New evidence ties ousted Morsi government to al-Qaeda

JIHAD WATCH

Days before the ousting of former Egyptian President Morsi, an Arabic-language report had said that, “al-Qaeda, under the leadership of Muhammad Zawahiri [brother of al-Qaeda leader Ayman Zawahiri and a leader of al-Qaeda in Sinai], is currently planning reprisal operations by which to attack the army and the Morsi-opposition all around the Republic [of Egypt].”

That, of course, happened—and in a dramatic fashion, especially the attacks on the Christian Copts, who were scapegoated by the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda. Indeed, hours before Morsi was ousted, Muhammad Zawahiri had declared that al-Qaeda would wage a jihad to save Morsi and his Islamization agenda for Egypt, adding that:

[I]f matters reach a confrontation, then to be sure, that is in our favor—for we have nothing to lose. And at all times and places where chaos reigns, it’s often to the jihad’s advantage…. for we sold our souls to Allah”—a reference to Koranic verses like 9:111—“and welcome the opportunity to fight to the death.”

Now, a new report confirms that, back when Morsi was still president, Muhammad Zawahiri had been arrested and was being interrogated—only to be ordered released by a presidential order form Morsi. He then fled to the Sinai, where al-Qaeda is stationed, not to mention where Morsi had reportedly earlier summoned thousands of foreign jihadis to come to his aid whenever necessary.

All of which has come to pass, including the fact that many of those eventually arrested for committing acts of violence in Egypt were not even Egyptian, as was clearly demonstrated by their Arabic dialects.

Thus, once again, we see that the differences between the “largely secular" Muslim Brotherhood—in the words of the U.S. director of national intelligence—and “terroristic” al-Qaeda are actually “largely semantic.”

Posted by Raymond on September 20, 2013 3:54 PM 

Raymond Ibrahim is author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/09/new-evidence-ties-ousted-morsi-government-to-al-qaeda.html

MKULTRA? Patsy? Aaron Alexis’ portrait: painted for gun control

PAKALERT PRESS
TRUTHER SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

Bottom line: Do whatever is necessary to grab guns from private citizens. Tighten laws. Step up psychiatric interventions across the land, to prevent shootings before they occur.

Perfect. You couldn’t have scripted a better sales campaign for gun control.

And therefore, one can legitimately ask: Did somebody script the word-picture of Alexis for that very purpose?

Until official sources retracted the claim that Alexis had an AR-15 at the Navy Yard, it was: James Holmes (Aurora), Adam Lanza (Sandy Hook) and Alexis all supposedly firing the semi-auto weapon. Bottom line: “stop selling the AR-15 and any other semi-auto.”

When it comes to characterizing Alexis as mentally unstable, you need to ask yourself this—if someone was, in fact, deploying available technology to produce the sounds of voices talking to you, and hitting you with microwaves to keep you awake night after night…

What could you do to make people believe that story?

I’ll tell you what: nothing. You’d be sunk.

Let’s assume Alexis was already somewhat unstable. That would make him a better candidate for harassment.

At that point, there would be two ways to go, if you wanted to engineer a mass shooting. Make Alexis an innocent patsy. Or actually turn him into a Manchurian Candidate, an MKULTRA subject who would kill.

If your objective is gun control, you’d achieve your aim either way.

And here is the bonus: in the wake of the Navy Yard shooting, you could institute more psychiatric control of the citizenry, which means, when you strip away the baloney, more fake mental-disorder diagnoses and more drugs which CAUSE VIOLENT BEHAVIOR, including suicide and homicide.

After which you can make an even better case for universal gun banning, because people on those drugs would be committing murders from coast to coast in greater numbers.

Of course, when television viewers pray at the altar of the major news networks, they would never entertain, for a moment, what I’m suggesting here. Why not? Because, as consumers, they’ve allowed themselves to be conditioned, for many years, by the kinds of tales these media outlets tell. If well-known “journalists” don’t speak of “patsy” or “mind control,” there’s nothing to know about.

Meanwhile…

Patsy at the scene? How would that work? Several possibilities. Alexis is there, but another shooter is doing the killing. He kills Alexis, who becomes the focus of the story, the “shooter.” A shotgun and AR-15 are placed near his body.

The problem to overcome: witness statements.

