Today, during a House Hearing, as the family members of the Benghazi victims began to speak about their concerns, the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee walked out!
After ARB testifies, only 2 @OversightDems decide to stay & hear testimony from family members on 2nd panel PHOTO: pic.twitter.com/zfOjjppU0V
— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) September 19, 2013
The following House Committee Members walked out: (more…)
UNITED NATIONS — Careful not to blame either side for a deadly chemical weapon attack, U.N. inspectors reported Monday that rockets loaded with the nerve agent sarin had been fired from an area where Syria’s military has bases, but said the evidence could have been manipulated in the rebel-controlled stricken neighborhoods.
The U.S., Britain and France jumped on evidence in the report – especially the type of rockets, the composition of the sarin agent, and trajectory of the missiles – to declare that President Bashar Assad’s government was responsible.
Russia, Syria’s closest ally, called the investigators’ findings “deeply disturbing,” but said it was too early to draw conclusions. The Syrian government’s claims that opposition forces were responsible for the attack “cannot be simply shrugged off,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin insisted. (more…)
Something really odd just came on the radar. Let me begin by saying it’s probably nothing, just a mere coincidence – but odd nonetheless.
2 years ago a local library finished upgrading to computer based reference material. As a shot in the dark I called and asked if I could buy all the reference cards, along with the wonderful little wooden 3×5 drawers they were all in. They said yes, and so I did.
I use the blank back of the alphabetized cards to jot down new reference material. Names in the news, countries, events, places, etc
As I was putting one back from research into the La Belle nightclub bombing, something struck me as oddly connected. An hour later and I find myself sitting at a desk looking at 20 to 30 reference cards that all seem to associate. Again, it’s probably nothing, but…. (more…)
Riddle Me This:
If the Syrian “Rebels” are not *TERRORISTS* then why does President Obama need to provide a Terrorist Waiver for the ‘Armed Control Export Act’ to provide them weapons?
WASHINGTON DC – President Obama waived a provision of federal law designed to prevent the supply of arms to terrorist groups to clear the way for the U.S. to provide military assistance to “vetted” opposition groups fighting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Some elements of the Syrian opposition are associated with radical Islamic terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, which was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., in 2001. Assad’s regime is backed by Iran and Hezbollah. (more…)
(UK Telegraph) Nearly half the rebel fighters in Syria are now aligned to jihadist or hardline Islamist groups according to a new analysis of factions in the country’s civil war.
Opposition forces battling Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria now number around 100,000 fighters, but after more than two years of fighting they are fragmented into as many as 1,000 bands.
The new study by IHS Jane’s, a defence consultancy, estimates there are around 10,000 jihadists – who would include foreign fighters – fighting for powerful factions linked to al-Qaeda..
Another 30,000 to 35,000 are hardline Islamists who share much of the outlook of the jihadists, but are focused purely on the Syrian war rather than a wider international struggle. (more…)
Tonight on CBS they put together a really good presentation about Syria. The construct of the broadcast was to put the Syrian issues to the viewer with three interviews.
The first interview with Bashir Assad, Syria’s President. The Second segment/interview with U.S. President Barack Obama. The last segment with recently retired CIA #2, and White House advisor, Mike Morell.
If you want a great construct, which was actually quite free of bias in presentation, I think you will enjoy it. Good, honest and factual airing of the surrounding issues. If you are not too familiar with the issues, the format will assist an understanding. If you are really familiar with the story, and up on current events – you’ll like the Morell interview.
Well done CBS.
After you watch please share your thoughts on current Syrian affairs.
From what can be gathered within a myriad of media reports is that Sec. Kerry / POTUS have agreed to leave “U.S. threat of force” out of U.N. resolution against Syria for non-compliance. Meaning if Assad does not comply with U.N. mandate to disarm himself of chemical weapons, the U.S. had conceded a strike by us will not be one of the consequences.
Instead, the “stick” per se’, to non-compliance from Syria, would be a return to the U.N. Security Council for a resolution allowing the “use of force”.
D’oh.. Russia can, by structural Security Council set-up, veto any such follow-up proposal.
[judo photo credit] (Via Politico) Journalists emerging from a closed-door briefing at the White House Friday afternoon were informed that President Barack Obama won’t insist that a U.N. resolution governing Syria’s surrender of chemical weapons include a threat of military force if President Bashar Assad doesn’t follow through. (more…)
(Via Fox News) Elizabeth O’Bagy, a pro-Syrian opposition analyst whose credibility has come under fire, might have even more explaining to do – as court documents show she once vouched for a rebel group whose website displayed extremist and anti-American images.
Among the pictures was one showing a burning U.S. Capitol.
O’Bagy was fired earlier this week by the Institute for the Study of War for allegedly lying about her academic credentials. Her writings had been used by U.S. officials to bolster their case for military action against the Assad regime.
O’Bagy discussed the rebel group in question in a June 19, 2013 signed affidavit filed in the case of American Eric Harroun, who was indicted for fighting alongside the terror group al-Nusra in Syria. (more…)
A few years ago, against the backdrop of Tunisia ablaze and a visible ember headed to Egypt, we hosted a discussion post about the Middle East.
It is one thing to understand the structural framework for the U.S. Rivkin Project, it is quite another thing to see it actually being implemented. The latter leads those who understand the globalists within the Obama administration to recognize we were about to bear witness to horror.
The formative discussion was based on the context of President Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech where he stated his policy toward Islam in general, and the Middle East in particular.
Within the Obama speech, he proclaimed the approach outlined in the Rivkin Project. He denied the cries of the Iranian Green Party movement for freedom, and he advocated or an “unclenched fist” toward Iran. The Salafists saw the opening.
Those of us who have travelled in the Middle East, and those who have followed Mid-East events, knew immediately how this “open-handed” message would be received by Islamist Ideologues who conflate Political Islam toward Muslim considerations.
Those minority ideologues are the people who would advocate for Islam and Sharia Law implementation, the politicization of Islam, upon a religious Muslim majority.
Those ideologues view moderation as weakness, and they know how to use extremist views toward the West in their favor.
Obama’s weak appearances opened the door, allowing the Islamist ideologues to express years of anger and hatred toward the Zookeepers, Mubarek, Gaddaffi et al, who held a tenuous controlling grip on their behavior and radical intent.
As we discussed the predictable unintended consequences, Zurich Mike provided the exceptional analogy of: [President Obama] Opening the ‘Big Cat’ cages within the greater Zoo that was the Middle East. A more apt and encompassing analogy has never been written.
What has followed from that early 2010 prediction to today, is bearing out right now. We are all witness to the consequences from the “unclenched fist”. First with the crushing of the Iranian Green “Student” Party; Later with the rise of the Salafist Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt; Then the manipulation of the moderate cause in Eastern Libya turning to radical al-Qaeda fighters flooding back from Iraq and Afghanistan; And now to today in Syria.
The content you are about to read is GRAPHIC in the extreme, and I caution you to consider whether or not you want to Bear Witness. But this is, in its purest form, the visible outcome from an academic leftist Western approach exhibited by President Obama, Samantha Powers, Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton.