We know how the Emperor is doing on the home front, but anyone wondering how he is demonstrating his intellectual prowess as the Commander-in-Chief? (Or should I add how Valerie is doing)? We have heard subtle comments that he is micro managing our military actions, but this is a scathing report by two former Secretaries of Defense. This story makes the immigration issue pale for those who are serving or have loved ones serving in our military. Here we go:
President Obama’s former Secretaries of Defense have a low opinion of the boss’ defense policy.
Robert Gates, who served in that position under Obama from 2009 to 2011, and his replacement Leon Panetta (2011 to 2013), sharply criticized Obama on everything from administrative methods to being too insular to fighting the Islamic State terrorist organization in speeches at the Reagan National Defense Forum November 15.
“[President Obama] has given them the mission of destroying ISIS,” Gates said. “But when you then deny the military the authorities they require to achieve the objective, you leave them with a great sense of frustration.”
“I think it is important for the president and I think it’s important for our military leaders to know that they have to be able to use every possible option on the table in order to be able to succeed in that effort, and that we ought not to just ad hoc limit certain areas,” Panetta said.
“I think there is a gap between the president’s rhetoric in terms of the objectives and the missions that he sets for the military and then the authorization that he gives them to carry it out,” Gates added
President Obama’s team thought the Iranian regime might abandon dictator Bashar Assad over his use of chemical weapons in Syria’s civil war. No doubt this keen thinking originated from Iranian born Valerie Jarrett who has admitted her family still has ties to Iran. But if this is not enough for my Sunday Special, my readers get a bonus report.
Back in August of 2012, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says that when Bashar al-Assad loses his grip on power, he wants the Syrian military to remain in place. I am sure Kerry no doubt has an even happier ending.
Depraved and Delusional formerUS Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta tells CNN that the US must make sure that the ruthless genocidal hated Baathist Alawite sect-packed Secret Police Security Forces stay in power after the inevitable overthrow of Dictator Bashar Assad.
Many of us have been looking for what the ending would be in Syria after we dispatched another head of a Middle East country. I happened on a Panetta video whose is equally clueless regarding the administration’s best wishes for a happy ending. So first, lets chug down Samantha Power and move on to Leo Panetta.
Obama team thought Iran would not tolerate Bashar Assad’s use of WMDs
Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, hoped that a team of UN investigators — many of whom, presumably, have a longstanding relationship with Iranian leaders — could write a report that would convince Iran to abandon its ally at the behest of the United States.
“We worked with the UN to create a group of inspectors and then worked for more than six months to get them access to the country on the logic that perhaps the presence of an investigative team in the country might deter future attacks,” Power said at the Center for American Progress as she made the case for intervening in Syria.
“Or, if not, at a minimum, we thought perhaps a shared evidentiary base could convince Russia or Iran — itself a victim of Saddam Hussein’s monstrous chemical weapons attacks in 1987-1988 — to cast loose a regime that was gassing it’s people,” she said.
[565] CNN_ Interview with Defense Secretary Panetta on post-Assad Syria [AR_EN_FR_RU].flv
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta says that when Bashar al-Assad loses his grip on power, he wants the Syrian military to remain in place.
Here is some real clear critical thinking. I am just sure this is how it will go.
“I think it’s important when Assad leaves – and he will leave – to try to preserve stability in that country. And the best way to preserve that kind of stability is to maintain as much of the military, the police, as you can, along with the security forces, and hope that they will transition to a democratic form of government. That’s a key,” Panetta told CNN’s Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr in an exclusive interview in Tunis, Tunisia, Monday. (More of this Hopey, changey, thingey).
He said the United States shouldn’t allow a repeat of the Bush administration’s moves in Iraq, where it disbanded the Iraqi military.
“It’s very important that we don’t make the same mistakes we made in Iraq,” he said. “And that, particularly, when it comes things like the chemical sites. They (the Syrian military) do a pretty good job of securing those sites. If they suddenly walked away from that, it would be a disaster to have those chemical weapons fall into the wrong hands – hands of Hezbollah or other extremists in that area.”
Yep, Leon, that is what a whole lot of us are thinking.
Yes, just a year ago, Panetta admitted that there was just as good a chance that the rebel forces had indeed acquired Chemical weapons. So stick this in your ear and stop lying to us. You have no clue who used these chemical agents, and in fact you could be just as easily be setting us up you clueless fools. Am I angry? You betcha. Major/main sites are secure? How about the not so major/main sites??
Friday, September 28, 2012
“We’ve never had perfect visibility into the Syrian chemical weapons stockpile, but we have excellent information that accounts for most of it,” said a senior defense official, speaking on background.
“I don’t have any specific information about the opposition and whether or not they’ve obtained some of this, or how much they’ve obtained and just exactly what has taken place,” Panetta said.
“As to the movement of some of these materials and whether or not they’ve been exposed to possession by the opposition or others,” he added, “that’s something I really don’t have any firm information to confirm that that’s taken place.”
The U.S. has lost track of some of Syria’s chemical weapons, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday, and does not know if any potentially lethal chemicals have fallen into the hands of Syrian rebels or Iranian forces inside the country.
Panetta said that the “main sites” in Syria storing chemical weapons with which the Pentagon is most concerned remain secured by the Syrian military. But there is “some intelligence” that “limited” movements of weapons from other sites have occurred, he said, “for the Syrians to better secure what they – the chemicals.”
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says intelligence suggests the Syrian government has moved some of its chemical weapons, but the U.S. believes that the main sites still remain secure. (Sept. 28)
The mother of Sean Smith, Pat Smith is making the rounds in the media, bringing forward the Benghazi fiasco to the forefront. We still have not heard a word from the 30 or so that did survive. This is a heartbreaker, be warned.
4/5/13 – On Friday, Sean Hannity brought Pat Smith, mother of the late Sean Smith, on his radio program. The 34-year-old information management officer was one of four Americans murdered in the Benghazi embassy attack on September 11, 2012. In the chilling interview, a distraught Ms. Smith, in tears, pleaded for answers and spoke of the efforts to silence her.
Ms. Smith first relayed how her son, prior to the attack, requested additional security in advance and warned the State Department:
When Hannity asked how many times Sean warned the State Department or whom he warned, Smith replied:
My son himself told me that he warned them…. He said: ‘I told them, I sent messages’…. He was on the tele-type of whatever it is… he was on there telling them, just before it happened, and that the guy out there was taking pictures of the place. He was telling them that. He was a communications guy and he was communicating that.
Smith then spoke of the intimidation she has experienced, in her quest for answers, noting she is being silenced, though Hannity clarified it is not by someone in the government:
They don’t tell me much. They want me to shut up…. I was told, and I really would rather not say by who, [though] I can if you need it, but I was told that I’m causing a lot of problems and to shut up…. I told them ‘I will not! I will not shut up until I find out what really happened!’
During the ceremony when the caskets returned, Ms. Smith, who attended and sat next to Colin Powell’s wife, described her interaction at the event with President Obama and Hillary Clinton:
SMITH: The President? I cried on his shoulder. And I was crying there and he’s patting me on the back and looking around to who he’s gonna talk to next. So I didn’t feel any comfort there. Hillary? I cried on her shoulder also, but she paid a little attention to me then walked off. Panetta took my face in his hands. I asked him: “Please, please let me know what happened, I’ve got to know!” And he took my face in his hands and he says, “Trust me, trust me. I will get back to you. I will let you know.” And guess how much I’ve heard from him since?
HANNITY: Nothing.
SMITH: You got it.
Smith and Hannity discussed the importance of answers on the Benghazi attack in order to ensure this does not happen again:
SMITH: I am so disappointed in my government for the way they’re playing this. What they’re playing is politics. And I don’t want to know everything that was going on over there. I know it was secret….
HANNITY: You have a right to know the truth. And you have a right, if your son told you, as he did, he knew that there was an attack coming and he warned them and they did nothing. That means that your son’s death could’ve been prevented and we have an obligation to every single person that is serving this country that this never happen again. It should have never happened to your son or Ty Woods—
SMITH: That’s the reason I keep opening my mouth about it. I want someone to admit it so that it won’t happen again. So that there’s safety there….
Hannity noted how trying to cover this story is “very frustrating,” with Ms. Smith wryly noting: “I know, you won’t find the answer. I’m told it’s too high up.”
The silver lining? Sean Smith will be honored at an award ceremony on May 3rd but Ms. Smith was told she would have to pay her own way. As Ms. Smith’s income is limited to Social Security benefits, she could not afford to attend. Hannity balked at the idea that we justify costs for the First Family’s vacations and the White House concert series and parties, while “the mother of a slain hero from the Benghazi tragedy, which they screwed up because they didn’t listen to your son,” is not accommodated. Smith received a nice surprise — Hannity offered to pay for the all her travel expenses (hotel, round-trip airfare, meals), as well as her guest’s, so that she can attend the ceremony, encouraging Smith to order a “big expensive steak dinner on me… with lobster on the side and a big bottle of wine.” A relieved and emotional Smith happily accepted.