So far, I find two witnesses, Terry Durham and Todd Brundige, executive assistants in Building 197, who claim they saw “the shooter” down a long hallway fire a a gun at them.

In their television interview, which you can find at YouTube (BBC, other outlets) they claim they couldn’t see the shooter’s face. However, the Washington Times reports Durham saying, “I could see his face.” Quite odd, when we have her on camera saying the reverse.

READ MORE: http://www.pakalertpress.com/2013/09/20/mkultra-patsy-aaron-alexis-portrait-painted-for-gun-control/

Jon Rappoport is the author of two explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED and EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29^th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at www.nomorefakenews.com

Pentagon, under heat from Congress, pressing Egypt to protect Christians

Bee's note:  Keep in mind that the White House supported Morsi and continued to do so after Morsi was removed by the Egyptian people and its military. For a list of churches burned, as of August 14th, go here.

Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has been intervening to protect Egypt’s Christian minority.

Officials said the U.S.-Egyptian military dialogue has come to include Cairo’s treatment of the Coptic community, which comprise about 10 percent of the population.

Remains of burned Coptic religious texts outside the al-Amir Tadros Church in Minya city. /Matt Ford/Human Rights Watch

The officials said the Coptic issue emerged amid concerns within Congress that the community was coming under increasing attacks from Islamists linked to President Mohammed Morsi.

“Egyptian Minister of Defense Sisi and Secretary Hagel spoke by phone on Sept. 17 regarding events in Egypt,” the Pentagon said. “Minister Al Sisi and Secretary Hagel discussed Egyptian efforts to secure and rebuild Coptic Christian communities impacted by violence and to maintain security on the Sinai Peninsula.”

Officials said Hagel has been telephoning Defense Minister Abdul Fatah Sisi at least twice a week since the military coup that overthrew Morsi on July 2. They said dialogue has focused on keeping the U.S.-supplied Egyptian military away from operations that target civilians.

Earlier in September, a House delegation toured Coptic communities and met senior Egyptian officials to determine the Muslim Brotherhood threat to the Christian minority. The delegation, which met Al Sisi, was said to have urged Egyptian leaders to protect the Copts.

“We are with you people of Egypt against the common threat, the Muslim Brotherhood,” Rep. Michele Bachmann, a member of the delegation, said. “We have diversity of opinion in Washington, but be sure the people of Egypt are standing with Egypt against the Brotherhood terror.”

Since the Morsi coup, nearly 100 churches were said to have been torched by Islamists. In one city, Dalga, Copts were forced to pay taxes reserved for non-Muslims.

Hagel has refused demands by many in Congress to halt U.S. military aid
to Egypt. In August, the Pentagon blocked a planned delivery of four F-16
multi-role fighters to Egypt, but approved small contracts to maintain the
Arab military.

“Secretary Hagel urged Minister Al Sisi to continue to take steps to
demonstrate the interim government’s commitment to advance the political
roadmap,” the Pentagon said.

http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/09/20/pentagon-under-heat-from-congress-pressing-egypt-to-protect-christians/

UN: ‘Increasing number’ of arms, ammunition from Libya shipped to Syria

Bee's note::  

Surprise, surprise!!  The connection between Libya and Syria has been mentioned numerous times since our four Americans were killed on 9/11/12 in Benghazi.  What was a Turkish representative doing in Benghazi, meeting with Ambassador Stevens,  just 40 minutes before Stevens and the U.S. /CIA compound were attacked?  Reports have followed shipments of arms from Libya to Syria, through Turkey.  ... The UN is just now expressing concern about weapons and ammunition sent to Syria from Libya?  

The US aided the Libyan rebels to overthrow Gaddafi, just as we're doing today in Syria.  For the UN to think the weapons out of Libya are from Gadaffi's "stockpile" doesn't add up and lacks common sense.  How many US weapons were left behind at the compound after the Benghazi attack?  The UN began investigating arms shipments in 2013; why not  investigate when the first shipments began leaving Libya and who, exactly, gained the most by aiding in the shipment of weapons?

Meanwhile, Americans  are still waiting for the truth about the night in Benghazi.  When the truth of Benghazi is exposed, I believe there will be more information about weapons linked to Syrian rebels/terrorists. and, those weapons will not be from Gaddafi's stockpile. 

The fact that all but  two Democrats walked out on the Benghazi hearings yesterday, during the parents of the murdered men's testimony  is an indication that the so-called "on-going" investigation into Benghazi is dead in the water.  

