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Archive for February 2015

Foreigners, Diplomats Warned to Leave Egypt or Be Targeted for Jihad

February 3, 2015

Foreigners, Diplomats Warned to Leave Egypt or Be Targeted for Jihad, Washington Free Beacon, Adam Kredo, February 3, 2015

Mideast Egypt Morsi

In this Friday, Aug. 2, 2013 file photo, Supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi hold a large Egyptian national flag as chant slogans against Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi outside Rabaah al-Adawiya mosque / AP

An Islamist organization sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood is warning all foreigners and diplomats to flee Egypt by the end of February or face becoming “a target by the Revolutionary Punishment Movement,” according to a recent warning posted online by a Brotherhood-affiliated site and read live on television by one of its broadcast organs.

The statement issues a threat to “all foreign nationals,” “all foreign companies,” and all “embassy foreigners, diplomats, and ambassadors,” ordering them to leave Egypt by the end of the month or face violent attacks, according to an independent translation of the Arabic statement.

Foreign travelers also are warned to “cancel their trips” and told “they are not welcome to Egypt during these difficult days.”

The warning comes just a week after Brotherhood leaders and allies were hosted for a meeting at the State Department, which drew fierce criticism from the Egyptian government.

It also follows a similar statement by the Brotherhood urging its supporters to prepare for a “long, uncompromising jihad” in Egypt.

The latest threat was issued by an anti-government group identifying itself as “The Youth of the Revolution.” The statement was published late last week on a Brotherhood-affiliated Facebook page and also read on a Brotherhood-affiliated television station operating out of Turkey.

“After the successive meetings with revolutionaries in the squares, we decided with all the Revolutionary Punishment Movement the following,” the statement reads.

“All embassy foreigners, diplomats, and ambassadors, are given a deadline until Feb. 28 to leave the homeland,” it states.

“All foreign nationals, from all foreign, Arab, and African nationalities and all employees with companies working in Egypt [must] leave the country immediately,” it says. “This deadline will end on Feb. 11, 2015, and after that they will be a target by the Revolutionary Punishment Movement.”

Foreign companies “working in Egypt” are instructed to leave by Feb. 20, “withdraw their licenses in Egypt and end their work, otherwise all their projects will be targets by revolutionaries.”

The revolutionary youth group also instructs any country supporting the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to withdraw its backing.

Like the Brotherhood, the “The Youth of the Revolution” does not recognize al-Sisi as the rightful Egyptian leader and seeks to reinstall as president ousted Brotherhood ally Mohamed Morsi.

“All countries supporting the coup and assisting it monetarily and politically must immediately cease from any support to the coup within a month from this statement otherwise all their interests in the Middle East will be exposed to severe attacks that will have dire consequences,” the group warns.

Following the Washington Free Beacon’s initial report on the meeting between the State Department and Brotherhood-aligned leaders, the Egyptian foreign minister lashed out at the Obama administration, calling its policies “incomprehensible.”

State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki was forced to admit that she initially misled reporters about the meeting.

Psaki claimed that the trip was organized and funded by Georgetown University, a claim the university denied when contacted Monday by the Free Beacon.

Psaki was forced to correct the record at a briefing Monday with reporters.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t have the accurate information on one small piece. The meeting was set up by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, a nonprofit. So the visit was not funded, as you know, by us or the U.S. Government, but it was also not funded by Georgetown,” Psaki said.

However, she continued to defend the decision to meet with the delegation.

When asked by a reporter, “is the building comfortable with continuing to do business with this center, this group,” Psaki responded, “Yes. Yes.”

Terrorism analyst and reporter Patrick Poole said Brotherhood offshoots such as this youth group have become increasingly violent as the Egyptian government continues its crackdown on the Brotherhood and terrorist groups.

“For a year and a half we’ve seen these Brotherhood youth cadre offshoots grow increasingly violent, whether it is the ‘Molotov Movement’, ‘Revolutionary Punishment Council’, or whatever name they operate under this month,” Poole said. “Initially it was targeting police and military personnel, then violence at the universities and civilian areas. So it’s no surprise now that they’re going after foreigners.”

