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
"Astoundingly Disturbing": Obama Administration Claims Power to Wage Endless War Across the Globe
http://www.youtube.com/v/pCZV3Dy43tU?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Link to article: "Astoundingly Disturbing": Obama Administration Claims Power to Wage Endless War Across the Globe
Zuckerberg’s lobby group losing top donors over Keystone XL support
FWD.us, the new group comprised of Silicon Valley heavyweights such as LinkedIn CEO and founder Reid Hoffman, super-angel investor Ron Conway and counting on the support of the likes of Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, began to make headlines after Zuckerberg made the group’s official debut in a Washington Post op-ed describing the group’s purported focus on immigration reform.However, the group became the target of vocal criticism after two of its subsidiaries, Americans for Conservative Action and the Council for American Job Growth, sponsored TV ads that criticized President Obama’s health care policy, and another supporting the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Advocacy groups including the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and MoveOn.org all announced last week that they would suspend advertisement buys on Facebook in response to the Keystone XL ads.In response to the controversy FWD.us expressed its intent to pursue a broad agenda, which seemed confusing considering the freshly-launched group seemed primarily focused on immigration:“We recognize that not everyone will always agree with or be pleased by our strategy,” said Kate Hansen, a spokeswoman for FWD.us to The New York Times.“FWD.us remains totally committed to support a bipartisan policy agenda that will boot the knowledge economy, including comprehensive immigration reform,” she added. Branding issues aside, the group’s bipartisan agenda did not seem to sit well with Elon Musk, the South African entrepreneur and founder of SpaceX and co-founder of the Tesla electric car company, who withdrew his support from Fwd.Us last week. As one of the country’s most visible proponents of clean energy development, the lobby group’s connections to the antithesis of those efforts, the Keystone XL pipeline, likely made his departure all but inevitable.Along with Musk, the CEO of social networking company Yammer also withdrew his support last week, per a Reuters report on the fallout from the Fwd.Us conservative arm.According to an investigation conducted by The New York Times into the recent television advertisements, FWD.us would only say that it had spent “seven figures.”Jim Manley, the former chief spokesman for Senate majority leader Harry Reid, told the Times that Zuckerberg had the opportunity to make a correction from the teachable moment.“He is finding out it can be very, very problematic to get your company involved in hot-button social issues,” said Manley, now a director at the Washington lobbying and public relations firm Quinn Gillespie.“There is going to be blowback. You are going to pay a price for it,” added Manley.If Monday’s news are any indication, blowback for FWD.us may indeed not be over. CREDO, the mobile phone carrier with a progressive advocacy arm, has begun an online petition calling for Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, eBay CEO John Donahoe and even Zuckerberg himself to abandon the group.According to the new petition, tech executives that promote clean energy policies have no business supporting (even if indirectly) political ads that undermine those efforts. Interestingly, a spokesman for eBay CEO Donahoe, a founding member of FWD.us, responded on Monday that he was not affiliated with the group.Whether FWD.us can move forward while pursuing a “bipartisan” agenda while still counting on the support of Silicon Valley all-stars, many of whom are devoted to popular progressive causes, is very much unclear.News of the group’s untimely demise would seem equally premature, however, considering the lengths to which FWD.us has gone to secure powerful representation within Washington, DC. In addition to donor lists stacked with top-tier tech executives, it has also contracted the services of influential political consultants, including Joe Lockhart with the Glover Park Group, Republican consultant Jon Lerner, and Rob Jesmer, former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. … Read More
Benghazi Whistleblower: “You should have seen what (Clinton) tried to do to us that night!”
Categories: Editor’s Choice, Political GamesmanshipTags: ambassador, benghazi, Clinton, cover-up, ObamaThompson considers himself a whistle-blower whose account was suppressed by the official investigative panel that Clinton convened to review the episode. Thompson’s lawyer has further alleged that his client has been subjected to threats and intimidation.(Read more…) … Read More
Utah soccer referee dies after being punched by teen player
A longtime youth football official who was punched in the face by a teenaged player in a match in Utah has died, the Salt Lake Unified Police Department said. The Unified Police Department said in a statement that Ricardo Portillo of Salt Lake City died Saturday night in hospital, where he had been…
Israel deploys Iron Dome systems, closes airspace in north after alleged Syria strike
The only reaction came from a military official, who said it moved two Iron Dome batteries on Sunday as part of “ongoing situational assessments,” AP reports.The deployment came several hours after Israel carried out what is believed an airstrike in Damascus that attacked a shipment of Iranian-made missiles bound for Hezbollah.Shortly after that Lebanon’s TV Al-Mayadeen reported that Syria pointed missile batteries at Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces allegedly carried out a second consecutive strike on targets within Syria’s territory. The aim was reportedly Fateh-110 missiles Israeli sources said were meant for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, considered as a terrorist group by Tel Aviv.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t mention the fact of the strike or Iron Dome deployment directly at a public appearance on Sunday, but spoke pointedly about a commitment to keeping Israel secure.”[My father] taught me that the greatest responsibility we have is to ensure Israel’s security and guarantee its future,” he said.Soon after that Haaretz reported that the airspace over the country’s north as well as Haifa area are closed off to civilian flights. The ban is expected to hold till Thursday at least.Public bomb shelters in the city would not be opened on Sunday in order to avoid fear-mongering, Israeli media report, citing Mayor Nissim Malka.Earlier this week, the IDF already deployed two Iron Dome batteries near the cities of Haifa and Safed in the north of the country.The defense system protects against short-range rockets; during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012 it was said to have intercepted over 80 per cent of the incoming rockets from Gaza.Back in January, the IDF took similar deploying actions – just several days before another alleged airstrike on a weapons convoy in Syria which reportedly headed for Hezbollah. Israel never publicly admitted they were behind the strike.Israel claimed many times it wants to stay out of the Syrian war, but Netanyahu and other top officials has been repeatedly saying that the Jewish state would be prepared to take military action to prevent sophisticated weapons from flowing from Syria to Hezbollah or other extremist groups.Technically, Israel and Syria have been at war since Israel captured Golan Heights territories from Syria in the Six-Day War in 1967. In 1981, the Israeli Knesset passed the ‘Golan Heights Law’, which unilaterally proclaimed Israel’s sovereignty over the territory. The annexation was condemned by the United Nations Security Council in UN Resolution 497 of December 17, 1981. … Read More
Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus military site, city’s airport – reports
Categories: Editor’s Choice, Videos and Media, War and ConflictTags: airstrikes, Israel, SyriaStrong blasts hit the outskirts of Syria’s capital early on Sunday, with reports saying that they were results of Israeli airstrikes on a military research center and Damascus Airport.(Read more…) … Read More