_____________________________

Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — Libya has become a leading weapons supplier to Syria.

The United Nations has determined that weapons and ammunition were sent from Libya to Syria.

Weapons left by Gadhafi regime fighters are seen in Misrata, Libya. /Reuters

The UN report, relayed to the Security Council, said the military equipment was sent to Syrian rebels by sea and air.

“There have been an increasing number of reported cases of trafficking of arms and ammunition from Libya to the Syrian Arab Republic by sea and air,” the report said.

On Sept. 16, the council’s committee on Libyan sanctions said weapons were flowing from the North African state at an alarming rate. The panel said the weapons, stolen from the former regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi, fueled the Libyan black market.

“Despite those efforts, however, the proliferation of arms and
ammunition across Libya’s borders, and an increasing number of reported
cases of trafficking in such materiel to Syria by sea and air were
worrying,” the panel said. “Additionally, the report said that increasing
demand for personal and small arms had boosted imports into Libya’s civilian
black market, and that third countries had carried out several seizures.”

The panel said members of the Gadhafi family found safe haven in Arab
states. At one point, two of Gadhafi’s children, Aisha and Mohammed, were
living in Algeria and Oman.

The Security Council decided to investigate several large arms shipment
from Libya in 2013. No additional details were released.

Be Sociable, Share!

http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/09/18/un-increasing-number-of-arms-ammunition-from-libya-shipped-to-syria/

Navy Yard murderer Aaron Alexis created webpage with name "Mohammed Salem"

Washington Navy Yard - 3 days after Massacre

JIHAD WATCH

There has been no other published indication that Aaron Alexis was a Muslim or had any interest in Islam. It may be, however, that in his delusional madness, he began to identify with the jihadists who have committed mass murder in the name of their bloodthirsty god.

"Navy Yard gunman's mother says she is heartbroken and sorry for families," by Kyle Eppler, Pete Williams and Erin McClam for NBC News, September 18 (thanks to Darcy):

The mother of Aaron Alexis, the Washington Navy Yard shooter, said Wednesday that she was heartbroken and sorry for the families of the victims and that she was glad he is "in a place where he can no longer do harm to anyone."

In a brief statement to a reporter in New York, the woman, Cathleen Alexis, said her son "has murdered 12 people and wounded several others."...

Authorities say they are still looking for a motive. Since Alexis carried out the attack Monday at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command, signs have emerged of a troubled history.

• Alexis, who served as a naval reservist from 2007 to 2011 and worked more recently as a civilian contractor, had a military disciplinary record that included disorderly conduct, insubordination and unexcused absences.

Newport, R.I., police said he called them Aug. 7 to say he had changed hotels twice because he believed people were chasing him and sending vibrations through the walls to keep him from sleeping.

Police said they had forwarded their report to police at the naval station in Newport. Military officials told NBC News on Wednesday that they had found no evidence that naval police forwarded the information to any higher command outside the base.

• The Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday that it saw Alexis twice. He went to a VA emergency room in Providence, R.I., on Aug. 23 complaining of insomnia and was given sleep medicine and told to follow up with a doctor, the agency said. Five days later, Alexis showed up at a VA emergency room in Washington to get a refill and was again encouraged to see a doctor, the VA said.

The VA said Alexis denied struggling with anxiety or depression or having thoughts about hurting himself or others. It also said he enrolled in VA health care in February 2011 and never sought an appointment for mental health.

• Alexis also had run-ins with the law over gun violence. He was accused in 2004 of having shot out the tires of a car in Seattle and in 2010 of having fired a gun into an upstairs apartment in Fort Worth, Texas.

• Friends and relatives have also said he had a preoccupation with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, felt slighted as a veteran, had money problems and was so unhappy with his life that he considered leaving the U.S.

Law enforcement officials told NBC News that Alexis created a webpage with the name "Mohammed Salem," but they said he never did anything with it. They said they had found nothing else that might indicate any interest in violent jihad or even in Islam.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/09/navy-yard-murderer-aaron-alexis-created-webpage-with-name-mohammed-salem.html
Posted by Robert on September 19, 2013 8:35 AM

h/t - Lance Johnston

Note:
Just a thought - is this another "work place" violence, like the one described at Ft. Hood?
Read: UPDATE:WASHINGTON’S NAVAL YARD MASSACRE: MORE THAN LIKELY A JIHADI ASSAULT! Commentary By Adina Kutnicki

Israeli Official: Rowhani ‘Plans to Charm His Way’ to a Nuclear Bomb

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff

September 20, 2013 10:10 am

Israel’s intelligence minister, Yuval Steinitz, said in a recent interview that Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani “plans to charm his way to a nuclear weapon.”

