Is Kerry really this stupid? Why yes. And I heard on the news that Russia is making its way into Iraq, so of course there is nothing to see, move right along. And the better part? Pay back is swell. Recall we kicked the old Soviets out of Afghanistan because we wanted to support the soon to be al-Qaeda. Round and round we go:
Russia’s recent military buildup in Syria is consistent with protecting its own forces in the country, Secretary of State John Kerry said during a press conference on Tuesday.
“It is the judgment of our military and most experts,” Kerry said, “that the level and type represents basically force protection.”
Kerry’s remarks came after reports that Russia had added aerial support — including drones, attack helicopters and aircraft — to its forces in Syria’s Latakia province.
Moscow and Washington disagree on how to solve Syria’s four-year civil war, which has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions. While Russia has supported Syrian President Bashar Assad for years, the U.S. believes Assad’s abnegation of power is critical to peace.
“If they are there to shore up Assad and to simply stand there in a way that provides Assad with continued sense that he doesn’t have to negotiate,” Kerry said about Russia, “then I think it’s a problem for Syria and it’s a problem for everybody who wants to bring an end to this conflict which has gone on for too long now.”
Kerry said Moscow’s long-term plans in Syria are still unclear, but he added the U.S. is prepared to work with them on diplomatic solutions. The two nations share some goals. More at Time
Another Obama cluster …k. Obama loves his drones, but it apparently it is more important to act like an a** and disregard all the blood and treasure given in Iraq. But this was the bad war, Bush’s war. Afghanistan is doing so much better. But not to worry, Iran is moving in to help out. The militant group, even too violent for al Qaeda, begins their move. Obama’s dilly dally decision-making once again.
Update: Our savant Biden:
“I am very optimistic about — about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You’re going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government,” said Biden.
“I spent — I’ve been there 17 times now. I go about every two months — three months. I know every one of the major players in all of the segments of that society. It’s impressed me. I’ve been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences.”
So Iraq is about to fall. The caliphate begins. Good luck with this one.
As the threat from Sunni militants in western Iraq escalated last month, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki secretly asked the Obama administration to consider carrying out airstrikes against extremist staging areas, according to Iraqi and American officials.
A spokeswoman for the National Security Council, Bernadette Meehan, declined to comment on Mr. Maliki’s requests and the administration’s response, saying in a statement, “We are not going to get into details of our diplomatic discussions, but the government of Iraq has made clear that they welcome our support” in combating the Islamic extremists.
“Iraqi officials at the highest level said they had requested manned and unmanned U.S. airstrikes this year against ISIS camps in the Jazira desert,” said Kenneth M. Pollack, a former C.I.A. analyst and National Security Council official, who is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and who visited Baghdad in early March. ISIS is the acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as the militant group is known.
Iran’s special forces rush in to help floundering ally
Iran has sent special forces and a unit of elite troops to Iraq to bolster floundering efforts by the Iraqi government to halt the advance of militants from an al-Qaeda splinter group.
A few weeks ago, there were those who questioned what the accomplishments of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State were. But indeed, the Arab Spring was one of her most significant accomplishments, setting aside Benghazi itself. Now the fruits of her labor are here, and we are about to appreciate the accomplishment. Egypt? For another day. Let us be sure and give her the credit for Libya. Was it Obama? No, not his decision. He can only lead from behind, and that is a stretch.
Leaders from at least three of al Qaeda’s most virulent affiliates are now in Libya. What are they planning there? Let’s give Hillary the full credit.
Three women in the Obama administration lobbied the President hard, over the span of a few hours, to approve the strike in Libya over the advice of his military and defense leaders. (Josh Rogin at the Cable has a full report on the meeting.)
In joining Ms. Rice and Ms. Power, Mrs. Clinton made an unusual break with Secretary of DefenseRobert M. Gates, who, along with the national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, and the counterterrorism chief, John O. Brennan, had urged caution. Libya was not vital to American national security interests, the men argued, and Mr. Brennan worried that the Libyan rebels remained largely unknown to American officials, and could have ties to Al Qaeda.”
Leaders from at least three of al Qaeda’s most virulent affiliates are now in Libya. What are they planning there?
In the nearly 20 months since the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attacks, al Qaeda operatives and allied terrorists have flocked to Libya, making the fragile North African country a hub for those seeking to wage jihad from north Africa, current and former U.S. counterterrorism officials tell The Daily Beast.
