Worse Than Watergate! ... J. D. Longstreet

Worse Than Watergate!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Four Americans are dead and the American people are being lied to as to how and why they got that way. 

Either the President is lying - and needs to be impeached, or he's NOT lying -- and needs to be impeached -- because he DIDN'T know what was happening!

Repeat:  Four Americans are DEAD. And as much as it pains me to say it -- it doesn't look as if our government made a genuine effort to save them.

I have watched, listened, and read as much as we have been allowed to know -- plus -- information gleaned by non-mainstream media sources,  and I  concluded -- long ago -- that there is a major cover-up at the top levels of the US government over the incident in Benghazi.

Now, let me be clear:  I am not an investigative reporter. That is not what I do.  I am a commentator -- an opinion writer ... nothing more.   I have deliberately "hung back" on any in-depth comments on the Benghazi affair simply because there always seemed to me to be more THERE there.  In other words, it was obvious, at least to me, that we were only getting drips and drabs of what really happened and, I felt (and still do) that we have been told nothing of WHY it happened.   But, dear reader, even Helen Keller could see there is a major cover-up surrounding the incident in Benghazi! 

That CIA "safe-house" has troubled me from the very beginning of this horrible story.  What was the CIA doing there?  There was no embassy in Benghazi.  In fact, the building attacked was not even a consulate.  If anything, it was a "mission."   Had it been an embassy, I'd not question a CIA presence.  They are practically a part of the furniture in any US Embassy.  But, as I said,  this was NOT an embassy.

Remember too, the last person our ambassador met with the evening of the attack was a Turkish diplomat.  What was a Turkish diplomat doing in Benghazi, Libya, meeting with Ambassador Stevens at an unprotected site?  Why not meet in the embassy in Tripoli? 

It now seems that the ex-SEALS were not attached to the consulate, but were assigned to the CIA "safe-house." They (laudably) went against orders and made a rescue attempt of the US officials and staff at the consulate/mission -- and lost their lives in the attempt.

There was quickly a fog of misinformation spewed up and out by the Obama Administration in what -- in my opinion -- is an attempt to cover-up an on-going scheme/operation to smuggle weapons into Syria through Turkey.

A few weeks ago, there was a report that Libyan militia members had been ordered to turn-in the weapons that had been supplied them in their struggle to overthrow Qaddafi. That report confirmed that many of those weapons had been turned in.  Where did those weapons go?  Perhaps, to the Syrian rebels?

It has been suspected for some time now that the US has been supplying small arms to the rebels in Syria for a while -- even though the Obama Administration denies it.

It is the kind of operation the CIA would be up-to-their-necks in and it would explain their presence on the ground in Libya in a safe-house just a mile away from the consulate/mission.

For the sake of argument, suppose the guns gathered from the Libyan militia were being covertly sent to Turkey and then smuggled across the Turkey/Syrian border to the Syrian rebels.

I continue to cycle back to the question -- WHY was the Ambassador THERE , alone, without a security detail, at that particular time, meeting with a high Turkish diplomat.  Remember, this was on September 11th.  If there was going to be an attack by terrorists -- September 11th would be the day for it.

Now, I'm just hypothesizing here.  I have no idea, at this point, what was really going on. But, I am confident there was a covert operation underway -- one so black that sacrificing the lives of four Americans was deemed "worth it" by our leaders in Washington. 

For whatever reason, the Obama Administration has chosen to tell the world a bald-faced lie about what happened in Benghazi. 

So politicians lie, right? Yeah, they do. But this time -- four Americans are dead and the country wants to know why that happened and why the Obama Administration chose to lie to us about it. 

It is clear now, that all the warnings from the political right about the penchant of this President and his administration for lies was absolutely correct. If they are lying about the "Incident in Benghazi," what else are they lying about?

It is clear the Mainstream Media is NOT going to cover this story.  They are not going to investigate what happened for fear that it will drive down support for Obama.  They seem to have taken the attitude:  the truth, the welfare of the country, be damned.  Keeping their man, Obama, afloat is the most important thing, bar none.  Nothing can be allowed to interfere -- not even the truth!

Look.  The cover-up of "Benghazigate" is far more important that Watergate ever was! 

We need a "Congressional Investigation" of the incident at Benghazi and we need it post haste!  If ever an incident deserved investigating by the Congress this horrible event in Benghazi is it. Too, it is looking more and more as if grounds for impeachment proceedings are present.

