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Oct 7 13 9:15 AM
Responsibility for the September 11 Benghazi assault and the deaths of four U.S. citizens — including Libyan ambassador Chris Stevens — lies personally at the feet of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa. “The investigation really is now not about what we know, but about how we can prevent abuse of security before the fact, how we respond during the fact, and how we hold people accountable after the fact for deliberate misinformation — if you want to be kind — [and] outright lies, if not,” said Issa, who serves as head of the Oversight and Government reform committee. Clinton recklessly pursued an ill-advised policy of “normalization” meant to make the U.S. look like it was winning the war on terror, dividing the State and Defense Departments. The rift between the two weakened cooperation — the full weight of assets that the U.S. could have deployed to help the Americans stranded in the consulate were not dispatched, since the State department did not want to involve military forces for the sake of appearances, Issa said. “We know from Hillary Clinton on down there was a policy of normalization to make it appear as though we had won the war on terror,” Issa said. “I was in Libya just the other day, and one thing that I came back with was a strong opinion that that ‘stand down’ had everything to do with the fight between Department of State headed Hillary Clinton and the Defense Department, and that ultimately, State was willing to put their assets in, and did not want any military assets in, because they did not want to escalate what ultimately should have been escalated to a real rescue mission.”
Responsibility for the September 11 Benghazi assault and the deaths of four U.S. citizens — including Libyan ambassador Chris Stevens — lies personally at the feet of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa.
“The investigation really is now not about what we know, but about how we can prevent abuse of security before the fact, how we respond during the fact, and how we hold people accountable after the fact for deliberate misinformation — if you want to be kind — [and] outright lies, if not,” said Issa, who serves as head of the Oversight and Government reform committee.
Clinton recklessly pursued an ill-advised policy of “normalization” meant to make the U.S. look like it was winning the war on terror, dividing the State and Defense Departments. The rift between the two weakened cooperation — the full weight of assets that the U.S. could have deployed to help the Americans stranded in the consulate were not dispatched, since the State department did not want to involve military forces for the sake of appearances, Issa said.
“We know from Hillary Clinton on down there was a policy of normalization to make it appear as though we had won the war on terror,” Issa said. “I was in Libya just the other day, and one thing that I came back with was a strong opinion that that ‘stand down’ had everything to do with the fight between Department of State headed Hillary Clinton and the Defense Department, and that ultimately, State was willing to put their assets in, and did not want any military assets in, because they did not want to escalate what ultimately should have been escalated to a real rescue mission.”
Read more @ http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/05/issa-benghazi-attack-result-of-hillary-clintons-reckless-ill-advised-war-on-terror-policies-video/
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
Nov 3 13 10:38 AM
In an explosive report on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, the British supervisor of local security guards protecting the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, provided a harrowing account of the extremist attack that killed four Americans. The man whom CBS called Morgan Jones, a pseudonym, described racing to the Benghazi compound while the attack was underway, scaling a 12-foot wall and downing an extremist with the butt end of a rifle as he tried in vain to rescue the besieged Americans. The “60 Minutes” broadcast, in which Jones also recounted his clandestine visit that night to a Benghazi hospital to view the body of slain U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, helped propel a new round of partisan conflict this week over the attack. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) and other Republican lawmakers referred to it repeatedly during a Wednesday news conference. Graham said he would block confirmation of all of President Obama’s nominees, including Jeh Johnson as homeland security secretary and Janet L. Yellen as head of the Federal Reserve, until the administration allowed government witnesses to the attack to appear before Congress.But in a written account that Jones, whose real name was confirmed as Dylan Davies by several officials who worked with him in Benghazi, provided to his employer three days after the attack, he told a different story of his experiences that night. In Davies’s 21/ 2-page incident report to Blue Mountain, the Britain-based contractor hired by the State Department to handle perimeter security at the compound, he wrote that he spent most of that night at his Benghazi beach-side villa. Although he attempted to get to the compound, he wrote in the report, “we could not get anywhere near . . . as roadblocks had been set up.” He learned of Stevens’s death, Davies wrote, when a Libyan colleague who had been at the hospital came to the villa to show him a cellphone picture of the ambassador’s blackened corpse. Davies wrote that he visited the still-smoking compound the next day to view and photograph the destruction.The State Department and GOP congressional aides confirmed that Davies’s Sept. 14, 2012, report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, was included among tens of thousands of documents turned over to lawmakers by the State Department this year.Davies’s book on the attack, titled “The Embassy House,” by “Sergeant Morgan Jones,” was published this week and largely comports with the “60 minutes” account. It says that he served 14 years in the British military before becoming a private security contractor.
In an explosive report on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, the British supervisor of local security guards protecting the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, provided a harrowing account of the extremist attack that killed four Americans.
