Tag: libya

Trey Gowdy to Elijah Cummings: so, hey, Sidney Blumenthal profited from the Libyan civil war?

What was the saying, again? ‘No blood for oil?’

So Trey Gowdy sent a formal letter to Elijah Cummings over the latter’s intolerably and pettily partisan hackwork with regard to the Benghazi Committee (@RBPundit categorizes it as ‘BEASTMODE,’ which is highly accurate).  There are a lot of interesting things in this letter.  A lot of brutal commentary on Rep. Cummings’ willingness to say one thing in private and another in public, for example. But I found this part about Sidney Blumenthal to be highly entertaining reading:

Beyond the pure politics that were occurring at this time, perhaps more disturbing it that at the same time [Sidney] Blumenthal was pushing Secretary Clinton to war in Libya, he was privately pushing a business interest of his own in Libya that stood to profit from contracts with the new Libyan government – a government that would exist only after a successful U.S. intervention in Libya that deposed Qaddafi. This business venture was one he shared with Tyler Drumheller and Cody Shearer, the authors of the information sent to Secretary Clinton. It is therefore unsurprising that somebody who knew so little about Libya would suddenly become so interested in Libya and push an old friend in a powerful place to action – for personal profit. Continue reading Trey Gowdy to Elijah Cummings: so, hey, Sidney Blumenthal profited from the Libyan civil war?

Quote of the Day, The Antiwar Movement Lacks The Right To Lecture Us edition.

While reading this passage on how inevitably Libya collapsed (via Instapundit), I came across this passage:

They don’t realize it yet, but these guys are on a path to make even Donny Rumsfeld and Tommy Franks look good—and you thought that was impossible.

Continue reading Quote of the Day, The Antiwar Movement Lacks The Right To Lecture Us edition.

Death Cult outbreak in Libya: 21 Coptic Christians ritually sacrificed by IS.

Details here, and may Christ welcome and comfort those martyrs. You already know my opinion of their murderers. And my opinion of a foreign policy that seems indifferent to the rapid spread across the Middle East of what is, in point of fact, a literal death cult. One that practices human sacrifice on a regular basis.

Continue reading Death Cult outbreak in Libya: 21 Coptic Christians ritually sacrificed by IS.

State Department suggests that Americans leave Libya.

Well this doesn’t sound good: “The State Department recommended Tuesday that Americans leave Libya immediately and warned U.S. citizens against any travel to the North African country. The department also said that due to security concerns and limited staffing it was only able to offer limited emergency services to U.S. citizens there.” Also, because I know people are wondering:

Continue reading State Department suggests that Americans leave Libya.

Ann McLane Kuster (Democrat), 2011: Libya = Middle East. Kuster, 2013: …NO IT’S NOT!

For the benefit of Democratic Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, (NH-02)…

  • Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya.
  • Libya is that somewhat large country in North Africa between  Algeria and Egypt.
  • That particular country, desperate apologists to the contrary*, is part of what most people call ‘the Middle East,’ – including, apparently, Ann McLane Kuster.  From March of 2011:

Kuster said she supports Obama’s recent action in response to unrest in the Middle East. She said she felt the military intervention in Libya is appropriate because it’s “primarily a humanitarian mission and the international community is leading, not just the U.S.”

“I think that’s the right approach,” she said. “I think we’ve got to be very careful about not ending up in our third full-scale military operation putting American lives at stake.”

We all got that, right? Benghazi, Libya, Middle East? Continue reading Ann McLane Kuster (Democrat), 2011: Libya = Middle East. Kuster, 2013: …NO IT’S NOT!

Darrell Issa’s going to Libya to do some investigating. #benghazi

Can’t say that I blame him: the executive branch has thoroughly fornicated the canine on this one.

Darrell Issa is scheduled to travel to Libya next week as part of his investigation into the attack last year on the Benghazi consulate, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.

The California Republican, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, did not invite Democratic counterparts on the trip, which has been in the works for over a week and begins on Sunday with stops in Italy and Egypt.

Having seen the Democrats that got assigned Oversight… can’t say that I blame Issa for that, either. The only way any of them would discover a clue to what happened in Benghazi would be if one of the Democrats tried to obscure an incriminating footprint, over-balanced, and fell through a false wall and right into al-Qaeda’s hidden lair.  That’s not quite likely enough to be a reliable strategy, though.

Alas.

Moe Lane

Libya Foreign Ministry building bombed by terrorists, 9/11/2013.

Details are still sketchy:

Security officials say a powerful explosion has caused serious damage to Libya’s Foreign Ministry building in the heart of the coastal city of Benghazi.

The early Wednesday morning blast also damaged the building next door housing the Benghazi branch of the Libyan Central Bank.

…and there’s no word yet whether this bombing was specifically done in commemoration of last year’s 9/11 al-Qaeda attack on our consulate (and murder of four Americans, including our Ambassador) in Benghazi, or whether it was done in commemoration of 2001’s 9/11 al-Qaeda attack on the WTC and the Pentagon.  Although it’s certainly reasonable for us to embrace the power of ‘and,’ here.

Continue reading Libya Foreign Ministry building bombed by terrorists, 9/11/2013.

*IF* it turns out to be true that we were operating a secret jail in Benghazi…

…and that is a legitimate ‘if:’ anyway, if it turns out that Broadwell’s revelation last month is correct and that Benghazi was hosting a secret jail* for the purpose of extraordinary rendition then I hope that people will find the following posts to be useful.

Continue reading *IF* it turns out to be true that we were operating a secret jail in Benghazi…

Fox News reports that Benghazi consulate gave three hours’ warning of attacks.

Having a good morning? This will fix it.

Via Hot Air. Summary: the consulate warned their higher ups of the imminent attack, noted that their own Libyan security detachment was acting questionably, and reported that militia forces would likely be involved. And, relatedly, military intelligence was reporting that this was an organized terrorist attack within hours of the attack. So why the delay in the government admitting it? Fox News didn’t say why here, but I will: it’s because if the government admitted that it was Islamist terrorism, it would have stepped on their narrative that Islamist terrorism was in full retreat ever since Osama bin Laden was killed. So the government did nothing.

And good men died.

Barack Obama’s mealy-mouthed cowardice on Benghazi.

Don’t watch this if you have high blood pressure.

I’ll save you time: when directly and explicitly asked Were [our targeted personnel in Benghazi] denied requests for help during the attack? the President refused to answer no.  The CIA’s already said no, in that special way that Beltway types have to tacitly point to who might have said ‘yes’: “No one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate.”  Which is why The Weekly Standard titled their post “Petraeus Throws Obama Under the Bus.”  Because Petraeus did.

There are no words.  Just get out there and vote.

Moe Lane

Continue reading Barack Obama’s mealy-mouthed cowardice on Benghazi.