Whistle blowers, witnesses who claim to know the truth, are standing by having already stated their willingness to testify before Congress, but they are enjoined from such as a result of having signed documents that prevent them from discussing the event(s) in Benghazi.  They need to be released from those bonds so we can get to the truth.  One phone call from the President would take care of it.  Will he make the call?  Don't hold your breath.  

Yes, if only Obama was a republican, there would be no need for commentators to be begging the Congress to investigate or opining at the reluctance of the MsM to investigate.

It is what it is.  The Mainstream Media in America is an organ of the political left -- as is President Obama.  There is simply no way we are going to get anythng approaching impartial reporting or a REAL investigation of Benghazigate from the MsM. 

For me, it is not just a matter of trust, it is a matter of honor -- NATIONAL HONOR. 

America deserves better than we have gotten, or, are likely to get from Obama. 

© J. D. Longstreet
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Living in Dangerous Times ... Alan Caruba

Living in Dangerous Times

By Alan Caruba

Bret Stephens, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, had a commentary, “The Other Bluffer”, in which he discussed President Obama’s and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statements, respectively, on Syria and Iran; the former regarding a “red line” concerning the use of poison gas and the latter being Iran’s intention to make its own nuclear weapons.

The bluff is a game nations have been playing since there were nations. They seldom work against a nation with aggressive, bad intentions.

What is interesting about this is that dictators have been known to write books about those intentions. Adolf Hitler did with his book, Mein Kampf, in which he made clear what he would do, starting with tearing up the Versailles Treaty and later killing all of Germany’s and Europe’s Jews, though not necessarily in those words. Hitler first invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and when the great powers did nothing, he followed up with an invasion of Poland in September of that year. Perhaps he thought he could gobble up all of Europe, but what ensued was World War II.

In more recent times, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein thought he could pull off a bluff regarding weapons of mass destruction, perhaps assuming that no one would invade for fear of them. He had used poison gas against Iran during a long war and killed several thousand in an Iraqi city without more than expressions of international outrage, but the invasion of Kuwait was a serious mistake. George H.W. Bush’s decision to put an end to it. After 9/11, George W. Bush’s decision to invade deposed Saddam.

The long Cold War with the then-Soviet Union that followed World War II was a series of bluffs, threats, and proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam. The Communist takeover of Cuba by Fidel Castro led to the missile crisis that occurred when the Soviets installed long range missiles there. President Kennedy imposed a naval blockade in 1962 and waited to see what the Russians would do. They removed them and the U.S. essentially continues to pursue a policy that denies Cuba any recognition, though much of the rest of the world does business with that nation.

Stephens has grave doubts about President Obama’s statements about Syria’s use of poison gas which he regards as a bluff, predicting that “things will only get worse”  and noting that the “Israelis are now watching how the administration reacts when a rogue regime crosses the president’s red lines.” He predicts that “As the Assad regime realizes it can use these weapons without international penalty, it will unleash them again.”

“Sooner or later,” said Stephens, “it will figure out that the more widely it uses them, the quicker it can kill enemies at home and deter enemies abroad. A twofer. The administration will go from arguing that it’s too soon to intervene in Syria, to arguing that it’s too late.”

Obama’s fallback position will be to toss the problem to the United Nations, famous for never being able to do anything to deter aggression and usually dependent on U.S. military power to resolve dangerous situations.

Syria’s neighbor, Israel, has its own red line with Iran that has long since crossed it and Stephens believes that “Mr. Obama will treat evidence of Iran’s impending nuclearization the way he has looked at Syria’s use of chemical weapons.” Israel has no option other than to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities to deter being destroyed. If history is any guide, since Israel destroyed Iraq’s and Syria’s reactors, it is likely to do so at a time of its choosing. Every Middle East state will express outrage and then rush to their mosques to give thanks.

President Obama has looked at the way failure to respond forcefully and preemptive wars have brought down previous presidencies, costing the party in power the elections that followed. Ronald Reagan defeated the one-term Jimmy Carter in the wake of the Iranian hostage-taking of American diplomats in 1979. While the Korean War was still in progress Eisenhower was elected when he promised to end it. George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq gave him Obama the opportunity to get elected by war-weary Americans. He did call North Korea’s bluff and is not likely to order the U.S. into a war with any nation short of a direct attack on the homeland. 

That does not, however, diminish the threats to peace in the Middle East or anywhere else that might occur. Indeed, the weakness he has shown will only encourage rogue regimes to increase their aggressive behavior.

