Video Documentary Details Libya Terrorist Threats, Amb. Stevens Interview in June 2012

October 19, 2012 - 8:25 am
by
BRYAN PRESTON
PJ MEDIA

Before getting to the documentary, the news headline of the day so far is that the Benghazi sacking may have been part of a larger campaign to drive the U.S. out of eastern Libya. Fox reports on that, building its case on the word of two military sources and the hundreds of attacks that led up to the deadly 9-11-12 assault.

The Sept. 11 attack was preceded by hundreds of security incidents in Libya over the past year. Several of them involved western targets in the Benghazi area, which could indicate a pattern.

The attack on the U.S. Consulate in June 6 with an improvised explosive device, planted in the ledge of the perimeter wall, was described as a probing attack to measure the response. This incident, coupled with attacks on the International Red Cross and an RPG attack on the British ambassador’s convoy — after which the British withdrew — suggest a pattern to drive western influence from the region.

 Further, it fits with a broader effort by the Al Qaeda affiliate and the militant group Ansar al-Sharia to establish an Islamic state in eastern Libya. Libyan authorities are identifying Ansar al-Sharia leader Ahmed Abu Khattala as the commander of the attack, though Fox News was told the U.S. intelligence community is not going quite that far. Rather, Khattala is on the short list of suspects and was described as “one to watch.”

As noted earlier, the New York Times found him hanging out in the local posh hotel sipping a hipster drink. The idea that the 9-11-12 attack was part of a larger campaign squares up well with that August 2012 Library of Congress report in which Ansar al Sharia is described as taking a leading role in the attempt to Islamicize post-Gaddafi Libya. Drive the west out, humiliate America, be the strong horse — that seems to be the Islamist path to power in Libya. They were succeeding too. Lt. Col. Andrew Wood testified that by the time of the Benghazi attack, the American flag was the last western one flying in the city. The British and the Red Cross had already been driven out by attacks. The U.S. consulate, as insecure as it was, became a sort of forward outpost and weapons depot for the British mission. The weapons that the prime suspect in the attack claims to have found inside the compound may well have been the stored British arms. They’re surely now in the hands of the Islamist militias, along with who knows what other material and information they were able to scoop up the night of the attack and in the three weeks that followed between that night and the FBI’s arrival.

Now, to the documentary, which was produced by ConservARTive.com. It shows several things that I don’t think have been seen elsewhere. One of those is what may be Ambassador Christopher Stevens’ final interview. It was taped sometime in June 2012, apparently after the probing attack on the wall of the consulate. That attack was mounted to test the U.S. response. The U.S. evidently did not respond at all. The Islamists probably expected the U.S. to beef up security, but when no new security arrived, they probably took that as a green light to proceed.

The second piece of news in the documentary is footage of the Islamist show of force in Benghazi in June. That show of force was described in the August report, but footage has been scarce. You’ll see in the 10-minute documentary that it was your typical Islamist militia parade, with masked fighters manning guns mounted in pick-up trucks or waving AKs out the windows. Place yourself in the streets as an average Libyan. You’re happy that Gaddafi is gone but the country is in chaos. You mostly want to be left alone to live your life, but the west is evacuating the place and here’s a multi-battalion strength show of force parading down the streets in your town. They’re honking, waving guns, and the rest, while the westerners are taking down their flags and going home. Who appears to be the strong horse in your neighborhood?

The third new finding in the documentary is the explicit threat to attack the consulate to retaliate for the U.S. killing of a local al-Qaeda big shot. That comes at about the 3:53 mark. The threat aired in June. Its title: “Take U.S. Consulate in Retaliation for Abu Yaya Al-Libbi.”

As the security situation worsened, Ambassador Stevens puts up a brave face as you’ll see in the documentary, talking about education and health care to the press in the newly free Libya, while downplaying the increasing security threat and appealing to the average Libyan’s desire to be free. Behind the scenes, he and his security officers repeatedly asked the State Department for more help. We don’t know if sending more security to Benghazi would have kept him alive. We do know that the terrorists probed security with lower scale attacks in the summer and got no American response, and we do know what they did with that intelligence.