Brotherhood leaders have quietly endorsed this violent rhetoric, he said.

“The Brotherhood leadership, the vast majority of which is now either in prison or in exile, has nurtured this culture,” Poole said. “They train for it and justify it in their indoctrination curriculum. And as the call for a new phase of all-out jihad published on the Brotherhood’s official website last week indicates, this latest threat of violence can be seen as a direct response to what the leadership openly called for just days before.”

Categories: Economy, Egypt, Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Obama administration, Sisi
Tags: Economy, Egypt, Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, Obama Administration, Sisi

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Islamic State video claims to show burning death of Jordanian pilot

February 3, 2015

Islamic State video claims to show burning death of Jordanian pilot, Washington Post, Abby Ohlheiser, February 3, 2015

The Islamic State released a video on Tuesday that purports to show Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh being burned alive by his captors.

According to a release from the SITE monitoring group, which follows militant Web sites, the 22-minute video, titled “Healing of the Believers’ Chests,” was released on social media even as Jordan struggled to learn his fate.

The Islamic State released a video over the weekend that appeared to show the beheading of Kenji Goto, a Japanese journalist.

The video did not mention Kaseasbeh. However, the Islamic State had previously said it would kill both Kaseasbeh and Goto if Jordan failed to meet a Thursday deadline to release an Iraqi woman convicted of a role in 2005 bombings that killed 60 people in Jordan’s capital, Amman.

The pilot was captured by the Islamic State in December, after his plane crashed in Syria during a bombing run. Although the Islamic State claimed that it had shot down his plane, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Lisa Brackenbury, a Central Command spokeswoman, said in December that while “a thorough investigation will be conducted, this was an aircraft crash and not the result of enemy action.”

Late last year, the Islamic State posted social media images of Kaseasbeh, surrounded by masked militants, as his captors pulled him from a body of water.

According to the SITE, the video shows “media footage of Jordan’s involvement in the U.S.-led coalition against [the Islamic State]” Then, the video shows Kaseasbeh, with a black eye, “discussing Jordan’s operation in a news-style monologue.” The video then juxtaposes images of the pilot surrounded by militants, and images of the aftermath of bombings.

“At the end of the video, al-Kasasibah stands inside of a cage and is burned alive by fighters,” SITE writes.

Categories: Executions, Islamic State, Jordan, Jordanian pilot
Tags: Executions, Islamic State, Jordan, Jordanian pilot

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Calls to Kill Pres. Al-Sisi and Egyptian Journalists on Turkey-Based Muslim Brotherhood TV Channels

February 3, 2015

Calls to Kill Pres. Al-Sisi and Egyptian Journalists on Turkey-Based Muslim Brotherhood TV Channels, MEMRI TV via You Tube, January 30, 2015

(Please see also Egypt’s fight, America’s apathy. — DM)

In this compilation of video clips from Muslim Brotherhood TV channels, various Egyptian clerics and commentators call to kill Egyptian President Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi and the journalists who support him. Cleric Salama Abd Al-Qawi said, on Rabea TV, that anyone who killed Al-Sisi would be doing a good deed, cleric Wagdi Ghoneim told Misr Alan TV that “whoever can bring us the head of one of these dogs and Hell-dwellers” would be rewarded by Allah, and commentator Muhammad Awadh sai, on Misr Alan TV, that the punishment for the “inciting coup journalists” was death. The programs aired on January 10 and 26, 2015.

Categories: Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood, Sisi
Tags: Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood, Sisi

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Thousands of Gaza Youth Train at Hamas Military Wing Camp

February 3, 2015

Thousands of Gaza Youth Train at Hamas Military Wing Camp. MEMRI TV via You Tube, February 2, 2015

This video-clip shows footage from a youth camp organized by ‘Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in which young cadets demonstrate military skills, such as use of weapons, and simulate the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. Thousands of youth are reported to have attended the camp. The footage is from the Hamas Al-Aqsa TV and from various Internet channels.