Those who have any knowledge of history will recall that the Empire of Japan had already been at war in Asia for several years prior to World War II and Nazi Germany had already invaded several European nations and had been threatening England for several years prior to Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Only then did the United States mobilize to defeat both.

Those were dangerous times and these times are no less dangerous.

© Alan Caruba, 2013

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Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at "Warning Signs" and shared on dozens of news and opinion websites. His blog recently passed more than 2 million page views. If you love to read, visit his monthly report on new books at Bookviews. For information on his professional skills, Caruba Editorial Services is the place to go! You can find Alan Caruba on both Facebook and Twitter as well.

Déjà vu All Over Again? The Audacity of Truth ... J. D. Longstreet

Déjà vu All Over Again?

The Audacity of Truth
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

I recently had a “commenter” question my loyalty to America as a result of my hypothesizing that we, as a nation, may be headed for another civil war.  It was an honest appraisal of our current situation, as I see it, and one at which I gingerly arrived with a great deal of uncertainty and tentativeness. 

The commenter was from a northern state, which lies on the US/Canadian border.   So far as I am able to determine, his state has never been invaded, conquered, and occupied by a foreign power. Mine has.

Now let’s be clear:  We southerners still, to this day, bear the scars of that conflagration.  A hundred and fifty years is but as a moment in time here in the South.

On May tenth, we Tar Heels will celebrate Confederate Memorial Day.  The National Flag of the Confederacy will fly over our State Capitol Building.  Celebrations will be held all over the state as well as memorial services to honor our Confederate ancestors.

We lost – yet – we celebrate the effort, the fight for “The Cause.”

Now, maybe it is because it is a part of who we are as southerners, that the past remains so alive, so vibrant here. Maybe it is because so many of us have bothered to look at what actually caused the break-up of the Union in the first place.

When one’s ancestors are referred to as “traitors” one is often compelled to investigate in an attempt to learn WHY. 

We quickly learn the accusation is a lie.  But -- we also learn of the circumstances in the United States in the 1800’s that practically insured the southern people would have to separate from the US in order to preserve the form of government given us by the Founding Fathers.

The result of the war would -- and did -- insure that the United States would have a STRONG CENTRAL GOVERNMENT and NOT a government answerable to the states and subject to the states as the Founders intended.

The original Constitution of the United States of America died at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, on the afternoon of April 9th, 1865 when Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia in the parlor of Wilmer McLean’s home. 

When one lends oneself to a study of the period one cannot help but see the similarities of the relationship between the US government and the people of the US – especially the people of the southern states -- then and now.  I must tell you it is chilling!

It was the study of the circumstances leading up to the "War for Southern Independence," as we southerners like to call it, that prompted me to point out that the US finds itself, today, in similar circumstances that might lead to another civil war in the country.

At CNSNEWS.COM on May 2nd, 2013, there is an article entitled: "Poll: 29% of Registered Voters Believe Armed Revolution Might Be Necessary in Next Few Years."  The article was written by Gregory Gwyn-Williams, Jr.  The lead-off paragraph says:  "Twenty-nine percent of registered voters think that an armed revolution might be necessary in the next few years in order to protect liberties, according to a Public Mind poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University." SOURCE:  http://cnsnews.com/blog/gregory-gwyn-williams-jr/poll-29-registered-voters-believe-armed-revolution-might-be-necessary

(Fairleigh Dickinson University is the largest (12000+ students) independent university in New Jersey.  Source:  http://www.fdu.edu/ )

So, it would seem this old scribe isn't alone in worrying about the possibility that the nation may go to war with itself in the near future. 

Here in the southeast, it is likely we recognize the signs far more quickly that folks from other regions of this great country.  If so, then it is simply because we have been there (here?)  before.

In my home state of South Carolina cannon balls from Sherman's artillery can still be seen embedded in the walls of the State Capitol Building.

As I write, I sit a few minutes drive from the last Confederate fort to fall to the Union, Fort Fisher.  It was the death knell for the Confederacy.  Resupply for the Confederacy was ended.  The Union siege of Fort Fisher, especially the ship to shore bombardment,  was not equaled until the Second World War.

On a drive through the American Southeast you will see multiple flagpoles in the front yards of many homes flying Old Glory from high atop the pole.  Granted, you may see a state flag, or even one or more of the Confederate national flags, or even the Confederate Battle Flag or the famous Gadsden Flag (The “Don’t Tread On me Flag) flying BELOW Old Glory… on the same pole.  To a Southerner that is not the least bit confusing.  We are proud Americans, Southern Americans, to be sure, proud of our heritage. But our allegiance, first and foremost, is to the United States.

