Cidersomerset
23rd April 2014, 11:51
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Benghazi attack could have been prevented if US hadn't 'switched sides in the War on
Terror' and allowed $500 MILLION of weapons to reach al-Qaeda militants, reveals
damning reportCitizens Committee on Benghazi claims the US government allowed
arms to flow to al-Qaeda-linked militants who opposed Muammar Gaddafi
Their rise to power, the group says, led to the Benghazi attack in 2012.The group claims
the strongman Gaddafi offered to abdicate his presidency, but the US refused to broker
his peaceful exit.The commission, part of the center-right Accuracy In Media group,
concluded that the Benghazi attack was a failed kidnapping plot
US Ambassador Chris Stevens was to be captured and traded for 'blind sheikh' Omar
Abdel-Rahman, who hatched the 1993 WTC bombing plot
By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor
Published: 21:09, 22 April 2014 | Updated: 23:29, 22 April 2014
The Citizens Commission on Benghazi, a self-selected group of former top military
officers, CIA insiders and think-tankers, declared Tuesday in Washington that a seven-
month review of the deadly 2012 terrorist attack has determined that it could have
been prevented – if the U.S. hadn't been helping to arm al-Qaeda militias throughout
Libya a year earlier.
'The United States switched sides in the war on terror with what we did in Libya,
knowingly facilitating the provision of weapons to known al-Qaeda militias and figures,'
Clare Lopez, a member of the commission and a former CIA officer, told MailOnline.
She blamed the Obama administration for failing to stop half of a $1 billion United Arab
Emirates arms shipment from reaching al-Qaeda-linked militants.
'Remember, these weapons that came into Benghazi were permitted to enter by our
armed forces who were blockading the approaches from air and sea,' Lopez
claimed. 'They were permitted to come in. ... [They] knew these weapons were coming
in, and that was allowed..
'The intelligence community was part of that, the Department of State was part of that,
and certainly that means that the top leadership of the United States, our national
security leadership, and potentially Congress – if they were briefed on this – also knew
about this.'
The weapons were intended for Gaddafi but allowed by the U.S. to flow to his Islamist
opposition.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D4500E400000578-425_634x419.jpg
The Citizens Committee on Benghazi released its interim findings on April 22, 2014
in Washington. Pictured are (L-R) Clare Lopez, Admiral (Ret.) Chuck Kubic, Admiral (Ret.)
James 'Ace' Lyons, former CIA officer Wayne Simmons and civil rights attorney John Clarke
On September 11, 2012 armed terror-linked militias attacked U.S. diplomatic
outposts in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans and driving the United States
out of that part of the country
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D4511C000000578-131_634x419.jpg
'The White House and senior Congressional members,' the group wrote in an interim
report released Tuesday, 'deliberately and knowingly pursued a policy that provided
material support to terrorist organizations in order to topple a ruler [Muammar Gaddafi]
who had been working closely with the West actively to suppress al-Qaeda.'
'Some look at it as treason,' said Wayne Simmons, a former CIA officer who participated
in the commission's research.Retired Rear Admiral Chuck Kubic, another commission
member, told reporters Tuesday that those weapons are now 'all in Syria.'
'Gaddafi wasn't a good guy, but he was being marginalized,' Kubic recalled. 'Gaddafi
actually offered to abdicate' shortly after the beginning of a 2011 rebellion.
'But the U.S. ignored his calls for a truce,' the commission wrote, ultimately backing the
horse that would later help kill a U.S. ambassador.Kubic said that the effort at truce
talks fell apart when the White House declined to let the Pentagon pursue it seriously.
'We had a leader who had won the Nobel Peace Prize,' Kubic said, 'but who was
unwilling to give peace a chance for 72 hours.'
In March 2011, Kubic said, U.S. Army Africa Commander General Carter told NBC News
that the U.S. military was not actively targeting Muammar Gaddafi. That, Kubic
revealed, was a signal to the Libyan dictator that there was a chance for a deal.
Gaddafi responded by 'verifiably ... pull[ing] his forces back from key rebel-held cities
such as Benghazi and Misrata.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D4511C800000578-835_634x444.jpg
Christopher Stevens served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from June 2012 to
September 11, 2012 when he was killed in the attack
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D2DD85600000578-573_634x442.jpg
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
in January 23 that it mattered little why the Benghazi diplomatic compound was
attacked: 'What difference, at this point, does it make?'
Gaddafi wanted only two conditions to step down: permission to keeo fighting al-Qaeda
in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the lifting of sactions against him, his family, and
those loyal to him.
