Thursday, January 31, 2013

UN Panel: Israeli Settlements Are Illegal

HuffPost Social Reading

un-panel-israeli-settlements-illegal_n_2589394.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=013113&utm_medium=email&utm_content=FeatureTitle&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

The Latest National Security coverage from FP

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The Rise Of America's Lunatic Fringe

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-30/rise-americas-lunatic-fringe

Editor's Note

Dear Readers
I am on business travel on Thursday, February 1. Hopefully my day
wont be so long that I can't resume posting tomorrow evening. Hopefully.
Otherwise, I will resume on Friday afternoon.
Best regards.
Michele Kearney

Congressional Research Service outline of "the Sequester"

Those trying to understand this topic may find the Congressional Research Service report,Budget “Sequestration” and Selected Program Exemptions and Special Rules helpful. It can be accessed at http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42050.pdf.

Obama is waiting for our new star

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/obama-is-waiting-for-our-new-star.premium-1.500197

Obama is waiting for our new star

Lapid could act contrary to the pundits’ expectations and demand the foreign affairs portfolio in the new government and Israel could find itself in a world that isn’t totally against it, able to work with the White House, where there’s a friend prepared to help it, if only it is ready to first help itself.

By Leon Hadar | Jan.30, 2013 |

A Quarter Of Jobs In America Pay Below The Federal Poverty Line

A Quarter Of Jobs In America Pay Below The Federal Poverty Linehttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-30/quarter-jobs-america-pay-below-federal-poverty-line

Obama Has Completely Changed How The U.S. Fights Its Wars

Obama Has Completely Changed How The U.S. Fights Its Warshttp://www.businessinsider.com/obamas-foreign-policy-and-silent-wars-2013-1?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+businessinsider+%28Business+Insider%29

The Big Easy – Sell Out Our Children, Destroy Community Space, Watch Future Generations Indebted to Wall Street and K-Street

from Dissident Voice by Paul Haeder

http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/01/the-big-easy-sell-out-our-children-destroy-community-space-watch-future-generations-indebted-to-wall-street-and-k-street/

Russia scraps law enforcement deal with US in new blow to ties

Russia scraps law enforcement deal with US in new blow to ties

Reuters ‎- 1 hour ago

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia scrapped a law enforcement agreement with the United States on Wednesday, further turning back the clock on a ...http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/30/us-russia-usa-lawenforcement-idUSBRE90T17S20130130

Exxon Mobil, BP Face Off In Iraq-Kurd Oil Conflict -- Christian Science Monitor

Exxon Mobil, BP Face Off In Iraq-Kurd Oil Conflict -- Christian Science Monitor

BP and Exxon Mobil have taken opposite sides in the escalating conflict over oil between the Iraqi central government and the Iraqi Kurds, Alic writes.

BP Plc (NYSE: BP) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) are caught on opposite sides of the front line of the oil war between the Iraqi central government and the Iraqi Kurds, with Baghdad talks with BP over a deal in disputed Kirkuk and warns Exxon about working with the Kurds.

On 28 January, the Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi again threatened to cancel Exxon’s contract in the massive West Qurna-1 oil field in southern Iraq if it refuses to stop dealing separately with the Kurds in Northern Iraq.

“We can’t allow Exxon to step over the constitution. It can’t continue to work in both places at the same time; they have to choose to work either in Iraq or in Kurdistan. We are waiting for a final answer in the coming few days,” the minister said in a statement.

Read more ....http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/0130/Exxon-Mobil-BP-face-off-in-Iraq-Kurd-oil-conflict

Israeli Jets Bomb Syrian Military Site

from zero hedge by Tyler Durden

In what was the first clear instance of aggression by Israel toward Syria, overnight Israeli jets conducted a bombing run over a military site in Syria, targeting what according to Israel was a military convoy heading to Lebanonhttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-30/israeli-jets-bomb-syrian-military-site

Obama Administration's Failure to Reform Wall Street and Investigate Fraud No matter what progressive words he wishes to say, this is 'the tell.'