The man whom CBS called Morgan Jones, a pseudonym, described racing to the Benghazi compound while the attack was underway, scaling a 12-foot wall and downing an extremist with the butt end of a rifle as he tried in vain to rescue the besieged Americans.
The “60 Minutes” broadcast, in which Jones also recounted his clandestine visit that night to a Benghazi hospital to view the body of slain U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, helped propel a new round of partisan conflict this week over the attack.
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) and other Republican lawmakers referred to it repeatedly during a Wednesday news conference. Graham said he would block confirmation of all of President Obama’s nominees, including Jeh Johnson as homeland security secretary and Janet L. Yellen as head of the Federal Reserve, until the administration allowed government witnesses to the attack to appear before Congress.
But in a written account that Jones, whose real name was confirmed as Dylan Davies by several officials who worked with him in Benghazi, provided to his employer three days after the attack, he told a different story of his experiences that night.
In Davies’s 21/ 2-page incident report to Blue Mountain, the Britain-based contractor hired by the State Department to handle perimeter security at the compound, he wrote that he spent most of that night at his Benghazi beach-side villa. Although he attempted to get to the compound, he wrote in the report, “we could not get anywhere near . . . as roadblocks had been set up.”
He learned of Stevens’s death, Davies wrote, when a Libyan colleague who had been at the hospital came to the villa to show him a cellphone picture of the ambassador’s blackened corpse. Davies wrote that he visited the still-smoking compound the next day to view and photograph the destruction.
The State Department and GOP congressional aides confirmed that Davies’s Sept. 14, 2012, report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, was included among tens of thousands of documents turned over to lawmakers by the State Department this year.
Davies’s book on the attack, titled “The Embassy House,” by “Sergeant Morgan Jones,” was published this week and largely comports with the “60 minutes” account. It says that he served 14 years in the British military before becoming a private security contractor.
Read more @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/60-minutes-broadcast-helps-propel-new-round-of-back-and-forth-on-benghazi/2013/10/31/fbfcad66-4258-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html
Dec 31 13 12:26 AM
Fifteen months after the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, the narrative of the attack continues to be shaped, and reshaped, by politicians and the press. But a New York Times report published over the weekend has angered sources who were on the ground that night. Those sources, who continue to face threats of losing their jobs, sharply challenged the Times’ findings that there was no involvement from Al Qaeda or any other international terror group and that an anti-Islam film played a role in inciting the initial wave of attacks. “It was a coordinated attack. It is completely false to say anything else. … It is completely a lie,” one witness to the attack told Fox News. Sean Smith, a foreign service officer, and former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were also killed in the 2012 assault. The controversial Times report has stirred a community that normally remains out of sight and wrestles with how to reveal the truth, without revealing classified information. Fox News has learned that the attack on the consulate started with fighters assembling to conduct an assault. "Guys were coming into the compound, moving left, moving right…and using IMT (individual movement techniques). … That’s not a spontaneous attack,” one special operator said. "One guy was shooting, one guy was running. There are guys watching the gates. … The bosses on the ground were pointing, commanding and coordinating -- that is a direct action planned attack." The community of operators in Libya that night and since includes the CIA, FBI, U.S. military, U.S. State Department and contractors working for the United States in a number of capacities. According to multiple sources on the ground that night, all the intelligence personnel in Benghazi before the attack and there now understand Al Qaeda is a significant threat in Libya. Recent reports also suggest that Libyan militia leader Ahmad Abu Khattallah is the mastermind of the attack and had no real connections to Al Qaeda or terrorist organizations.
But a New York Times report published over the weekend has angered sources who were on the ground that night. Those sources, who continue to face threats of losing their jobs, sharply challenged the Times’ findings that there was no involvement from Al Qaeda or any other international terror group and that an anti-Islam film played a role in inciting the initial wave of attacks.
“It was a coordinated attack. It is completely false to say anything else. … It is completely a lie,” one witness to the attack told Fox News.
Sean Smith, a foreign service officer, and former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were also killed in the 2012 assault.
The controversial Times report has stirred a community that normally remains out of sight and wrestles with how to reveal the truth, without revealing classified information.
Fox News has learned that the attack on the consulate started with fighters assembling to conduct an assault.
"Guys were coming into the compound, moving left, moving right…and using IMT (individual movement techniques). … That’s not a spontaneous attack,” one special operator said.
"One guy was shooting, one guy was running. There are guys watching the gates. … The bosses on the ground were pointing, commanding and coordinating -- that is a direct action planned attack."
The community of operators in Libya that night and since includes the CIA, FBI, U.S. military, U.S. State Department and contractors working for the United States in a number of capacities. According to multiple sources on the ground that night, all the intelligence personnel in Benghazi before the attack and there now understand Al Qaeda is a significant threat in Libya.
