CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is feeling vindicated by the world’s alarm over Islamic extremism that is fueling wars and bloodshed across the Middle East.
The former army general has faced widespread international criticism for his ouster last year of Egypt’s first freely elected president and his ferocious crackdown on Islamists that has killed more than 1,000 and imprisoned more than 20,000. A year later, after el-Sissi’s election as president, his critics fear he is leading his country into autocracy, with pro-democracy dissenters jailed or silenced.
But in an interview with The Associated Press — his first with the foreign media since he took office in June — el-Sissi insists all his actions were to combat militancy and save the country from civil war. He said Egypt is a model for fighting terrorism and that the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria should take note.
“More than a year ago, I warned that the region was heading to great danger from extremist thought,” he said. “It didn’t receive proper attention until the events in Iraq took place and the Islamic State swept over the Iraqi-Syrian borders.” (more…)

Washington DC thinks we are stupid, they really do.  The professional political class has yet to grasp the understanding that “WWW” as a prefix in the internet stands for “World Wide Web”.   We are quite capable of connecting, collecting and digesting information directly from the heart of the issues being debated.
Despite all the DC pontifications, obfuscations, and professional talking points to the contrary, we know in Syria there are two options, support Bashir Assad or support radical Islamists, that’s it.   There is no mysterious “moderate” third option; the “rebels” are radical islamists.
President Obama and  Republican Senator John McCain are making the same argument in 2014 toward Syria they both made in 2011 toward Libya.   2014’s Secretary of State, John Kerry, is merely repeating the 2011 meme sold by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – the difference is within the audience.

In Libya 2011 there were two options, support Moamuar Kaddafi, or support radical Islamists under the nom de plume “rebels“.   The White House supported the “rebels“, Kaddafi was killed, and as a consequence right now in Libya chaos reigns as the islamists, now collected under the banner “Libyan Dawn”, are destroying the country.
(more…)

It should be remembered that John McCain hired a known paid advocate for Syria, Elizabeth O’Bagy, as part of his staff after she was fired by The Institute For The Study of War for lying about her professional credentials.   A year ago we wrote:

 … So knowing she’s a liar, knowing that she’s in bed with the “rebels”, that she put out conflicting accounts, that she whitewashed the “rebels” into a more “moderate” force, this woman is worthy, according to John McCain, of being hired to his staff.   This is so unbelievable, it makes one think that there is some greater personal underlying reason operating here….

As you review this article it’s wise to keep in mind that Elizabeth O’Bagy was the one who set up the John McCain visit to Syria.

(Via Breitbart) Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his aides swear the Syrian “rebels” he was pictured last year with weren’t ISIS members or supporters, and the mainstream media is by and large buying the 2008 GOP presidential nominee’s story.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has endured brutal criticism—media fact checkers, reporters, and political figures have shredded him—for questioning just who McCain posed with.
But a closer look at the situation tells perhaps a different story than McCain’s office or the mainstream media have pushed. (more…)

We had a strong suspicion Denis McDonough and Valerie Jarrett selected General John Allen (retired) for the ISIS campaign, because the White House knew Allen could be leveraged and easily controlled. The embarrassing files on Allen (retained for such a purpose) allow the administration to strong-arm compliance.

President Obama appears to have a singular goal in Syria, remove Bashir Assad.

Combating Sunni ISIS is not an objective President Obama, or Recep Erdogan, would EVER support or be comfortable with.

(Wall Street Journal)  The president hasn’t yet given the green light for an attack on Islamic State militants in Syria, but the U.S. military campaign against the group there is being designed to allow President Barack Obama to exert a high degree of personal control–going so far as to require that the military obtain presidential signoff for strikes.
The requirements for the strikes will be far more stringent than those targeting Islamic State in Iraq, at least at first. U.S. officials say it is an attempt to limit the threat the U.S. could be dragged more deeply into the Syrian civil war. (more…)

Just in case anyone was fuzzy on the alliances here, or the motivations of Turkey.  Qatar, under pressure from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Gulf Council to stop the terror support, exiled the first group of Muslim Brotherhood extremists.  Erdogan, Obama’s NATO BFF, lays down the red carpet welcome….

TURKEY– Turkey would welcome senior figures from Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood after they were asked to leave Qatar under pressure from other Gulf Arab states, Turkish media quoted President Tayyip Erdogan as saying late on Monday.

A senior Brotherhood official based in London said on Saturday that Qatar had asked seven senior figures from the movement to leave the country after its neighbors pressed it to stop backing the Islamists.
Senior Brotherhood figures would be welcome to come to Turkey if they wished to do so, Turkish television stations quoted Erdogan as telling reporters on his plane back from an official visit to Qatar on Monday.
Qatar and Turkey were the only regional countries to back the Brotherhood after Egypt’s army toppled Islamist President Mohammad Mursi last year following mass protests against him. (more…)

While the Obama administration fawn praise upon Qatar, quite the opposite is happening from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE who are turning up the heat on the Qatari willful blindness to extremist Islamists.
Egypt’s Fattah El-Sisi is like a wolverine on the hunt of the Muslim Brotherhood. In a surprisingly honest article from the Associated Press, they outline not only the current round of Brotherhood members leaving, but also the Al Jazeera reporters and another possible 120 extremists being expelled. In the irony of the article note the direction of flight for the extremists: Malaysia, Turkey and, wait for it, Great Britain.
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt will hunt down exiled Muslim Brotherhood leaders and seek their arrest, a top official said Sunday, after Qatar ordered them to leave its territory despite initially hosting group members following the ouster of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last year.
The tiny Gulf nation’s expulsion of the Brotherhood, branded a terrorist organization by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, signals it is moving to mend a diplomatic rift triggered by its support of the group. Analysts described the move as a political victory for Egypt’s current leadership.
Minister of Interior Mohammed Ibrahim said that Qatari authorities gave Brotherhood leaders one month to leave the country, and reporters for the Doha-based Al-Jazeera Egypt channel two months to leave. It was not immediately possible to confirm the ultimatum with Qatari officials, who rarely comment on the issue. (more…)

