Tag Archives: al-Qaeda

Nothing to See Here, Move Along. Middle Eastern Fast & Furious?

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Rebels captured a military air base in northern Syria on Tuesday, their second major strategic victory in as many days, activists said.The assault on the Jarrah airfield in Aleppo province comes a day after opposition fighters seized the nation’s largest dam, an iconic industrial symbol of the four-decade rule of President Bashar Assad‘s family.

See that flag? That’s the al Qaeda flag.

The airfield, which is located near the Furat dam captured on Monday, housed fighter jets that have been carrying out airstrikes on rebel held-areas around the country.

A video posted online by activists showed several military aircraft at Jarrah, some of them parked on the tarmac while another is in a hanger with boxes of ammunition piled up against a wall nearby.

“These warplanes are now in the hands of Ahrar al-Sham Islamic movement,” one rebel says in the video, referring to a specific rebel unit.

Are all these guys Islamic extremists?

Rebels led by the al-Qaida-linked militant group Jabhat al-Nusra captured the Furat dam on Monday, taking control over water and electricity supplies for both government-held areas and large swaths of land the opposition has captured over the past 22 months of fighting.

Somebody needs to explain why we are supporting these guys while downsizing our own military.

Turkey, formerly an ally of Damascus, has backed the opposition in the uprising against Assad’s rule that erupted in March 2011 and has claimed more than 60,000 lives according to the United Nations.

Makes you kind of wonder who supplied arms to these guys.

The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.

No evidence has emerged linking the weapons provided by the Qataris during the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to the attack that killed four Americans at the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in September.

But in the months before, the Obama administration clearly was worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan militants, concerns that have not previously been reported. The weapons and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi government.

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American officials say that the United Arab Emirates first approached the Obama administration during the early months of the Libyan uprising, asking for permission to ship American-built weapons that the United States had supplied for the emirates’ use. The administration rejected that request, but instead urged the emirates to ship weapons to Libya that could not be traced to the United States.

“The U.A.E. was asking for clearance to send U.S. weapons,” said one former official. “We told them it’s O.K. to ship other weapons.”

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The case of Marc Turi, the American arms merchant who had sought to provide weapons to Libya, demonstrates other challenges the United States faced in dealing with Libya. A dealer who lives in both Arizona and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Turi sells small arms to buyers in the Middle East and Africa, relying primarily on suppliers of Russian-designed weapons in Eastern Europe.

In March 2011, just as the Libyan civil war was intensifying, Mr. Turi realized that Libya could be a lucrative new market, and applied to the State Department for a license to provide weapons to the rebels there, according to e-mails and other documents he has provided. (American citizens are required to obtain United States approval for any international arms sales.)

He also e-mailed with J. Christopher Stevens, then the special representative to the Libyan rebel alliance. The diplomat said he would “share” Mr. Turi’s proposal with colleagues in Washington, according to e-mails provided by Mr. Turi. Mr. Stevens, who became the United States ambassador to Libya, was one of the four Americans killed in the Benghazi attack on Sept. 11.

Mr. Turi’s application for a license was rejected in late March 2011. Undeterred, he applied again, this time stating only that he planned to ship arms worth more than $200 million to Qatar. In May 2011, his application was approved. Mr. Turi, in an interview, said that his intent was to get weapons to Qatar and that what “the U.S. government and Qatar allowed from there was between them.”

Two months later, though, his home near Phoenix was raided by agents from the Department of Homeland Security. Administration officials say he remains under investigation in connection with his arms dealings. The Justice Department would not comment.

Mr. Turi said he believed that United States officials had shut down his proposed arms pipeline because he was getting in the way of the Obama administration’s dealings with Qatar. The Qataris, he complained, imposed no controls on who got the weapons. “They just handed them out like candy,” he said.

This is just like Fast and Furious, only different.

John Brennan was in charge of this operation and has been implicated in the running of guns to the Syrian rebels- who just happen to fly the al queda flag.

Ain’t that special?

Silent America and its President

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I’m not one that can stomach much more of this speechifying, but remember this?

Al Qaeda is on the run… right, right, right…

(0:23)

During the third and final presidential debate, which focused on foreign policy, Romney slipped in an aside about Mali that attracted some derision on Twitter at the time, but now looks wise in retrospect.