Not only does al Qaeda host Ansar al-Sharia, one of the militias responsible for the Benghazi attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. But U.S. intelligence now assesses that leaders from at least three regional al Qaeda affiliates—al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and members of the organization of Al-Mulathameen Brigade loyal to Algerian terrorist, Mokhtar BelMokhtar—have all established havens in the lawless regions of Libya outside the control of the central government.
One U.S. military contractor working on counter-terrorism in Africa summed up the situation in Libya today as simply, “Scumbag Woodstock.” The country has attracted that star-studded roster of notorious terrorists and fanatics seeking to wage war on the West.
An American counter-terrorism official used a different metaphor to describe the situation. “Libya today plays host to members and associates of several AQ-allied groups, in some ways becoming a jihadist melting pot,” this official told The Daily Beast. “These groups haven’t united under the same banner, but the ad hoc links and intermittent cooperation among them are worrisome, especially as some of these groups have made no secret of their desire to conduct attacks beyond Libya’s borders.”
The collapse of security in Libya comes as the House of Representatives forms a special committee to investigate the 9/11 anniversary attacks in Benghazi. Those strikes, according to an investigation from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, were the work of individuals with clear links to al Qaeda (PDF). The report says that already in the summer before the Benghazi attacks the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency had produced reports on how al Qaeda affiliates were establishing havens in Libya.
This sure gives new meaning to “come on over.” As if we are not already inundated with potential terrorists gliding over our borders unimpeded. Lets bring them in from especially Syria, the new breeding ground for Al Qaeda and any other Muslim group that hates America. No question but Obama is doing everything in his power to destroy what is left of the America we knew. Why on earth would we take a chance on this ignorant behavior. Already we have millions unemployed, and these new arrivals? I am sure they will have fine employment skills.
The Obama administration is quietly making it easier for people with tangential connections to terror groups to receive refugee status or asylum in the United States.
Two new exemptions to the Immigration and Nationality Act published in the Federal Register Wednesday by the Departments of Homeland Security and State mean that who provided “insignificant” or “limited” material support for terror groups will no longer be automatically denied eligibility from asylum or refugee status.
The rules will affect about 3,000 people who have pending asylum cases, one refugee advocate said, and an unknown additional number of people currently in the process of being deported. It will likely help Syrian refugees who would otherwise be blocked from receiving U.S. aid by existing rules.
Without so much as a comment from much of anyone, the hard fought battle for Iraq goes down the tube. Afghanistan is next on the list. Why? Because once again, our military battles are nothing more than political scores to settle, and this is one Obama wanted us to lose. So now we put on the turbans, nose rings, and bring out the Korans for our Military. Let our enemies know no need to hide in a trojan horse to gain access through our gates. Our gates welcome you.
On a personal note, feeling a bit better and look forward to getting around to my favorites bloggers. Thanks for hanging in.
Here is ABC News’ Martha Raddatz reporting from Iraq, where she said the United States has sent arms to help the Iraqi Military fight Al-Qaeda forces that have taken control of Fallujah. Raddatz reports there are 2,000 “hard-core Al-Qaeda” in Iraq now, capable of serious assaults. “An astonishing number” she said – especially when President Obama dismisses the Al-Qaeda gains as being like a “Jayvee” basketball team.
Obama’s failed, weak Foreign Policy is on full display.
The headline reads “Exclusive: US May Have Let ‘Dozens’ of Terrorists Into Country As Refugees” this by no less than ABC news. How about doing a program on the Visa nonsense going on, allowing thousands of potential terrorists to come our way? Yes indeed, an exclusive. Of course, many of us bloggers have been warning of this for years. But hey, the MSM is starting to catch on. Good interview video link at the bottom of post.
Several dozen suspected terrorist bombmakers, including some believed to have targeted American troops, may have mistakenly been allowed to move to the United States as war refugees, according to FBI agents investigating the remnants of roadside bombs recovered from Iraq and Afghanistan.
A program that gives coveted immigrant green cards to wealthy foreign investors was so susceptible to fraud and abuse that it was used by an Iranian network that sought to send banned high technology home and spread terrorism abroad, federal investigators said.
The memo called the EB-5 program a weak point in the nation’s immigration security because visa holders can become green card holders and eventually citizens — without going through the background checks that most prospective immigrants face. The program is designed to attract foreigners who pledge to invest in the U.S. economy.
But let me not digress!
The discovery in 2009 of two al Qaeda-Iraq terrorists living as refugees in Bowling Green, Kentucky — who later admitted in court that they’d attacked U.S. soldiers in Iraq — prompted the bureau to assign hundreds of specialists to an around-the-clock effort aimed at checking its archive of 100,000 improvised explosive devices collected in the war zones, known as IEDs, for other suspected terrorists’ fingerprints.