Categories: Hamas, Terrorist training
Tags: Hamas, Terrorist training

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Egypt’s fight, America’s apathy

February 3, 2015

Egypt’s fight, America’s apathy, Israel Hayom, Dr. Reuven Berko, February 3, 2015

[M]any Arab states long ago branded the movement and its “offspring” as illegal. In the Arab states, unlike in the West, Arabic is fully understood. This fact raises the suspicion that the U.S., which is losing interest in our region, has come to terms with radical Islam’s ascension to power in the Middle East, and is sacrificing its allies in the region.

*********************

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt refuses to accept the verdict of the electorate and is trying, through brutal terrorism, to delegitimize President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Ever since the el-Sissi government’s democratic election, Egypt has been plagued by a wave of terror perpetrated by the Brotherhood against the country’s army and security forces in Egypt proper and the Sinai Peninsula, which has damaged the economy and infrastructure.

In his most recent speech at Al-Azhar ‎University, on Jan. 1, el-Sissi tried conveying to the “sane” senior religious leaders a brave message about the need to fight terror, calling for introspection and for them to implement a “religious revolution” against terror. His call has gone unanswered.

Indeed, Egypt is fighting these days against Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the terrorist group that has renamed itself the “Sinai Province” and has sworn allegiance to Islamic State. Over the past several months, Sinai Province terrorists have inflicted considerable damage and casualties on the Egyptian army, in a series of car bombings and shooting attacks. Last Thursday night, the group carried out four separate attacks on security forces in northern Sinai, killing at least 30 soldiers and police officers.

Egyptian sources pointed a finger at Hamas and its armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, accusing the Gaza-based terrorist group of aiding Sinai Province in its violent campaign. Evidence of this aid can be found in intercepted messages between the groups. Consequently, Egypt over the weekend banned Hamas’ military wing, listing it as a terrorist organization. In light of the dozens of slain soldiers, el-Sissi called on his security forces in Sinai to avenge the blood of their fallen comrades, and said: “We are fighting a well-funded global terrorist organization. … I am not tying your hands to prevent you from taking retribution from the terrorists.” During the heartfelt speech, el-Sissi announced the establishment of a new headquarters, commanded by a general, charged with waging war on terror and retaking Sinai.

As per its custom, Al-Jazeera distorted his message. One of the network’s “analysts” argued that el-Sissi’s words constituted a call for vengeance and civil war, and that he has turned the Egyptian army into a jury and hangman.

In contrast, in an interview with the network, the editor-in-chief of the weekly Egyptian newspaper Al-Mashhad protested the consistent incitement by Al-Jazeera against Egypt. Al-Jazeera, meanwhile, continues to incite, provide Hamas with material aid, and exalt the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades as a role model via its documentaries and programs. Within this framework, Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades member Abdel Karim Al-Hanini, in his own series broadcast on Al-Jazeera, boasts of murdering Israeli civilians and soldiers, while instructing his audience, Palestinians and Muslim Brotherhood followers in Egypt alike, on how to build bombs.

Despite the events in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has yet to be outlawed in Europe and the United States. Many leaders still believe it is a legitimate political movement, despite knowing that it engages in terrorism across the globe and the “new Middle East,” and regardless of the fact that many Arab states long ago branded the movement and its “offspring” as illegal. In the Arab states, unlike in the West, Arabic is fully understood. This fact raises the suspicion that the U.S., which is losing interest in our region, has come to terms with radical Islam’s ascension to power in the Middle East, and is sacrificing its allies in the region. Its abstention from reining in Qatar, which incites and funds terrorism, testifies to the indifference of the United States to the damage this causes to Israel and to Egypt’s fight against fundamentalism, and will lead to the fall of other moderate Arab states.

