Fast/Furious2--Libya>Turkey>Syria?

[Slogger]

There are 3 articles in Business Insider:

1. Sept. 13-- 

http://www.businessinsider.com/insiders-this-is-what-really-happened-in-libya-2012-9

2.  Oct. 16--
Don't Believe What Either Party Is Saying About The Benghazi Attack

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-and-romney-try-to-shape-benghazi-attacks-2012-10#ixzz29hGQSRPR

3.  Oct. 19--
How US Ambassador Chris Stevens May Have Been Linked To Jihadist Rebels In Syria

http://www.businessinsider.com/us-syria-heavy-weapons-jihadists-2012-10

[Slogger]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/10/18/171933/obama-administration-officials.html

(snip)

Under intense pressure from Republican critics over the handling of the Benghazi aftermath, the Obama administration finally came full circle on Sept. 20, returning to what Libyan and U.S. officials had said at the very beginning: the attack on the Benghazi consulate was separate from the region’s video protests and bore the hallmarks of a terrorist attack.



Carney, the White House spokesman who’d only days earlier tied the incident to the video, told reporters it was “self-evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack.” He cited Olsen’s testimony that pointed to the involvement of militant groups operating in eastern Libya, “including possible participation by elements of al Qaida,” especially its North African branch.

In the next week, as the Republican-led political storm over the administration’s shifting accounts grew, the office of the nation’s top intelligence official announced that as a result of new information, it had determined that the consulate had been hit by a "deliberate and organized attack," and that it was responsible for the narrative that the assault began “spontaneously."

Yet the statement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence failed to clear up how the administration came up with its assertion that the attack was launched during a protest against the video. Issued by a spokesman and not Director of National Intelligence James Clapper himself, the statement made no reference to a protest or the video.

[Slogger]

FOX: (Oct. 19, 2012)

NEW STATE DEPT DOCUMENTS REVEAL CONCERNS ABOUT SECURITY IN LIBYA BEFORE TERROR ATTACK

(166 pages of unclassified documents from 2011 and 2012 were released by Issa and Chaffetz.)

Stevens Cable, Aug. 8:
"Benghazi has moved from trepidation to euphoria and back as a series of violent incidents has dominated the political landscape... The individual incidents have been organized."

"Islamist extremists are able to attack the Red Cross with relative impunity... What we have seen are not random crimes of opportunity, but rather targeted and discriminate attacks."

"Attackers are unlikely to be deterred until authorities are at least as capable"


44 days earlier, Stevens wrote (June 25)
"Islamic extremism appears to be on the rise in eastern Libya... [T]he Al-Qaeda flag has been spotted several times flying over government buildings and training facilities..."

"Until the GOL [Government of Libya] is able to effectively deal with these key issues, the violence is likely to continue and worsen."

[Slogger]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/how-u-s-amb-chris-stevens-may-have-been-linked-to-jihadist-rebels-in-syria-and-does-it-involve-weapons/

So this much is fairly certain: Libya has been sending seasoned Islamic fighters, heavy weapons and presumably money to Syria in support of the opposition.
 
The uncertain part is where Stevens, and the U.S. government, fits into all of this.
 
If the new Libyan government was sending jihadists and 400 tons of lethal cargo to Syria through a port in southern Turkey—a deal brokered by Stevens’ primary Libyan contact during the Libyan revolution—then the governments of Turkey and the U.S. surely knew about it.
 
Reuters reported that satellite photos exposed a CIA post in Benghazi, located 1.2 miles from the U.S. consulate, was used as “a base for, among other things, collecting information on the proliferation of weaponry looted from Libyan government arsenals, including surface-to-air missiles” … and that its security features “were more advanced than those at rented villa where Stevens died.”
 
We also know that about a dozen CIA operatives and contractors left the Benghazi base after it was exposed. Could these two CIA groups be connected as start and end points to help funnel heavy weapons to the Syrian opposition?
 
We know that the CIA has been funneling weapons to the rebels in southern Turkey, but CNN reports that FSA members are “cutting their own deals to get weapons” from well-armed extremists so it raises questions about who the CIA is arming.
 
