As we have continued to outline “The Real Libyan Story” serendipity has risen and provided affirmation for over three years’ worth of research and presentations. 

In his soon to be released book “Duty” Robert Gates specifically outlines the influence of Samantha Power in establishing U.S. policy.   A policy of complete failure which has given rise to al-Qaeda’s growth.

Perhaps against the backdrop of a USA Today article published yesterday showing the rise of al-Qaeda, the sheer weight of empherical evidence is going to overwhelm the false claims of Team Obama/Clinton.

(Washington Post)  [S]imilarly, in a battle over defense spending, “I was extremely angry with President Obama,” Gates writes. “I felt he had breached faith with me . . . on the budget numbers.” As with “don’t ask, don’t tell,” “I felt that agreements with the Obama White House were good for only as long as they were politically convenient.”

Gates acknowledges forthrightly in “Duty” that he did not reveal his dismay. “I never confronted Obama directly over what I (as well as [Hillary] Clinton, [then-CIA Director Leon] Panetta, and others) saw as the president’s determination that the White House tightly control every aspect of national security policy and even operations. His White House was by far the most centralized and controlling in national security of any I had seen since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger ruled the roost.” (more…)

Serendipity strikes again 😀 – Generally the large media conglomerates, who operate on a self identity of liberal alignment, get it wrong.   However, every once in a while they can set their ideology on a side table and construct quality information.

This is one of those rare but valuable instances.

The White House is probably definitely having fits right now, because this USA Today outline destroys the Obama administration’s false claims of “al-Qaeda being on the run“.

[…] The chaos of the Arab Spring revolutions, al-Qaeda’s shift to a more bottom-up structure and a perceived pullback of U.S. influence in the Middle East are behind the spread of America’s No. 1 enemy in the world, say several analysts who study the core group in Pakistan and affiliates who swear allegiance to it.

The latest and most stark example came this week in Iraq, where al-Qaeda militants seized control of government buildings and districts of Fallujah and Ramadi, cities that were liberated from jihadist control by American troops  during the Iraq War. (link)

Excellent interactive and informative article – CLICK HERE

The origin of the Arab Spring did not begin on December 17th, 2010 in Tunisia with the self-immolation Mohamed Bouazizi.

Bouazizi’s decision to douse himself with gasoline and light himself on fire was an outcome of an economic and social reality in Tunisia at a very specific moment in time – the origin for that event happened many years earlier in Europe.

Understanding the earlier origin helps to set the stage to understand Libya in 2011,  the rise of al-Qaeda, and Obama’s short-sighted folly leading NATO intervention.

A basic tenet of humanity is freedom, a natural yearning to be free.  To be able to move, decide, act and strive, is as natural as the flow of water through the path of least resistance.

When Europe formed a collective Union there were multiple political, social, and socio-economic factors which aligned to create an environment where the formation was constructed.

A tireless movement of Fabian Socialists with a history of long-term strategy were behind the rise of the EU as a collective union.  (more…)

Sometimes timing is just, well, serendipitous….  Back in 2011 …”Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, the chairman of the National Transitional Council and de facto president, had already declared that Libyan   laws in future would have Sharia, the Islamic code, as its “basic source”.  And so today:

TRIPOLI, LIBYA  — Minority Christians in Libya have begun the New Year with concern after parliament voted to make sharia, or Islamic law, the source of all legislation.

A special committee has begun reviewing existing laws to ensure that they comply with sharia, BosNewsLife learned Sunday, January 5.

Last month’s vote was seen by Christians as an attempt to counter criticism from “militant Islamists”, who called some of the country’s lawmakers “un-Islamic”.

Advocacy group Barnabas Fund, which supports Christians in Islamic nations, expressed concern about growing influence of Islamists.

After the ‘Arab Spring’ pro-freedom demonstrations toppled autocratic leaders across the Arab world, it “initially appeared that Islamists had not gained the upper hand in Libya as they had done in Tunisia or Egypt,” the group noted. (more…)

While assembling Part 4, to discuss the actual consequences from the short-sighted Obama/Clinton U.S. policy toward Libya in 2011, it became obvious that a key aspect is missing.   The “real” cause of the Arab Spring.

Having travelled in the area, against all prior research, and with hundreds of correspondence conversations, it just hit me like a ton of bricks that perhaps most people don’t know “why” it started.

As I began to assemble the reference points, and outline, this article appeared.    The substance contained inside that article further solidified the need to lay out the big picture before getting down into the micro-level consequences of Obama’s modern day Libyan folly.

The Westernized media version of what started the Arab Spring in Tunisia all revolve around some ubiquitous and vague talk of freedom, and a local market owner, Mohamed Bouazizi,  setting himself on fire in protest to oppressive government. (more…)

It is remarkable how laser focused people tend to be around Libya and Hillary Clinton. The focus is almost exclusively on the Benghazi attack which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
The Benghazi attack which occurred on Sept 11, 2012, was a symptom of foreign policy failure; the actual cause of the policy failure happened a full year-and-a-half earlier in February 2011.
Part 1 – The Origin of the Libyan Crisis
Part 2 – The White House Tries To Catch Up

Part 3 – R2P Gives Cover To al-Qaeda’s Rise

It is ironic to see press reports today “The U.S. government is trying to apprehend an al Qaeda terrorist wanted for his role in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack that killed four Americans”. The irony is the terrorist we now seek, Muhammad Jamal, was released from Egyptian prison specifically because of the U.S. policy outlined in PART 1.
We digress.
In Part 1 we outlined the reality of President Obama remaining detached as the Libyan crisis began. In Part 2 we outlined the mistakes that were specifically a consequence of that disengagement strategy; including the failure to vet “the rebels”.
Today we’ll review the consequences of the March, April, May, June 2011 rush to catch up.
Senior foreign policy advisor Samantha Power exerted a strong influence during the response to a Libyan uprising. She was soon joined by then Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice. Together they convinced Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to approach the Libyan rebels as “freedom fighters”.