We also know what President Obama was doing with his intelligence in the weeks leading up to the attacks: He was paying little or no attention to it. He had it delivered to his iPad and…that’s all we know. He had attended fewer than half of his Presidential Daily Briefings in 2012 prior to the Benghazi and Cairo attacks.

Bee's Note:

Here are a few more links that may interest you:

http://news.yahoo.com/cia-found-militant-links-day-libya-attack-072734613--politics.html

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/obama-knew-terrorists-ran-benghazi-hired-local-security-anyway

http://sheikyermami.com/2012/10/19/we-have-no-friends-among-the-islamist-forces-of-the-arab-spring-only-enemies-who-hate-us-moderately-and-enemies-who-hate-us-extremely/#more-115537

http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/10/18/hillary-takes-the-fall-for-the-potus-in-bengazigate-but-there-is-a-silver-lining-shining-the-spotlight-on-huma-abedin-addendum-to-uncovering-the-tip-of-huma-abedins-spear-the-house-of-al-sa/

http://theulstermanreport.com/2012/10/19/when-americans-are-murdered-obama-calls-it-not-optimal/

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/romneys_trump_card_for_the_foreign_policy_debate.html

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/our_ambassador_is_dead_but_obamas_political_guru_is_safe.html

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/mark-tapson/obamas-global-epic-fail/

Comical Obama Supporters: A Brief Guide to Where the Laughs Are

PJ MEDIA

October 2, 2012 - 8:35 am - by Andrew Klavan

I hate to be sententious — I’m not even sure how to spell sententious — and God knows I like to ridicule my fellow man as mercilessly as the next fellow man, but this video that’s been making the conservative rounds that shows an anti-Romney protester declaring she likes Obama because he gave her a free phone? Not really funny. I know, I know — but really, the woman is clearly poor and not very well-educated. And mockery is a pin for the inflated, no? Though the federal programs liberals propose to help such people as the phone lady only make their lives worse, the principle that we ought to be concerned for them remains (sorry) the right one. Just because liberals call us mean until we want to hurl defiance in their teeth by saying anything we damn well please, doesn’t mean we should actually BE mean! As ever, I hold conservatives to a higher standard, because we’re the good guys.

What DOES deserve our scorn and ridicule here is an administration that has lowered the office of the presidency to the level of a Boss Tweedian city machine, buying the votes of the poor with a free turkey at Christmas or, in this case, a phone. Not to mention buying their votes for policies that destroy them.

And if you really want to make fun of Obama supporters (and who, at this point, does not) why not go after the well-to-do and educated? The guys who tell you Obama makes a better president than Mitt Romney because “He cares.” Or, even more delightfully, try this fellow — Russell Razzaque, a British psychiatrist, who has written a book called, so help me, Obama Karma: Lessons on Living Inspired by the 44th President. I saw it in a bookstore in L.A. yesterday and downloaded a sample because…  well, because I’m always in need of a laugh.

The book proposes to help you to self-improvement by emulating the “emotional intelligence” of Barack Obama. “It is through Obama’s ability to face his own pain that he has managed to grow continually throughout his life. And I hope that by the end of this book you will be better placed to do the same.” I am, as Dave Barry used to say, not making this up.

Exercises in the book include,Learning to blame George W. Bush for anything that goes wrong in your life, How to use the word “I” until you sound like you’re singing “Cielito Lindo,” and, of course, Surrounding yourself with media toadies who reflect your distorted ideas back to you as reality.

Okay, I DID make those chapters up. But my point is, the Obama camp is overflowing with well-educated, well-to-do grown-ups with the “emotional intelligence” not to say “political intelligence” of 12-year-old girls at a Justin Bieber concert. Desperate as the times are, we’re certainly not starved for laughs in this election.