“We are currently supporting dozens of current counter-terrorism investigations like that,” FBI Agent Gregory Carl, director of the Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC), said in an ABC News interview to be broadcast tonight on ABC News’ “World News with Diane Sawyer” and “Nightline”.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many more than that,” said House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul. “And these are trained terrorists in the art of bombmaking that are inside the United States; and quite frankly, from a homeland security perspective, that really concerns me.”
As a result of the Kentucky case, the State Department stopped processing Iraq refugees for six months in 2011, federal officials told ABC News – even for many who had heroically helped U.S. forces as interpreters and intelligence assets. One Iraqi who had aided American troops was assassinated before his refugee application could be processed, because of the immigration delays, two U.S. officials said. In 2011, fewer than 10,000 Iraqis were resettled as refugees in the U.S., half the number from the year before, State Department statistics show.
There is an allegation that Boehner is in on what went down in Benghazi. It would be easy to pass it off even though it makes sense of why there is no concerted effort by Boehner to get to the bottom of it. But we have Pat Cadell, no GOP operative, and Mark Levin going full-bore taking this position. So here we go with Mofopolitics take:
Pat Caddell alleges that collaborator John Boehner has been “purposely” stonewalling the Benghazi investigation…
We have John Boehner, who has been purposely suppressing anything about Benghazi because he knew what we found out this week…and he approved it!
Obama’s “rebels” (in Syria) are AL QAEDA terrorists.
How does Obama keep shipping them weapons… without getting impeached?
Pat Caddell explains it!
Mark Levin comes to terms with that which has been obvious for months: That Marxist collaborator John Boehner has no intention of getting to the bottom of what happened in Benghazi…
We have to draw a very sad conclusion: John Boehner does NOT want to know what took place in Benghazi. And I’m honestly starting to think that he’s cut some kind of deal with Obama.
I am breaking one of my resolutions that I would not include any vids of our Dictator. It is just too much to bear. But after hearing that we are turning tail and running from the so-called terrorists that we had “put on the run”, I just could not resist. When are we going to stand tall and defend ourselves and our sovereign land upon which our embassies and consulates stand? When?
U.S. defense officials said there have been no shifts of assets in response to the embassy closures. Defense officials noted that in recent months the Marine Corps has built up quick reaction forces in the region, in large measure to respond to threats against embassies and other diplomatic outposts. But what the heck, let us just pack it in and give them our embassies.
Here we go:
WASHINGTON—Al Qaeda re-emerged as a top global security threat after suspected plots by an affiliate of the terror group led the State Department to issue a world-wide travel alert for the entire month of August.
Senior U.S. officials said they were particularly focused on Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, saying the affiliate was plotting attacks that Washington feared could be executed in the Middle East, Africa or beyond.
The State Department, in addition to shutting embassies in countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt, warned that tourist resorts, bus and rail systems and airlines could be targets, standard language that accompanies such alerts.
AQAP has successfully honed bombing technology that has previously threatened U.S.-bound air travel on passenger and cargo planes, making the organization one of the prime threats facing America and Yemen—and making Yemen of the most frequently targeted sites of the U.S. drone campaign.
Last year a recurring theme in Obama’s campaign was that Al Qaeda was on the run or similar. Variants include Al Qaeda was decimated or they were on the path to defeat. So if that is the case then how did Al Qaeda break out some 500 members from two Iraqi prisons. Al Qaeda is most definitely on the run as Obama wanted the sheeple to believe Somalia, Iraq and Syria just to name 3.
Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report.
As we wind down this year and the season of holiday cheer comes to and end, it is easy to pass by one of the biggest stories that was under reported. That being the attack on Christianity throughout much of the world. Let us keep our brothers and sisters in our prayers. Here we go:
The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.
And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.
The report, entitled Christianophobia, highlights a fear among oppressive regimes that Christianity is a “Western creed” which can be used to undermine them.
The “lion’s share” of persecution faced by Christians arises in countries where Islam is the dominant faith, the report says, quoting estimates that between a half and two-thirds of Christians in the Middle East have left the region or been killed in the past century.
“There is now a serious risk that Christianity will disappear from its biblical heartlands,” it claims.
The report shows that “Muslim-majority” states make up 12 of the 20 countries judged to be “unfree” on the grounds of religious tolerance by Freedom House, the human rights think tank.
