Today Fox News is reporting confirmation that weapons from Benghazi were shipped to Syria. This affirms one of the essential elements outlined in our Benghazi Brief.

Documents Reveal Obama Admin Knew Terrorists Had Planned #Benghazi Attack 10 Days in Advance: http://t.co/nPGPakVBKH via @JudicialWatch

— Judicial Watch ⚖️ (@JudicialWatch) May 18, 2015

The “Benghazi Brief” remains the most controversial research report we have ever produced. The brief contains over two years of research and hundreds of very specific citations supporting it.
The Brief has also been challenged and with extensive vetting factually withstood all scrutiny. The report, while exhaustive in detail, remains the strongest summary of events surrounding the two years leading up to the Benghazi Libya attack on 9/11/12.
We have repeatedly stated The Benghazi Brief, and ALL of the cited information contained therein, is available for use by anyone who has a goal of communicating the truth surrounding the controversial events. (more…)

(Via AP) The Pentagon says U.S. commandos have mounted a rare raid in eastern Syria, killing the Islamic State commander in charge of oil fields in a firefight and capturing his wife.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the raid Saturday, identifying the militant as Abu Sayyaf. He said no U.S. forces were killed or injured.
Syrian state media earlier reported government forces killed at least 40 IS fighters, including a senior commander in charge of oil fields, in an attack Saturday on the country’s largest oil field — held by IS.
It identified the commander as Abu al-Teem al-Saudi.
The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights confirmed an oil field attack, saying at least 19 IS members, including 12 foreigners, were killed. The group did not say who carried out the attack. (more…)

[…] An investigation led authorities to the four people and to raids at the Midamar Corporation, 1105 60th Ave. SW, which bills itself as a leading U.S.-based Halal food brand, and Pizza Daddy, 1539 First Ave. SE…

IOWA – […]  Three Cedar Rapids men and a woman were arrested and each had an initial appearance in U.S. District Court Tuesday. They each face two charges of delivering a package or container to a common carrier without knowledge that it contains firearms and ammunition and conspiracy.

The defendants are: Ali Herz, 50; his brother, Bassem Herz, 29; his son, Adam Herz, 22; and Sarah Zeaiter, 24, the spouse of Bassem Herz. All told U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade they were U.S. citizens, except Zeaiter – she was born in Lebanon. Reade also said Zeaiter was unemployed, a “student” and had no assets, according to her financial affidavit for a public defender. Her co-defendants also appeared with public defenders. (more…)

Al Nusra is a front for, and has openly aligned with, al-Qaeda in Syria – which is essentially ISIS.

It is not a secret that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has tried to deliver the maximum benefit to ISIS (in Northern Syria) in direct opposition to the Kurds who are trying to formulate their own independent nation of Kurdistan. Erdogan views Kurdistan as a proxy for Irans’ growing sphere of influence.

Erdogan opposes Iran for many ideological reasons, but arguably most of all because he sees Iran’s growing influence as a threat to his own political ambitions to lead a new Ottoman Empire.

In my opinion Erdogan views his envisioned construct as most possible with a constituency of: ISIS, The Muslim Brotherhood, Al Nusra (al-Qaeda) and various other segments of Sunni Islam including the Palestinian Authority, vis-à-vis Hamas. Erdogan, like Obama, has more grand aspirations than his own territory – all of his prior behavior aligns with this perspective.

So it comes as no surprise to see Turkey’s Erdogan take the opportunity provided by the distractions of both Yemen and Iraq, to act against one of Iran’s benefactors in Syria, namely Assad. (more…)

It is interesting, and not incidental, to see CNNi (CNN International) lead the shift in leftist talking points about Egyptian President Fattah el-Sisi by focusing on their collectivist opinion that el-Sisi is “a hardliner”.

However, actions -what CNN would like to avoid- of Sisi speak louder than the CNN words. Sisi has shown over the past two years his willingness to insure minority protections within Egypt yet he has simultaneously taken a zero tolerance position toward Islamic extremism.

The Muslim Brotherhood, as a political construct, is the extremist bane of all mid-East moderates. The Muslim Brotherhood is essentially the larger construct within ISIS; and yet the Muslim Brotherhood is discussed on leftist news media as if they are not a terrorist entity.

