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Made in us
Fixture of Dakka






San Jose, CA

I'll let this be.

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Ho-hum)





Curb stomping in the Eye of Terror!

 Janthkin wrote:
I'll let this be.

Ah... okay then.

If there's something more, a new thread then. Plz lock it.

Live Ork, Be Ork. or D'Ork!


 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

Help me out.
We know it was terrorism
We know it was covered for the election.
Whats else is there to learn at this point?

My question is, why has justice not been done?

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
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Curb stomping in the Eye of Terror!

 Frazzled wrote:
Help me out.
We know it was terrorism
We know it was covered for the election.
Whats else is there to learn at this point?

My question is, why has justice not been done?

Because enough people don't care that 4 Americans died... don't care about being lied to during the elections, all in the name of protecting Obama's Foreign Policy credentials.

Live Ork, Be Ork. or D'Ork!


 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Leerstetten, Germany

If you spend even 10% of the time bitching and moaning about all the people that died during embassy bombings when Bush was in office then somebody might actually care about this thread. But it is pretty transparent that you and the pundits care more about this hurting Obama than the actual dead people.

That's why this thread pisses me off everytime it rises, because it is the very definition of using dead people for politics while pretending that you are mad about using dead people for politics.
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

 whembly wrote:
 Frazzled wrote:
Help me out.
We know it was terrorism
We know it was covered for the election.
Whats else is there to learn at this point?

My question is, why has justice not been done?

Because enough people don't care that 4 Americans died... don't care about being lied to during the elections, all in the name of protecting Obama's Foreign Policy credentials.


I'm just trying to understand the point of all the hearings now? Truth has been uncovered.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

That's why this thread pisses me off everytime it rises, because it is the very definition of using dead people for politics while pretending that you are mad about using dead people for politics.


On the flip side, no one has been caught, droned, or charged. There's not even a pretense about justice here. Why is that?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/02 18:07:15


-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Ho-hum)





Curb stomping in the Eye of Terror!

 d-usa wrote:
If you spend even 10% of the time bitching and moaning about all the people that died during embassy bombings when Bush was in office then somebody might actually care about this thread. But it is pretty transparent that you and the pundits care more about this hurting Obama than the actual dead people.

That's why this thread pisses me off everytime it rises, because it is the very definition of using dead people for politics while pretending that you are mad about using dead people for politics.

I already know you like to be lied to.

Besides... when those embassy bombing occurred during the Bush years... did something defend it by blaming it on a video? Did Bush send out his cronies on 5 different Sunday Show to mislead the public regarding those bombings?

Live Ork, Be Ork. or D'Ork!


 
   
Made in us
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The Great State of Texas

Lets assume you're completely correct Whembly. Thats already come out. Why are there still hearings?

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Ho-hum)





Curb stomping in the Eye of Terror!

 Frazzled wrote:
Lets assume you're completely correct Whembly. Thats already come out. Why are there still hearings?

Obviously they believe no one was held to account.

Now what that means? I don't know because we don't have a full picture of the whats and whys.

It's obviously a big government cycle, in that you try to blame everyone... which means, in the end, no one gets blamed.

Know what I mean?

Nothing will come out of this... I can only hope that in the future, this becomes a poster child of how NOT to repeat this.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/02 18:22:43


Live Ork, Be Ork. or D'Ork!


 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Leerstetten, Germany

 whembly wrote:
 d-usa wrote:
If you spend even 10% of the time bitching and moaning about all the people that died during embassy bombings when Bush was in office then somebody might actually care about this thread. But it is pretty transparent that you and the pundits care more about this hurting Obama than the actual dead people.

That's why this thread pisses me off everytime it rises, because it is the very definition of using dead people for politics while pretending that you are mad about using dead people for politics.

I already know you like to be lied to.

Besides... when those embassy bombing occurred during the Bush years... did something defend it by blaming it on a video? Did Bush send out his cronies on 5 different Sunday Show to mislead the public regarding those bombings?


Nobody have a gak during those years, that's the fething point.

You still don't give a gak about all the people that died during those attacks, so it would be nice if you could have the common decency to stop pretending like you suddenly care about dead Americans. You guys are perfectly fine with people dying on a daily basis, but if a corpse is useful politically then you guys suddenly are bleeding hearts.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/02 18:26:35


 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

You can't hold the President to account unless you impeach him, which aint going to happen for murders he didn't do or authorize. It makes him look bad. What else?

