Lebanese citizens in that region are already killing each other. The only reason their part of the country hasn’t yet turned into a war zone is because they’re killing each other on the other side of the border, which lies a mere handful of miles from where they reside. They’re crossing into Syria to shoot at each other before hunkering down in an unnerving balance of terror when they return home.
Bin Laden is Dead And Ambassador Stephens Is Dead
US military report showing drop in Taliban attacks found to be incorrect
h/t Maz2
Benghazi: “Do you care whether four Americans died?”
Ripped From A Law And Order Script
According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, on November 30, 2012, Llaneza met with a man who led him to believe he was connected with the Taliban and the mujahidin in Afghanistan. In reality, this man was an undercover FBI agent. At this initial meeting, Llaneza proposed conducting a car-bomb attack against a bank in the San Francisco Bay Area. He proposed structuring the attack to make it appear that the responsible party was an umbrella organization for a loose collection of anti-government militias and their sympathizers. Llaneza’s stated goal was to trigger a governmental crackdown, which he expected would trigger a right-wing counter-response against the government followed by, he hoped, civil war.
I trust they ruled out any connections to Homeland Security.
Shergar
On the thirtieth anniversary of Shergar’s disappearance and destruction at the hands of the IRA.
Benghazi Survivors Still Secret
Before the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, the department undertook a calculated effort to publicize the agents’ names and faces–presenting them in a State Department promotional magazine posted on the Internet. After the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks, the State Department has treated the names and faces of the DS agents who survived those attacks as if they were classified information.
This remarkable about-face raises two questions: Why can’t the American people know the names–and hear the stories–of the heroic DS agents who fought the terrorists who attacked our mission in Benghazi? Why can’t these courageous survivors deliver their eyewitnesses accounts directly to the U.S. Congress?
Is There Nothing That Obama Can’t Do?
The State Department on Monday reassigned Daniel Fried, the special envoy for closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and will not replace him, according to an internal personnel announcement. Mr. Fried’s office is being closed…
Is There Nothing That Obama Can’t Do?
It’s hardly surprising the administration was eager to paper over a story that showed the cracks in its jerrybuilt Syria policy. After all, just last August Obama pledged that “seeing movement on the chemical weapons front, or the use of chemical weapons” by Assad would mean the Syrian dictator had crossed a “red line” and would trigger a U.S. response. If Assad had already used those weapons, that would mean Obama blinked.
Benghazi Survivors Still Secret
We know more about Beyonce than we do Benghazi;
“My understanding is that we still have some people in the hospital. I’d like to visit with them and wish them nothing but the best but the State Department has seen it unfit for me to know who those people are–or even how many there are,” Rep. Chaffetz said. “I don’t know who they are. I don’t know where they live. I don’t know what state they’re from. I don’t even know how many there are. It doesn’t seem right to me.”
“This is so patently different than any other experience I’ve had. Unfortunately, people have been killed and maimed and in harm’s way in Afghanistan and Iraq and in points beyond,” Chaffetz continued. “It’s typically been the case that they would release those names but in this case, they won’t. My challenge is to the media. You try and figure it out. They won’t let Congress know. They won’t seem to let the media know either.”
And when Hilary is finished testifying today, that won’t have changed.
Live stream here.
Update: This about sums up her testimony.
Video here
Update 2: Rand Paul brings it.
Bin Laden is Dead And An “Unknown Number” Of Hostages Are Dead
The death toll from the bloody terrorist siege at a natural gas plant in the Sahara climbed to at least 81 on Sunday as Algerian forces searching the complex for explosives found dozens more bodies, many so badly disfigured they could not immediately be identified, a security official said.
An account from a survivor.
Is it just me who thinks this story being massively underplayed in the news cycle?
Bin Laden is Dead And 35 Hostages Are Dead
Al Qaeda, still decimated;
BREAKING: Militants: Algerian copter attack kills 35 hostages and 15 kidnappers in Sahara standoff
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 17, 2013
Update: More here
Is There Nothing That Obama Can’t Do?
Aifan al-Issawi, leader of the powerful Albu Issa tribe of Anbar Province in Iraq, has been killed in a terrorist attack.[…]
This exchange gives some sense of the priceless strategic position President Obama threw away with his “responsible end to the war in Iraq.” It also gives a sense of the situation Iraq may be sliding toward now.
It bears recalling that we embraced Aifan and his tribe as allies, promised that we would stay by his side, and then, when it suited the new American president, abandoned him to fend for himself. Alas, Aifan’s faith in the worth of America’s promises turned out to be misplaced.
“You never know how things will turn out.”
Rescue at Entebbe: An Interview With the Chief Pilot
Supporting Terrorism: Take That!
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not get you off the hook; good on the SCOC this time:
…
In their unanimous rulings, the court affirmed that a key clause requiring the Crown to prove that defendants were motivated to further the aims of terrorism.
It said that the so-called “motive” clause was carefully constructed to protect those with innocent motivations or who had no genuine awareness that their actions or support could be manipulated by terrorist forces.
“The impugned provision is clearly drafted in a manner respectful of diversity, as it allows for the non-violent expression of political, religious and ideological views,” Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote for the court.
“Only individuals who go well beyond the legitimate expression of a political, religious or ideological thought, belief or opinion and instead engage in one of the serious forms of violence – or threaten one of the serious forms of violence – listed in the (section) need fear liability under the terrorism provisions of the Criminal Code,” she said…
Blame Canada!
What We Really Need Is Democracy
Member Of Broad Strata Community Held In Bombing Case
Suspect identified as Abdullatif Aldosary, an Iraqi refugee;
I just spoke again with my contact in the FBI Phoenix field office (who is not authorized to speak on behalf of the FBI office). This contact said that it is highly unlikely that Aldosary will be charged with any terrorism offense. While they are internally treating it like a domestic terrorism investigation, including looking at if he had any help constructing the explosive device, the FBI is saying very little and and will prosecute this as a simple explosives and arson case because of “the political sensitivities involved.”
That should calm fears of workplace violence, thanks be to Allah for that.
Terrorism Pays
Nov. 29, 1947 was the day the UN General Assembly passed the plan to recommend the partition the British Mandate of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jews accepted the plan. The Arabs — both local and regional – rejected it.
The Trap That Arik Built
Under international law, Israel is not just within its rights to defend itself from Hamas. It is required to. International law requires all states to treat Hamas terrorists as criminals and deny them safe haven and financing. But the cease-fire agreement requires both the Israeli policeman and the Hamas criminal to hold their fire.
At worst, the cease-fire places Israel beneath Hamas. The first two clauses require both sides to end hostilities. The third suggests Israel is expected to make further concessions to Hamas after the firing stops.
Another good read – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper continues to pick up the slack left by an absent American president who has abandoned freedom across the world.
h/t Adrian
Baby Boomers
“Muhammad al-Shafi’i Abu Nassat named his son, who was born Friday, after the Fajr missile. Naming his baby Fajr, Abu Nassat told Gaza media, was his way of expressing his gratitude to Iran, which was responsible for supplying Gaza with rockets that, according to Abu Nassat ‘struck the enemy for eight days.'”