Yes.  We DO worry that it could all happen again.  And I remain convinced that the possibility grows greater every time the federal government accrues more power to itself.

Sort of like the canary in the mine shaft, we southerners might be a bit more sensitive to overbearing government simply because our region has experienced it before.  For instance, it can be argued that "Reconstruction" of the South, after the war, actually did MORE harm to the South than the war itself.  (The US sucked at nation building even then!)

I'm not sure, exactly, what it says about a nation, when the direct descendent of a host of Confederate soldiers steps forward to warn America against making the same mistakes America made in the mid 1800's (which led to a civil war) and he is denigrated for having the audacity to draw attention to obvious preparations being made by both citizens and government for just such an horrendous event.

Seems to me, we should be able to analyze what went wrong then and, at least, make an attempt to avoid making the very same mistakes.  We already know where that road leads. If we can't do that, then we are already lost.

© J. D. Longstreet
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Senate Gungrabbers Not Done Yet! ... J. D. Longstreet

Senate Gungrabbers Not Done Yet!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Senator Joe Manchin, a democrat of West Virginia, says there was confusion about the gun control bill he and Senator Pat Toomey, a republican of Pennsylvania, introduced in the US Senate recently.  It, of course, failed.

We have warned our readers umpteen times that the leftists are relentless in their grab and grasp for power -- and so it is with gun control.

In a television interview a few days ago, Senator Manchin said he would re-introduce the bill (or a bill similar to the original) that would require criminal and mental health background checks for gun buyers at shows and online.  He appeared convinced that once senators read the bill they will vote in support of it.

The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw this interview was:  "What was the Senator smoking?"  It is clear as a bell that once senators actually read the bill, more will refuse to support it than refused the first time around.  A NEW bill, however, might be something else, altogether.  In any event, gun owners would be wise to stay abreast of the gun control debate going on "sub-Rosa" in the Senate -- and elsewhere -- on Capitol Hill.  

It is also clear that the bill will not be introduced immediately.  Obama and his henchmen need time to beat, bash, and coerce those in the Democratic Party who had the temerity to vote against the Manchin/Toomey Bill.  They will need to be brought back in line by whatever threats -- or bribes -- are necessary.  (Remember how Obama got support for Obamacare???)

So, it is back to the barricades for gun owners in America.  Once again we must man freedom's ramparts to defend our own constitution from the very people who gave us an oath, swore on the Bible, not to do exactly what they are doing.

It is a sad day for America -- and a sad day for the world -- when Americans have to defend themselves -- and their rights -- from their very own government.

Consider this:  "According to a pair of recent polls, for the first time since the 9/11 terrorist hijackings, Americans are more fearful their government will abuse constitutional liberties than fail to keep citizens safe."  SOURCE:  http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/americans-fear-government-more-than-terror/

Even after the Boston bombings, the article goes on the say:  "the polls indicate Americans are hesitant to give up any further freedoms in exchange for increased “security.”

Look.  Even before the Declaration of Independence was written American colonists were reluctant to go against their government.  In that case it was King George and the British Parliament.  The colonists bent over backwards, at least in their own estimation, to avoid a confrontation with the crown.  But it did not work.  It never does when dealing with a tyrant and/or a despot.

Dealing with Obama, and his Marxist/Labor/Democrat Party, modern day Americans have finally arrived at the very same conclusion their ancestors did in the 1700's, which is: this far -- and NO FARTHER!   

By now we are all aware of something one of our esteemed Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin,  wrote:  “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

I'd like to take Franklin's statement a bit farther and quote Edward Gibbon:  “In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”  -- Edward Gibbon (27 April 1737  – 16 January 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament.

No matter how many times I read the quote above, I catch myself nodding my head in agreement with the sentiments of Gibbon. It is as though someone held a mirror up to all of America and in it we can clearly see our current reflection.

I invite you to re-read the Gibbon's statement above and instead of the words "Athenians" and "Athens" insert the words "Americans" and "America."  No further explanation is necessary, is it? 

Does it not send cold chills up and down your spine? 