Bee's note:

There is much truth in humor.  At the beginning of Klavan's video, the school children are singing a song about Obama.  That brings back memories of a concerned parent who took a video of her child being taught to sing praises to Obama, shortly after Obama took Office.  Can you remember any President in America's history ever having this done by our children?!  Well, that parent's video spread across our nation like bees on honey and the "singing" for Obama ceased!  Since then, we've had the First Lady Michelle Obama, acting like the Food Police in our school system, demanding that our children eat only what she deems "healthy" foods.  This has caused great stress among parents, as many children have allergies and can eat only what the parents prepare for them.  Another concern is our high school athletes, complaining that they are hungry and not receiving enough calories to play sports at the end of the day.  Here's my concerns:  the songs to Obama are brainwashing and the food police are all about "control" - controlling what our children eat and by-passing the family's ability to care for their children, much like the way Obama by-passes Congress to implement his agenda.

I know of another man in history who implemented his agenda through "control" and propaganda.  He even had a "brown-shirt youth group".  Eleven Million people died at his hands - Six Million Jews sent to the gas chambers.  Controlling citizens through government will always end in one huge disaster - led by insane madmen who are not the least able to recognize that their "progressive" agenda eventually leads to death.

Americans are not suicidal.  We are witnessing the worst of times, through this President's agenda, that have led four of our diplomats/Marines to their torture and deaths in Libya.  

The Foreign Policy Debate between Obama and Romney will be held this coming Monday evening.  If Romney can wrap Obama's failed polices around all his failed polices that destroy America's liberties and those of our allies - Romney should win this election by a landslide.

That's it ... !  Your votes will count on November 6th.

Breaking: The mainstream media finally covers Libya

Daylight: The Story of Obama and Israel

Videos: Red Line and "Why is Israel demanding a Red Line?

CNN|Added on September 28, 2012Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev discusses Israeli PM Netanyahu's U.N. speech and the "red line."

_____________________

THE RED LINE

Obama, Oy Vey! American Jews Finally Have Had Enough

October 18, 2012

american thinker

By Stella Paul

"Two Jews, three opinions" goes the famous joke. And every day, more of those opinions turn pro-Romney, as American Jews increasingly reject the collapsing presidency of Barack Hussein Obama.

Romney's surging poll numbers in the crucial state of Florida reflect his growing success with Bubbie Molly and her unemployed grandson Adam, who both thought their right hand would wither if it ever pulled the lever for a Republican.

The signs and portents are everywhere, beginning with the special election of a Republican in Anthony Weiner's heavily Jewish, New York congressional district one year ago. Now a startling new poll even has Romney performing the ultimate miracle: the parting of the blue states, winning the Jewish vote by a healthy 44% to 40%!

Florida activist Alan Bergstein described his recent experience advocating for Romney in the Jewish stronghold of Delray Beach. "Of about 100 entering and leaving the Bagel Tree eatery in that plaza, we ran into only two Democrats and loads and loads of Romney supporters. They stopped to talk to us, to congratulate us and to support us with their views of the Ryan/Biden debate. They were militant and fearless."

What's driving the Jewish exodus from the Democratic Party? Like everyone else, Jews are singing the bad economy blues. But they're also increasingly acknowledging the uncomfortable facts about Obama's hostility towards Israel and its Jewish supporters.

"Absolutely Uncertain," a 20-minute YouTube video starring 23-year-old Irina, a disillusioned Obama voter who analyzes the president's harsh treatment of Israel, racked up an astonishing 650,000 views in just three days. The Republican Jewish Coalition's video, "Perilous Times," is closing in on a million views, as anxious Jewish voters seek information outside the mainstream media to understand the accelerating nuclear threat to Israel from Iran.

And a new boldness is entering the Jewish conversation.  The Simon Wiesenthal Center just publicly requested that Obama cut off all contact with the Muslim Brotherhood and condemn its anti-Semitic calls for jihad against Israel. "[Supreme Guide Mohammed] Badie's rant confirms our long held view that Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is the most dangerous anti-Semitic organization in the world today," said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, the Center's founder and dean and associate dean.

 "We are not dealing with a YouTube video or a lone extremist Imam, but a call to anti-Semitic violence by a man who has tens of millions of followers and leads the organization that controls Egypt's future. It cannot be business as usual in Washington when such an assault is launched against the Jewish people," they added.

Since Obama's foreign policy centers on courting the Muslim Brotherhood, he's more likely to leave Michelle and run off with Sarah Palin than he is to honor Wiesenthal's request. Nevertheless, a leading Jewish organization, founded by a survivor of the Nazi death camps to combat global anti-Semitism, has now publicly challenged the president on his dangerous foreign policies.