The Obama administration's unwillingness to help broker a peaceful exit for the Libyan
strongman, 'led to extensive loss of life (including four Americans)' when al-Qaeda-
linked militants attacked U.S. diplomatic facilities in the city of Benghazi,' the
commission told reporters.The White House and the National Security Staff did not
immediately respond to questions about the group's findings.
'We don't claim to have all the answers here,' said Roger Aronoff, whose center-right
group Accuracy in Media sponsored the group and its work.
'We hope you will, please, pursue this,' he told reporters. 'Check it out. Challenge us.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D44FFF400000578-733_306x423.jpg
Retired Admiral Chuck Kubic said the White House refused to let the Pentagon pursue a
peaceful exit for Muammar Gaddafi: 'We had a leader who had won the Nobel Peace
Prize, but who was unwilling to give peace a chance for 72 hours'
The commission and AIM filed 85 document requests under the Freedom Of Information
Act, hitting the Department of Defense, State Department, Federal Bureau of
Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency with demand after demand.But most of its
information has come from insiders with deep knowledge of the flow of weapons in
Libya and elsewhere in the African Maghreb.Admiral James 'Ace' Lyons told the group
that he believes the raid on the Benghazi compound was intended as a kidnapping
exercise, aimed at snatching U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and demanding a prisoner
swap for the 'blind sheikh' Omar Abdel-Rahman.
Abdel-Rahman is serving a life sentence in federal prison for planning the 1993 bombing
of the World Trade Center garage in New York City. He also masterminded a plan, later
foiled, to blow up the United Nations, both the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the George
Washington Bridge and a federal building where the FBI had a base of operations.
A senior FBI source, Lyons said Tuesday, 'told me that was the plan.'
The attack, history shows, grew in intensity and resulted in the deaths of Stevens and
three other U.S. personnel.Lyons also said U.S. claims that it lacked the resources to
mount a counterattack in time to save lives is false.
'I'm going to tell you that's not true,' he said. 'We had a 130-man unit of forces at Sigonella [AFB in Italy]. They were ready to go.'
'The flight time from Sigonella to Benghazi is roughly an hour.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D45118C00000578-886_634x470.jpg
Killed: An image captured by a cellular phone camera shows the arrest of strongman
Muammar Gaddafi in Sirte, Libya on October 20, 2011
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D44FFE000000578-574_634x450.jpg
Former CIA officer Clare Lopez accused the U.S. government of allowing arms to flow to
al-Qaeda militants who opposed Gaddafi in 2011, 'switching sides in the war on terror'
Some of the group's claims strain credibility, including the assertion that the Obama
administration's early effort to blame the Benghazi attack on a protest against a crude
anti-Muslim YouTube video 'appears to have been well-coordinated with U.S.Muslim
Brotherhood organizations as well as Islamic state members of the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC).'
Those groups, the commission noted, 'all joined in condemnation of the video, and,
even more troubling, issued calls for restrictions on Americans’ free speech rights.'
But Simmons, the former CIA officer, criticized the Obama administration on the familiar
refrain of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exclaiming in a Senate hearing that it
mattered little why the Benghazi facilities were struck.
'They believed they were going to be saved, that they were going to be rescued, but
they weren't,' Simmons said of the four Americans who died.
'I know who made the decision, in my heart of hearts, to leave our war fighters there
and be blown up. And then to have one of the most powerful politicians in our country
sit there and say, "What difference does it make?" – should be an alarm bell for all
Americans.
'It haunts me,' Simmons said. 'I play that line over, and over, and over, and over in my mind.'
The group has called for a Select Congressional Committee to investigate the Benghazi
episode. A total of 189 House members have signed on to a bill that would create the
committee, which would be bipartisan and have sweeping powers to subpoena the
executive branch.House Speaker John Boehner, Lopez said Tuesday, 'he blocked it. One
has to wonder if he and Congress have had some sort of briefing on what happened.'
Kubic insisted that Congress is unable to break logjams in the Obama administration
and find out what happened in the days leading up to and following the Benghazi attack
without a new committee.
'If they don't have strong subpoena power, if they don't have the ability to do long-term
cross examination, it won't work,' he said.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2610598/Group-US-switched-sides-War-Terror-facilitating-500-MILLION-weapons-deliveries-Libyan-al-Qaeda-militias-leading-Benghazi-attack.html#ixzz2zhtFXUwd
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A bit of pot calling kettle black, but interesting comments.
Donald Rumsfeld - On Benghazi Coverup By Obama Administration. Today Show Interview
cbcEMKuTicM
Published on 29 Mar 2014
Donald Rumsfeld - On Benghazi Coverup By Obama Administration. Today Show
Interview Benghazigate is bigger than Watergate! The media is AWOL, the Democratic
Party is stonewalling until after the election, and the American people want to know.
