According to the Associated Press, the five individuals thought to be responsible for the attack, in which four were killed including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, could be taken into custody by the US military, though sufficient proof seems lacking to try them in court. The suspects are thought to be members of Ansar al-Shariah, a Libyan militia group whose fighters were seen near the US diplomatic facility in Benghazi just prior to the assault. At least some of the suspects have been in contact with previously identified regional Jihadists, including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. A senior Obama administration official has told the AP that the FBI identified several individuals that may either have information, or may have been directly involved in the attack. However, per that official, a unilateral military mission to extract the suspects without Libya’s cooperation is thought to be potentially damaging to relations. Photos for three of the five suspects have been released by the FBI in the hopes that the public may provide information, images evidently obtained by security cameras at the US diplomatic post at the time of the attack. Delays due to the security situation meant that the agency took three weeks to obtain the camera and their data, and relay them to American officials in Tripoli.Mounting criticism of the administration and the State Department under former Secretary Hillary Clinton have added a deep layer of scrutiny, both in the evident lack of security at Benghazi prior to the attack, as well as accusations of a cover-up following the killing of US staff. Last week, the White House released 99 pages of emails pertaining to talking points used by Susan Rice to describe the attack, which initially pointed to a protest regarding an anti-Islamic film that had spiraled out of control. According to those emails, subsequent drafts made in conjunction with the US intelligence community omitted any mention of terrorism, including groups such as Ansar al-Shariah or Al-Qaeda, purportedly because their involvement was still unclear. Several GOP legislators have taken issue with delays in the investigation, evidently caused by infighting between the FBI, and the Departments of Justice and State. In October Senator John McCain went so far as to allege that President Obama had been dishonest in initial media appearances referring to the attack in Benghazi as a spontaneous demonstration that spun out of control, owing to the existence of recordings at the consulate of the attack. A delay in the investigation would, as CBS News previously reported, explain why the administration would not have been aware of terrorist involvement at that point. According to information provided by the AP, FBI investigators hope to locate additional evidence, such as a smoking gun video depicting the suspects in the act of setting the fires which killed the ambassador, or firing at a CIA base where surviving US staff took shelter. But Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he is concerned the Obama administration is treating terrorism as criminal actions instead of acts of war that would elicit a much harsher response from the United States.”Regardless of what happened previously, we have made very, very, very substantial progress in that investigation,” said Attorney General Eric Holder to lawmakers last week.That assertion seemed to coordinate with statements made by Secretary of State John Kerry to congress last month. “They do have people ID’d,” Kerry said of the investigation. “They have made some progress. They have a number of suspects who are persons of interest that they are pursuing in this and building cases on,” he added. … Read More
Peace in Syria? Only if the arsonists become fire-fighters
RT reports that following the visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry to Moscow this week, the US and Russia have “reiterated their commitment to bringing the sides of the Syrian conflict to the negotiating table, and that they have announced an international conference to be called by the end of May which will serve as a follow-up to the Geneva communiqué. The Geneva communiqué should be a roadmap to a new Syria, not a forgotten piece of paper, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters after their Tuesday Moscow meeting.”So is it time to toast the imminent end of a terrible, bloody conflict which, according to a UN estimate in February, has cost, up to then, around 70,000 lives?As Sergey Lavrov pointed out on Wednesday, the Syrian government has for a long time shown a willingness to talk, but their readiness to make compromises to find a peaceful, political solution to the conflict has not been matched by the so-called ‘rebels’. Instead of using their influence to pressurize anti-government militia to lay down their arms and to negotiate directly with Damascus, the foreign supporters of the rebels have been egging them on to intensify their campaign to violently overthrow the Syrian government. It’s a campaign which has involved some appalling acts of terrorism, such as last week’s bombing of a main square in Damascus in which at least 13 people were killed.These countries stoking the conflict in Syria have, up to now, not been interested in compromises, or in allowing the Syrian people to decide their own future, as the new 2012 Constitution allows them to do, but have been hell-bent on achieving ‘regime change’ for geo-strategic reasons- most importantly to ‘knock out‘ the strongest regional ally of Iran. Despite John Kerry’s support for an international conference, he has still to rule out direct US military aid to the rebels. When asked about the bill recommending the direct arming of the rebels which is before Congress, Kerry said that the future of the bill would depend “to some degree on the state of the evidence in respect to chemical weapons”. Yet only a few days ago, Carla Del Ponte of the UN Commission of Inquiry said that there was “no, no indication at all” that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons, on the contrary she said there were “strong, concrete suspicions” that the opponents of the government themselves had used them.If the US stance still leaves a lot to be desired, the position of the UK in relation to Syria is arguably even worse. The UK’s neo-conservative dominated government is trying all it can to pressurize other EU countries to lift the Syrian arms embargo. Today we hear that they have sent a ‘discussion paper’ to other EU members making the case either for a total lifting of the ban or an easing of it.But the UK government’s line is deceitful. They claim they want to help the ’good’ i.e. non radical Islamist rebels, yet a report in the New York Times claimed that “nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.” We’ve already had the al-Nusra front, one of the largest groups which make up the ‘rebels’ openly pledging their allegiance to al-Qaeda but that still isn‘t enough to change the UK’s policy. The double standards are breathtaking: the UK government which gave support to the French military action against al- Qaeda linked radical Islamists fighting the authorities in Mali, is spending British taxpayers’ money on helping an uprising dominated by radical Islamists to topple a secular government in Syria.Peace will only come to Syria when the foreign countries currently menacing it start acting as fire-fighters and not arsonists. That means telling the rebels that its time to end their campaign of violence and to negotiate directly with Damascus. It also means accepting that whether or not President Assad and the Ba’ath Party continue to rule Syria, is up to the Syrian people alone, and not the US, Turkey, Qatar, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel or indeed anyone else. The trouble is that the countries concerned have invested so much time and money into trying to topple Bashar al-Assad that it’s highly unlikely that they’ll change direction now, even though continuing with their destructive, destabilizing policies towards Syria only means that the bloodshed will continue.Neil Clark for RT … Read More
How can we survive without being part of a Militia Group. How much ammo would we need when things go wrong
There is a great concern about how the common person will survive during specific circumstances. … Read More
Somalia – Journalist gunned down outside Mogadishu home
Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn that another journalist has been killed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. It was Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh, who worked for Somali National Television and Radio Mogadishu, which are both state-owned. Two gunmen trailed him home and shot him yesterday evening. “The supposed improvement in security in Mogadishu is for the time being still very fragile,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The Somali capital continues to be one of the world’s most dangerous (…) … Read More
The People of Guerrero, Mexico, Have Taken Justice into Their Own Hands
Militia members in Cuautepec, Guerrero, where they gathered to take an oath to defend their… … Read More
Why ricin is so scary
Yes, you should be alarmed at the news that ricin, an extraordinarily powerful poison for which there is no antidote, was detected on a letter sent to an as-yet-unnamed U.S. Senator.Ricin is scary stuff, for a number of reasons. First, it is reputedly relatively easy to manufacture, by chemically processing the waste “mash” left over from making castor oil out of castor beans. Second, it’s extremely potent: A dose the size of a grain of salt is lethal. Third, it seems inordinately popular with anti-government groups. Most recently, in 2011, the FBI arrested four members of a domestic militia group in the state of Georgia on charges of plotting to deploy biological weapons. The men had discussed manufacturing ricin and using it to target federal employees.According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are rapid detection tests for ricin that can determine its existence in environmental samples. The Wall Street Journal reports that all mail sent to members of Congress is tested offsite for a variety of toxins.Continue Reading… … Read More