Recent reports also suggest that Libyan militia leader Ahmad Abu Khattallah is the mastermind of the attack and had no real connections to Al Qaeda or terrorist organizations.
Witness accounts contradict Times report
http://presspass.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/29/22096545-issa-stands-by-claims-of-al-qaeda-affiliation-in-benghazi-attacks?lite
http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/benghazi/
Dec 31 13 7:40 PM
Jan 10 14 10:19 PM
"U.S. officials" tell the Washington Post that Abu Sufian bin Qumu, a Libyan jihadi leader held as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo Bay after the 9/11 attacks, assisted in the attack on an American consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other U.S. citizens.Qumu—who runs an Islamic militia several hours outside Benghazi—reportedly trained and lived with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda operatives in the 90s before fighting the U.S. in Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion. He was caught in Pakistan and sent to Gitmo, where he was known as Prisoner 557.Qumu had a personality disorder, untreated tuberculosis, and "a long-term association with Islamic extremist jihad and members of Al Qaeda," according to leaked military records. Even as authorities pondered his release from Gitmo, the military dossier on Qumu had called him "a MEDIUM to HIGH risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to the U.S., its interests and allies." He left Cuba and was placed in Libyan custody in 2007.That would be a year after the Bush administration brought Libya "in from the cold" and restored diplomatic relations between the countries, citing Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's renunciation of terrorism. The following year, Gaddafi turned him out on the streets, the Post says. Three years later, as he prepared to shell resistance fighters in the heavily populated city of Benghazi, Gaddafi was ousted and killed with help from a U.S.-led bombing campaign.Qumu's release raises serious questions about how the Bush administration—which styled itself as a bulwark against terrorists, making no apologies for its detention of suspects at Gitmo and its use of torturous interrogation techniques—picked its enemies and allies in the "war on terror," using the U.S. military machine to overthrow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein while entrusting Al Qaeda suspects to Gaddafi.The whole Benghazi mess is "complicated," an unnamed current "senior administration official" told the Post: "We will never be able to know what motivated everyone involved in this attack."
"U.S. officials" tell the Washington Post that Abu Sufian bin Qumu, a Libyan jihadi leader held as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo Bay after the 9/11 attacks, assisted in the attack on an American consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other U.S. citizens.
Qumu—who runs an Islamic militia several hours outside Benghazi—reportedly trained and lived with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda operatives in the 90s before fighting the U.S. in Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion. He was caught in Pakistan and sent to Gitmo, where he was known as Prisoner 557.
Qumu had a personality disorder, untreated tuberculosis, and "a long-term association with Islamic extremist jihad and members of Al Qaeda," according to leaked military records. Even as authorities pondered his release from Gitmo, the military dossier on Qumu had called him "a MEDIUM to HIGH risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to the U.S., its interests and allies." He left Cuba and was placed in Libyan custody in 2007.
That would be a year after the Bush administration brought Libya "in from the cold" and restored diplomatic relations between the countries, citing Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's renunciation of terrorism. The following year, Gaddafi turned him out on the streets, the Post says. Three years later, as he prepared to shell resistance fighters in the heavily populated city of Benghazi, Gaddafi was ousted and killed with help from a U.S.-led bombing campaign.
Qumu's release raises serious questions about how the Bush administration—which styled itself as a bulwark against terrorists, making no apologies for its detention of suspects at Gitmo and its use of torturous interrogation techniques—picked its enemies and allies in the "war on terror," using the U.S. military machine to overthrow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein while entrusting Al Qaeda suspects to Gaddafi.
The whole Benghazi mess is "complicated," an unnamed current "senior administration official" told the Post: "We will never be able to know what motivated everyone involved in this attack."
Source http://gawker.com/ex-gitmo-detainee-released-by-bush-is-suspected-in-be-1496800780
Jan 12 14 9:40 PM
Jan 19 14 2:19 PM
Jan 21 14 11:30 AM
icepick wrote:Anybody care to read the official report of Benghazi facts in the months prior to the bombing?http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/benghazi2014/benghazi.pdf Aside from the typical sections blacked out by intel, it's all there. And it doesn't look good for Hillary;
Jan 22 14 10:02 AM
Feb 9 14 10:24 AM
Feb 9 14 4:32 PM
icepick wrote:Is it a cat? Has it come back nine times yet? Or is it simply immortal?http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/State-Benghazi-Talking-Points/2013/05/15/id/504745http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Senate-Back-to/2013/07/11/id/514480 I think he'd better get used to it and come clean if he wants any semblance of smooth sailing. If that is even possible. It's obvious to the entire nation that the president has been lying to protect something about the Benghazi attack. But it's becoming obvious that Issa knows something too, but he lacks the knockdown, in your face evidence he wants to have before calling Obama on the carpet. He's obviously not going to let go of this either, so I'm assuming there's something substantial hanging in the background here. After all, Hillary resigned in a blatant attempt to avoid testifying, and did manage to skate on part of it.