We know that U.S. weapons are ending up in the hands of hard-line Islamists in Syria. It turns out that many of these jihadists are the same ones that Stevens helped arm to topple Gaddafi.

On September 11 Stevens held an evening meeting with a Turkish diplomat before retiring to his room at 9 p.m. Gunfire and explosions began 40 minutes later. Is Steven’s guest for his last meeting just another eerie coincidence?
 
Either way it seems that the connection between Benghazi and the rise of jihadists in Syria is much stronger than has been officially acknowledged.

Brett Baier of Fox News (FNC) will have a program at 10pm with more information.

[Slogger]

http://audio.wrko.com/a/64657882/col-hunt-on-the-newest-libyan-revelations.htm

Carr discusses Libya with Col. Hunt regarding hundreds of personnel tuned in to Benghazi during the action...Real Time.

[Slogger]

Searching for Benghazi Timeline, this was the first I found:

http://theulstermanreport.com/2012/10/15/white-house-insider-obamas-benghazi-lie-valerie-jarretts-west-wing-meltdown/

The timeline seems fairly accurate and most entries contain additional notes, which are interesting--including a Valerie Jarrett Meltdown story.

[Caution:  the language is not always kiddie sensitive.]

[Slogger]

Another Benghazi timeline:

Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/whitehouse/timeline-of-events-comments-surrounding-attack-that-killed-4-americans-in-benghazi-libya/2012/10/19/4a9d3c2c-1a2f-11e2-ad4a-e5a958b60a1e_story.html

[Slogger]

Below is a good compilation of information, easy to read, with sources:

http://poorrichardsnews.com/post/33436727054/obamas-watergate-timeline-of-the-benghazi-terror

[Slogger]

Interesting sequence of events:

Ulsterman Report

Sept. 10: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri calls on Libyans to avenge the death of his Libyan deputy, Abu Yahya al Libi, killed in a June drone strike in Pakistan

Sep. 13: Jay Carney squawks, it's the video.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/13/al-qaida-leader-holy-war-us?CMP=twt_fd&CMP=SOCxx2I2

Oct. 13: The guardian reports al Zawahiri finally caught on and chants, it's the video, it's the video. 

The Administration hyped the video, endlessly.  They took out ads for it.  Even at that, it took Ayman a full month to get a clue.

It wasn't the video.  The Administration knew it wasn't the video.  Much of the country knew it wasn't the video.

The promotion of the video as the cause... was *Propaganda*.

[WhiskeyGirl]

The United States had an unmanned Predator drone over its consulate in Benghazi during the attack that slaughtered four Americans — which should have led to a quicker military response, it was revealed yesterday.

“They stood, and they watched, and our people died,” former CIA commander Gary Berntsen told CBS News.

The network reported that the drone and other reconnaissance aircraft observed the final hours of the hours-long siege on Sept. 11 — obtaining information that should have spurred swift action.

The rest of the story is an eye opener.  more here - http://m.nypost.com/p/news/international/us_watched_as_terror_raged_AypAEEA9OK23rPf7Z5BHWO

[Slogger]

http://thediplomad.blogspot.com/2012/10/benghazi-reflections-left-to-die.html

2) What was the response of the NCA? The attack began just before 9 pm Libya time; it lasted at least six hours. The attack, therefore, took place from about 3 pm to about 9 pm Washington DC time on a regular work day, a Tuesday, and on a day, September 11, during which the capital is particularly attentive to reports of terror activity. The DS reps have testified that they knew about the attack almost immediately, and, thanks to the very expensive and elaborate DS op center, followed the attack in "near real time." So what happened? What did Secretaries Clinton and Panetta, CIA Director Petraeus, DNI Clapper, NSA Donilon, AFRICOM, SOCOM, and President Obama do? Somebody sent a slow flying UAV that managed to get there in time to monitor at least part of the attack. There apparently was a hastily put together rescue effort launched by the Embassy in Tripoli which encountered stiff resistance. But what did the NCA do? There are reports that the Pentagon determined that it would take 24 hours to get a rescue team on the ground in Benghazi. So? Why wasn't it launched? Nobody apparently knew that the Ambassador already was dead. One thing I have learned from years in the "hard countries": Do not let the creeps think they can get away with something. They should always fear an immediate and devastating response. American warriors on the ground with blood in their eyes would have sent a powerful message to the jihadis. The British ran the raucous North West Frontier with a handful of Political Agents (PA) who bribed the tribes and made it clear that a PA could conjure up the British Army if things got out of hand. Is it true that the President did not summon his national security team? That he just noted the information and then went off to Vegas on a fund-raiser after giving a vacuous speech at the Rose Garden?   