Because American Jews take huge pride in their role in the civil rights movement, rejecting Obama feels especially painful. Obama seemed to embody their dream of expanding opportunity to oppressed racial minorities, a goal for which two American Jews sacrificed their lives in the violent Freedom Summer of 1964.

But Obama's failures grow too blatant to ignore, and so does his public antagonism to the only Jewish state. As Jews enter the sacred privacy of the voting booth, here are some images that will influence their choice:

The Democratic Party booing God and Jerusalem: At their national convention, Democratic leaders attempted to do undo the political damage of stripping all mention of God and Jerusalem as Israel's capital from their party platform. But when they asked for a floor vote to add God and Jerusalem to the platform, the delegates loudly booed - three times. As the cameras revealed the hate-filled faces of the jeering delegates, some Jews felt frightened by the ugly scene.

Obama's open contempt for Prime Minister Netanyahu: From the beginning of his presidency, Obama has seemed to enjoy humiliating Israel's elected leader. He walked out on Netanyahu in the White House, claiming he had to eat dinner, and refused to pose for an official photograph with him. Now, as Iran races to complete a nuclear weapon, Obama rejected Netanyahu's request for a meeting in New York, choosing to appear on The View instead. And when Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations, Obama instructed both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Ambassador Susan Rice not to attend.

Fawning over the Jewish people's enemies: Obama bowed to the Saudi king, gave a high-profile speech in Cairo, apologizing to the Muslim world, and ordered NASA to make "Muslim outreach" its foremost priority. Over the objections of Congress, he gave at least $1.5 billion to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which advocates for "holy jihad" against Israel. And when Muslim terrorists murdered our Libyan ambassador, Obama responded with a speech at the UN, in which he stated, "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."

Appointment of anti-Semites to high government positions: Obama just appointed a Muslim leader who blames Israel for the 9/11 attacks to serve as US delegate to a Warsaw human rights conference. Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), openly supports Hizbollah and Hamas. Al-Marayati is only the latest of Obama officials hostile to Israel, including foreign policy advisor Samantha Power and UN Ambassador Susan Rice.

Obama's long association with anti-Semites: Obama spent 20 years in the Chicago church of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who maintains, "The state of Israel is an illegal, genocidal...place." Obama's biggest contributor is George Soros, who is a prime funder of anti-Israel NGOs. And Obama's close association with Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi is still being kept under wraps by the Los Angeles Times, which refuses to release a video of a reportedly inflammatory toast to Khalidi by Obama at a 2003 dinner. Breitbart News is offering a $100,000 reward to anyone with a copy of the tape.

Iran's Growing Nuclear Capabilities: Obama has seemed more interested in deterring Israel from defending itself than in stopping Iran. His Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff explicitly stated he doesn't want to be "complicit" in an Israeli attack on Iran, implying such an attack would be criminal. Now counter-terrorism expert Reza Kahlili is reporting that Obama's emissaries have struck a secret "October surprise" deal with Iran, in which Iran will announce a halt to their uranium enrichment, in order to enhance Obama's presidential prospects. The deal reportedly was negotiated in Qatar with former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velyati, who's wanted by Argentina for the Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires in 1994 that killed 85 people. If Obama has lost the trust of Jewish voters, they may not dismiss these reports as completely impossible.

As every day brings another "Oy vey!," American Jews are finally fed up. It takes a lot or Democrats to lose their iron-grip on the Jewish vote, but this is one challenge Obama seems capable of meeting.

Stella Paul's new ebook is What I Miss About America: Reflections from the Golden Age of Hope and Change, available at Amazon for just $1.99.  You can find out more information at www.WeMissAmerica.com.  Write Stella at Stellapundit@aol.com.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/obama_oy_vey_american_jews_finally_have_had_enough.html#.UH_xziXJHXR.facebook#ixzz29eXCXLhL

Largest ever joint US-Israel military drill

ANNE'S OPINIONS

Largest ever joint US-Israel military drill to begin next week, amid rumours of Iranian drones and Hamas anti-aircraft missiles

Posted on 18 October 2012 

checking the surfaces of an F-16C Fighting Falcon during a previous joint US-Israel exercise in 2009.