While this was happening between the White House in D.C., and the U.N. in New York, Kaddaffi had regained his footing from an initial successful uprising and was asserting his military might toward attacking the “rebels”. He really had no fallback position once the International Criminal Court filed charges of War Crimes against him and publicly stated they fully intended to arrest him and his family.
In essence Kaddaffi had nothing to lose by fighting as no seat at a table of cease fire possibility was afforded. So Kaddaffi began to deploy his air force to attack the Benghazi rebels, as his ground troops moved in toward their positions.
If no-one intervened on behalf of the “rebels”, it was only a matter of time before Kaddaffi regained control. (more…)

It is remarkable how laser focused people tend to be around Libya and Hillary Clinton. The focus is almost exclusively on the Benghazi attack which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
The Benghazi attack which occurred on Sept 11, 2012, was a symptom of foreign policy failure; the actual cause of the policy failure happened a full year-and-a-half earlier in February 2011.
Part I Link – The Origin Of The Libyan Crisis

Part Two – An Administration Desperate To Catch Up

Against two weeks of silence in February 2011, and a fawning U.S. media beginning to doubt their own beliefs in the administration, the White House begins damage control for their earlier detachment.
When Susan Rice skipped a Feb 25, 2011 emergency weekend U.N. Security Council meeting, the Obama administration was compromised in their ability to influence any real outcome in Libya.
Without the U.S. seated at the policy table the U.N. made two strategic resolutions/decisions which were brutally short-sighted.

The first mistake was a resolution banning the sale or transfer of arms or weaponry into Libya during the civil war.   On it’s face the ban might sound like a generally good idea;  however, in reality it was exceptionally self-defeating.   After all, it banned all weapons from entering Libya, including weapons for the opposition – which most thought would be needed for the “rebels” to defend themselves.

The second mistake was criminal charges brought about by the ICC (International Criminal Court) against the Kaddaffi regime.   Nothing tells a dictator to double down on his position like telling him you as soon as this is over we will lock you and your family up for life.

Essentially those charges filed by the ICC solidified the certainty that Kaddaffi would never compromise.   He was drawn to a bold position that either he would win the civil war, or he would die trying.    Losing the war would mean death or a life in prison – one of these was now certain.   So what did Kaddaffi have to lose by fighting?

This Security Council resolution highlights the emotional short-sighted outcome of most U.N. determinations.   However, historically the U.S. has tempered logic to the 6 nation table of stupidity.   But not this time.    This time, at the specific direction of President Obama and his policy team, the U.S. did not even participate. (more…)

BENGHAZI, Libya: Two Americans were being held by the Libyan army at its headquarters in the city of Benghazi, a local security source and army sources told Reuters.
The identity of the two Americans was not immediately clear nor why they were detained.
The U.S embassy in Libya could not be reached for comment.
Last week, four American military personnel were detained by the Libyan government on Friday and held in custody for several hours before being released, U.S. officials said. (link)

It is remarkable how laser focused people tend to be around Libya and Hillary Clinton.   The focus is almost exclusively on the Benghazi attack which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
The Benghazi attack which occurred on Sept 11, 2012, was a symptom of foreign policy failure; the actual cause of the policy failure happened a full year-and-a-half earlier in February 2011.

PART ONE – The Origin Of The Libyan Crisis

President Obama lit the fuse on the Egyptian collapse, and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, when he turned his visible back on Egypt’s former President Mubarak.
With Mubarak out of the way the law banning the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood was removed.   The Brotherhood members held in Egyptian jails were freed.  This included Muhamed al-Zawahiri, the brother of al-Qaeda’s #1 man Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Initially there was great hope for a politically democratic approach toward Egypt.  However, by the time the FaceBook crowd was dispatched, CBS’s Lara Logan raped in Tahir Square and the visible rise of the hardline Islamists taking control – Egypt became a political risk of policy failure for the Obama administration.
 
Egypt and Libya share a very long and very porous border.  There is little to no actual impediment to the border itself so travelers can easily go from Western Egypt into Eastern Libya with as much ease as one travelling from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.   (more…)

One odd incident might lend a person to ignore completely.  Like a flu that results in a slip n fall, which results in a concussion, which results in a “blood clot”…. all happening just before you are scheduled to testify before a congressional committee on Benghazi that might just contain questions that would destroy your carefully controlled career.

[…]  Sources close to the congressional investigation who have been briefed on what Thompson will testify tell Fox News the veteran counterterrorism official concluded on Sept. 11 that Clinton and Kennedy tried to cut the counterterrorism bureau out of the loop as they and other Obama administration officials weighed how to respond to — and characterize — the Benghazi attacks.  (link)

Two mysterious incidents, meh, maybe a little more attention.  Like, well, a fire that breaks out above your office in the State Department, and only above YOUR office – During the Thanksgiving holiday when no-one is around.

November 2012 – ….. an unusual fire breaks out, on a long holiday weekend, in the State Department building, in Washington DC, on the Seventh Floor [Office of the Secretary of State], and Eighth Floor [State Reception and only Public Tour venue] ……  You just can’t make this stuff up.  (link)

(more…)