light that our president, the nation’s chief law enforcement official, seeks his counsel from the worst.
If ever a picture was worth a thousand words, it is a recently released White House photo of President Obama and his muses—if one only knew the truth behind those muses whispering in the President’s ear as they strategized in the aftermath of the Benghazi tragedy.
To understand the (politely-put) “lack of transparency” from the White House, the enormous politicization of the Department of Justice, the release of Taliban leaders from Guantanamo, refusal to cooperate with congressional investigations, the IRS’s harassment of political opponents, and the cover-up of Benghazi, read on.
President Obama’s right-hand woman Kathryn Ruemmler, conveniently seated to his right, was his longest serving White House Counsel and remains one of his closest and most trusted advisors. (more…)
Y’all already know the topic of this captured moment. However, in case anyone needs a reminder (more…)
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President Barack Obama convenes an Oval Office meeting with his national security team to discuss the situation in Iraq, June 13, 2014.
Seated with the President from left: Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Robert Cardillo, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration; Vice President Joe Biden; National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice, and Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns.
Also attending the meeting were Chief of Staff Denis McDonough; Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the Vice President; Tony Blinken, Deputy National Security Advisor; and Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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.
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)