Inversely to those poopooing the event, where are the drone strikes? When we didn't go eye for eye and retaliate the terrorists increased their attacks until we had to.

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Morell just impaled himself on his sword for the Greater Good.

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Catskills in NYS

Well this thread certainly stayed true to it's name.

Homosexuality is the #1 cause of gay marriage.
 kronk wrote:
Every pizza is a personal sized pizza if you try hard enough and believe in yourself.
 sebster wrote:
Yes, indeed. What a terrible piece of cultural imperialism it is for me to say that a country shouldn't murder its own citizens
 BaronIveagh wrote:
Basically they went from a carrot and stick to a smaller carrot and flanged mace.
 
   
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 sebster wrote:
I think we need a thread on Chappaquiddick. The mainstream media has been quiet on that for too long.
I was at Martha's Vineyard when that happened. A short bridge, but no railing, and you could see the skidmarks where somebody had tried to brake.

I was a very young Grump at the time, but the memory has stuck with me in all the decades since.

As for the OP - it is in the news because the Republicans hope that it can stir up votes - they are not looking for accountability, they are looking at the election.

An attack on the US Embassy occurred in a nation that was not friendly to the US. Backed by an organization that is not friendly to the US.

Raise your hands if you are surprised.

Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?

The government of that nation have not been entirely helpful in trying to track down the guilty parties.

Anyone surprised?

Yes - we can use drones to gather intelligence, or to attack possible suspects - but there is not enough intelligence to do so in a reasonable response. Outside of the US we are constrained - and we are not currently at war with Libya.

That takes HumInt - and the agencies friendly to the US in that area do not have the influence or manpower to do a credible job.

And, hey look, Fox News is making a big deal of it.

Anyone surprised? It is not like Fox News has a known political agenda or anything....

The surprises were the size of the attacks and the organization - but, given that over one hundred and fifty people took part in the attack, they were by no means an effective series of strikes - the attackers lost far more people than they injured or killed - and while they did manage to hit two high profile targets they did so at great cost, and helped sway opinion in the area in favor of the US.

If there is one thing that we do not want to do it is antagonize a nation that is only now beginning to view the US in a positive light - by going in mob handed we would do more damage to our standing in the area than one hundred and fifty armed personnel managed to inflict.

So, we are being cautious.

We are letting the sovereign government of Libya do the bulk of the investigation. And they have made inroads - limiting the scope and power of the militias, the beginnings of separation between secular forces and religion.

The overwhelming reaction of the civilian populace of Bennghazi was to condemn the attack.

And you are wondering why we aren't sending in more attack drones?

We do not need to make more enemies.

The Auld Grump, so blow the trumpets from Mount Zion....

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/03 00:18:27


Kilkrazy wrote:When I was a young boy all my wargames were narratively based because I played with my toy soldiers and vehicles without the use of any rules.

The reason I bought rules and became a real wargamer was because I wanted a properly thought out structure to govern the action instead of just making things up as I went along.
 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






If the individual was submitting his analyst version of the situation instead of the possible "correct" version to the WH. maybe the stand down orders would not have been issued or/and additional combat support can be pass over to control to the former Seals on ground. So right now this individual who influence the description of the situation is responsible for possibly costing four Americans their lives.

Proud Member of the Infidels of OIF/OEF
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Did not fight my way up on top the food chain to become a Vegan...
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RIP Muhammad Ali.

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Pleasant Valley, Iowa

 sebster wrote:
I think we need a thread on Chappaquiddick. The mainstream media has been quiet on that for too long.


As someone who leans liberal, if I had my way Ted Kennedy would never have made another public appearance without the first question being about Mary Jo Kopechne.

Well... technically, if I had my way, he'd be in jail for at the minimum depraved indifference. But I don't always get what I want.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.

 Flinty wrote:
The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
 
   
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Curb stomping in the Eye of Terror!

 Ouze wrote:
 sebster wrote:
I think we need a thread on Chappaquiddick. The mainstream media has been quiet on that for too long.


As someone who leans liberal, if I had my way Ted Kennedy would never have made another public appearance without the first question being about Mary Jo Kopechne.

Well... technically, if I had my way, he'd be in jail for at the minimum depraved indifference. But I don't always get what I want.

Didn't he suffer from affluenza as well?

Live Ork, Be Ork. or D'Ork!


 
   
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 TheAuldGrump wrote:
I was at Martha's Vineyard when that happened. A short bridge, but no railing, and you could see the skidmarks where somebody had tried to brake.