Here's another observation by Edward Gibbons.  It was made concerning the Roman Empire but, much as the quote above, this one, too, looks as if it were actually describing modern day America: 

“The five marks of the Roman decaying culture:

Concern with displaying affluence instead of building wealth;

Obsession with sex and perversions of sex;

Art becomes freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and original;

Widening disparity between very rich and very poor;

Increased demand to live off the state.”
― Edward Gibbon
SOURCE:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/11628.Edward_Gibbon

Another quote from Gibbons comes to mind as I reflect on the under-handed way so much of our legislation is rammed through Congress these days.  It is this: “Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty.”
It would seem corruption is something we who live in a constitutional representative republic must expect -- and guard against -- incessantly.

© J. D. Longstreet

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Benghazi Lies ... Alan Caruba

Benghazi Lies

By Alan Caruba

At an April 17 session before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the new Secretary of State, John Kerry, lightly dismissed the assassination of a U.S. ambassador and three security personnel in Benghazi, Libya, saying “I don't think anybody lied to anybody. And let's find out exactly, together, what happened, because we need -- we got a lot more important things to move on to and get done.”

This has been the party line of the White House since the attack occurred on September 11, 2012. The initial response was to send out the hapless lackey, then-US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, to tell absurd lies about a video that incited the attack. Even the Libyan president dismissed that.

Operating on the belief that the longer the attack recedes into the past, the less likely it will be a political problem, the administration continues to stonewall. That’s not going to happen. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), speaking on Fox News on April 27 promised “explosive” congressional hearings regarding the Benghazi attack, saying they are “coming soon.”

 Larry Bell, a Forbes columnist, noted that “The House interim report states that ‘reductions of security levels prior to the attacks in Benghazi were approved at the highest levels of the State Department, up to and including Secretary Clinton.’”

A group, Special Operations Speaks, recently sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, raising the following questions:

Why was there no military response to the events in Benghazi?

Were military assets in the region available? If not, why not? If so, were they alerted?

Were assets deployed to any location in preparation for a rescue or recovery attempt?

Was military assistance requested by the Department of State? If so, what type?

Were any US Army/Navy/USMC assets available to support the US diplomats in Benghazi during the attack?

What, if any, recommendations for military action were made by DOD and the US Africa Command?

What, if any, non-military assistance was provided during the attack?

How many US personnel were injured in Benghazi?

Why have the survivors of the attack not been questioned?

Where are the survivors?

Who was in the White House Situation Room (WHSR) during the entire 8-hour period of the attacks, and was a senior US military officer present?

Where were Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey during the crisis, and what inputs and recommendations did they make?

Where were Tom Donilon, the National Security Advisor, Denis McDonough, his deputy, Valerie Jarrett, and John Brennan during the attacks, and what (if any) recommendations or decisions did any of them make?

Why were F-16 fighter aircraft based in Aviano, Italy (less than two hours away), never considered a viable option for disruption (if not dispersal) of the attackers until “boots on the ground” (troop support--General Dempsey’s words) arrived?

Were any strike aircraft (such as an AC-130 gunship) in the area or possibly overhead that would cause former SEAL Tyrone Woods to laser-designate his attacker’s position and call for gunship fire support, thereby revealing his own location that led to his death?

Who gave the order to “STAND DOWN” that was heard repeatedly during the attacks?

   

What threat warnings existed before the attack, and what were the DOD and DOS responses to those warnings?

What data (which will reveal exact timelines and command decisions) is contained within the various SITREPS, records, logs, videos and recordings maintained by the myriad DOD, Intelligence Community and State Department Command Centers that were monitoring the events in Benghazi as they unfolded? 

Why did the Commander-in Chief and Secretary of State never once check in during the night to find out the status of the crisis in Benghazi? 

What was the nature of Ambassador Stevens’ business in Benghazi at the time of the attack? 

What guidance has been provided to survivors and family members since the time of the attack, and who issued that guidance?

Why are so many agencies now requiring their personnel who were involved in or have access to information regarding the events that took place in Benghazi sign non-disclosure statements?

“As veterans of Special Operations, we find this deeply troubling.” All Americans should find the Benghazi attack and the total lack of response and seeming indifference to it at the highest levels of our government deeply troubling.

If it turns out that the alleged witnesses to the attack begin to turn up dead that would be especially troubling.

© Alan Caruba, 2013
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Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at "Warning Signs" and shared on dozens of news and opinion websites. His blog recently passed more than 2 million page views. If you love to read, visit his monthly report on new books at Bookviews. For information on his professional skills, Caruba Editorial Services is the place to go! You can find Alan Caruba on both Facebook and Twitter as well.

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