After learning earlier in the year that the joint US-Israel military exercise had been cancelled, and then reading that the US was drastically scaling down the number of troops participating in the exercise which had been delayed, it is heartening to hear that generals leading the exercise – the largest such exercise ever – say the troops cutback is insignificant.

The largest ever joint Israeli and American military drill will begin next week, with any reduction in troop size deemed insignificant, the senior US commander of Austere Challenge 12 said Wednesday.

Third Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin, speaking in a conference call, said that the “scale of the exercise and the number of forces participating has remained unchanged,” despite reports that the drill had been cut back by thousands of troops. His counterpart, Brig. Gen. Nitzan Nuriel, the head of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau at the National Security Council and the IDF’s lead exercise planner, said that the “numbers had hardly changed” and that the matter was simply one “of logistics.”

The drill, originally slated to take place months ago, was postponed at Israel’s behest, which created a scheduling conflict for many of the troops who had planned to take part.

In late August, Time magazine reported a reduction in troop levels, when talk of a possible Israeli preemptive strike against Iran was at a peak. A senior Israeli officer told the magazine, “Basically what the Americans are saying is, ‘We don’t trust you.’”

Over 1,000 American troops will take part in the exercise in Israel, Franklin said. The number is down from an estimated 5,000 earlier in the year, according to the Time report. Franklin, without being specific about the initial numbers, said that a total of 3,500 troops would be taking part in the air defense simulation exercise, many from abroad.

The drill will take place amid a cooling of talk of a possible military strike on Iran, after several months of saber rattling.

Both generals stressed that the exercise is meant to reflect reality in the Middle East and is “not related to any specific world events.”

Nuriel added, however, that “the fact that we are working together is a strong message in itself.”

The initial report of the troop reduction came against the backdrop of US concern over a possible unilateral Israeli strike against Iran.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Army General Martin E. Dempsey, said at the time that he did not want the US to be seen as “complicit” in an Israeli attack.

[...]

The drill will run until after the US presidential elections on November 6 and will simulate many of the aerial threats that Israel faces: a multi-front attack with mortars, rockets, drones and short and long range ballistic missiles.

Nuriel said that the drone element of the drill had been “part of the scenario” well before a Hezbollah-launched drone penetrated Israeli airspace on October 6. “We did not need the real event to know to prepare for it,” he said.

[...]

The David’s Sling short range missile protection system will be tested along with multiple Iron Dome batteries, advanced Patriot batteries and Arrow 2, Israel’s medium range missile defense system. Most of the action will be simulated with only a small component of live fire.

The stated goal of the exercise, the seventh such US-Israeli drill, is to “improve interoperability” between the already significantly linked Israeli and American air defense systems.

Iranian “Ababil” drone

The generals are no doubt correct in saying that the anti-drone part of the exercise was planned well in advance of the Hezbollah drone that was shot down over the Negev last week, but it is becoming clear that development of new tactics to fight this new danger is becoming ever more vital.  This is especially so in the light of (probably spurious) Iranian claims that they have sent several drones undetected into Israel:

A senior Iranian military official claimed Tuesday that Iranian-made surveillance drones have conducted dozens of undetected forays into Israeli airspace from Lebanon in recent years to probe air defenses and gather intelligence.

The Iranian official declined to give further details on the objectives or the capabilities of the drones, including whether they were similar to the dronelaunched last week by Hezbollah and downed by Israeli jets. It also was impossible to independently verify the claims from the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The Iranian official claimed drones made by the Islamic republic have made “dozens of flights over Israel” since the 2006 Second Lebanon War between Hezbollah and Israel. He said Israeli defenses have been unable to detect the surveillance aircraft.

“The one that was shot down last week was not the first and will not be the last to fly into Israeli airspace,” the official said.

But an Israeli security official rejected the Iranian claims, saying last week’s interception of a drone was the first time such an infiltration had occurred. He said Israel spotted the unmanned aircraft well before it entered Israeli airspace, determined that it was not “dangerous” and then shot it down over uninhabited desert according to plan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because an Israeli military investigation was still under way.