It catalogues hundreds of attacks on Christians by religious fanatics over recent years, focusing on seven countries: Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Burma and China.
State hostility towards Christianity is particularly rife in China, where more Christians are imprisoned than in any other country in the world, according to the report.
Does the name Qassem Aqlani ring any bells? Bet not. No House hearings for the death of this man. He was murdered in Yemen, not Libya. An employee of a U.S. Embassy. No Issa hearing for this poor fellow. Little news coverage on this man. Then we have “our man Hadi” our latest Arab Spring nominee to lead Yemen. The only thing is he doesn’t like us too much. So here is a bit of what is going down lately so we can get ready for the next Libya coming our way. Video included.
A drive-by shooting Thursday that killed a top Yemeni security official who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa has raised concern that al Qaeda militants here are bouncing back and getting bolder after suffering defeats this year in a U.S.-Yemeni military offensive. (We have Al Qaeda back on their heels, I know, Obama just told us).
Al Qaeda in Yemen has carried out a string of assassinations of top security and military officials and deadly suicide bombings in recent months. Security officials said they believe it has a hit list to kill more in an attempt to paralyze Yemen’s new leadership installed this year and throw the anti-al Qaeda assaults into turmoil. ABC News
BONUS UPDATE: State Department Spokesdrone Victoria Nuland confirmed her lack of connection with reality by saying “We determined that the security at Benghazi was appropriate for what we knew.”
What the Video of the Attack on Our Embassy in Yemen Reveals
Video is afloat on the internet showing the attack on America’s Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen. Any casual look tells you this is not a good thing, but there is more on display than first meets the eye.
But what don’t you see? Any Yemeni cops around? Any host country forces trying to restore order? Nope. Let’s look at another clip; watch towards the end, around 0:54:
Next video:There’s the Yemeni security guy, a soldier or a cop. He’d been watching the whole time. He only fired his 20mm cannon– into the air– when the mob seemed to get too close to him. He and whatever colleagues of his were around did not intercede to stop the riot.
The video shows that the Yemeni security forces either can’t, or more likely, wouldn’t, defend the US Embassy from the mob. This is bad, really bad. It could mean the Yemeni government is on the side of the mob, or, more likely, that the Yemeni government is more afraid of the mob than the US. That as far as we can tell from these videos the Yemenis stood by and let the mob ransack the Embassy is a very, very ominous sign for the future. H/T: We meant well blog
Yemen demands US Marines leave
The day after Qassem Aqlani was murdered, the Marines were scheduled to leave Yemen anyway according to several news reports I heard, but can find no confirmation if they did. Maybe a reporter or two could track this info down, just saying.
Now the good news: The Yemeni parliament has demanded the removal of US Marines sent to boost security efforts in the capital Sanaa. According to the state-run Saba news agency the parliament strongly opposes the presence of any foreign military under any pretext. Video H/T: CNTV
Now for our part in this nasty business:
“It’s portrayed as picking off the bad guys from a plane,” she said. “But it’s actually surveilling entire communities, locating behavior that might be suspicious and striking groups of unknown individuals based on video data that may or may not be corroborated by eyeballing it on the ground.” New York Times : Oct 13, 2012
Who is held to account for deaths by drone in Yemen?
There is a history of Yemeni officials lying to protect the US, and the Pentagon and CIA greeting queries with obfuscation.
When news flashed of an air strike on a vehicle in the Yemeni city of Radaa on Sunday afternoon, (Reported Thursday September 6, 2012), early claims that al-Qaida militants had died soon gave way to a more grisly reality.
At least 10 civilians had been killed, among them women and children. It was the worst loss of civilian life in Yemen’s brutal internal war since May 2012. Somebody had messed up badly. But was the United States or Yemen responsible?
Local officials and eyewitnesses were clear enough. The Radaa attack was the work of a US drone – a common enough event. Since May 2011, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has recorded up to 116 US drone strikes in Yemen, part of a broader covert war aimed at crushing Islamist militants. But of those attacks, only 39 have been confirmed by officials as the work of the US.
The attribution of dozens of further possible drone attacks – and others reportedly involving US ships and conventional aircraft – remains unclear. Both the CIA and Pentagon are fighting dirty wars in Yemen, each with a separate arsenal and kill list. Little wonder that hundreds of deaths remain in a limbo of accountability. Guardian U.K.
How many people have been killed by these unmanned aircraft in the Central Intelligence Agency’s strikes in Yemen and Pakistan? How many of the dead identified as “militants” are really civilians? How many are children?
BUNKERVILLE | God, Guns and Guts Comrades! 