It is too late for negotiations between Israel and Iran, Steinitz said to Israel Hayom.

“There is no more time for negotiations. The Iranians have been negotiating for four years. Over the last 18 months, there has been some progress in imposing sanctions that have pressured the Iranian leadership. The sanctions are estimated to have cost the Iranian economy about $100 billion just over the last 18 months. Since the entire scope of the Iranian economy is about $450 billion, this signifies a massive blow. Their economy is on the verge of collapse, but they still keep advancing their nuclear program.”

“[Iranian President Hasan] Rouhani has launched a charm offensive on the West, but he plans to charm his way to a nuclear weapon. While he sends letters to [U.S. President Barack] Obama and wishes the Jews a happy new year, the centrifuges continue to spin. Not only has the [nuclear] project not stopped, it is galloping forward.”

If Iran continues to develop its nuclear program the muslim country will have a nuclear bomb within six months, he said.

“Time has run out and the West, chiefly the U.S., must clarify to the Iranians that they have two options: either abandon their nuclear aspirations and save their economy or continue with the nuclear project and risk a real military attack that will destroy the nuclear project and humiliate them. There is no middle ground.”

http://freebeacon.com/israeli-official-rowhani-plans-to-charm-his-way-to-a-nuclear-bomb/


NOTE:
Read: 'There is no substitute for the US in the role of world policeman'

Netanyahu: Rouhani's vow not to develop nuclear bomb 'deceptive'

Obama To Iran: Keep Components, Just Promise Not To Weaponise Them.

by findalis • September 18, 2013 

MAGGIE'S NOTEBOOK

The Obama Regime’s policy of Appeasement is coming along nicely with the latest pronouncements to the Iranians.

From Debka

The moderate mien of Iran’s new president Hassan Rouhani has had its intended effect – even before nuclear dialogue began. President Barack Obama had only one demand of Tehran: “Iran would have to demonstrate its own seriousness by agreement not to weaponise nuclear power,” he said Wednesday, Sept. 18. He thus took at his word Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who declared the day before: “We are against nuclear weapons. And when we say no one should have nuclear weapons, we definitely do not pursue it ourselves either.”

The symmetry between the words from Washington and Tehran was perfect in content and timing – and not by chance.

debkafile’s Washington and Iranian sources disclose that it was choreographed in advance.

Obama and Khamenei have been exchanging secret messages through Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman, who visited Tehran in the last week of August and conferred with both Khameini and Rouhani.

In the last message, carried to Tehran by Oman’s Defense Minister Sayyid Badr bin Saud Al Busaidiat, the US president said that Rouhani’s conciliatory gestures towards Washington needed to be backed up by an explicit pledge not to weaponise Iran’s nuclear program.

That pledge must come from the supreme leader in person and delivered publicly to Iran’s most hawkish audience, Revolutionary Guards chiefs.

And indeed, Khamenei acted out his part Tuesday under TV cameras.

Full details of the exchanges going back and both between Washington and Tehran will appear in the coming DEBKA Weekly 603 out Friday, Sept. 20.

They will confirm that the US president has come to terms with a nuclear-capable Iran and will be satisfied with Ayatollah Khamenei’s word that Tehran will not take the last step to actually assemble a bomb.

Our sources note that in his direct secret dialogue with Tehran, Obama is pursuing the same tactics he used for the Syrian chemical issue with Russian President Vladmir Putin: Moving fast forward on the secret track while pretending that the process is still at an early stage and then a sudden leap to target – a particular form of diplomacy consisting of verbal calisthenics.

This pretense was played out at the G20, when the two presidents acted as though they were irreconcilably divided on the Syrian question, while secretly tying up the ends of the chemical accord.

Obama’s willingness to accept Khamenei’s oft-repeated assurance that his country’s nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes – while letting its military program advance to the brink – leaves Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lagging far behind and his Iranian policy with nowhere to go.