I was a very young Grump at the time, but the memory has stuck with me in all the decades since.


Well now I feel bad about using it to make a joke. Sorry.

We do not need to make more enemies.

The Auld Grump, so blow the trumpets from Mount Zion....


Everything you wrote there sums up the issue perfectly. Thankyou for posting it.

“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”

Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something. 
   
Made in us
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My secret fortress at the base of the volcano!

 TheAuldGrump wrote:
 sebster wrote:
I think we need a thread on Chappaquiddick. The mainstream media has been quiet on that for too long.
I was at Martha's Vineyard when that happened. A short bridge, but no railing, and you could see the skidmarks where somebody had tried to brake.

I was a very young Grump at the time, but the memory has stuck with me in all the decades since.

As for the OP - it is in the news because the Republicans hope that it can stir up votes - they are not looking for accountability, they are looking at the election.

An attack on the US Embassy occurred in a nation that was not friendly to the US. Backed by an organization that is not friendly to the US.

Raise your hands if you are surprised.

Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?

The government of that nation have not been entirely helpful in trying to track down the guilty parties.

Anyone surprised?

Yes - we can use drones to gather intelligence, or to attack possible suspects - but there is not enough intelligence to do so in a reasonable response. Outside of the US we are constrained - and we are not currently at war with Libya.

That takes HumInt - and the agencies friendly to the US in that area do not have the influence or manpower to do a credible job.

And, hey look, Fox News is making a big deal of it.

Anyone surprised? It is not like Fox News has a known political agenda or anything....

The surprises were the size of the attacks and the organization - but, given that over one hundred and fifty people took part in the attack, they were by no means an effective series of strikes - the attackers lost far more people than they injured or killed - and while they did manage to hit two high profile targets they did so at great cost, and helped sway opinion in the area in favor of the US.

If there is one thing that we do not want to do it is antagonize a nation that is only now beginning to view the US in a positive light - by going in mob handed we would do more damage to our standing in the area than one hundred and fifty armed personnel managed to inflict.

So, we are being cautious.

We are letting the sovereign government of Libya do the bulk of the investigation. And they have made inroads - limiting the scope and power of the militias, the beginnings of separation between secular forces and religion.

The overwhelming reaction of the civilian populace of Bennghazi was to condemn the attack.

And you are wondering why we aren't sending in more attack drones?

We do not need to make more enemies.

The Auld Grump, so blow the trumpets from Mount Zion....


I'm exalting you for this. I'm exalting you as hard as I can. A lot of the Arab Spring countries have fallen back into their old ways, or their 'revolutions' never got off the ground properly. Unlike the lost opportunity of Egypt, or the tragedy of Syria, Libya seems to be staggering drunkenly towards getting it right. We are helping them by staying at arm's length and moving slowly and cautiously. Everything you have said is correct, Auld Grump, and you are an awesome person for saying it.

Emperor's Eagles (undergoing Chapter reorganization)
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Thousands Sons (undergoing Warband re--- wait, are any of my 40K armies playable?) 
   
Made in us
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Curb stomping in the Eye of Terror!

Nice imput Auld.

http://www.sharylattkisson.com/articles.html

This is interesting... I'll try to condense the twitter bomb she sent during this hearing:
Mike Morrel, Petraeus' former number two, admitted on Tuesday it had been the CIA, not the FBI, who deleted these references.
But today, Morell testified under oath that it was the CIA that removed “al Qaeda” and that he, personally, made other edits.

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) April 3, 2014

Morell didn’t offer this info when asked by Congress in earlier private and public appearances.

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) April 3, 2014

Then, later in Nov. 2012, Morell provided yet another account. In a meeting w/ Rep. Senators McCain (R-AZ), Graham (R-SC) and Ayotte (R-NH),

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) April 3, 2014

Morell stated that he believed it was the FBI that removed the references "to prevent compromising an ongoing criminal investigation."

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) April 3, 2014

Within hours of Morrel's statement, CIA officials "corrected" it, stating that it was their belief CIA officials had deleted the references, not the CIA.

Morrel claims this was some kind of error on his part.

But how could Morrel erroneously think the FBI was deleting references to "al Qaeda" and "terrorism" when he knew it was the CIA, and when he knew that he himself had deleted references to previous "warnings" of a coming terrorist attack?
Morell also acknowledged removing the talking points disclosure that CIA had provided “warnings” to the State Dept. prior to the attacks.

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) April 3, 2014

Morell went against his own agency on this point in defense of Secy of State Hillary Clinton’s State Department.