I tend to believe the Israeli official, but on the other hand, saying no Iranian drones have ever been detected over Israel doesn’t exactly prove his point, since Iran claims their drones were undetected!

Strela anti-aircraft missiles

In even more disturbing and dangerous news, it was reported in Yediot Aharonot that Hamas shot an anti-aircraft missile at an IAF aircraft last week:

An anti-aircraft missile was fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza last week at an Israeli aircraft but missed its target, the Hebrew language newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported Tuesday.

According to the report the missile was smuggled in from Libya. Israeli authorities have worried that the missiles could be used against the Jewish state since an estimated 1,000 of them went missing from Libya’s arsenal in the aftermath of the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.

The Russian made Strela-2 surface-to-air missile system can hit aircraft flying as fast as 1,118 miles an hour and at altitudes up to 7,500 feet.

According to military sources it is believed that after a relative lull in the conflict, Hamas is intending to escalate the conflict with Israel. Such provocations could signal their intent to do so. Commercial aircraft have already been told to avoid flying over Gaza.

Though this was the first report of anti-aircraft fire from Gaza aimed at Air Force personnel, the same type of missile was used by Sinai terrorists last year in a deadly attack on Highway 12, which runs along the Israeli-Egypt border, that killed 6 people.

Times of Israel adds:

Yossi Kuperwasser, who directs the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, says “significant” numbers of weapons have been smuggled into the territory from Libya since the fall last year of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country is awash in weapons after the eight-month civil war and has weak central authority.

US counter-terror experts in Golan Heights

Against this volatile background it is good to learn that US-Israel cooperation is increasing also on the counter-terrorism front, with a team of US counter-terror experts visiting Israel:

A delegation of 10 senior counter-terrorism experts from the police departments of New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, Austin, Oakland and Montgomery County (MD) are visiting Israel (Oct 13-20, 2012) through Project Interchange, an educational institute of AJC. The week-long educational program will showcase Israeli technological and operational advances in counter-terrorism tactics. Additionally, it will offer the group of assistant chiefs, commanders, captains, and senior analysts an opportunity to exchange information on best practices with their Israeli counterparts.

On the agenda are discussions on countering the financing of terror operations and organizations, cutting-edge counter-terrorism technologies, airport security and profiling, with visits to the Border Guard unit and Megido Prison. Several sessions throughout the week also address broader strategic issues, including Israel’s reaction to homegrown terrorism, security cooperation by the Israeli and Palestinian Authority defense forces, Israeli and Palestinian politics and society and the peace process.

Commander Richard Webb of the Los Angeles Police Department said, “The Israelis are considered world leaders and innovators in counter terrorism and security. My experiences in meeting with the various experts and leaders confirm they not only are experts, they are pragmatic and collaborative. Equally as important they do their duties while vigilantly protecting human rights. I will take many lessons I learned back to Los Angeles. I observed several new techniques for security operations including multilevel security measures at an international airport.”

Assistant Chief Russell E. Hamill of the Montgomery County Police Department, said, “This has been some of the most meaningful training I’ve ever attended. It has demonstrated not only the importance of hardening the country against terror attacks but also of the community in refusing to be terrorized. The Israeli people live that; they refuse to be terrorized. In the battle against terrorism, that’s how you win and the Israelis are winning. They are not victims but survivors.”

According to Captain Brian K. Coyne of the New York Police Department, the Palestinian police chief (responsible for coordination between Palestinian Civil Police and the Israel Police) “was really frank in telling us how people live and the issues they deal with. It’s amazing how people in Israel live with all these issues going on.”

[...]

“Countering violent extremist groups requires ongoing collaboration and information sharing and we do this by offering participants exposure to Israeli technological advances and operational tactics, and helping to establish collaborative ties between responsible law enforcement agencies worldwide,” he said.

I hope the US-Israeli military and intelligence cooperation persists and deepens despite political partisanship and disputes. The threats are too great and important to be sidelined.

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Libya: "a bright and shining lie" ..- by Victor Davis Hanson

OCTOBER 18, 2012 12:00 A.M.