Benghazi attack could have been prevented if US hadn't 'switched sides in the War on
Terror' and allowed $500 MILLION of weapons to reach al-Qaeda militants, reveals
damning reportCitizens Committee on Benghazi claims the US government allowed
arms to flow to al-Qaeda-linked militants who opposed Muammar Gaddafi
Their rise to power, the group says, led to the Benghazi attack in 2012.The group claims
the strongman Gaddafi offered to abdicate his presidency, but the US refused to broker
his peaceful exit.The commission, part of the center-right Accuracy In Media group,
concluded that the Benghazi attack was a failed kidnapping plot
US Ambassador Chris Stevens was to be captured and traded for 'blind sheikh' Omar
Abdel-Rahman, who hatched the 1993 WTC bombing plot
By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor
Published: 21:09, 22 April 2014 | Updated: 23:29, 22 April 2014
The Citizens Commission on Benghazi, a self-selected group of former top military
officers, CIA insiders and think-tankers, declared Tuesday in Washington that a seven-
month review of the deadly 2012 terrorist attack has determined that it could have
been prevented – if the U.S. hadn't been helping to arm al-Qaeda militias throughout
Libya a year earlier.
'The United States switched sides in the war on terror with what we did in Libya,
knowingly facilitating the provision of weapons to known al-Qaeda militias and figures,'
Clare Lopez, a member of the commission and a former CIA officer, told MailOnline.
She blamed the Obama administration for failing to stop half of a $1 billion United Arab
Emirates arms shipment from reaching al-Qaeda-linked militants.
'Remember, these weapons that came into Benghazi were permitted to enter by our
armed forces who were blockading the approaches from air and sea,' Lopez
claimed. 'They were permitted to come in. ... [They] knew these weapons were coming
in, and that was allowed..
'The intelligence community was part of that, the Department of State was part of that,
and certainly that means that the top leadership of the United States, our national
security leadership, and potentially Congress – if they were briefed on this – also knew
about this.'
The weapons were intended for Gaddafi but allowed by the U.S. to flow to his Islamist
opposition.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D4500E400000578-425_634x419.jpg
The Citizens Committee on Benghazi released its interim findings on April 22, 2014
in Washington. Pictured are (L-R) Clare Lopez, Admiral (Ret.) Chuck Kubic, Admiral (Ret.)
James 'Ace' Lyons, former CIA officer Wayne Simmons and civil rights attorney John Clarke
On September 11, 2012 armed terror-linked militias attacked U.S. diplomatic
outposts in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans and driving the United States
out of that part of the country
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D4511C000000578-131_634x419.jpg
'The White House and senior Congressional members,' the group wrote in an interim
report released Tuesday, 'deliberately and knowingly pursued a policy that provided
material support to terrorist organizations in order to topple a ruler [Muammar Gaddafi]
who had been working closely with the West actively to suppress al-Qaeda.'
'Some look at it as treason,' said Wayne Simmons, a former CIA officer who participated
in the commission's research.Retired Rear Admiral Chuck Kubic, another commission
member, told reporters Tuesday that those weapons are now 'all in Syria.'
'Gaddafi wasn't a good guy, but he was being marginalized,' Kubic recalled. 'Gaddafi
actually offered to abdicate' shortly after the beginning of a 2011 rebellion.
'But the U.S. ignored his calls for a truce,' the commission wrote, ultimately backing the
horse that would later help kill a U.S. ambassador.Kubic said that the effort at truce
talks fell apart when the White House declined to let the Pentagon pursue it seriously.
'We had a leader who had won the Nobel Peace Prize,' Kubic said, 'but who was
unwilling to give peace a chance for 72 hours.'
In March 2011, Kubic said, U.S. Army Africa Commander General Carter told NBC News
that the U.S. military was not actively targeting Muammar Gaddafi. That, Kubic
revealed, was a signal to the Libyan dictator that there was a chance for a deal.
Gaddafi responded by 'verifiably ... pull[ing] his forces back from key rebel-held cities
such as Benghazi and Misrata.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D4511C800000578-835_634x444.jpg
Christopher Stevens served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from June 2012 to
September 11, 2012 when he was killed in the attack
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D2DD85600000578-573_634x442.jpg
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
in January 23 that it mattered little why the Benghazi diplomatic compound was
attacked: 'What difference, at this point, does it make?'
Gaddafi wanted only two conditions to step down: permission to keeo fighting al-Qaeda
in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the lifting of sactions against him, his family, and
those loyal to him.