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) April 3, 2014

Morell said he felt the CIA was thumping its chest and unfairly heaping blame on the State Dept.

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) April 3, 2014

Here's the funny thing...if you think Morell is out of work due to all these "errors" he makes when preparing Talking Points for Susan Rice or in his Congressional testimony... he's doing aight.

Morell has now been hired by a PR firm operated primarily by former Hillary Clinton and Obama administration officials.

— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) April 3, 2014


We know he's a good team player.

Live Ork, Be Ork. or D'Ork!


 
   
Made in us
Posts with Authority






 sebster wrote:
 TheAuldGrump wrote:
I was at Martha's Vineyard when that happened. A short bridge, but no railing, and you could see the skidmarks where somebody had tried to brake.

I was a very young Grump at the time, but the memory has stuck with me in all the decades since.


Well now I feel bad about using it to make a joke. Sorry.
No harm, no foul - just that I'd been there.

And that my parents had taken me out to see the scene of the accident.

A stupid, stupid thing - drinking and driving... just dumb. He claimed that he was not operating under the influence - but no test was ever administered. No one in my family believed his claim.

Having no railing... not exactly bright, either. And the bridge angled off of the line of the road, with no markers, lights, or reflectors.

Drunk, in the dark, and not knowing where the heck the danged bridge was, while driving backwards.

But after the accident he never tried to call the police, an ambulance, any form of help - he just called friends and family. And that is where he became culpable. Drunk, in shock, and stupid. Stupid, just stupid.

Then the fluffing around because it was Ted Kennedy that had the accident, with nowhere near enough investigatory oversight of the matter.

But it is worth mentioning that Kennedy pled guilty - and did not deny the charges. But further charges were never brought. In Massachusetts, in the 1960s... the DA did not want to dig deeply. Judge Boyle gave Kennedy a slap on the wrist, then patted his hand and told him that everything would be okay, suspending the sentence.

And Ouze - reporters asked Ted Kennedy about that accident before or after every debate that he had after that night. Even into the twenty-first century. He was never allowed to forget it, nor should he have been allowed to do so. He was hounded, and deserved it.

In 1979 Roger Mudd tore him to pieces in front of a camera - accusing him to his face of lying - and Kennedy lost any chance of winning the primary against Jimmy Carter.

He kept what remained of his political career, but he had destroyed any chance of the White House that he might have had.

The bridge now has a guard rail - and all concerned are come to dust.

The Auld Grump, this story it has no moral, this story it has no end.
This story only goes to show there ain't no good in men....

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/05 00:29:27


Kilkrazy wrote:When I was a young boy all my wargames were narratively based because I played with my toy soldiers and vehicles without the use of any rules.

The reason I bought rules and became a real wargamer was because I wanted a properly thought out structure to govern the action instead of just making things up as I went along.
 
   
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MN (Currently in WY)

Breaking News!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/29/benghazi-emails-point-at-white-house/8471737/

The Emails in question?
http://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1919_production-4-17-14.pdf#page=14


Republicans say e-mails released Tuesday on the attack in Benghazi, Libya, include "the smoking gun" that shows a White House official urged that the assault on the U.S. consulate be blamed on a protest that never happened.

.....

The e-mail, sent to various officials including White House spokesman Jay Carney, said one goal was "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy."

.....

Another goal was "to reinforce the president and administration's strength and steadiness in dealing with difficult challenges."









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So they did lie.

 
   
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 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
So they did lie.

This is my shocked face.



Also, check out my history blog: Minimum Wage Historian, a fun place to check out history that often falls between the couch cushions. 
   
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Curb stomping in the Eye of Terror!

Wow... never thought there would be a smoking gun here... o.O

Ahem... so can we now agree that they lied to the public for political reasons?

Live Ork, Be Ork. or D'Ork!


 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Leerstetten, Germany

So these emails didn't change anything?

-The video thing is what they have always said at that point, which is why they went on TV and said it was related to the video thing.

And any official talking about anything is going to say "the president is doing everything he can" about anything.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 whembly wrote:
Wow... never thought there would be a smoking gun here... o.O


How in hell is there a smoking gun there?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/30 20:19:19


 
   
Made in us
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Curb stomping in the Eye of Terror!

From Sharyl Attkisson...

White House Directed Incorrect Benghazi Narrative
Newly-released emails: "Video" to blame, "not a broader failure or policy."

