The author of this Telegraph article erroneously calls President Obama’s Arafat speech a mistake and an untentional gaffe.    No.   This was not a mistake – the President delivered his speech exactly where he wanted to, with the exact optic he wanted to express.

(UK Telegraph)  It is simply astonishing that the leader of the free world would agree to speak against a backdrop of a murderous terrorist with American and Israeli blood on his hands. What kind of message does this send to America’s enemies when the president of the United States gives a press conference standing in front of a banner celebrating one of the most brutal terrorists in history? It projects a clear signal that Washington is weak in the face of terrorism, and it is an insult to the memory of those who died at the hands of Arafat’s terror network.

While the Obama White House prides itself on having an extremely slick campaign operation, its ineptness and insensitivity in government, not least on the world stage, can be staggering. President Obama, for example, could not even pronounce the name of Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi on his recent visit to Rangoon, referring to her several times as Aung YAN Suu Kyi. He also famously called the Falkland Islands “the Maldives”, and succeeded in offending the whole of Poland when he referred to a ”Polish death camp” in World War Two.  (more…)

File this under the “B” folder for more insufferably “Bad” ideas….

WASHINGTON DC – Senate Armed Services Committee chief Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) joined with Senate Republicans on Thursday to demand that President Obama take military action to end the Syrian civil war.

Levin and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) sent a letter to the White House urging Obama to consider “limited military options,” including airstrikes, to topple the regime of embattled Syrian president Bashar Assad. (more…)

Keep in mind the Democracy movement, the ‘opposition party’ in Egypt, refused to meet with or talk to John Kerry.   What does that tell you about this administration?  Pay no attention to the suicide vested jihadis’ behind the curtain that backdrops Kerry and Morsi’s handshake.

And to further illustrate the point – please refresh on the December 2011 visit with then Senator John Kerry, and the same newly elected Mohammed Morsi:

[…]  Morsi reportedly assured his visitors that no major changes ‎would be made to Egypt’s constitution or to current investment ‎laws.

He added that there were several principles that all ‎Egyptian political forces agreed must be enshrined in Egypt’s ‎national charter, including those concerning civil rights and ‎general freedoms. However, he stressed that the section of the ‎constitution related to presidential authorities would likely be ‎subject to amendment.‎

Morsi further assured his interlocutors that – in light of Egypt’s ‎central role in the Arab, Islamic and international arena – it would ‎respect all international treaties to which it was signatory, adding ‎that the US could play an important role in achieving political ‎stability and economic recovery for several nations of the ‎region.  (again, this was 2011)

Now To Today….

CAIRO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday rewarded Egypt for President Mohammed Morsi’s pledges of political and economic reforms by releasing $250 million in American aid to support the country’s “future as a democracy.”

Yet Kerry also served notice that the Obama administration will keep close watch on how Morsi, who came to power in June as Egypt’s first freely elected president, honors his commitment. (more…)

LONDON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tried Monday to patch back together a conference with Syrian opposition leaders that was to be the centerpiece of his debut overseas trip, urging Syrian rebel leaders not to boycott the meeting and insisting that more help is on the way in their fight against President Bashar Assad.

Kerry not only made a public plea at a joint news conference Monday with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, he also called Moaz Khatib, leader of the Syrian Opposition Council, “to encourage him to come to Rome,” a senior U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter. (more…)

Lots of folks are praising Lindsey Graham for his stance about Benghazi.   However, it is prudent to remember he has been a face of manipulated optical opposition before.  I don’t trust Graham, and this could well be just another decepticon angle to keep the patriots away from the gates as they look back yelling “we got this”.   They don’t want you, me, or anyone, looking over the wall or beyond the gate.

WASHINGTON DC – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) appeared on CBS News’ Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer on Sunday where he pledged to try to block the nominations of both Chuck Hagel and John Brennan in an effort to get more information about the 2012 attack on an American consulate in Benghazi out of President Barack Obama.

Graham told Schieffer that he thought it was unfortunate that Obama did not place a personal call to officials in the Libyan government on the evening of September 11, 2012, when an American consulate in Libya was overrun by militants. (more…)

Today, yet another embassy is attacked, this time in Turkey.   Today is also Hillary Clinton’s last offical day as U.S. Secretary of State, and this brings the number of embassy attacks to eight since she began to represent President Barack Obama’s foreign policy agenda.  

(Reuters) – A suicide bomber who attacked the U.S. Embassy in Turkey on Friday, killing himself and a security guard, was believed to have been a Turkish citizen, Interior Minister Muammer Guler told reporters.

A Reuters witness saw one wounded person being lifted into an ambulance as police cordoned off the area following the explosion, which sent smoke and debris flying into the street. (more…)

I doubt anyone could ever watch a more categorically inept nominee face questioning than former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel.    President Obama appears to have nominated Hagel for only one reason – ideological synergy:   Lead from behind, follow the principle of flawed R2P mindset, and intentionally diminish the capacity of the U.S. Military.

Clueless would be the best descriptive.

(more…)

Breaking: Senate confirms Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry as secretary of state. http://t.co/FlFT59lx

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 29, 2013

The Algerian Hostage Slaughter was a direct response to the French counter-offensive in Mali against the Islamist Jihadists.   The Islamic terrorists responsible for the Algerian attack came from, and used weapons from, Libya.  Even Hillary Clinton recently admitted as such.

Simultaneous to, and as a direct consequence of, this French/U.S. Mali escalation, all foreign nationals were recently recommended to evacuate the areas of Eastern Libya (Benghazi).

The United States is now providing military assistance, logistics, support, transport and refueling for French troops in their fight for Mali.

Turkish President Erdogan took over the primary gatekeeper spot from Mouamar Kaddafi after his death.    Going back on the timeline on U.S. Benghazi support and weapons shipments for the “Rebels”, you might remember Turkey being opposed; Not opposed because Erdogan approved of Kaddafi, quite the contrary;  Opposed because they wanted to increase the certainty of an Islamist, not moderate, victory.   This is the same reason Turkey wanted to control the recipients of “any” weapons headed to Syria.

Also, think back to September 11th 2012, and the last official diplomatic envoy who met with Ambassador Stevens before the consulate attack began, Turkish Ambassador Ali Kemal Aydin;    When the envoy was leaving, somehow they navigated the al-Qaeda roadblocks that were formed moments earlier and surrounded the neighborhood.

Now today…… (more…)

(more…)