Sen. Marco Rubio Grills Would-Be CIA Director John Brennan on Benghazi
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Tag Archives: CIA
Obama Administration Decides That Your Government Should Let Congress Know When They Think It’s OK to Kill You
Just in time for John Brennan’s confirmation hearing today, the most transparent administration in history caved on letting Congress see its justification for killing an American citizen with a drone strike. From The Los Angeles Times:
President Obama, who has championed lethal drone strikes as a major part of U.S. counter-terrorism efforts, bowed to pressure Wednesday and agreed to allow the Senate and House intelligence committees to review classified legal memos used to justify a drone strike against a U.S. citizen in Yemen in 2011.
Senators had demanded for months to see the Justice Departmentopinions that provided the White House legal authority to order the targeted killing of Anwar Awlaki, a New Mexico native who became an Al Qaeda leader.
Some cynical, and probably racist, right-wing critics of the Dear Reader have noted a distinct difference in the way that Barack Obama’s enthusiastic support for the programs put in place by the Bush administration to keep America safe, programs that he vilified as a candidate, are being covered by our fearless media. Recall the sniper kill of the Somali pirates in April 2009? At the time, I asked you to consider what sort of coverage that this incident would have received had it happened during the George W. Bush administration. I wrote about that and asked you to add your ideas.
- “Anderson Cooper runs a series of special reports with Christiane Amanpour describing the desperation of the Somalian teenagers driven to lives of crime by poverty and U.S. arrogance.
- Brian Williams visits the fishing villages where the slain Somalias tried to eke out a living.
- Diane Sawyer, barely holding back tears, Interviews Widow of Victim of Bush Vigilantism on the High Seas; Six Now Fatherless Children Ask Why?
- Keith Olbermanns Special Comment: Murder: Your Answer to Everything, Mr. Bush. In the name of all that is decent, resign!!
- John Dean (of Watergate fame) writes a column for a legal blog detailing the criminal charges that could and should be brought against George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld for killing 3 innocent until proven guilty criminal suspects before they could be indicted. I’m sure you can think of a few more. Please feel free to add yours to the list.”
The response to the sniper kill by the Obama administration? The Lame Stream Media gathered up all their leftover Valentines to send them, and bombarded us with stories about our brave, brilliant young president.
The LSM gave up any pretense of journalism, at least when it comes to Barack Obama, at least ten years ago, so even though the double standard is ridiculously obvious to everyone, they don’t care. That’s why I was surprised to see the LA Times come up with this fig leaf to try to cover up their North Korea-style coverage of the Dear Reader.
The administration’s position has brought objections from some longtime critics. However, the response from Congress has been muted, reflecting the degree to which once-controversial practices in drone warfare have become mainstream after more than a decade of conflict.
Oh, that’s the reason! Everyone accepts these policies now! It’s not that they are trying to cover for Obama. It’s that because he’s doing it now after so many years, it’s all ok!
I guess it’s sort of like that Gitmo thing. I know that it seems like 100 years ago, but remember Barack Obama’s first executive orders, one of which provided to that that heinous torture pit established by Bush and Cheney within one year? I wonder if the task force on detention that he established by another executive order on the same day weighed in on the argument his administration made before a federal judge yesterday? From The Liberal Death Star:
The Obama administration on Wednesday urged a federal appeals court to overturn a sweeping ruling by a district judge that blocked the government from enforcing a statute related to the indefinite detention without trial of terrorism suspects.
Where are the LSM critics of the “fascist” George W. Bush? Bueller? Bueller?
Blabbermouth Brennan Has Some Splainin’ To Do
Barack Obama’s nomination of John Brennan has liberals reviving their wails about his complicity in the evil Bush administration’s “torture” of people like Khalid Sheik Mohammed, however, there are other, and potentially, more serious obstacles to his confirmation; specifically, the issue of Benghazi, raised in this post, where we praised Sen. Lindsay Graham for demanding answers before he agrees to allow Brennan’s confirmation to proceed. Then there’s also this issue. From Politico:
The bitter election-year battle over alleged White House leaks of national security secrets is heating up again — this time fueled by President Barack Obama’s pick for CIA director.
Obama’s nomination of counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to lead the CIA is reviving long-simmering claims that the president’s aides leaked classified information to bolster his reelection chances. …
The White House acted swiftly to counter accusations of national security leaks last spring.
McCain charged in June that the leaks came from “the highest levels of the White House” to “paint a portrait of the president of the United States as a strong leader on national security issues.”
Several Democrats, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein of California, also expressed strong concern about the disclosures, though without suggesting they were politically tinged.
“I think the White House has to understand that some of this is coming from their ranks,” Feinstein told the World Affairs Council in Washington last July.
Obama angrily denied in a news conference that his aides were leaking information. “The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive — it’s wrong,” the president said in June. He did not specifically address whether his aides could have inadvertently revealed classified information.
Do we really want to put someone in charge of the CIA who is willing to jeopardize our national security by running his mouth to Obama’s stenographer’s in the Lame Stream Media?
Remember Brennan’s news conference after the killing of bin Laden? For some reason, and I think we know what that is (it starts with a “re” and ends with an “election), he had to march up to the podium to “engage with the American people” by providing misinformation that later had to be walked back.
Shades of Susan Rice. The Obama administration has turned our country’s national security into another opportunity to play politics. There is no other explanation for Brennan’s need to blab about the bin Laden raid. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, disgusted by these leaks, had the best advice: “Shut the f up.”