By Sharyl Attkisson April 29, 2014

Newly-released documents reveal direct White House involvement in steering the public narrative about the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, toward that of a spontaneous protest that never happened.

One of the operative documents, which the government had withheld from
​Congress and reporters for a year and a half, is an internal September 14,
​2012 email to White House press officials from Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s
​Assistant and Deputy National Security Advisor. (Disclosure:Ben Rhodes
​is the brother of David Rhodes, the President of CBS News, where I
was employed until March.)

In the email, Ben Rhodes lists as a “goal” the White House desire “To
​underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a
broader failure or policy.”

The email is entitled, “RE: PREP CALL with Susan, Saturday at 4:00 pm ET”
and refers to White House involvement in preparing then-U.S.Ambassador
to the U.N. Susan Rice for her upcoming appearance on Sunday television
​ network political talk shows.

The Rhodes email states that another “goal” is “To reinforce the President and Administration’s strength and steadiness in dealing with difficult challenges.”

A court compelled the release of the documents, which were heavily-redacted, to the conservative watchdog group JudicialWatch, which has sued the government over its failed Freedom of Information responses. I have also requested Benghazi-related documents under Freedom of Information law, but the government has only produced a few pages to date.

Today, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called the Rhodes email the “smoking gun” showing the “political manipulation by the White House” after the attacks.

​“The political shop at the White House took over early on,” Graham told me. “They understood it was a terrorist attack, that they had a political problem, and were going to handle it politically. They weren’t going to entertain anything other than what they wanted the public to hear.”

USA Today quotes a spokesman for the White House National Security Council reacting to the Rhodes’ email by stating that it contains general talking points on unrest spreading throughout the region in response to an offensive video, and also made clear that "our primary goals" included the safety of U.S. personnel in the field and bringing those responsible for the attacks to justice.

Since the deadly attacks on the U.S. missions in Benghazi, there have been persistent allegations that the Obama administration developed a false political narrative to downplay or hide the fact that terrorists had struck. The President had campaigned by stating that al Qaeda was “on the run,” and Republicans have argued that news of a terrorist attack eight weeks before the election could have decimated his re-election campaign. Four Americans were killed in the assaults, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

White House officials copied on the Rhodes “goal” email include Press Secretary Jay Carney, then-Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, then-White House Senior Advisor David Plouffe, then-White House Deputy Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri and Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest. Earnest has failed to respond to more than a year’s worth of my emails and phone calls in my effort to obtain official White House photographs taken the night of the Benghazi attacks. The White House photo office had told me that Earnest’s personal approval was needed for the photos to be released.

Rhodes has emerged as a key figure in the controversy but hasn’t yet been asked to provide testimony to Congress.

Changed classification?

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) told me today that the government apparently tried to keep the Rhodes email out of Congress and the public’s hands by classifying it after-the-fact.

“They retroactively changed the classification,” Chaffetz says. “That was an unclassified document and they changed it to classified.”

In the past month, the government has supplied 3,200 new Benghazi-related documents under Congressional subpoena. In some instances, Congressional members and their staff are only permitted to see the documents during certain time periods in a review room, and cannot remove them or make copies.

Chaffetz says that the State Department redacted more material on the copies provided to Congress than on those that it was forced to provide to JudicialWatch.

One of the most heavily-redacted email exchanges is entitled, “FOX News: US officials knew Libya attack was terrorism within 24 hours, sources confirm.” The Fox News article was circulated among dozens of officials including Rhodes and then-Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough but the content of their email discussion is hidden.

“Topline Points”

An internal document provided by the State Department dated Sept. 14, 2012 is titled, “Topline Points” and poses answers to a series of questions apparently in preparation for the briefing to be provided to Ambassador Rice prior to her talk show appearances. The document fails to mention terrorism, although it had been repeated throughout the early versions of the talking points, and many government officials have said that they had already concluded by that time that terrorism was to blame.

“What’s your response to the Independent story that says we have intelligence 48 hours in advance of the Benghazi attack that was ignored?” is one question posed in the briefing memo. The suggested answer: “This story is absolutely wrong. We are not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. mission was planned or imminent. We also see indications that this action was related to the video that has sparked protests in other countries.”

But the final sentence to the answer is expanded and developed in the “PREP CALL with Susan” email from Rhodes at 8:09pm on Friday, September 14, 2012. It adds the phrase “spontaneously inspired” and also refers to the attack as “demonstrations” that “evolved.”

“The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the U.S. Consulate and subsequently its annex,” reads the Friday night email from Rhodes to White House press officials.