Interesting information.

In the "About Me" section, Diplomad has:

Long time US Foreign Service Officer; now retired; have served all over the world and under all sorts of conditions. Convinced the State Department needs to be drastically slashed and reformed so that it will no longer pose a threat to the national interests of the United States.

[Slogger]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/emails-white-house-informed-within-two-hours-of-benghazi-attack-that-radical-islamic-group-claimed-responsibility/

Headline:

Emails: White House Told Two Hours After Benghazi Attack Began That Radical Islamic Group Claimed Responsibility

White House and State Department officials were informed just two hours after the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11 began that a radical Islamic militant group had claimed responsibility, according to official emails obtained by Reuters

[Slogger]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/24/us-usa-benghazi-emails-idUSBRE89N02C20121024

Headline:

White House told of militant claim two hours after Libya attack: emails

(Reuters) - Officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after attackers assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack, official emails show.

The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks.

The brief emails also show how U.S. diplomats described the attack, even as it was still under way, to Washington.

[Slogger]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/10/24/Emails-offer-insight-on-Benghazi-attack/UPI-98091351084928/

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The White House, U.S. State Department and FBI knew an extremist group attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, hours after it happened, emails revealed.

[Slogger]

Copies of emails available at this site, at this time:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/emails-white-house-informed-within-two-hours-of-benghazi-attack-that-radical-islamic-group-claimed-responsibility/

[Slogger]

http://www.foxnews.com/

Fox has it as Breaking News (11:16am):

Headline

THEY KNEW (or they should have)

There is a copy of the 6:07 PM email referring to Ansar al-Sharia claiming responsibility for Benghazi attack.

[WhiskeyGirl]

http://www.foxnews.com/

Fox has it as Breaking News (11:16am):

Headline

THEY KNEW (or they should have)

There is a copy of the 6:07 PM email referring to Ansar al-Sharia claiming responsibility for Benghazi attack.

Within 2 hour of the attack, emailing the WH.  Attack lasted 7 hours.  People could have been saved!!!

[Slogger]

Plus, there was a 3-hr. "heads up" by Sean Smith on the gaming site.

[Slogger]

http://www.westernjournalism.com/benghazi-attack-was-botched-kidnapping-to-trade-blind-sheik/

Kevin Dujan, a political analyst and radio and TV host wrote an article and appeared on radio on October 8 putting forth a theory that the attack of the Libyan consulate was tied neither to a video or terrorism, but a botched kidnapping of Ambassador Stevens.
 
That Barack Obama had arranged with the Muslim Brotherhood to kidnap the Ambassador, and through Obama’s supposed affinity with the Muslim world, Obama would save the day and get the ambassador released.
 
But the Muslim Brotherhood wanted something in return.
 
Their beloved Blind Sheik.

We've heard MB wants the Sheik.  How far they would go, we don't know.  The theory is interesting and would explain the unexplainable--why security wasn't increased per request, and was (actually) reduced.

Whatever you think of the theory, keep your eye on the Sheik.

[Slogger]

http://www.foxnews.com/

Fox has it as Breaking News (11:16am):

Headline

THEY KNEW (or they should have)

There is a copy of the 6:07 PM email referring to Ansar al-Sharia claiming responsibility for Benghazi attack.

Within 2 hour of the attack, emailing the WH.  Attack lasted 7 hours.  People could have been saved!!!

Where is the "50-min. video"?