…. another significant percentage would love to see the Islamists jailed, like Egypt.

Tunisia fell victim to dictatorial consequences stemming from economic strain as a result of mass migration.   Like Egypt, the Tunisian Islamists (Muslim Brotherhood) promised great prosperity under Sharia.  However, unlike Egypt, the Brotherhood still holds power. 

TUNISIA – “Ben Ali, they fooled us! Come back soon!” is a slogan one could hear on Tuesday, January 7, in the streets of Tunis, Ariana, Mahdia, Sfax and other cities in Tunisia, as the country prepared to mark the three-year anniversary of the uprising that sent former dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali packing.

The protesters were in the street to voice their anger at tax hikes affecting public and agricultural transportation vehicles, but many expressed a nostalgia for the Ben Ali days that seems to be increasingly common.

In the capital, “Vive Ben Ali” can be seen scrawled on walls of buildings, and a Facebook page entitled “Forgive us, Mr. President” has been flooded with messages of affection and tribute. (more…)

Trying to square the circle and winding up deep into pretzel logic.  This follows up to our previous presentation(s). 

WASHINGTON DC – The State Department on Friday for the first time blamed specific groups and militants for the 2012 Benghazi attack, designating them as terrorists — a move that further undermines initial claims the attack was spontaneous.

The department announced that it was labeling Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi and Ansar al-Sharia in Darnah as terror organizations, in part over their role in the Benghazi attack. It applied the same label to Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia, over a separate attack on Americans in Tunis.

The State Department also labeled as terrorists Sufian bin Qumu, head of the Darnah branch and a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, and Ahmed Abu Khattalah, head of the Benghazi branch.  (more…)

We’ve come a long way from Obama’s “open hand” Cairo speech in 2009.

(CNN) – From around Aleppo in western Syria to small areas of Falluja in central Iraq, al Qaeda now controls territory that stretches more than 400 miles across the heart of the Middle East, according to English and Arab language news accounts as well as accounts on jihadist websites.

Indeed, al Qaeda appears to control more territory in the Arab world than it has done at any time in its history.

The focus of al Qaeda’s leaders has always been regime change in the Arab world in order to install Taliban-style regimes. Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri acknowledged as much in his 2001 autobiography, “Knights Under the Banner of the Prophet,” when he explained that the most important strategic goal of al Qaeda was to seize control of a state, or part of a state, somewhere in the Muslim world, explaining that, “without achieving this goal our actions will mean nothing.” (more…)

Washington Post […]  The State Department is expected to tie Qumu’s group to the Benghazi attack when it designates three branches of Ansar al-Sharia, in Darnah, Benghazi and Tunisia, as foreign terrorist organizations in the coming days.  (link)

When (Muslim-Brotherhood-Aligned) Mohammed al-Zawahiri, brother to CORE al-Qaeda Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, was released from Egyptian prison in March 2011, he began to construct a network between Egypt and Eastern-Libya radical Islamist affiliates.   Part of that structure was contact with a Libyan islamist called Abu Bin Qumu.  As a consequence CORE al-Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri sent experienced jihadists to help in Libya.

Today the U.S. State Department claims CORE al-Qaeda has no connection to the Benghazi 9/11/12 attack carried out by Ansar al-Sharia.  While simultaneously saying:

“Militiamen under the command of Abu Sufian bin Qumu, the leader of Ansar al-Sharia in the Libyan city of Darnah, participated in the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans”.(link)

Can you see the propaganda ?

(more…)

THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ARE PROPAGANDA – PERIOD

The U.S. State Department, and the water-carrying U.S. media are working diligently to separate CORE al-Qaeda from Ansar al-Sharia (al-Qaeda in Libya).

The State Department is claiming there is ABSOLUTELY no connection between CORE al-Qaeda, which operates out of Afghanistan and is headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Ansar al-Sharia (17th Feb Brigade) which operates out of Libya and is well referenced as the group which attacked the U.S. compound in Benghazi.

(left) al-Qaeda #1 Ayman al-Zawahiri – – – (right) His brother Mohammed al-Zawahiri 

However, this is a fundamental misnomer and pure obfuscation.

CORE al-Qaeda is headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri (he became #1 when Bin Laden was killed).    Ayman’s brother is Mohammed al-Zawahiri.

Ayman’s brother, Mohammed al-Zawahiri, was released from Egyptian prison during the turmoil which resulted in the legalization of The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (early March 2011). (more…)

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…)

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…)