It appears the Americans, who have soldiers based in the manipulative Qatar, along with the Europeans and partnered by Islamist Turkey and NATO, are implementing a policy of “after me, the deluge,” and have accepted the partition of the fading Middle East between the subversive Sunnis and the encroaching Iranians, who are establishing outposts and bridgeheads in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, as well as in Bahrain and Yemen. Both camps, the Sunni and Shiite, are now moving toward an arms race and inevitable apocalyptic clash, simultaneous to the completion of Iran’s nuclear program, in lieu of sanctions or a deal ensuring it is scaled back.

In the meantime, the European Union is working with Arab League foreign ministers and, bizarrely, Turkey and Qatar, two countries that support these terrorist movements, to create a front against Islamist terror. The criminals have been appointed the guards, indeed.

Categories: Egypt, Foreign policy, Hamas, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamic slaughter, Islamic State, Israel, Middle East, Obama administration, Qatar, Sisi, Syria, Terrorists, Turkey
Tags: Egypt, Foreign Policy, Hamas, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamic slaughter, Islamic State, Israel, Middle East, Obama Administration, Qatar, Sisi, Syria, Terrorists, Turkey

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Here’s The Reason Valerie Jarrett Is Scared Of Benjamin Netanyahu

February 3, 2015

Here’s The Reason Valerie Jarrett Is Scared Of Benjamin Netanyahu
L. Todd Wood — February 2, 2015 Via Western Journalist dot Com

(Mr. Wood brings up an interesting point. Hopefully, Mr. Netanyahu will shed some light on this possibility. – LS)

We have all seen the White House’s reaction to House Speaker John Boehner inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress on the Iranian nuclear situation. The Obama administration has completely freaked out, lobbing public barrages against Netanyahu and Boehner for “going around the White House and diplomatic protocol.” This is quite humorous for the president who famously said “I have a pen and a phone and can do anything I want”–but that’s for another column.

I’ve written about the Obama administration’s agenda when dealing with Iran. The agenda is to run out the clock and allow Iran to develop, or be on the verge of developing, a nuclear weapon that would threaten the entire Middle East and the world. Israel would especially be in danger.

The real questions are: Who is pushing this agenda? Who is pushing for Iran to go nuclear? And, who is so scared of Netanyahu briefing Congress and the American people on what Iran is up to?

The answer is Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s Rasputin. This is where the anger from the White House is coming from.

Most people know she was born in Iran. This in itself does not disqualify her from advising the president, but it does open her agenda to scrutiny. There have been reports that she has been secretly negotiating with Iran on the nuclear issue, but the White House has vehemently denied it.

I, for one, don’t trust a thing this administration says.

Now, the Jerusalem Post is reporting that the Obama administration has already given Iran eighty percent of what it has demanded in the negotiations. The “deal” to be reached will leave Iran within months of going nuclear if they decide to move forward. All of the centrifuges will remain under their control.

This “deal” is not a deal, but an appeasement.

The Post reports: “Jerusalem officials appear alarmed at the prospect that the United States will soon strike a deal with the Iranian regime that will leave it with a ‘breakout capacity’ of months during which it can gallop toward a nuclear bomb.”

This is what Valerie Jarrett is so scared of–that her secret deals with Iran to allow them to go nuclear will become public knowledge. She is scared Netanyahu will tell Congress and the American people what is really going on. We can’t have that, can we?

Why else would the White House be so scared that one of our closest and reliable allies is speaking to a co-equal branch of government?

Categories: Uncategorized

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Humor: How to deal with enemies, foreign and domestic

February 2, 2015

How to deal with enemies, foreign and domestic, Dan Miller’s Blog, Sen. Ima Librul, February 2, 2015

(The views expressed this article are mine and those of my imaginary guest author. They do not necessarily represent the views of Warsclerotic or its other editors. — DM)

Editor’s note: This is a post by my (imaginary) guest author, the Very Honorable Ima Librul, Senator from the great State of ~~Confusion~~ Utopia. He is a founding member of CCCEB (Climate Change Causes Everything Bad), a charter member of President Obama’s Go For it Team, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Meretricious Relations Subcommittee. He is also justly proud of his expertise in the care and breeding of unicorns, for which his Save the Unicorns Foundation has received substantial Federal grants. We are honored to have a post of this caliber by a quintessential Librul such as the Senator. Without further delay, here is the Senator’s article.

