This is the second time Carly Fiorina absolutely nailed a succinct answer to a complex foreign policy issue.  Within her response she cuts right to the heart of the problem the rest of the MSM and professional political class don’t want to admit exists.

WE NEED YOUR HELP – The mainstream media on both sides of the issue, but mostly on our side, are missing a key point when analyzing the latest release of Hillary Clinton e-mails and the topic of Libya in 2011.  We have exhaustively researched and presented a sourced and cited timeline for the Libyan folly throughout 2011 and 2012 – All covered in the Benghazi Brief.

Everyone is missing the late February 2011 Presidential Finding Memo, , signed by President Obama which authorized the covert CIA/State Department operation.

[…]  The Libyan uprising began on February 10th of 2011, and we also know that sometime around the end of February 2011 President Obama signed a presidential directive authorizing the State Dept and CIA to begin a covert operation to arm the Libyan “rebels”.

Everyone is also missing – as a result of that directive the Intelligence Gang of Eight, which included Mike Rogers, was informed of the CIA/State Dept. goal. (more…)

If you are familiar with The Benghazi Brief you’ll note what is being described in this discussion of Hillary Clinton’s 2011 arms shipments is actually, Operation Zero Footprint.

(Via The Hill) A federal judge has rejected the State Department’s proposal to not release thousands of pages of emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton until next year, instead calling for them to be released on a rolling basis.

[…]  Jeffrey Light, the lawyer for Vice News, which filed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for the emails, said the judge had given the Obama administration one week to provide a schedule for the public release of all the emails, including those pertaining to Benghazi, Reuters reported.
The State Department had proposed releasing the emails sometime before Jan. 15, 2016, in court documents filed Monday night.
Those emails, which were submitted to the State Department in paper form, will be viewable in redacted form on the department’s website, according to John F. Hackett, who handles FOIA requests for State. (more…)

If, like many of us, you are deep in the weeds in your understanding of the issues around Benghazi, the 2010 Arab Spring (Tunis, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen), or the CIA operation “Zero Footprint” in Libya and the follow-up operation in Syria, you will enjoy this interview with former Panetta/Petraeus replacement Mike Morell.
Or, if you have a cursory understanding of events, this interview might spur you toward further research.  “The Benghazi Brief” – Regardless of your current level of understanding behind events of the past 7+ years, this interview is well constructed.
Bret Baier has done his homework, and in a refreshing and surprising manner you can see how Baier is able to cut through the distracting ‘talking points’ (no pun intended), and draw out the reality of what lies behind Morell and his foundational motives.

A letter from Hillary Clinton’s legal team (embed below)to the House Committee On Benghazi.   The attorney’s agree to one appearance, but refuse a second.
Originally committee chairman, Trey Gowdy, wanted Secretary Clinton to appear first to address the email and communication issues to gain a better understanding of what documentation issues surround her tenure as Secretary of state; and a second appearance to address the structural questions about Benghazi as they relate to the issues not yet reconciled:
[scribd id=264119537 key=key-vjhTb1vfneMeKO0ARary mode=scroll]

Both President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton praised Mohammed Morsi when he was ruling Egypt as the chosen representative of The Muslim Brotherhood.   Morsi immediately disbanded the court system and instituted a Sharia compliant constitution while slaughtering hundreds of Egyptians.  Obama and Clinton praised him, the majority of Egyptian people hated him.


EGYPT – An Egyptian criminal court on Tuesday sentenced ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison on charges linked to the killing of protesters in 2012, the first verdict to be issued against the country’s first freely elected leader.
The conviction, which can be appealed, and muted Islamist reaction following it underscore the dramatic downfall of Morsi and Egypt’s once-powerful Muslim Brotherhood group. However, Morsi escaped receiving a death sentence in the case, which Islamists derided as a “farce.” (more…)

As we have outlined (with considerable criticism) over the past year, the only substantive inquiry into the Benghazi scandal will have to be held in non-public settings. When you dig into the substance, and avoid the political aspects, everything that matters regarding the Benghazi fiasco is covered under U.S. national security protections.

There is little of value available to discuss in public hearings. If you understand the Benghazi Brief you understand why.

The CIA and the State Department were conducting a joint covert operation labeled “Zero Footprint” in Libya. That operation was expanded into Syria after Panetta left the CIA. The congressional intelligence oversight known as the Gang of Eight were fully briefed.

Hence, if House Select Committee Chair Trey Gowdy wants to discuss email use, or communication methods therein, during the tenure of Clinton and Panetta, around Operation Zero Footprint, Gowdy has to make those inquiries in private.

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House select committee investigating the Benghazi attacks asked Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday to appear for a private interview about her exclusive use of a personal email account when she was secretary of state.

“The committee believes a transcribed interview would best protect Secretary Clinton’s privacy, the security of the information queried, and the public’s interest in ensuring this committee has all information needed to accomplish the task set before it,” the chairman, Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina, said in a letter sent Tuesday morning. (more…)

Hillary Clinton said the construct of her secret communication network was specifically because she only wanted to carry one device – obviously she lied right out of the gate.

The Associated Press has gained a total of FOUR emails from a FOIA request regarding correspondence between Hillary Clinton and her personal aide Huma Abedin search term “drone strikes”.

The emails show the Clinton led U.S. State Department focused an inordinate amount of time and energy discussing articles written by the media. It would appear at least a substantive portion of time in/around the State Dept was spent reviewing what reporters were writing about U.S. foreign policy outcomes.

One of the emails (Sept 18th 2011 – last in the pdf below) shows Hillary answering a question about floral arrangements amid a chain email discussing Pakistan’s efforts to battle the Taliban. Ms. Abedin responds curiously. (more…)

Al Nusra is a front for, and has openly aligned with, al-Qaeda in Syria – which is essentially ISIS.

It is not a secret that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has tried to deliver the maximum benefit to ISIS (in Northern Syria) in direct opposition to the Kurds who are trying to formulate their own independent nation of Kurdistan. Erdogan views Kurdistan as a proxy for Irans’ growing sphere of influence.

Erdogan opposes Iran for many ideological reasons, but arguably most of all because he sees Iran’s growing influence as a threat to his own political ambitions to lead a new Ottoman Empire.

In my opinion Erdogan views his envisioned construct as most possible with a constituency of: ISIS, The Muslim Brotherhood, Al Nusra (al-Qaeda) and various other segments of Sunni Islam including the Palestinian Authority, vis-à-vis Hamas. Erdogan, like Obama, has more grand aspirations than his own territory – all of his prior behavior aligns with this perspective.

So it comes as no surprise to see Turkey’s Erdogan take the opportunity provided by the distractions of both Yemen and Iraq, to act against one of Iran’s benefactors in Syria, namely Assad. (more…)