Then there was this embarrassing episode, which is currently under criminal investigation. Also from Politico:
Last May, as a story was unfolding about the disruption of a Yemen-based plot to bomb an aircraft bound for the U.S., Brennan held a private teleconference with national security and terrorism commentators for the major television networks, Reuters reported. On the call, Brennan said the plot didn’t pose a direct threat because the U.S. had “inside control” of it, according to the wire service.
Within hours, ABC reported that U.S. officials “had somebody on the inside who wasn’t going to let it happen.” By the following day, press accounts said the U.S. had a mole inside Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Reuters story suggested Brennan helped set in motion news reports that caused the operation to be shut down prematurely, but the White House called that notion “ridiculous.”
When they start throwing around words like “offensive” and “ridiculous,” we know we’ve struck pay dirt.
John Brennan will probably be confirmed, but he should be required to explain why he can’t follow former Sec. Gates’ advice.
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Here’s One Place We Can Save Some Taxpayer $$
Specifically, $320 million. From The Miami-Herald:
Tunisian authorities on Tuesday released the only man held so far in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, according to the suspect’s lawyer, reaffirming fears that the Libyan-led investigation into the deaths is foundering. …
In a statement condemning the release, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said that Tunisian authorities had obstructed the investigation, preventing the FBI from questioning Harzi until last month.
“I have every reason to believe that Harzi was involved in the attack,” Wolf said. “For months following the attack, the Tunisian government blocked the FBI from interviewing Harzi. Now Harzi walks the streets of Tunisia a free man – facing no consequence for his role in the Benghazi attack.”
“Keep in mind that, since 2011, the American government has given $320 million in taxpayer dollars to the Tunisian government,” Wolf added. “I find it morally wrong to support a country that has obstructed FBI efforts to bring these terrorists to justice.”
The FBI did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Kudos to Rep. Wolf, and also to Sen. Lindsay Graham. I have disagreed with him frequently, but on this Benghazi issue he has been a bulldog on trying to get to the truth. If it weren’t for him and the letter he wrote to Tunisian charge d’affaires to the United States, threatening loss of aid, the FBI would never have been able to interview this guy. Saying that ”{t}he stonewalling on Benghazi by the Obama administration must come to an end,” he is vowing to hold up the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director if we don’t get some answers. Don’t stop trying to get to the bottom of this mess, Senator. Something stinks here, and we need to know answers to the following questions:
- Why were references to terrorism taken out of the talking points that Susan Rice recited on those infamous Sunday show appearances, which happened weeks before the presidential election?
- What did Barack Obama know and when did he know it?
- Why haven’t we heard any reports/testimony from the survivors of Benghazi?
- Who came up with that laughable and idiotic fairy tale about the murder of these 4 Americans being the result of a “spontaneous” demonstration resulting from a video that no one saw?
Perhaps Hillary Clinton will give us the answers that we’re looking for when she testifies on 1/22/13. Perhaps she can also explain why she told the father of the slain Navy SEAL that we are going to go after the evil doer who caused his son’s death by making a video that no one saw. On the other hand, I’m thinking she might say “I don’t recall.”
Why Mitt Lost, and Why He Didn’t: Today on the Teri O’Brien Show
One surefire sign that a theory is wrong is when it is embraced by not only NBC’s F. Chuck Todd and, David “Howdy Doody” Gregory, but also Matthew “Useful Idiot” Dowd, and Steve “Chris Matthews’ Bitch” Schmidt, the latter one of the architects of John McCain’s campaign. As previously noted here, if you look up “craven” and “loser,” you’ll discover an amazing exception to Merriam Webster’s usual policy, because Steve Schmidt’s picture appears next to both entries! This herd of independent thinkers are marching in Stalinist lockstep, reciting their explanation for why Romney lost, and as usual, they couldn’t be more wrong if they were getting their news from MS-NBC.
There are ten reasons that Mitt lost. I’ll share them, and get yours.
The behavior of the GOP leadership in the wake of their shellacking tells me that it’s time to backup the truck. What say you?
What are the implications of Barack Obama’s victory for issues important to conservatives, especially the Second Amendment? Now that he is re-elected, is he prepared to try to impose U.N.-sanctioned back door gun control on Americans?
The resignation of David Petraeus raises many interesting questions. Of course, like you, I’m quite sure that his sudden resignation right before Congressional hearings about the coverup of the murders of 4 Americans on September 11 in Benghazi is just a coincidence. I’m also certain it’s just another amazing coincidence that the Obama White House found out about the extramarital affair that led to Petraeus’ exit on Tuesday, Election Day, at 5 p.m. Why would anyone in the administration lie? It must be true.
Tune in today for the rest of the story.
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Politics, Pop Culture, the Hottest Issues of the Day, and Your calls. The Teri O’Brien Show, featuring America’s Original Conservative Warrior Princess, Live and in color, Sundays 4-6 pm Central time at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Teri-OBrien. Daring to Commit Common Sense, Fearlessly, and More Important, Cheerfully, in the Age of Obama.
Make My Day: Text “FAN TOBCWP” to 32665
Can’t listen live? Download it from iTunes and listen on demand.
As one listener wrote “one of the most insightful and entertaining pundits in America. Also, her voice is magical.”
Serious Ideas, Irresistible Entertainment. Warning: listeners may become hopelessly addicted.