***********************

As the anointed leader of my Librul kingdom, countless methods for dealing with “enemies” are at my disposal. I, along with my loyal Secretary of Slyness (SOS) Sir Ketchup, bring happiness to all. Many “enemies” of my kingdom have yielded to my wisdom without even knowing that they have. I owe everything to my dear leader Obama, my rock of ages in the past and hope for years to come.

Example One

When my kingdom was threatened by wolves and foxes, which intended to eat all of my free range chickens, I bravely sent Sir Ketchup to deal with the problem. At my direction, he immediately put half of my chickens into secure coops and invited the invaders to do as they desired with the rest. That satisfied them only briefly, so he dispatched half of my remaining chickens to be eaten. The process continued until I had only one chicken left.

Here’s why I can humbly wear the label “The Won,” along with my dear leader Obama. The invaders, stuffed pleasantly full of chicken and amazed at my brilliance, resolved not to attack my kingdom again until my chicken population had been restored and it was once again worthwhile to invade. Unfortunately for them, a single chicken cannot reproduce, so they will never again have any reason to return.

Example Two

A few weeks later, my kingdom was again invaded by “wild and vicious” packs of wolves and foxes. They divided their attentions between slaughtering each other and slaughtering and eating my sheep. I solved the problem by giving ample sheep to both packs and explaining to them that they were neither wild nor vicious, but simply misguided in attacking each other. Their mistake lay in believing that the traditions of their ancestors mandated such activities, even though it is not true. As a widely acknowledged expert on the traditions of wolves and foxes, I understand these matters far better than they do. Hence, I was able to convince them that with reality-based understanding such as I possess, they too would seek the beauties and benefits of unity permitting them to slaughter and eat my sheep peacefully and together.

Some who do not fully understand the inherent beauty and fairness of multiculturalism might contend that my actions were unfair to the sheep. They would be wrong. Sheep are gentle creatures and have been good to me; I have always ensured that they have plenty to eat and I have fleeced them only to provide for their well-being. We are as one and, to the extent that I am able, these benign practices will continue.

However, it is far more important to bring happiness and unity to creatures which have suffered for ages because of their erroneous but stereotypical characterization as evil. There is no evil and there is no good; all is relative. Who are we to declare that sheep are good and that wolves and foxes are evil? Don’t we also kill sheep and eat mutton? Wolves and foxes are neither better nor worse than human carnivores and it is prudent to act only on the basis of what is best for all.

My plan was successful. Happy with their full bellies, the wolves and foxes departed my kingdom in peace, promising to return together and in harmony only when they need my sheep. In the interim, they will devote their attentions to visiting neighboring farms in hopes that the owners will see the justice in my methods and adopt them. I promised to help my neighbors to adopt my enlightened multicultural views and to accord wolves and foxes every courtesy. As wolves and foxes come to understand the beauty and benefits of true multiculturalism, they will cease to be significant threats to anyone. That is a hope for change we can — and must — believe in.

In fairness, I must acknowledge that my dear leader Obama demonstrated the efficacy of this solution several years ago when, with remarkable success, He persuaded diverse groups of Muslims to unite against America to force her to reject her old ways of dealing with what she wrongly characterized, not only as enemies, but even as evil enemies. Since then, we have made great progress in defeating the Non Islamic Islamic State (NIIS) and others allegedly intent upon endangering our national security. The world be a far better place now if President Roosevelt had fully accepted Nazi Germany, not as an evil enemy or even as an enemy, but as a friend and a humanitarian force for peace and enlightenment of civilization. Had my dear leader then been our President, that would have happened and there would have been no more war.