Republicans, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, have charged that “several officials — up to and including President Obama” — are complicit in a cover-up to hide the truth about last September’s terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi in which Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans perished.
Feb 9 14 4:50 PM
Feb 11 14 10:18 PM
icepick wrote:He's definitely not an angel. I really do believe he was our 9/11 mole. Either that or in bed with them. We seem to see the bit about the Russians differently. But I see nothing wrong with it either. Not only do they need the Ukraine, but those folks are better off in their orbit. Basically, they are Russians. I'm beginning to see the Russians in an ever better light too. Putin's not an angel either, but I think I would prefer him over Obama by a few light years.
Feb 11 14 10:19 PM
Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee largely exonerated the U.S. military from responsibility for failures associated with the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, instead blaming the White House and the State Department for ignoring heightened threats in the area. The committee majority’s conclusions, in a report released Tuesday, do not differ significantly from those reached by other congressional panels that have touched on the military’s role in the Benghazi incident.While the GOP lawmakers said that commanders could have pushed harder to position forces to respond to threats in North Africa in general and Libya in particular, they concluded that no U.S. military assets could have arrived in Benghazi in time to affect the outcome of the attack, according to committee staff members who briefed reporters on the report.“Armed drones and AC-130” gunships “weren’t within reasonable flying distance,” said one staffer, who like the other staff members spoke on the condition of anonymity in advance of the report’s release. Italy-based F-16 aircraft were not on alert status, and “it is not at all certain that they would have been particularly helpful in this instance.”The report is one of several released in recent months by the Republican-led House, which has continued to criticize the Obama administration for what some lawmakers have called a cover-up in the Benghazi attack, in which four Americans were killed, including J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee largely exonerated the U.S. military from responsibility for failures associated with the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, instead blaming the White House and the State Department for ignoring heightened threats in the area.
The committee majority’s conclusions, in a report released Tuesday, do not differ significantly from those reached by other congressional panels that have touched on the military’s role in the Benghazi incident.
While the GOP lawmakers said that commanders could have pushed harder to position forces to respond to threats in North Africa in general and Libya in particular, they concluded that no U.S. military assets could have arrived in Benghazi in time to affect the outcome of the attack, according to committee staff members who briefed reporters on the report.
“Armed drones and AC-130” gunships “weren’t within reasonable flying distance,” said one staffer, who like the other staff members spoke on the condition of anonymity in advance of the report’s release. Italy-based F-16 aircraft were not on alert status, and “it is not at all certain that they would have been particularly helpful in this instance.”
The report is one of several released in recent months by the Republican-led House, which has continued to criticize the Obama administration for what some lawmakers have called a cover-up in the Benghazi attack, in which four Americans were killed, including J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
Read more @ http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/republicans-investigating-benghazi-blame-white-house-state-dept-for-failures/2014/02/10/b03ebbe2-929b-11e3-b227-12a45d109e03_story.html
And what of the embassy security staff in such a worn torn place being unarmed?
Feb 12 14 1:57 PM
PeacefulSwannie wrote: At least Putin adheres to international laws, unlike Obama who thinks he is a law unto himself....
Feb 12 14 3:35 PM
icepick wrote:PeacefulSwannie wrote: At least Putin adheres to international laws, unlike Obama who thinks he is a law unto himself.... Gee! Thanks for stating the obvious Pen! Just kidding. That will be a valid point forever. Sadly. About those unarmed Marines, why were they asked to do that in such a dangerous, volatile nation? Will we ever learn the answer? I think certain factions in congress may be blocking that from the reports to protect somebody. I also doubt it will work. Their best protection is to come clean. BTW, about Putin? Don't nominate him for sainthood yet. He is an old spymaster. And he has made Obama, not to mention the entire state department, look like total idiots how many times? First time this has happened to such an extent in our history. Putin is wise enough to stick to the letter of the law, thanks to Obama giving him the chance to learn how effective the ploy is. Bummer. This had been one of our primary tricks for forever. Tim
Feb 12 14 4:54 PM
Feb 12 14 7:20 PM
icepick wrote:I know Putin is smarter than this entire administration. Once he learned that trick I referred to, he proved it by using all of our tricks against Obama, and you get the impression that Obama is none the wiser. You also get the impression that he doesn't care much for Obama. That speaks volumes. Dubya wasn't the best, but they went Skeet shooting and everything. But he looked absolutely disgusted with Obama. Yes, protecting Hillary. I'm thinking this will haunt her all the way if she runs though. If her opponents have any sense it will finish her. If you get a candidate on their back foot about something they'll be stuck answering questions all the way, and the public doesn't like to hear politicians explaining themselves. Gee, I wonder why? Tim