With the Arab Spring, came a great deal of hope that there would be a change towards more moderation, and opportunity for greater participation on the part of women in public life, and in economic life in the Middle East. But instead, we’ve seen in nation after nation, a number of disturbing events. Of course we see in Syria, 30,000 civilians having been killed by the military there. We see in — in Libya, an attack apparently by, I think we know now, by terrorists of some kind against — against our people there, four people dead.

Our hearts and — and minds go out to them. Mali has been taken over, the northern part of Mali by Al Qaeda type individuals.

Mitt Romney knew about the danger in Mali by the third debate. Obama must have as well. After the debacle in Libya, one would think the Commanders in Extremis Force would have moved closer to Northern Mali. There was even enough time to deploy one of the 14 carrier battle groups.

Instead, this White House has chosen to lead from behind the French, for Goodness sake. All we get is silence. Silence on Benghazi, silence on Mali, silence on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

It’s almost like we lost The War on Terror and nobody told us. I can’t think of a thing the enemy would have demanded upon our surrender that we haven’t already given them. And now we have a president that refuses to protect Americans. It’s unprecedented.

I am reminded of Bill Whittle’s speech some time ago:

That is what a president would sound like.

TOTUS is so busy bashing the NRA- there is no time to discuss protection of Americans.

They’ll just Boogey to from Baghdad

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Syrian fighter checks treasure map

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Recall this:

 

National-security adviser Sandy Berger suggested that the U.S. send just one U-2 flight, but the report says Clarke worried that even then, Pakistan’s intelligence service would warn bin Laden that the U.S. was preparing for a bombing campaign. “Armed with that knowledge, old wily Usama will likely boogie to Baghdad,” Clarke wrote in a February 11, 1999 e-mail to Berger. The report says that another National Security Council staffer also warned that “Saddam Hussein wanted bin Laden in Baghdad.”

That e-mail was at the center of the casus belli for Iraq- or more accurately, deflated the opposition to the war.

Now we have an amendment to the Executive Order designating  al Qa’ida in Iraq a terrorist organization.

The Department of State has amended the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 designations of al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI) to include the following new aliases: al-Nusrah Front, Jabhat al-Nusrah, Jabhet al-Nusra, The Victory Front, and Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant. The Department of State previously designated AQI as an FTO under the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under E.O. 13224 on October 15, 2004.

AQI emir Abu Du’a is in control of both AQI and al-Nusrah. Abu Du’a was designated by the State Department under E.O. 13224 on October 3, 2011, and by the United Nations under UN Security Council Resolution 1267 on October 5, 2011. Abu Du’a also issues strategic guidance to al-Nusrah’s emir, Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani, and tasked him to begin operations in Syria.

What we have here is the State Department saying al Qa’ida is operating in Syria, like that is a big surprise. But then they go on to say:

…all responsible Syrians should speak out against al-Qa’ida and other extremist elements. By opting for the use of force against its own people, the Asad regime has created the circumstances that attract the violent extremists of al Qa’ida, who seek to exploit civil strife for their own purposes. The sooner the political transition to a post-Asad Syria begins, the better it will be for the Syrian people and the region.

When President Bush denied al Qu’ida their base in Afghanistan he was vilified for creating a climate in Iraq that would attract terrorists. President Obama, on the other hand, is giving aid to the opposition in Syria known to contain al Qa’ida- they’ve boogeyed from Baghdad via Libya and Egypt:

The United States takes this action in the context of our overall support for the Syrian people. We have provided approximately $50 million in non-lethal assistance to the unarmed civilian opposition and nearly $200 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by the violence in Syria.

 

Mr. Obama knows there are terrorists in the opposition but he gave them $250 million. How well did that work out in Egypt and Libya?

 

It doesn’t really matter to this administration because Asad is like Bush, only different.

Carney Decries GOP “Obsession” with Four Dead Americans; Susan Rice Still Lying

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As nearly everyone with a pulse now knows, on September 16, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice infamously appeared on five Sunday morning news shows to present a false and deceptive narrative to the American public. Her ostensible purpose was to explain the murder of four Americans in Libya on the eleventh anniversary of the original 9/11 attacks. We know that she told us that these deaths were the result of “spontaneous” demonstration, caused by a “reprehensible” (Hillary Clinton’s word) “offensive” YouTube video. Give Ms. Rice credit. She was able to recite this risible story with a straight face. As of today, she’s still lying. After meeting with the three Republican senators who, unlike Barack Obama, don’t consider the murder of 4 Americans “a bump in the road,” and want to get to the bottom of what happened, she issued a statement describing the meeting, which included the following statement:

“We stressed that neither I nor anyone else in the Administration intended to mislead the American people at any stage in this process.”