At the Israeli cabinet meeting Tuesday, the prime minister said his White House talks with President Obama on Sept. 30 would focus on Iran and his four demands:

1. Complete halt of uranium enrichment;
2. Removal of enriched materials from Iran;
3. Closure of the Fordo enrichment plant;
4. Termination of plutonium production at Arak.

Notwithstanding the briefing offered by Secretary of State John Kerry when he visited Jerusalem on Sunday, Sept. 15, it looks as though Obama is keeping the Israeli prime minister in the dark on his moves towards Iran.

Who but an idiot would actually believe that Iran would not weaponize any nuclear components that they have in their possession?  Once again Obama is trying to throw Israel under the bus.  But will Netanyahu let him do this to Israel?  Members of the Obama Regime have quietly told Netanyahu that if Israel attacks Iran the US will NOT block any sanctions and/or boycotts done to Israel by the UN Security Council.  Blackmail is the Obama way.

Israel will soon be standing alone in the world without a friend.  The perfect solution for his Muslim Brotherhood Masters.  Isolate Israel, destroy Israel then finish the job started in 1933.  Problem solved and World Peace reigns.

I for one do not believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu would believe anything Obama or Kerry is saying to him.  I do believe he is buying time, but will it be time enough to prevent a nuclear bomb being exploded over Tel Aviv?  I pray it is.

CROSS-POSTED FROM Maggie's Notebook:

http://www.maggiesnotebook.com/2013/09/obama-to-iran-keep-components-just-promise-not-to-weaponise-them/

Benghazi Victims’ Parents Assail Administration - as Democrats Leave the Room!

Bee's note:  

As we watched the House Oversight and Government "Reform" Committee hearings this afternoon, and witnessed the contempt and disrespect of Obama's "Party" demonstrated towards the families of our four dead Americans killed in Benghazi, it is difficult to describe how I feel this evening.

I am a mother of four grown children and if I had any influence while my children were young, it would be to teach them the importance of honesty.  Honesty does not grow out of style from one generation to the next. Truthfulness is not a "feeling"; doesn't matter how you "feel"; it is the moral fabric of your soul and more important in life than the clothes you wear or how much money you have in the bank. 

The Americans who died in Benghazi are heroes. They saw their friends were in dire trouble and immediately came to their aid.  Songs will be sung and stories passed on to their families, in honor of their blessed memories. I commend their parents for teaching their children well.

A year has passed and the White House still refuses to ease the grief of the parents by telling the truth about what happened that fateful night in Benghazi. The Democrats walked out of today's hearings, rather than respectfully listen to the questions the parents had for this administration.

I blame their lack of compassion, contempt, and disrespect on the White House.  Why?  Because Obama has identified their deaths as "bumps in the road"; Hillary asked, "What difference does it make at this point in time?"  The Democrats are simply following their lead, as they walked out of today's hearings.

As an American, a parent, and one who also has waited over a year for this administration to come forward and speak the truth, I am outraged and disgusted. My heart breaks for the sorrow these families have undergone for over a year, while waiting for the men and women elected by the people to speak honestly.

The bloody fingerprints on the Benghazi walls are blood on the hands of whoever gave the order to "stand down"!  Who gave that order?  I'm betting it is the very ones who continue to lie to the American people and mock this Jihadist attack as just a "bump in the road".

Benghazi Victims’ Parents Assail Administration for Lies, Lack of Information — as Democrats Leave the Room!

PJ MEDIA

by

BRYAN PRESTON

Parents of two of the Americans killed in Benghazi, Libya, last year testified today before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Before these parents testified, however, most of the Democrats on the committee had left the room, refusing to even listen to these grieving parents. Only two Democratic members remained in the room.

[VIDEO] Patricia Smith, mother of Sean:

Patricia Smith, mother of slain U.S. Foreign Service information officer Sean Smith, testified that she met with President Obama, Vice President Biden, and then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the day the four Americans’ bodies were returned to American soil. Smith says that the three and other senior administration officials lied to her about the cause of the attack.

“I was told a few things,” Smith told the remaining members of the committee, “and they were all lies. Obama, and Hillary, and Panetta, and Biden, and Susan [Rice] all came up to me at the casket ceremony. Every one of them came up to, gave me a big hug. And I asked them ‘What happened? Please tell me.’ And every one of them says, ‘It was the video.’ And we all know that it wasn’t the video. Even at at time they knew it wasn’t the video. So they all lied to me.”

