Several weeks ago when doing research into Denis McDonough, Obama’s pick to be his Chief of Staff, we ran accross this older insightful comment from a former member of Chuck Hagel’s staff.   I book marked it to review again during the confirmation hearings. Wow, this former employee of his staff really hits the nail on the head.

Watch this segment of his confirmation hearing first:

Now consider this from one of his staffers from March 2007:

At one time I worked in Senator Chuck Hagel’s office. I believe readers may be interested in my observations of Senator Hagel.

He has a limited educational background, and worked as a local broadcaster in Nebraska before getting his start as an aide to a Nebraska congressman in the 1970s. Before that, he fought in Vietnam, where he was seriously wounded. With his Capitol Hill background and war record, he obtained a high position in the Reagan administration’s Department of Veterans Affairs. Then he had some friends who were investing in the new cellular phone field; he sold his car to raise the funds to invest with them. That’s how he became a millionaire. And in a small state like Nebraska, that’s how a person possessed of the requisite ego, regardless of other qualifications, including intelligence, becomes a United States Senator. (more…)

I doubt anyone could ever watch a more categorically inept nominee face questioning than former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel.    President Obama appears to have nominated Hagel for only one reason – ideological synergy:   Lead from behind, follow the principle of flawed R2P mindset, and intentionally diminish the capacity of the U.S. Military.

Clueless would be the best descriptive.

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Breaking: Senate confirms Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry as secretary of state. http://t.co/FlFT59lx

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 29, 2013

The Algerian Hostage Slaughter was a direct response to the French counter-offensive in Mali against the Islamist Jihadists.   The Islamic terrorists responsible for the Algerian attack came from, and used weapons from, Libya.  Even Hillary Clinton recently admitted as such.

Simultaneous to, and as a direct consequence of, this French/U.S. Mali escalation, all foreign nationals were recently recommended to evacuate the areas of Eastern Libya (Benghazi).

The United States is now providing military assistance, logistics, support, transport and refueling for French troops in their fight for Mali.

Turkish President Erdogan took over the primary gatekeeper spot from Mouamar Kaddafi after his death.    Going back on the timeline on U.S. Benghazi support and weapons shipments for the “Rebels”, you might remember Turkey being opposed; Not opposed because Erdogan approved of Kaddafi, quite the contrary;  Opposed because they wanted to increase the certainty of an Islamist, not moderate, victory.   This is the same reason Turkey wanted to control the recipients of “any” weapons headed to Syria.

Also, think back to September 11th 2012, and the last official diplomatic envoy who met with Ambassador Stevens before the consulate attack began, Turkish Ambassador Ali Kemal Aydin;    When the envoy was leaving, somehow they navigated the al-Qaeda roadblocks that were formed moments earlier and surrounded the neighborhood.

Now today…… (more…)

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JOLLY JIHADING – Could the release of “Zero Dark Thirty” provoke violent protests against the U.S. in response to the film’s searing depictions of “enhanced interrogation” — the coercive, super-secret and bitterly debated methods used by the CIA against al Qaeda terrorism suspects?

Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s acclaimed docudrama about the pursuit of Osama bin Laden opened Wednesday at five theaters in New York and Los Angeles.

The film, an early Oscar favorite, graphically depicts coercive CIA interrogation techniques, including the waterboarding, domination and psychosexual humiliation of a detainee, who is, variously, collared and leashed like a dog, stuffed into a cramped “confinement box” and stripped naked for questioning in the presence of a female investigator. (more…)

There is absolutely no doubt a negative opinion toward Israel is an ideological qualification for any Cabinet Level position within the Obama Administration.    Having Zbignew Brzezinski out front is just further affirmation of this.   Brzezinski has been a part of Obama’s ideological life since the early days at Occidental College, through his Columbia University *cough* mystery thesis, and into the administration as a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor.  (In the picture below Zbignew Brzezinski is the guy with the gun, the bearded guy wearing the beret peering over his shoulder is Osama Bin Laden)

(WFB) As questions swirl around the prospective nomination of Chuck Hagel as President Barack Obama’s next defense secretary, the White House has begun mounting an effort to defend the former Nebraska Senator.

As part of that campaign, Zbigniew Brzezinski appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” early Thursday to push back against charges that Hagel is a poor choice for the job.

Brzezinski told the MSNBC anchor team, which includes his daughter Mika, that Hagel’s “critics, they would like to plunge the U.S. into some new wars, promptly, and not always for U.S. national interest.” (more…)

SYRIA – Syrian forces have mixed chemical weapons and loaded them into bombs in  preparation for possible use on President Bashar Assad’s own people, Fox News  confirms.

A senior U.S. official told Fox News that bombs were loaded with components  of sarin gas, a deadly nerve gas. Syrian forces have 60 days to use these bombs  until the chemical mixture expires and has to be destroyed.

NBC News,  which first reported this latest escalation in the Syrian civil war, cited  sources saying bombs filled with a sarin component have not yet been loaded onto  planes, but the Syrian military is prepared to use these chemical weapons  against civilians pending orders from Assad.

The United States has said chemical weapons use would be unacceptable and  would trigger greater Western intervention in the conflict. (more…)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted a brokered peace deal by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood President Morsi after meeting with US SOS Clinton.  This, despite 70% Israeli support for continued self-defense against attacks from Hamas in the Gaza Strip.  The cease fire was set for 9pm Tel Aviv time (3pm EST) – during first hour rocket attacks from Gaza Strip continued.

WH says Pres Obama urged Netanyahu to agree to the Egyptian ceasefire proposal while reiterating Israel's right to defend itself.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) November 21, 2012

FUBAR – Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said the deal included an agreement to open all border crossings with the Gaza Strip, including the important Rafah crossing with Egypt. A copy of the deal obtained by The Associated Press appeared to be somewhat vague about the details on the crossings. (more…)

Turkey’s Erdogan has been highlighted here numerous times. He is not to be trusted, he is a stealth Islamist and might even be a co-conspirator in the attack against the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

Recently he called Israel a “terrorist state”, and yet supposedly Turkey is a primary U.S. ally in the region. Go Figure. But shockingly an AP reporter actually calls out the State Department on their silence.