Example Three

This year, representatives of the Non-Islamic Taliban (NIT) sought to use several acres of my kingdom for an insurgent training camp. They explained that since my dear leader Obama has declared that they are not foreign terrorists, I should have no objection. On that basis, I saw no problem in dealing with them. They offered to pay me $5,000 per acre per week and I accepted, subject to the requirement that they wear Girl Scout costumes rather than their traditional attire so that none of my Islamophobic neighbors would be offended irrationally. The deal was struck.

Since they had not stated which part of my kingdom they wanted to use, I provided land on which my free range unicorns frolic. I assumed that they would not notice, and they didn’t. Only truly superior beings, like our own glorious dear leader Obama, myself and unicorns can communicate with unicorns; the NIT members couldn’t even see them.

I promptly advised my dear leader of my findings, and He stated that He will soon dispatch brigades of well trained unicorns, under the command of Brevet General Bowe Bergdahl, to do battle with both NIT insurgents and NIIS terrorists. When the unicorn brigades triumph, dear leader Obama will be able to proclaim yet another grand mission accomplished and demonstrate, once again, that we stand firmly, shoulder to shoulder, behind our gallant friends and allies who have been harmed by our dastardly non-Islamic enemies. No longer will we be viewed as impotent.

It may be true that, until now,

Nothing in all that standing together has been potent enough to stop these barbaric, brutal, heinous beheadings of American and British and Japanese citizens.

Brevet General Bergdahl and his brigades of unicorns will change that!

I have many more inspiring stories to tell, but must leave immediately to chair a meeting of my Meretricious Relations Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Former President Clinton, the principal speaker on “How to lie with impunity,” will be accompanied by his lovely wife and confidant, Saint Hillarion, also a long recognized expert on that topic as well as concerning infamous right-wing conspiracy theories.

Their talents, like those of our current dear leader Obama, are much needed in dealing with our domestic enemies, evil right-wing terrorists all!

I look forward to serving under Saint Hillarion when she becomes our next dear leader, just as I have served under dear leader Obama.

******************

Editor’s comments

Senator Librul words of wisdom will be of great assistance to Obama in His war on non-Islamic terror and insurgency. Ideas such as the Senator’s are badly needed because in the aggregate they are far better, and hence far more likely to bring success, than what Obama has tried thus far.

If the spirits shine brightly and in copious quantities upon us, we may be able to believe that even before Obama’s son Trayvon II becomes our President, our enemies will have ceased to be our enemies and unicorns will again be able to frolic in peace throughout the entire world, Insha’Allah.

Categories: Cognitive dissonance, Europe, Foreign policy, Humor, Islam, Islamic State, Islamophobia, Kerry, Lies, Moral equivalence, Multiculturalism, Nazis, Obama, Taliban, Terrorists
Tags: Cognitive dissonance, Europe, Foreign Policy, Humor, Islam, Islamic State, Islamophobia, Lies, Moral equivalence, Multiculturalism, Nazis, Taliban, Terrorists

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Blog: Hillary’s drive for war in Libya armed al-Qaeda-backed rebels

February 2, 2015

February 2, 2015

Hillary’s drive for war in Libya armed al-Qaeda-backed rebels

By Rick Moran

via Blog: Hillary’s drive for war in Libya armed al-Qaeda-backed rebels.

By driving the administration to intervention in Libya, arms from the U.S. and our allies in the region ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda-backed militias, according to a report in the Washington Times.

The paper has detailed Clinton’s previously unknown actions in the lead up to the war in three part series. Today is the final installment.

The question that many in Congress might want to ask is if Clinton’s determination to intervene in Libya eventually led to the attack on our compound in Beghazi.

Libyan officials were deeply concerned in 2011, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was trying to remove Moammar Gadhafi from power, that weapons were being funneled to NATO-backed rebels with ties to al Qaeda, fearing that well-armed insurgents could create a safe haven for terrorists, according to secret intelligence reports obtained by The Washington Times.