The Libya Lie 

It’s not just the blame-the-video narrative. The whole Libyan success story is false.

By Victor Davis Hanson

Almost everything we have been told about Libya over the last two years is untrue.

A free Libya was supposed to be proof of President Obama’s enlightened “reset” Middle East policy. When insurgency broke out there, the United States joinedFrance and Great Britain in bombing Moammar Qaddafi out of power — and supposedly empowering a democratic Arab Spring regime. Not a single American life was lost.

Libyans, like most in the Arab world, were supposed to appreciate the new, enlightened American foreign policy. Obama’s June 2009 Cairo speech had praised Islam and apologized for the West. A new “lead from behind” multilateralism was said to have superseded George W. Bush’s neo-imperialist interventions of the past.

Obama’s mixed racial identity and his father’s Muslim heritage would also win over the hearts and minds of Libyans after the Qaddafi nightmare. During this summer’s Democratic convention, Obama supporters trumpeted the successes of his Middle East policy: Osama bin Laden dead, al-Qaeda defanged, and Arab Spring reformers in place of dictators.

To keep that shining message viable until the November election, the Obama administration and the media had been willing to overlook or mischaracterize all sorts of disturbing events. We had asked for a United Nations resolution for humanitarian aid and a no-fly zone to intervene in Libya, but then deliberately exceeded it by bombing Qaddafi’s forces — after bypassing the U.S. Congress in favor of a go-ahead from theArab League.

Libya was not so much liberated as descending into the chaos of tribal payback. Former Qaddafi supporters and African mercenaries were executed by those we helped. Islamists began consolidating power, desecrating a British military cemetery and driving out Westerners.

On the eleventh anniversary of 9/11, a radical Islamist hit team with heavy weapons stormed the American consulate in Benghazi, killing Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

In response, White House press secretary Jay Carney, National Intelligence DirectorJames Clapper, and U.N. ambassador Susan Rice desperately insisted that the murders were a one-time, ad hoc demonstration gone awry, without much larger significance. Supposedly, a few Muslim outliers — inflamed over one American’s anti-Islamic Internet video — had overreacted and stormed the consulate. Such anger was “natural,” assured the president.

But why would furor over an obscure, months-old Internet video just happen to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary attack? Do demonstrators customarily bring along rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and heavy machine guns? Why did the Libyan government attribute the killings to an al-Qaeda affiliate when the Obama administration would not?

Forget those questions: For most of September, desperate administration officials still clung to the myth that the Libyan catastrophe was a result of a single obnoxious video. At the United Nations, the president castigated the uncouth film. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lamented the senseless spontaneous violence that grew out of one American’s excesses, as she spoke beside the returning coffins of the slain Americans.

Nonetheless, more disturbing facts kept emerging: Ambassador Stevens repeatedly had warned his State Department superiors in vain of impending Islamist violence. Security personnel — to no avail — had also urged beefing up the protection of the consulate, prompting former regional security officer Eric Nordstrom to say in exasperation that “the Taliban is on the inside of the building.” Video of the attack revealed that there had been no demonstration at all, but rather a full-fledged terrorist assault.

Even as the fantasy of a spur-of-the-moment demonstration dissipated, administration officials tried to salvage it — and with it their idealistic policy in the Middle East. Vice President Joe Biden told a flat-out whopper in last week’s debate, saying the administration hadn’t been informed that Americans in Libya had ever requested more security. He scapegoated the intelligence agencies for supposedly failing to warn the administration of the threat.

The new administration narrative faulted not one video, but the intelligence community for misleading them about the threat of an al-Qaeda hit on an American consulate — and the Romney campaign for demanding answers about a slain ambassador and his associates. Meanwhile, the State Department, the Obama reelection team, and the intelligence community were all pointing fingers at each other.

What the Obama administration could not concede was the truth: The lead-from-behind intervention in Libya had proved a blueprint for nothing. Libya had descended into chaos. Radical Islam had either subverted or hijacked the Arab Spring. Al-Qaeda was not dismantled by the death of bin Laden or by the stepped-up drone assassination missions in Pakistan. Egypt was becoming Islamist. Syria was a bloody mess. Iran was on the way to becoming nuclear. Obama had won America no more good will in the Middle East than had prior presidents.