The Obama administration's unwillingness to help broker a peaceful exit for the Libyan
strongman, 'led to extensive loss of life (including four Americans)' when al-Qaeda-
linked militants attacked U.S. diplomatic facilities in the city of Benghazi,' the
commission told reporters.The White House and the National Security Staff did not
immediately respond to questions about the group's findings.
'We don't claim to have all the answers here,' said Roger Aronoff, whose center-right
group Accuracy in Media sponsored the group and its work.
'We hope you will, please, pursue this,' he told reporters. 'Check it out. Challenge us.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D44FFF400000578-733_306x423.jpg
Retired Admiral Chuck Kubic said the White House refused to let the Pentagon pursue a
peaceful exit for Muammar Gaddafi: 'We had a leader who had won the Nobel Peace
Prize, but who was unwilling to give peace a chance for 72 hours'
The commission and AIM filed 85 document requests under the Freedom Of Information
Act, hitting the Department of Defense, State Department, Federal Bureau of
Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency with demand after demand.But most of its
information has come from insiders with deep knowledge of the flow of weapons in
Libya and elsewhere in the African Maghreb.Admiral James 'Ace' Lyons told the group
that he believes the raid on the Benghazi compound was intended as a kidnapping
exercise, aimed at snatching U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and demanding a prisoner
swap for the 'blind sheikh' Omar Abdel-Rahman.
Abdel-Rahman is serving a life sentence in federal prison for planning the 1993 bombing
of the World Trade Center garage in New York City. He also masterminded a plan, later
foiled, to blow up the United Nations, both the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the George
Washington Bridge and a federal building where the FBI had a base of operations.
A senior FBI source, Lyons said Tuesday, 'told me that was the plan.'
The attack, history shows, grew in intensity and resulted in the deaths of Stevens and
three other U.S. personnel.Lyons also said U.S. claims that it lacked the resources to
mount a counterattack in time to save lives is false.
'I'm going to tell you that's not true,' he said. 'We had a 130-man unit of forces at Sigonella [AFB in Italy]. They were ready to go.'
'The flight time from Sigonella to Benghazi is roughly an hour.'
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D45118C00000578-886_634x470.jpg
Killed: An image captured by a cellular phone camera shows the arrest of strongman
Muammar Gaddafi in Sirte, Libya on October 20, 2011
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D44FFE000000578-574_634x450.jpg
Former CIA officer Clare Lopez accused the U.S. government of allowing arms to flow to
al-Qaeda militants who opposed Gaddafi in 2011, 'switching sides in the war on terror'
Some of the group's claims strain credibility, including the assertion that the Obama
administration's early effort to blame the Benghazi attack on a protest against a crude
anti-Muslim YouTube video 'appears to have been well-coordinated with U.S.Muslim
Brotherhood organizations as well as Islamic state members of the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC).'
Those groups, the commission noted, 'all joined in condemnation of the video, and,
even more troubling, issued calls for restrictions on Americans’ free speech rights.'
But Simmons, the former CIA officer, criticized the Obama administration on the familiar
refrain of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exclaiming in a Senate hearing that it
mattered little why the Benghazi facilities were struck.
'They believed they were going to be saved, that they were going to be rescued, but
they weren't,' Simmons said of the four Americans who died.
'I know who made the decision, in my heart of hearts, to leave our war fighters there
and be blown up. And then to have one of the most powerful politicians in our country
sit there and say, "What difference does it make?" – should be an alarm bell for all
Americans.
'It haunts me,' Simmons said. 'I play that line over, and over, and over, and over in my mind.'
The group has called for a Select Congressional Committee to investigate the Benghazi
episode. A total of 189 House members have signed on to a bill that would create the
committee, which would be bipartisan and have sweeping powers to subpoena the
executive branch.House Speaker John Boehner, Lopez said Tuesday, 'he blocked it. One
has to wonder if he and Congress have had some sort of briefing on what happened.'
Kubic insisted that Congress is unable to break logjams in the Obama administration
and find out what happened in the days leading up to and following the Benghazi attack
without a new committee.
'If they don't have strong subpoena power, if they don't have the ability to do long-term
cross examination, it won't work,' he said.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2610598/Group-US-switched-sides-War-Terror-facilitating-500-MILLION-weapons-deliveries-Libyan-al-Qaeda-militias-leading-Benghazi-attack.html#ixzz2zhtFXUwd
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A bit of pot calling kettle black, but interesting comments.
Donald Rumsfeld - On Benghazi Coverup By Obama Administration. Today Show Interview
cbcEMKuTicM
Published on 29 Mar 2014
Donald Rumsfeld - On Benghazi Coverup By Obama Administration. Today Show
Interview Benghazigate is bigger than Watergate! The media is AWOL, the Democratic
Party is stonewalling until after the election, and the American people want to know.