During the hearing with Panetta last week, I was ready to jump out of my chair as I watched the ignorance regarding the statement by Panetta that he cancelled the deployment of the Navy Carrier USS Truman because of budget concerns, no doubt, because of the GOP. Wink Wink. Now we learn we cannot fuel the USS Lincoln. So the truth of the matter is they can’t find biofuel and the Navy has wasted so much money going green. Of course delaying the retrofit of the ship should put more pressure on the GOP so the plan goes. I was waiting, waiting waiting for someone to ask about this idiotic behavior. Better yet would have been to question the Charmian of the Armed Services. So here we go, first the back story.
Navy buys biofuel for $16 a gallon
This is going to help the Defense Department weather looming budget cuts, for sure. Teaming up with the Department of Agriculture (which has a cheery Rotary Club ring to it), the Navy has purchased 450,000 gallons of biofuel for about $16 a gallon, or about 4 times the price of its standard marine fuel, JP-5, which has been going for under $4 a gallon.The why and more at Hot Air
By 2020, the Navy must learn to get at least 50 percent of energy from alternative sources, and 50 percent of the military vessels will have to try hard to zero out- that is to spend no more energy than they can produce. In other words, the sailors themselves have expressed doubts as to how efficient the vessels will be after the replacement of traditional fuels with alternative ones
The U.S. Navy will delay the refueling of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) for an unknown period because of the uncertain fiscal environment due to the ongoing legislative struggle, the service told Congress in a Friday message obtained by USNI News.
Lincoln was scheduled to be moved to Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Newport News Shipyard later this month to begin the 4-year refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the ship.
“This delay is due to uncertainty in the Fiscal Year 2013 appropriations bill, both in the timing and funding level available for the first full year of the contract,” the message said.
“CVN-72 will remain at Norfolk Naval Base where the ships force personnel will continue to conduct routine maintenance until sufficient funding is received for the initial execution of the RCOH.”
The move by the navy is the second this week involving funding for carriers. On Wednesday it announced it would delay the deployment of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) to the Middle East do to the ongoing budget strife bringing the total number of carriers in U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to one until funding normalizes. Ful story USNI
For first time, we are getting the real story behind Benghazi. For those who may have not gotten a chance to watch the hearings, I chose these two clips that sum it up. Obama could have cared less, and never expressed any concern. Mark Levin made the point last night that it was Obama that had the authority to order a cross border entry of our military. Clearly, he did not. Lindsey Graham does a good job of nailing it down. Levin also commented that ABC, CBS, NBC did not cover the hearing at all.
Here is a good outline of how it really went down.
Defense Secretary Panetta: Global Warming A National Security Threat, “Weighs Heavily” On Pentagon…
When I first picked up this story from America’s Watchtower, I thought that there must be more to this. But then, he is simply a political hack, so why not. Then I recalled an earlier post: U.S. Navy going Green– here are a few of the highlights to this insanity.
By 2020, the Navy must learn to get at least 50 percent of energy from alternative sources, and 50 percent of the military vessels will have to try hard to zero out- that is to spend no more energy than they can produce. In other words, the sailors themselves have expressed doubts as to how efficient the vessels will be after the replacement of traditional fuels with alternative ones.
“She is creating a new department under Homeland Security called the Climate Change and Adaptation Task Force, which will be tasked with “identifying and assessing the impact that climate change could have on the missions and operations of the Department of Homeland Security.”
Now back to this idiotic story, the intent of course, is to finish off our military
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told an Environmental Defense Fund reception in Washington last night that the role of climate change in national security is one of the environmental considerations that “weigh heavily” on the Pentagon.
“Though we are looking at environmental issues, these days I’m a little more focused on the operations of a different kind of SEALs,” Panetta quipped.
“In the 21st Century, the reality is that there are environmental threats which constitute threats to our national security,” Panetta said. “For example, the area of climate change has a dramatic impact on national security: rising sea levels, to severe droughts, to the melting of the polar caps, to more frequent and devastating natural disasters all raise demand for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.”
BUNKERVILLE | God, Guns and Guts Comrades! 