Please stop insulting our intelligence, Ambassador Rice. This story is not believable, and it’s outrageous that after these four brave Americans were killed, you, at a minimum, enabled the Obama Administration’s deception and continue to try to deceive us with ridiculous lies. The reason that you went before the cameras to read grossly inaccurate talking points is contained in one statement that you made on “Meet the Press;” specifically, “ We have decimated al Qaeda.” The truth about Benghazi renders that statement a pathetic, and tragic, joke, and you know it. Have you no decency, Madam? Of course, that is a rhetorical question. Like the jug-eared leftist jackass she so willingly serves, Susan Rice doesn’t give a rat’s rear end about those murdered Americans. They are collateral damage, “a bump in the road,” and those of us who know that we have a moral obligation to seek justice for them, have what Obama’s mouthpiece Jay Carney calls “an obsession,” Damn right, Skippy. Any time four American are murdered by head chopping Islamic maniacs, we are going to be obsessed with finding out what happened, and also with making certain that those who sacrificed them on the altar of political expediency are called out for the contemptible lying vermin that they are.

Let me repeat: this is no time for another affirmative action appointee.

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Biden Continues Obama Regime’s Disinformation Campaign about Benghazi

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As noted in this post, last night during the Vice Presidential debate, Joe Biden employed the standard liberal playbook; that is, mocking laughter, feigned outrage and flat out lying. He blatantly continued the month long disinformation campaign about the murder of four Americans in Libya by contradicting the testimony of Former Department of State Libyan Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom who testified before a House committee about the administration either ignoring or denying requests for increased security.

The media is giving good ole’ Joe credit for a “gaffe free” performance. I suppose that they are using Michael Kinsley’s definition of the word “gaffe.” Or perhaps they, being leftists themselves, are perfectly comfortable with barefaced lies in the service of the Cause, even if it involves dead Americans.

Paul Ryan did well overall, but he missed a huge opportunity to call out this blatant lie. Fortunately, this debate isn’t the end of that issue despite Joe Biden’s ridiculous assertion that the subject is closed somehow by Paul Ryan’s budget proposal. Mitt Romney must hold the Administration’s feet to the fire on this disgraceful episode.

Remember the incessant wailing about Dick Cheney, Condi Rice and George W. Bush, and their alleged “lies” about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction? The “best intel we had at the time” answer didn’t make a dent in that, despite the fact that (a )it was true and (b) the subject was a secretive enemy of America. In this case, we are getting this “best intel answer” about something over which the One and his administration had complete control.

This isn’t the end, Joe. It’s just the beginning.

Barack’s Mission Accomplished Speech

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During yesterday’s “mission accomplished” speech, LIVE from KABUL!, the One, clearly a cross between Gen. George Patton, Winston Churchill and Jack Bauer, spoke to voters, and said the following:

“Our goal is not to build a country in America’s image or to eradicate every vestige of the Taliban,” he said. “These objectives would require many more years, many more dollars and many more American lives. Our goal is to destroy al-Qaeda, and we are on a path to do exactly that.”

 

Great goal, Barack, except is destroying al-Qaeda enough to keep us safe? Probably not. From the Washington Times, “No Safety in a Weaker al-Qaeda:”

U.S. intelligence officials who recently briefed reporters on al Qaedasaid bin Laden’s death removed the terrorist group’s most effective and inspirational leader and hobbled its capacity for staging a complicated assault. But they said the threat from al Qaeda affiliates has increased.

“The organization that brought us 9/11 is essentially gone,” a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said on the condition of anonymity, but “it’s really too soon to declare victory.”

Affiliates such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda inIraq, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabab inSomalia carry out the bulk of attacks, said Robert T. Cardillo, deputy director of national intelligence.

 

So the only thing missing was the “Mission Accomplished” banner, something I have yet to hear our Lame Stream Media friends mention. Also left out of the slobbering coverage of this obviously politically motivated road show, any mention of Pakistan. Has anyone even asked them for an explanation about how it was they were able to miss seeing Osama bin Laden right under their noses? Or doesn’t that matter now that it’s an election year?