Smith also said that all of the officials said that they would “check up” on what happened and get back to her. To date, she has heard from none of them.

“I don’t count,” Smith said, “the people of America don’t count. The only thing that counts is their own selves, and their own jobs.”

Charles Woods, father of slain Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, also testified. In his soft-spoken voice, Woods also leveled grave criticisms at the Obama administration.

“It’s been over a year since four brave Americans were tragically killed in Benghazi,” Woods said. “And after one year we know very few answers. We’ve been asking for the last year. We don’t know much more than we did a year ago.

“Two of my heroes while growing up were John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King,” Woods said. “Rev. King made the statement, that ‘Justice delayed is justice denied.’ It’s been over a year. We have no justice. We have very few truthful answers that have been provided.”

Smith and Woods were killed on the night of September 11, 2012 ,at a U.S. State Department facility in Benghazi, Libya. Ambassador Chris Stevens and SEAL Glen Doherty died in the attack as well. The Obama administration, including the president himself, Clinton and his then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, blamed the attack on a crudely made YouTube video for about two weeks following the attack. But moments into the attack, officials in Washington had been told that it was a military-style, terrorist assault. To this day, no one has been held accountable for the deception or for the stand-down order that was reportedly given to military who may have been able to respond in time to save American lives. The president’s whereabouts and actions on the night of attack also remain a mystery.

To date, more than a year after the attack, despite President Obama’s vow to bring those responsible for the attack to justice, not a single attacker has been arrested.

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/09/19/benghazi-victims-parents-assail-administration-for-lies-lack-of-information-as-democrats-leave-the-room/?singlepage=true

Bryan Preston has been a leading conservative blogger and opinionator since founding his first blog in 2001. Bryan is a military veteran, worked for NASA, was a founding blogger and producer at Hot Air, was producer of the Laura Ingraham Show and, most recently before joining PJM, was Communications Director of the Republican Party of Texas.


Note:
UPDATE:
Update: List of Dems Who Walked Out Added… 

Carolyn Maloney
Danny Davis
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Gerald E. Connolly
Jim Cooper
John Tierney
Mark Pocan
Matt Cartwright
Michelle Lujan Grisham
Peter Welch
Stephen Lynch
Steven Horsford
Tammy Duckworth
Tony Cardenas
William Lacy Clay

The only Democrats with the decency to stick around are Elijia Cummings and Jackie Speier.

h/t K. C. O'Brien

Saudis Set Back by US-Russia Deal on Syrian Chemical Weapons

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal attends the opening of an Arab foreign ministers emergency meeting to discuss the Syrian crisis and the potential military strike on President Bashar al-Assad's regime, at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Sept. 1, 2013. (photo by REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

By: Madawi Al-Rasheed for Al-Monitor Posted on September 17.

Saudi Arabia miscalculated the ease with which US-led Western powers could quickly organize a military strike on Syria following the now-confirmed chemical attack of Aug. 21. The push for a quick strike stumbled in Washington, London and Paris, giving way to high-level diplomacy between the United States and Russia and disappointment in Saudi Arabia. The US-Russian framework for the elimination of Syria's chemical arsenal appears to be a deviation from Riyadh’s immediate objectives. By focusing on the sole objective of removing the Bashar al-Assad regime from power, the Saudi leadership may have overlooked that despite having important resources and weight, regional powers like itself can today be constrained by the changing international environment.

About This Article

Summary : Saudi Arabia, like Iran, has pursued a sectarian interventionist strategy in Syria that furthers the war and undermines a democratic transition. Author: Madawi Al-RasheedPosted on: September 17 2013 Categories : Originals  Saudi Arabia    Syria

In Jiddah on Sept. 16, Crown Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz presided over the Council of Ministers and warned the international community against reducing the Syrian crisis to the issue of chemical weapons. In anticipation of a UN Security Council meeting on Sept. 18 to discuss the UN report on the Syrians' use of chemical weapons and pass a strong resolution, Salman called on the international community to strengthen the Syrian opposition and protect civilians, reminding it of the urgency of pushing for a new regime in Damascus. Saudi Arabia may soon find itself a spectator on the periphery, watching an international game in which it can only make noise, and possibly trouble, if its objectives cease to be a priority for other, more important international players with their own agendas.