Because of the frequency and scope of this specific media narrative it simply cannot be coincidental; someone is driving this false narrative.

CAIRO (AP) – Arab League member nations formally announced on Sunday an agreement to form a joint military force. While details of how such a force would actually operate remain thin, the agreement is a telling sign of a new determination among Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their allies to intervene aggressively in regional hotspots, whether against Islamic militants or Iran-backed groups.

(more…)

An excellent article in the Washington Post today includes written Question and Answer exchange with General David Petraeus after a recent re-visit to Iraq and the region.

General Petraeus: […] I think Iraq and the coalition forces are making considerable progress against the Islamic State. In fact, I would argue that the foremost threat to Iraq’s long-term stability and the broader regional equilibrium is not the Islamic State; rather, it is Shiite militias, many backed by — and some guided by — Iran.

These militia returned to the streets of Iraq in response to a fatwa by Shia leader Grand Ayatollah Sistani at a moment of extreme danger. And they prevented the Islamic State from continuing its offensive into Baghdad. Nonetheless, they have, in some cases, cleared not only Sunni extremists but also Sunni civilians and committed atrocities against them.

Thus, they have, to a degree, been both part of Iraq’s salvation but also the most serious threat to the all-important effort of once again getting the Sunni Arab population in Iraq to feel that it has a stake in the success of Iraq rather than a stake in its failure. Longer term, Iranian-backed Shia militia could emerge as the preeminent power in the country, one that is outside the control of the government and instead answerable to Tehran. (more…)

We have shared Jon McNaughton’s work before and his latest is right on target.

Interactive version HERE and Video Below (more…)

The “Benghazi Brief” remains the most controversial research report we have ever produced.  The brief contains over two years of research and hundreds of very specific citations supporting it.

The Brief has also been challenged and with extensive vetting factually withstood all scrutiny.  The report, while exhaustive in detail, remains the strongest summary of events surrounding the two years leading up to the Benghazi Libya attack on 9/11/12.

We have repeatedly stated The Benghazi Brief, and ALL of the cited information contained therein, is available for use by anyone who has a goal of communicating the truth surrounding the controversial events.

We presented the brief so that a larger understanding, a factual understanding, is possible. It can be used in part or in whole, or edited for use by any party. Anyone can do whatever they want with the detailed information provided. Our only request continues to be that the truth contained within it be maintained.

With that, a group of people committed to sharing the actual truth, and answering some of the more ridiculous conspiracy claims, have put the brief into a Power Point presentation so that it can be communicated to an audience during a speech or delivery.

The Power Point version is AVAILABLE HERE

The brief itself is available below in it’s entirety.

God Bless.

(more…)

As previously mentioned, there is a growing body of evidence reflecting the next strategy in the psychological operations being used by ISIS.  Essentially, the chatter is claiming that the captured Christian hostages, the Assyrians’, were specifically taken so that ISIS could put together a message for U.S. President Barack Obama.

It is difficult to know how much credibility to assign to these claims.   There is also a growing conversation about how Obama’s refusal to identify the religious motivation of  ISIS could also be driving the jihadists to intensify their ‘religious targeting’ in an effort to make Western Leaders (who refuse to identify the authentic Islam behavior of ISIS) seem like they are foolish, weak and afraid.

SYRIA – ISIS is clearly feeling the pain after weeks of intense air strikes against it by the U.S.- led coalition fighting the spread of the terrorist organization in the Middle East.

Employing its familiar tactics, the Islamic State is now threatening to execute the 150 Assyrian Christians they have taken hostage in Syria.

(more…)

Media sources are hearing the possibility of an ISIS video directly intended for U.S. President Obama. The question is being raised as to whether these captured 150 Assyrians’ will be part of that message.

(Reuters) – Islamic State militants have abducted at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria they had raided, Christian Syrian activists said on Tuesday.

A Syrian Christian group representing several NGO’s inside and outside the country said it had verified at least 150 people missing, including women and elderly, who had been kidnapped by the militants.

“We have verified at least 150 people who have been adducted from sources on the ground,” Bassam Ishak, President of the Syriac National Council of Syria, whose family itself is from Hasaka, told Reuters from Amman. […] (more…)