The hidden story behind the mid-East events continues to unfold.  As previously discussed Egypt’s Fatah El-Sisi requested the assistance of the Saudi royals, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz, and The Arab Gulf Council, in pressuring Qatar to stop their support for the Islamic Jihad and terrorists.

The UAE and Saudi’s respect the stability El-Sisi is delivering, and last week agreed to assist the stability objective.  A quiet conversation with Qatar led to the announcement that several members of Muslim Brotherhood leadership were being dispatched from the region.  Now, today…   

(Egypt Independent) Gamal Abdel Sattar, a Muslim Brotherhood preacher, said that former International Cooperation Minister Amr Derag was deported to Turkey five days ago, while Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who has the Qatari nationality, will remain in Doha.

Abdel Sattar added that there are six other Brotherhood figures leaving Doha to destinations to be determined within hours.

Another source said they would first go to Turkey and then leave, so as not to embarrass Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party before the opposition. (link)

The safe-haven in Turkey, albeit temporary, should be seen for what it is.   Further evidence of Erdogan’s support for the radical jihadist elements, aka ISIS.  There is no doubt Erdogan has an ultimate ideology in general agreement with the Islamic State.
Egypt’s El-Sisi has asked Interpol for assistance in intercepting the terrorists as they leave Qatar.  Hopefully they are: a.) willing, and, b.) successful. (more…)

The House Select Committee on Benghazi is set to hold its first public hearing this week on September 17th.

The Select Committee on #Benghazi will hold its first public hearing next week. pic.twitter.com/KwpANrqvPb

— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) September 10, 2014

However, a note of caution should be added not to expect too much “substance” as an outcome.
As most readers are now aware the Benghazi FUBAR is essentially two-thirds a result of bad policy, and one-third a result of terrible decisions as a result of that bad policy. To date nothing has surfaced to undermine the essential research we have shared within the Benghazi Brief.
Actually, to the contrary “The Brief” has withstood relentless scrutiny. Unfortunately that also means Trey Gowdy will be hard pressed to deliver sunlight to the construct because most, if not all, of the flaws are within the intelligence aspects. (more…)

We thought this was going to be the conversation between Egypt’s Fatah el-Sisi and John Kerry because our ongoing research into the backchannel sources reflected the probability.  It appears, yet again, Occam’s razor proves correct.  In the article below AhramOnline reports El-Sisi warned Kerry not to focus merely on ISIS but all terror groups need to be addressed.
Fatah El-Sisi knows President Obama’s heart is not in the mission to defeat NI-ISIS, because El-Sisi knows young Obama in his 20’s was smitten with the Romance of the Mujahedeen, and then became disillusioned when U.S. policy shifted and made them the al-Qaeda enemy they became years later.   El-Sisi has exceptionally clear eyes – he understands the sympathy President Obama carries to the Sunni tribe, NI-ISIS.
Egypt is also standing as the strongest Muslim nation in condemnation of the NI-ISIS recent beheadings’.  Additionally El-Sisi has convinced the Arab Council to quietly threaten Qatar for their insufferable support of terror networks.  This has led to six “leaders” of the Muslim Brotherhood leaving Qatar – and now El-Sisi asking Interpol to track them down. 

EGYPT – Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has stressed the importance of an international coalition to combat not only Islamic State but also all terrorist groups in the Middle East and Africa.
He made the comments during a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.
The US is taking the lead in an international coalition aimed at defeating Islamist extremists spreading across parts of Iraq and Syria. Militants from the so-called Islamic State have so far murdered thousands and declared a Muslim caliphate.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson also attended the meeting at the presidential palace in Cairo. (more…)

There’s definitely something new afoot with how the western liberal media are selling the Kerry goes to Egypt narrative.

It’s an odd dynamic to think about President Peace Prize Obama needing to put together a coalition of support for his poll tested non-war war on terror; to fight the Non-Islamic Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (NI-ISIS) terror group.
However, the bizarro world is the 2014 new normal.

We are witnessing what happens when the U.S. Sunni President, and 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, needs to put a non-combat fighting team together to give the appearance of military attacks for optical publication in globally liberal Western newspapers.
The #hashtag campaign didn’t work.
Turkey has already said they will not support fighting against NI-ISIS because, well, essentially they have been supporting NI-ISIS for the past two years with weapons, intelligence and logistical support. So why would they start attacking a group they helped create and are continuing to fund?
Following his visit to Turkey, where he must have reduced the request to: ‘just don’t go on record against us and we’ll keep up appearances for you‘, John Kerry enters Egypt.
Now, keep in mind Egypt already has it’s hands quite full.
In the Northern Egyptian peninsular Egypt’s president, Fatah el-Sisi, has been fighting ISIS (Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis) for well over a year. Unlike Obama who calls ISIS “non islamic“, el-Sisi has been willing to call Islamic Extremists, well, Islamic; and not only call them Islamic he’s been fighting them on four fronts. (more…)