The US-Russian framework unexpectedly eclipsed active Saudi diplomacy of the last weeks, during which it insisted on military intervention in Syria. While the United States continues to stress that this framework does not rule out future military strikes in case of noncompliance, this is simply not enough for Riyadh.

The Saudi leadership’s bewilderment over the changes that have swept the Arab world over the last three years has focused its foreign policy on two main objectives. First is sabotaging any glimpse of a democratic transition that might lead to the rise of new, unpredictable forces in Arab countries and consequently undermine its own grip on power domestically. From the Saudi perspective, any political change threatens to undermine a familiar status quo characterized by political stagnation and repression, defined by the Saudis as stability.

"Change" to the Saudis means unpredictability, chaos and loss of influence in a region that has been dependent on the integration of its failing economy into the Saudi oil empire. From subsidizing poor, loyal regimes to taking in excess labor migrants, Saudi Arabia has ensured that poor Arab countries remain within its sphere of influence. Yet this policy seems to be dependent on authoritarian and repressive regimes remaining in power and willing to play the Saudi's game of loyalty in return for oil rent. The Arab uprisings threatened to destroy this formula, leading the Saudis to fight several battles in different places at the same time. From Bahrain to Yemen and Egypt, loyalty for oil must be reinforced because it is the only way the Saudis can remain relevant at the regional level.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/us-russia-deal-sets-saudis-back.html#ixzz2fOvH1Nz8

Madawi Al-Rasheed is a visiting professor at the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has written extensively about the Arabian Peninsula, Arab migration, globalization, religious trans-nationalism and gender. On Twitter: @MadawiDr

Al Qaeda Leader: Bleed America Through New Attacks

Bee's Note:
  "Authorities in Washington say their investigation so far gives them no reason to believe Navy Yard shooting suspect Aaron Alexis, 34, is linked to organized terror even though just two days earlier, al-Qaida’s leader had called for a “lone wolf” attack on Washington." - from Washington's Naval Yard Massacre: More than Likely a Jihadi Assault!"  

Did America, once again, "bleed" during the massacre at the Naval Yard?  Of course it did, but the "lone" wolf theory may be something Washington's investigators should take a second look at, unless they have and don't want to send any signals to the Media.   We will never have the "shooter" - the dead shooter's confession, since dead men don't talk.  There may be more "Lone" wolves waiting in the wings, but the wolves are not "alone", as they travel in packs and always follow their "Pack Leader", the Alpha male a/k/a Ayman al-Zawahri a/k/a al Qaeda.  Don't forget, the Alpha male is the one who makes decisions for the pack.  

Who do you suppose Barack HUSSEIN Obama is following?  Whoever it is, Obama tries his utmost to cover their tracks.

THE CLARION PROJECT

Monday, September 16, 2013

In a speech released a day after 9/11, Ayman al-Zawahri said attacks would weaken the U.S. by triggering big spending on security

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has urged small-scale attacks inside the United States to "bleed America economically," adding that he hoped eventually to see a more significant strike, according to the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group monitoring service.

In an audio speech released online a day after the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 strikes, Zawahri said attacks "by one brother or a few of the brothers" would weaken the U.S. economy by triggering big spending on security.

"We should bleed America economically by provoking it to continue in its massive expenditure on its security, for the weak point of America is its economy, which has already begun to stagger due to the military and security expenditure," he said.

"Keeping America in such a state of tension and anticipation only required a few disparate attacks 'here and there.'  As we defeated it in the gang warfare in Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan, so we should follow it with a war on its own land. These disparate strikes can be done by one brother or a few of the brothers," al-Zawahri explained.

At the same time, he told Muslims to seize any opportunity to land "a large strike" on the United States, even if this took years of patience.

In his audio speech, Zawahri said Muslims should refuse to buy goods from America and its allies, as such spending only helped to fund U.S. military action in Muslim lands. He added that Muslims should abandon the U.S. dollar and replace it with the currency of nations that did not attack Muslims.

Zawahri spoke approvingly of one of the worst attacks on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001, the bombing of the Boston Marathon in April, which U.S. authorities say was carried out by two ethnic Chechen Muslim brothers. That attack killed three people and injured 264.

