Film "The Innocence of Muslims" Sparks Attacks on USA in Egypt and Libya

[Phil Dragoo]

Albert, your ventrilocomment prompts a vision:

"We know where the WMD are and we will find them."

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4004[/ATTACH]

[Mark Stapleton]

The US will not force freedom on anyone who doesn't seek it

But even those who don't seek it get freedom rammed up their ass, Bill.

Like those half a million Iraqis who were freed of their lives.

America enslaves. It doesn't liberate.

Mark, Bill is joking, right???

Unfortunately, I don't think so.

[Bill Kelly]

The US will not force freedom on anyone who doesn't seek it

But even those who don't seek it get freedom rammed up their ass, Bill.

Like those half a million Iraqis who were freed of their lives.

America enslaves. It doesn't liberate.

us isn't in irxq now. they cxn kill themselves xll they wxnt

[Magda Hassan]

E-Mails Offer Glimpse at What U.S. Knew in First Hours After Attack in Libya

By ERIC SCHMITT

Published: October 24, 2012

The first e-mail, sent about a half-hour after the assault began, said the State Department's regional security officer in Tripoli, Libya, had reported that the mission in Benghazi was under attack, and that "20 armed people fired shots."WASHINGTON A series of three leaked e-mails sent by State Department officials beginning shortly after the fatal attack began on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, last month including one that alerted the White House Situation Room that a militant group had claimed responsibility for it stirred new debate on Wednesday about the Obama administration's shifting positions on the cause of the attack.

An e-mail 49 minutes later said the firing at the mission "has stopped and the compound has been cleared," while a response team was trying to find people.
In the next message, 1 hour 13 minutes after the second, the embassy in Tripoli reported that a local militant group, Ansar al-Shariah, had claimed responsibility through postings on Facebook and Twitter.
In the hours after the Benghazi attack, American spy agencies intercepted electronic communications from Ansar al-Shariah fighters bragging to an operative with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Al Qaeda's North African arm. But Ansar al-Shariah has publicly denied having anything to do with the attack.
A White House spokesman, Jay Carney, with President Obama on Air Force One on Wednesday, said the e-mails, reported by Reuters, were unclassified and among "all sorts of information that was becoming available in the aftermath of the attack."
The e-mails surfaced as the Tunisian government confirmed it had arrested a Tunisian man reportedly linked to the attack, which killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on Sept. 11.
A spokesman for the Tunisian Interior Ministry, Tarrouch Khaled, told The Associated Press that the suspect, Ali Harzi, 28, was in custody in Tunis. Mr. Khaled did not provide details.
Some Republicans have criticized the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Susan E. Rice, for stating five days after the attack that it had resulted from a spontaneous mob that was angry about an anti-Islamic video, even though some intelligence reports and witness accounts indicated a terrorist attack. Ms. Rice said she had based her comments on unclassified talking points prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency.
The issue seemed to die down after Mitt Romney did not press Mr. Obama on the matter in their debate on Monday night.
On Wednesday, three Republican senators, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, criticized Mr. Obama in a letter, saying the series of e-mails "only adds to the confusion surrounding what you and your administration knew about the attacks in Benghazi, when you knew it, and why you responded to those tragic events in the ways you did."
Intelligence officials say the gap between the talking points and the contemporaneous field reports illustrates the lag between turning often contradictory and incomplete field reporting into a finished assessment.
Administration and intelligence officials made that point again on Wednesday in trying to put into context the e-mails sent by the State Department operations center to scores of officials at the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House.
"You know, posting something on Facebook is not in and of itself evidence, and I think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued some time to be," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters in Washington
.

A version of this article appeared in print on October 25, 2012, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: E-Mails Offer Glimpse at What U.S. Knew in First Hours After Attack in Libya.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/world/...share&_r=0

[Bill Kelly]

E-Mails Offer Glimpse at What U.S. Knew in First Hours After Attack in Libya

By ERIC SCHMITT

Published: October 24, 2012

The first e-mail, sent about a half-hour after the assault began, said the State Department's regional security officer in Tripoli, Libya, had reported that the mission in Benghazi was under attack, and that "20 armed people fired shots."WASHINGTON A series of three leaked e-mails sent by State Department officials beginning shortly after the fatal attack began on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, last month including one that alerted the White House Situation Room that a militant group had claimed responsibility for it stirred new debate on Wednesday about the Obama administration's shifting positions on the cause of the attack.

An e-mail 49 minutes later said the firing at the mission "has stopped and the compound has been cleared," while a response team was trying to find people.
In the next message, 1 hour 13 minutes after the second, the embassy in Tripoli reported that a local militant group, Ansar al-Shariah, had claimed responsibility through postings on Facebook and Twitter.
In the hours after the Benghazi attack, American spy agencies intercepted electronic communications from Ansar al-Shariah fighters bragging to an operative with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Al Qaeda's North African arm. But Ansar al-Shariah has publicly denied having anything to do with the attack.
A White House spokesman, Jay Carney, with President Obama on Air Force One on Wednesday, said the e-mails, reported by Reuters, were unclassified and among "all sorts of information that was becoming available in the aftermath of the attack."
The e-mails surfaced as the Tunisian government confirmed it had arrested a Tunisian man reportedly linked to the attack, which killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on Sept. 11.
A spokesman for the Tunisian Interior Ministry, Tarrouch Khaled, told The Associated Press that the suspect, Ali Harzi, 28, was in custody in Tunis. Mr. Khaled did not provide details.
Some Republicans have criticized the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Susan E. Rice, for stating five days after the attack that it had resulted from a spontaneous mob that was angry about an anti-Islamic video, even though some intelligence reports and witness accounts indicated a terrorist attack. Ms. Rice said she had based her comments on unclassified talking points prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency.
The issue seemed to die down after Mitt Romney did not press Mr. Obama on the matter in their debate on Monday night.
On Wednesday, three Republican senators, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, criticized Mr. Obama in a letter, saying the series of e-mails "only adds to the confusion surrounding what you and your administration knew about the attacks in Benghazi, when you knew it, and why you responded to those tragic events in the ways you did."
Intelligence officials say the gap between the talking points and the contemporaneous field reports illustrates the lag between turning often contradictory and incomplete field reporting into a finished assessment.
Administration and intelligence officials made that point again on Wednesday in trying to put into context the e-mails sent by the State Department operations center to scores of officials at the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House.
"You know, posting something on Facebook is not in and of itself evidence, and I think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued some time to be," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters in Washington
.
A version of this article appeared in print on October 25, 2012, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: E-Mails Offer Glimpse at What U.S. Knew in First Hours After Attack in Libya.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/world/...share&_r=0