Obama administration officials have insisted they were acting on “the best intelligence available at the time” and that they clarified the story as they got more information.

But taken as a whole, the documents and testimony revealed since the attacks support the idea that the administration’s avoidance of the word “terrorism” was a strategy rather than an accident or mistake.

White House Involvement

Relatively few documents have been provided that shed light on White House involvement in the post-Benghazi narrative. Previously, emails showed that then-deputy national security adviser Denis McDonough, on Rhodes' behalf, assigned Hillary Clinton-aide Jake Sullivan to work with Deputy Director of the C.I.A. Mike Morell to edit the talking points on Benghazi.

As the various agencies worked to edit and approve the talking points on Sept. 14, Rhodes emailed that there would be a Deputies meeting the next morning to work out the issues. "That's polite code for let's not debate this on e-mail for 18 hours," one official involved told me last year.

Multiple government officials including those in the military, State Department and C.I.A. have stated in documents or under questioning that they immediately believed the attacks, using heavy weaponry and mortar shells, were the work of terrorists. Prior to the attacks, there had been multiple warnings of al Qaeda threats in Libya and, specifically, in Benghazi.

In fact, in an early version of the government’s “talking points,” the C.I.A. stated that it had “produced numerous pieces on the threat of extremists linked to al-Qa'ida in Benghazi and eastern Libya,” and that “These noted that, since April, there have been at least five other attacks against foreign interests in Benghazi by unidentified assailants, including the June attack against the British Ambassador's convoy. We cannot rule out the individuals has previously surveilled the U.S. facilities, also contributing to the efficacy of the attacks." The administration later removed these C.I.A. disclosures about the advance warning of a threat.

Morell testified to Congress earlier this month that he, and not the White House, was responsible for making some of the most controversial revisions to the talking points, including removing the language about the advance warnings. Morell has since gone to work as counsel for Beacon Global Strategies, a strategic relations PR firm dominated by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton officials and Obama administration officials. (Disclosure: In January, Morell was hired as an analyst for CBS News where I was previously employed.)

An administration official who asked not to be identified previously told me that “spontaneous” protests was probably not the right word to use in the talking points, but that there was no intent to deceive.

​ Sen. Graham has a different view.

​“They understood it was a terrorist attack, that they had a political problem and they were going to handle it politically. They saw it as a chink in the President’s armor and they tried to repair it,” says Graham.

Live Ork, Be Ork. or D'Ork!


 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






Leerstetten, Germany

So we have:

- Zero proof that they knew it was a terrorist attack.
- Obama calling it a terrorist attack the next day
- "Talking points" that we knew existed because that is what they said on TV and no proof that they knew that it was incorrect.
- Same old people saying "they knew!"
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Ho-hum)





Curb stomping in the Eye of Terror!

 d-usa wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:
 whembly wrote:
Wow... never thought there would be a smoking gun here... o.O


How in hell is there a smoking gun there?


If this isn’t a smoking gun on Benghazi, at least on the controversy over the talking points that blamed a YouTube video rather than the terrorists who plotted and then conducted the attack, then I don't think we can ever claim anything as a smoking gun anymore.

Look at the email:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-benghazi-documents-point-white-house-misleading-talking-points/

It confirmed that this was a political response with the WH's direct involvement.

This thing shows the WH's staff sought to downplay evidence that the attack exposed fundamental errors in President Barack Obama’s foreign policy... particularly the administration's Mideast policies. Instead, the staff pushed the unverified (and eventually debunked) claim that the attack was an unpredictable riot precipitated by an anti-Islam YouTube video (Nakouli sp?).

Lemme re-emphasize:
The goal of the TV appearances, said Rhodes, is “to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, not a broader failure of policy.





Automatically Appended Next Post:
 d-usa wrote:
So we have:

- Zero proof that they knew it was a terrorist attack.
- Obama calling it a terrorist attack the next day
- "Talking points" that we knew existed because that is what they said on TV and no proof that they knew that it was incorrect.
- Same old people saying "they knew!"

I've contradicted each and every one of those D...

Keep spinning away.

To be honest... nothing will come out of this though... so, I'm *meh* about it. Blame it on EasyE for resurrecting this.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/04/30 20:37:00


Live Ork, Be Ork. or D'Ork!


 
   
Made in us
Hangin' with Gork & Mork






Is it already that time of month again?

Benghazi, the new mechanical lubricant for small power tools from Dow Chemical.

Amidst the mists and coldest frosts he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
 
   
 
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