In other words, the administration’s entire experience in Libya — and in most of the Middle East in general — has been a bright and shining lie.

— Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution,Stanford University, and the author, most recently, of The End of Sparta. You can reach him by e-mailing author@victorhanson.com. © 2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/330778/libya-lie-victor-davis-hanson

The Libya Moment in Debate #2 - By Ryan Hawkins

MITT ROMNEY CENTRAL
  By Ryan Hawkins | October 17, 2012 - 11:29 AM

That Libya moment during the debate is something we Romney supporters need to hammer on a daily basis for the next three weeks. Romney told the audience it took two weeks for Obama to call the Libya event an act of terror, which Obama disputed by claiming that his Rose Garden speech (the day after the attack) called it an act of terror. The moderator stepped in an backed up Obama’s claim despite its inaccuracy, which helped Obama get away with the false claim. This is a must-read article on the topic, written September 30.

Obama’s Rose Garden speech was far from calling Benghazi attack an Act of Terror.

“Obama said during the speech that ‘No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation’ — but at no point was it clear that he was using that term to describe the attack in Benghazi. He’d also spent the previous two paragraphs discussing the 9/11 attacks and the aftermath. ‘Acts of terror’ could have just as easily been a reference to that. Or maybe it wasn’t a direct reference to anything, just a generic, reassuring line he’d added into a speech which did take place, after all, the day after the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.”

It seems like a mere technicality, so why is this even an issue? Here’s why (from the last paragraph of the article):

“Actually, this is much more than an issue of semantics. Calling it a terrorist attack would have given Obama powers under the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF) to use military action, including drone warfare, against the perpetrators. If he were serious about “bring[ing] to justice the killers,” which he vowed to do in the speech, then labeling this incident a terrorist attack (if he believed that’s what it was) would have been critical.  Instead, we now have the FBI sitting with its hands bound in Tripoli, unable to move forward with a serious investigation.” (Emphasis added)

In other words, once the president officially designates the event as an “Act of Terror” — there are a lot more options “on the table” to forcefully respond and bring the perpetrators to justice.That is the decision that Obama “uhm’d and awe’d” about for weeks before making up his mind as the administration went back and forth between the “act of terror” conclusion vs. a “minor protest over a video” conclusion. It was September 11, our country had a crisis on its hands, and Obama made sure he didn’t miss his Las Vegas fund raiser that day.

The Libya event is the epitome of Obama’s failed leadership that has become the hallmark of his presidency…and Obama dodged a bullet with this issue in last night’s debate (with a little help from a moderator who has since corrected herself.)

SWC Urges President Obama To Order Cut Off Of All US Contacts With Muslim Brotherhood

Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide, Mohammed Badie

SWC Urges President Obama To Order Cut Off Of All US Contacts With Muslim Brotherhood In Wake Of Anti-Semitic Call For Jihad By Group's Supreme Guide

October 12, 2012 The Simon Wiesenthal Center is calling on President Obama to publicly condemn the anti-Semitic call for Jihad against Israel by the Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide, Mohammed Badie and to order the cutoff of all contacts with the organization until the threat is withdrawn. In a speech reported Thursday in al Ahram, Badie said, "The Jews have...spread corruption on earth, spilled the blood of believers and in their actions profane holy places, including their own." Badie called on Arabs to confront Israel "through Holy Jihad, high sacrifices and all forms of resistance", adding, "Zionists only understand the language of force and will not relent without duress."  "Badie's rant confirms our long held view that Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is the most dangerous anti-Semitic organization in the world today," said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, founder and dean and associate dean, of the leading Jewish human rights NGO. "We are not dealing with a Youtube video or a lone extremist Imam, but a call to anti-Semitic violence by a man who has tens of millions of followers and leads the organization that controls Egypt's future. It cannot be business as usual in Washington when such an assault is launched against the Jewish people,” they added. We urge President Obama to condemn the rhetoric and cut off all official and unofficial US contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood until they desist from their hate and war mongering," Hier and Cooper concluded. For more information, contact the Center’s Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device. The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400.000 members. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament. http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=12227757