Obama Administration's Failure to Reform Wall Street and Investigate Fraud http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2013/01/obama-administrations-failure-to-reform.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JessesCafeAmericain+%28Jesse%27s+Caf%C3%A9+Am%C3%A9ricain%29

More News On China's Y-20 Transport Jet

Expert: Y-20 to become turning point of transformation of PLA air force -- People's Daily
China's transport aircraft Y-20 takes first flight -- Global Times
Y-20 marks significant milestone in defense -- Global Times
China's new super cargo jet takes to the skies -- CNN
The Y-20: China Aviation Milestone Means New Power Projection -- Wall Street Journal
Chinese military plane 'boosts global reach' -- West Australian/AFP
China’s New Freight Plane Extends Military Modernization Program -- Bloomberg Businessweek
China’s Y-20 transport conducts maiden flight -- Flight Global
China’s Giant Transport Plane Takes Flight -- Danger Room
In Communist China, Even the Cargo Jets Are Knock-offs -- Gizmodo

China Unveils Military Plane That Boosts Global Reach -- Defense News

China Unveils Military Plane That Boosts Global Reach -- Defense News

BEIJING — China’s new heavy-lift transport aircraft and a successful missile interception test are key steps in expanding the strength and reach of China’s armed forces, analysts and state media said Jan. 28.

The Y-20, China’s biggest home-produced military transport jet to date, took to the skies for its maiden flight Jan. 26 in the northwest of the country, just months after Beijing’s first aircraft carrier entered service. Pictures showed the bulky green plane — an aircraft that will enable China to project military power across vast distances — soaring into a clear blue sky.

Read more ....http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130128/DEFREG03/301280004/-1/7daysarchives/China-Unveils-Military-Plane-Boosts-Global-Reach

A Look At China's Military Weapons - India TV

A Look At China's Military Weapons -- India TV

New Delhi: In a single generation, China has transformed itself from a largely agrarian country into a global manufacturing and trading powerhouse.
China’s economy is 20 times bigger than it was two decades ago and is on track to surpass the United States’ as the world’s largest. But perhaps most startling has been the growth of China’s ambitious and increasingly powerful military.

Just 10 years ago, the budget for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was roughly $20 billion. Today, that number is more like $100 billion.

Read more ....http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/world/a-look-at-china-s-military-weapons--10420.html

Strength for your week: The source of all our goodness is not ourselves

Strength for your week:
The source of all our goodness is not ourselves

Contemplation overflows into our lives, bringing us a new sense of response-ability. We learn from prayer and also from theology that God initiates all movement toward good in our lives. Through contemplation we become more and more sensitive to these inner movements. We begin to recognize more clearly where the Spirit of God is present and where the Spirit is absent. Contemplation fine-tunes our awareness so that the Spirit’s presence becomes more and more radiant. The choice to respond to the Spirit is always in our hands.
We can refuse; we can feign ignorance; we can choose to be deaf. This deliberate nonresponsiveness to the Spirit is the clearest way to grasp the nature of sin in our daily lives. Our refusals often lead to actions that violate the law of God and communion with his people, as well as our vocation to love and service. This nonresponsiveness penetrates the marrow of our days more completely than does the vague list of sins we may look over before confession. Perhaps the drop we have seen in the reception of the sacrament of Penance is precisely because our sense of the Spirit’s direction in our lives has weakened. We can also freely choose to respond to the Spirit’s gentle voice.
Attunement to the Spirit
Contemplation—the sacred space in which we become attuned to the voice of the Spirit of God—reveals to us our total dependence on God. The source of all our goodness is not ourselves, our willpower to do good, or our strength based on our health. We wait upon the Spirit.
1. Make a list of your daily activities. Choose a day, and as you go through each activity, observe whether you are aware of being led by the Spirit.