Zawahri sought to paint the bombing as part of Al Qaeda's violent transnational campaign of jihad, or holy war, against U.S. interests, even if it was relatively small-scale.

"The Boston incident confirms to the Americans that they are not facing individuals, organizations or groups, but they are facing an uprising Ummah (Muslim community), that rose in jihad to defend its soul, dignity and capabilities. What the American regime refuses to admit is that al-Qaeda was a message before it was an organization," he said.

Zawahri, who is suspected by many security specialists to be living in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area, added that the al-Qaeda message simply was that if Muslims wanted to live in dignity and "be liberated," then they had to defend their dignity.

Western counter-terrorism chiefs have warned that radicalized "lone wolves" who might have had no direct contact with Al Qaeda posed as great a risk as those who carried out complex plots like the 9/11 attacks.

cross-posted from THE CLARION PROJECT

What Is Obama Hiding In White House Visitor Logs? (Video)

Bee's Note:  

Has the White House been taken over by Aliens?

On January 21, 2009, Obama said, "Transparency and the Rule of Law will be the touch tones of this presidency".  How soon you forgot your promise to the American people, Mr. President.

Perhaps if you kept your promise, Washington would not be in turmoil today; but, that's water over the dam, built by you and all the little "beavers" you appointed since your first term.  

You have become a recluse to America.  First, with the lies, cover-ups, scandals, choice of "new friends" and betrayals of the U.S. reliable friends and allies; right down to shutting the White House down and leaving a "No Trespassing  sign on the door to the American people and other visitors.  When you did that, Mr. President, did you begin paying your own rent, since it is the taxpayers who pay the rent on the house you live in today.

It was only a matter of months since the White House closing to the next step of a recluse - that of shutting down the "visitors" logs from the view of America.  Well, since we know we're no longer your guests, who exactly are you entertaining in our house?  Did you become uncomfortable when we noticed the trail of Muslim Brotherhood visitors you invited to tea?

I took a look around my house last night and wondered what I would want cleaned up if I had unexpected visitors.  Other than a few dishes in the sink and dust on the furniture, I'm an open book. (Just ask NSA - they read my Emails and FB pages).

So, just for fun, I thought it would be good if the American citizens began sending you Emails with their own ideas of what they think you might be hiding. To contact the White House; Corresponding with the White House address, at this link, and to ask questions, at this link.

Here are a few of my guesses:

• You haven't turned the White House into a bordello, have you?  I ask because you have prostituted the U.S. Constitution and massage our enemies.  If you have, that is the fanciest brothel in the country! 
• I know it isn't a Hunting Lodge, because you are all for gun control, except for the Secret Service guarding you and your family.
• Have you turned it into a Mosque? Have you hired workers to attach a minaret to the building?  I understand a mosque is traditionally the centre of social, political, and educational life in Islamic societies. Have you mistaken the country you are leading to be an Islamic country?  If so, would you do America a huge favor and resign immediately, as "your" Office and our House are not representatives of Islam.  
• Has the White House been taken over by Aliens?!
• My friend, Lance, just suggested that America hire a few "Ghostbusters" to fumigate the White House after you leave, Mr. President.  We fear the White House will be haunted after having so many "unknown/strange" visitors. 

RED FLAG NEWS

(by Susan Duclos) -- When Barack obama first became president, he gave a speech, one you will see below in the first video, talking about transparency and how for a long time there has been too much secrecy and the “old rules” said that if there was a “defensible argument for not disclosing something to the American people. then it should not be disclosed. “

Quoting obama directly, he then said “That era is now over.”

He talks about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and how it is the “most powerful instrument we have for making our government honest and transparent.”

Which brings us to a recent court ruling, where the Obama administration argued and won, against a Judicial Watch FOIA request for Secret Service records in order to access White House visitor information for President Obama’s first seven months in office.

Make no mistake, the Bush White House asserted the same thing, but Barack Obama said that era was over as he took office.

In February, Obama claimed his administration was the “most transparent ever,” and that claim was made as he was fighting another FOIA request about his targeted killing drone program, which was eventually exposed.

Obama’s website says “My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government.”

Yet the White House, paid for by American taxpayers, and Obama, who works for those same taxpayers, is allowed to hide who he talks to, who his staff talks to, in OUR house.

What is Obama hiding? 

H/T Before It's News

http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/what-is-obama-hiding-in-white-house-visitor-logs-video