[URL="http://weaselzippers.us/2012/10/20/report-u-s-had-predator-drone-over-benghazi-as-attack-happened-they-stood-and-they-watched-and-our-people-died/"]
Report: U.S. Had Predator Drone Over Benghazi As Attack Happened, "They StoodAnd They Watched And Our People Died"…[/URL]
http://weaselzippers.us/2012/10/20/repor...ople-died/

The closer we get to the election, the harderRepublicans in Congress are pushing for answers to a big question: What reallyhappened in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya last month thatkilled the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans?

Some lawmakers are asking why U.S.military help from outside Libyadidn't arrive as terrorists battered more than 30 Americans over the course ofmore than seven hours. The assault was launched by an armed mob of dozens thattorched buildings and used rocket propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47 rifles.

CBS News has been told that, hours after the attack began,an unmanned Predator drone was sent over the U.S.mission in Benghazi, and that thedrone and other reconnaissance aircraft apparently observed the final hours ofthe protracted battle.

The State Department, White House and Pentagon declined tosay what military options were available. A White House official told CBS Newsthat, at the start of the attack, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempseyand Defense Secretary Leon Panetta "looked at available options, and the oneswe exercised had our military forces arrive in less than 24 hours, well aheadof timelines laid out in established policies."

Retired CIA officer GaryBerntsen believes help could have come much sooner. He commanded CIAcounter-terrorism missions targeting Osama bin Laden and led the team thatresponded after bombings of the U.S. Embassy in East Africa.

"You find a way to make this happen," Berntsen says. "Thereisn't a plan for every single engagement. Sometimes you have to be able to makeadjustments. They made zero adjustments in this. They stood and they watchedand our people died."

The Pentagon says it did move a team of special operatorsfrom central Europe to the large Naval Air Station in Sigonella, Italy, but gave no otherdetails. Sigonella is just an hour's flight from Libya.Other nearby bases include Aviano and Souda Bay. Military sources tell CBS Newsthat resources at the three bases include fighter jets and Specter AC-130gunships, which the sources say can be extremely effective in flying in andbuzzing a crowd to disperse it.


The latest rumor making the rounds is that Barack Obamareplaced General Carter Ham at AFRICOM after the general made a move to helpthe US securityofficials at the Benghazi consulateand annex. Ham was replaced by Gen. David Rodriquez on October 18.

TigerDroppings reported:
The information I heard today was that General [Carter]Ham as head of Africom received the same e-mails the White House receivedrequesting help/support as the attack was taking place. General Hamimmediately had a rapid response unit ready and communicated to the Pentagonthat he had a unit ready.

General Ham then received the order to stand down. Hisresponse was to screw it, he was going to help anyhow. Within 30 secondsto a minute after making the move to respond, his second in command apprehendedGeneral Ham and told him that he was now relieved of his command.

The story continues that now General Rodiguez would takeGeneral Ham's place as the head of Africom.

Sure enough Obama nominated Gen. David Rodriguez to replaceGen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. Africa Command.

TheStars and Stripes reported:

President Barack Obama will nominate Army Gen. DavidRodriguez to succeed Gen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. AfricaCommand and Marine Lt. Gen. John Paxton to succeed Gen. Joseph Dunford asassistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Defense Secretary Leon Panettaannounced Thursday.

Both appointments must be confirmed by the Senate.

Rodriguez is the commander of U.S. Army Forces Command andhas served in a "variety of key leadership roles on the battlefield," Panettasaid.

He's "a proven leader" who oversaw coalition and Afghanforces during the surge in Afghanistan,and "was the key architect of the successful campaign plan that we are nowimplementing," Panetta said.

In announcing Ham's successor, Panetta also praised the workHam has done with Africa Command.

"Gen. Ham has really brought AFRICOM into a very pivotalrole in that challenging region," Panetta said. "I and the nation are deeplygrateful for his outstanding service."

Hat Tip Tom

More…
The Obama Administration also relieved the admiral in command of an aircraftcarrier strike group in the Middle East, Rear Adm.Charles M. Gaouette. It is highly unusual for the Navy to replace a carrierstrike group commander during its deployment.

TheStars and Stripes reported:
The Navy said Saturday it is replacing the admiral incommand of an aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East,pending the outcome of an internal investigation into undisclosed allegationsof inappropriate judgment.

Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette is being sent back to the USSJohn C. Stennis' home port at Bremerton, Wash.,in what the Navy called a temporary reassignment. The Navy said he is notformally relieved of his command of the Stennis strike group but will bereplaced by Rear Adm. Troy M. Shoemaker, who will assume command until theinvestigation is completed.

It is highly unusual for the Navy to replace a carrierstrike group commander during its deployment.

Ace of Spades saysthe move to replace Rear Adm. Charles Baouette is likely not related to Benghazi.