No longer willing to be a codependent enabler to stupid leadership decisions espoused on my behalf, and despite the structure around the pretext that failing to support them makes me unpatriotic, I’m furious with our President on this Syrian fiasco.
This is not a zero sum game, and I do not accept the presentation as such.   I also hold a principle that history holds value.
A failure to support President Obama’s personal opinion is not equivalent to supporting Assad or Iran.   The missing context is the application of freedom principles and history.  It is not unpatriotic to support freedom – It WAS unpatriotic of President Obama to draw a “red line” in our national sand without seeking permission of forethought. (more…)

President Obama in August 2012:

….“We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus,” Obama said. “That would change my equation. . . . We’re monitoring that situation very carefully. We have put together a range of contingency plans.”  (link)

President Obama Today:
   

I think it is prudent to go back to June 2011 and remind everyone that President Obama took us to war in Libya without congress.   He even stayed in the conflict after his own Office Of Legal Counsel advised him he was violating constitutional law:

(June 2011 – New York Times)  President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.  (link)

(Via Politico)  Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said if the Assad regime in Syria “were to be foolish enough to attack yet again and to do something in the meantime,” President Barack Obama “knows he has the power” to attack unilaterally and would likely “move very, very rapidly” — but “he feels we are stronger” moving with congressional authorization. (more…)

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with President Obama, and his decision to attack Syria as punishment for chemical weapon use, it is prudent, and we are personally requesting, for all of us, regardless of disposition, to pause and pray for the safety of our nation’s soldiers who will be tasked to carry out the command.

Like many, perhaps most, I do not support the approach – Nor do I think it is in our nations best interests. However, regardless of my disposition I am certain that our military will execute their objectives with unparalleled professionalism and respect for duty.

We should not be quiet; yet we should not bitch and moan without purpose.

We should fight like hell to have OUR voices heard by our representatives; and we should demand those who we have elected to hold the Executive Branch to account…..

…. and then, in the final analysis, if our voice is overruled – regardless of our frustration or angst, we should present ourselves on bended knee and pray for those who ultimately are charged with carrying out the decisions of our national leadership.

It is from the diligence of our brave military we are able to rail, protest, and demand voice.

All About Politics – All About Optics – All The Time

Every single move our President takes is determined by political winds…..
Wow.  Just wow.   The speech by President Obama this afternoon was just staggeringly unreal.   Bizzarro World Type pretzel contortions.    The speech was short, but in a surprising twist Obama announced he will seek congressional authority on attacking Syria even though he believes he has the authority to go ahead with strike. (this really is must watch stuff – even if you find yourself challenged to stick with it through the absurd nature of what you are bearing witness to)

Following the speech Charles Krauthammer accurately captured several optical realities.
(more…)

The current, 2013, political discussion about U.S. intervention in Syria is exactly the same conversation from February 2011 about Libya.   Same argument (R2P), same players (Obama, Power, Rice, Jarrett) and same ideology – The only difference is ignoring the anticipated outcome. 

When the Freedom Green Party in Iran stood up in 2009, President Obama said he preferred to “reach out” – The Islamists killed the Freedom Criers.
In Egypt, 2010, Obama played golf, then stood behind al-Qaeda affiliate Mohammed al Zawahiri and Muslim Brotherhood Candidate Morsi – The Islamists killed the Freedom Criers.
In Libya, 2011, Obama played golf, then stood behind “the rebels” led by Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who held the place card for al-Qaeda Benghazi Division –  The Islamists drove the Freedom Criers to Tripoli and now control Eastern Libya, Benghazi, Darna et al.
In Syria, 2011, Obama played golf, then played golf, then played more golf, and then finally played even more golf.
Leading to Syria, 2013.
When Saddam Hussein’s family fled Iraq, where did they go?   Syria.   When Hussein was playing hide-and-seek with the WMD used to kill the Kurds, where did the convoys go?  Syria.
When the Afghanistan fighting season ended in 2011 where did the Ayman al Zawahiri al-Qaeda go?   Egypt and Libya.   When Benghazi started to work on overthrowing Quackdaffy, where did the “rebels” come from?   Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan.
You see, this is, essentially, a mobile al-Qaeda force compromised of hardline Salafist Islamists, who flow to where the freedom conflict lies, and when they get there they mount their efforts. (more…)

This does not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the events in Libya.  Especially those of us who were highlighting the missile issues well before the Benghazi 9/11/12 attacks.

Originally, in March of 2011, our research showed clearly – In 2007, during a little known raid against Islamist forces based in Syria, the United States became aware the origin, and home country, of many al-Qaeda operatives who ended up fighting against us in Iraq.   Captured documents were shipped to the West Point Military Academy’s Combatting Terrorism Center.
From those documents we learned: […]  The eastern Libyan city of Darnah sent more fighters to Iraq than any other single city or town, according to the West Point report. It noted that 52 militants came to Iraq from Darnah, a city of just 80,000 people (the second-largest source of fighters was Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which has a population of more than 4 million). (more…)

(Via Gateway Pundit) Gowdy told Greta the Obama Administration is hiding the survivors, dispersing them around the country, AND changing their names.

“Including changing names, creating aliases. Stop and think what things are most calculated to get at the truth? Talk to people with first-hand knowledge. What creates the appearance and perhaps the reality of a cover-up? Not letting us talk with people who have the most amount of information, dispersing them around the country and changing their names.”

The recent revelations by CNN’s Jake Tapper about the actual players from the U.S. in the annex, along with their unexpressed intents and purposes, brings a particular clarity to events.
For the sake of intellectual absorption this event outline is essentially going to be comprised of separate articles which we have compiled, along with our own research, over the past 10+ months. It begins with understanding the relationship between Turkish President Erdogan and President Obama against the Syrian uprising.
Many articles have drawn the connection between our activity in Benghazi and the potential for arms shipments to Syrian *rebels* back in 2012.  Indeed, even some Senators have called attention therein.   But the recent outline by Jack Tapper solidifies some of what was only formerly supposition.   So let’s take the new information and cast it back against the prior considerations.
Back in 2012 we highlighted the following:  […] it is important to remember how close President Obama is to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan is a severe islamist and both Obama and Erdogan are very friendly.

What Clare Lopez outlines in this 2012 report is extremely alarming to consider, given the nature of President Obama and Erdogan’s personal friendship and given the nature of Turkey’s involvement with the Syrian uprising.
(By Clare Lopez) If reporting from the Washington Times is accurate, it looks like the Turkish Consul General Ali Sait Akin was in on the plot to attack the U.S. mission in Benghazi. According to an October 27, 2012 report, Libyan witnesses from the Benghazi neighborhood where the U.S. compound was located told reporters from the Associated Press (AP) that “150 bearded gunmen, some wearing the Afghan-style tunics favored by Islamic militants began sealing off the streets” leading to the facility “around nightfall.” (more…)

Here’s the way  I personally filter the level of perceived strategic risk by the administration.  If Fran Townsend is talking about this on CNN – this is a moderate/medium risk.   However, if CNN removes Townsend and replaces with cloaked White House operative, Susan Kelly, then the risk to the White House is High/Severe.  Tune in to see which face CNN fronts.

CNN has uncovered exclusive new information about what is allegedly happening at the CIA, in the wake of the deadly Benghazi terror attack.
Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed in the assault by armed militants last September 11 in eastern Libya.
Sources now tell CNN dozens of people working for the CIA were on the ground that night, and that the agency is going to great lengths to make sure whatever it was doing, remains a secret.
CNN has learned the CIA is involved in what one source calls an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency’s Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out. (more…)