The reports included a 16-page list of weapons that Libyans supposedly tracked to the rebels from Western sources or their allies in the region. The memos were corroborated by a U.S. intelligence asset familiar with the documents as well as former top Gadhafi regime official Mohammed Ismael.

“NATO has given permission to a number of weapons-loaded aircraft to land at Benghazi airport and some Tunisian airports,” the intelligence report said, identifying masses of weapons including tanks and surface-to-air missiles.

That report, which was prepared in English so it could be passed by a U.S. intelligence asset to key members of Congress, identified specific air and sea shipments observed by Libyan intelligence moving weapons to the rebels trying to unseat the Gadhafi regime.

“There is a close link between al Qaeda, Jihadi organizations, and the opposition in Libya,” the report warned.

In the documents and separately recorded conversations with U.S. emissaries, Libyan officials expressed particular concern that the weapons and training given the rebels would spread throughout the region, in particular turning the city of Benghazi into a future terrorist haven.

Those fears would be realized a little over a year later when a band of jihadist insurgents attacked the State Department diplomatic post in Benghazi and a related CIA compound, killing four Americans including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. Today, more than three years after Gadhafi fell from power and was killed, Benghazi and much of the rest of Libya remain in chaos, riddled with violence among rival tribes and thriving jihadi groups.

We should be wary of anything said by ex-Libyan officials, who may try to retroactively absolve themselves of blame. Gaddafi was killing plenty of civilians as it was, and the question of whether he intended to commit genocide is still open, in my opinion. The man acted irrationally at times, so anything was possible.

That said, Hillary Clinton has to own up to the Libyan fiasco. Regardless of what you think of Gaddafi’s intentions, supplying weapons to the jihadist militias was extremely dangerous. The fact that we may have helped facilitate this transfer smears a lot of blood on Clinton’s hands – including, indirectly, the blood of the four Americans who died in Bengahzi.

The press was uninterested in Obama’s past when he ran for president in 2008. Will there be a similar blackout on information regarding Clinton’s actions in the lead-up to our intervention in Libya?

You can bet on it.

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Obama: ‘Breakdown In Order’ in Middle East

February 2, 2015

Obama: ‘Breakdown In Order’ in Middle East

by Ian Hanchett2 Feb 2015

via Obama: ‘Breakdown In Order’ in Middle East – Breitbart.

President Obama said that while “we are safer” there has been a “breakdown in order” in the Middle East in an interview broadcast on Monday’s “Today” on NBC.

“Yemen’s a tough situation. This is a country that’s always been fragile, the governments have never been strong. On the other hand, we’ve been continually able to maintain pressure on al Qaeda in that region…we feel confident that we can maintain that pressure” he stated. And “I believe we are safer. But obviously that doesn’t mean that we aren’t concerned about the breakdown in order in this region generally” he stated.

Obama also talked about ISIS, stating that claims that the group has gained ground were “not accurate. In Iraq what we’ve seen is both the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish forces continue to push back against ISIL. Those same critics that you suggest, I imagine would have us re-deploy tens of thousands of US troops.” After anchor Savannah Guthrie asked whether suggesting the president’s critics wanted to re-deploy troops was a strawman, he responded “it’s not a strawman…it is entirely possible for us to deploy 200 or 300,000 US troops. If we don’t have inside of Iraq, or inside of Syria, or inside of Afghanistan, both the capacity and the will of people to fight for themselves, then any gains that are made eventually dissipate. So, this takes longer, but it’s the right way to do things.” He added that “anything we could be doing, Savannah, we are doing.”

After President Obama was asked, “you were the president that was going to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that you are so focused on doing that and not getting the US entangled in another war that you are sometimes slow to react, that you’re passive,” he responded, “you repeated that comment three different ways, but the truth of the matter is that we are doing exactly what we should be doing to make sure that, while we’re pushing back ISIL, we are not creating another situation in which we are deploying massive numbers of US troops, and those who want us to shoot first and aim later, typically get this country into really bad situations.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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Obama Honouring Presidential Commitments Trumps Protocol

February 2, 2015

Obama Honouring Presidential Commitments Trumps Protocol

Author

By David Singer February 2, 2015

via Obama Honouring Presidential Commitments Trumps Protocol.

The furore engendered by House Speaker John Boehner inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress on March 3—supposedly in breach of Presidential protocol – marks the first step in Congress flexing its muscles to persuade President Obama to re-think his concerted attempts to undermine the written commitments made by President Bush to Israel’s then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in his letter dated 14 April 2004 – as overwhelmingly endorsed by the House of Representatives 407-9 on 23 June 2004 and the Senate 95-3 the next day (“American Written Commitments”)

Those 2004 American Written Commitments to Israel have become even more critical in 2015—as a completely changed political environment sees America:

leading negotiations with Iran on curbing Iran’s nuclear program
heading a coalition of 62 States seeking to degrade and destroy Islamic State
forming part of the London 11 countries backing the unsuccessful bid to oust Assad from power in Syria
witnessing the shredding of the 2003 Bush Roadmap calling for the creation of a second Arab State in former Palestine—in addition to Jordan – as PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas chooses instead to travel the road leading to the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.

These American Written Commitments were made to support Sharon’s decision to unilaterally disengage from Gaza—which Israel duly honoured in 2005—when the Israeli Army and 8000 Israeli civilians left Gaza—many after living there for almost forty years.

Israel’s disengagement brought Hamas to power in Gaza’s one and only election – which has since seen three wars, thousands of deaths and casualties, property destruction running into billions of dollars and 11000 rockets being indiscriminately fired into Israeli civilian population centres.

Those American Written Commitments assured Israel that the United States:

Would do its utmost to prevent any attempt by anyone to impose any other plan other than the Roadmap envisioned by President Bush on 24 June 2002.
Reiterated America’s steadfast commitment to Israel’s security, including secure, defensible borders,
Was strongly committed to Israel’s security and well-being as a Jewish state.
Understood that an agreed, just, fair and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement would need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than in Israel.
Accepted as part of a final peace settlement that Israel must have secure and recognized borders, which should emerge from negotiations between the parties in accordance with UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338.
Acknowledged that in light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centers, it would be unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations would be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949, that all previous efforts to negotiate a two-state solution had reached the same conclusion

President Obama and his administration have sought to circumvent these American Written Commitments—thereby encouraging continuing Arab rejectionism of Israeli peace overtures whilst souring the American—Israeli longstanding relationship.

Obama’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly took the first steps to repudiate these American Written Commitments on 6 June 2009:

“Since coming to office in January, President Barack Obama has repeatedly called on Israel to halt all settlement activity in Palestinian areas, a demand rejected by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israelis say they received commitments from the previous US administration of President George W. Bush permitting some growth in existing settlements.

They say the US position was laid out in a 2004 letter from Bush to then Israeli premier Ariel Sharon.

Clinton rejected that claim, saying any such US stance was informal and “did not become part of the official position of the United States government.”

Clinton made Obama’s intentions clear—when she stated on 25 November 2009

“We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements.”

This blatant disregard for the American Written Commitments – which had never mentioned land swaps -signalled trouble for Israel – if Obama ever confirmed Clinton’s statements.

Eighteen months later Israel’s worst fears were realised when President Obama declared on 19 May 2011:

“The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.”

Israel’s curt response came the same day:

Mr. Netanyahu said in a pointed statement just before boarding a plane to Washington that while he appreciated Mr. Obama’s commitment to peace, he “expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of American commitments made to Israel in 2004 which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress.”

These American Written Commitments cannot be unilaterally revoked or varied—if America is to retain any international credibility for honouring agreements it makes with other States.

Israel—and Israel alone—must determine where its secure, recognized and defensible borders are to be located under these American Written Commitments.

Obama will hopefully get this unequivocal message when Congress welcomes Netanyahu to address it—protocol or no protocol.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Bush, President Obama

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