Do you start the day with a time of silent contemplation, however short?
Do you stop to offer a prayer before making a decision?
Is time spent in the car driving from place to place simply a mindless exercise, or are you aware of soaking in the Spirit’s peace?
Do you sense God with you and in you as you begin an activity? Have you discovered God as the source of all your activity? Are there some activities in which you feel this and others in which you don’t? Try for a few days to notice your awareness of the Spirit’s presence and activity.

2. For a week, try starting each day with a five-minute period of contemplation. If you are very busy, do it while you’re drinking coffee, or get up five minutes earlier. Open yourself to the Spirit and ask for guidance during the day.

3. Choose two activities of a typical day in which you especially wish to follow the Spirit’s lead. Picture yourself doing the activity. Curiously ponder: what could be different about this activity? What are various new approaches you could take? What do you need in order to be different when accomplishing this work? Be specific. Ask the Spirit to come into that activity with you, in you, and through you. At the end of each day review those two activities, and see if you were aware of the Spirit’s presence and where the Spirit was leading.

Excerpted from Beginning Contemplative Prayer
by Kathryn J. Hermes, FSP

US pension fund eyes sale of oil holdings

US pension fund eyes sale of oil holdings
A US pension fund with nearly $2bn in assets is considering selling its holdings in some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies because of the threat posed by climate change.
In what investor advocacy groups say would be the first divestment of its kind, the Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System is to discuss on Thursday a request from Mike McGinn, the city’s mayor, to sell out of companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron.
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/XB06LW/M9QF42/2OPEWF/1OW3GS/82/h?a1=2013&a2=1&a3=30

Chart of the Day: The Jaw-Droping Decline in Military Spending That Clubbed GDP

CHART OF THE DAY: The Jaw-Dropping Decline In Military Spending That Clubbed GDP

from Clusterstock by Joe Weisenthal

Why did GDP decline?
Simple, because of a massive decline in military spending that's associated with war drawdown (not sequester/budget cuts).
Here's the chart that shows that this quarter's military spending collapsed in a way that it hasn't done in a decade. It shows the sequential change in defense consumption, and as you can see it fell by over $40 billion from the previous quarter.
For more on today's GDP report, see here >http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-military-spending-decline-2013-1?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+clusterstock+%28ClusterStock%29

Putting Bibi and Barack on the Couch

Why There's Little Hope of Better Relationship Between Leaders

Chuck Hagel and the American Empire

Wednesday, 30 January 2013 00:00 By Mike Lofgren, Truthout | Op-Ed

Hagel's legislative record belies his potential role as bit player on the stage of the American empire, unlikely to wield the kind of influence suggested by the controversy over his nomination.
Ideological elements of both the Left and the Right have inflated the nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense to symbolize far more than he can possibly achieve in office, good or bad. The controversy over his nomination is based on a handful of his comments and valedictory Senate addresses. His actual legislative record is a lot thinner. From my time as a Senate staffer, I do not remember any significant legislation he was personally responsible for, nor did he involve himself to any great extent in floor debates on authorization or appropriation bills having to do with national security.
His supposedly inflammatory statements on Iraq, in particular, are after-the-fact criticisms of Bush administration policy that belie his actual legislative behavior when it counted. In October 2002, after the debate on the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq
, he dutifully lined up to vote in its favor like all but one of his GOP colleagues. Perhaps Hagel felt the Bush administration had deceived him with faked evidence, as many another Senator has claimed thereafter. But as the casualties piled up, he was not quick to join critics of the war - at least not until March 2007, four years after the invasion, when Hagel supported legislation to begin withdrawing from Iraq in 120 days. That was already after the 2006 electoral debacle for the GOP, and at the point when most thinking people had long since sought an exit strategy. He also voted for the Patriot Act that progressives and libertarians alike abhor, and for the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts which, along with the Iraq war, have left us in our present fiscal hole.http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/14235-chuck-hagel-and-the-american-empire

U.S. Economy Shrinks For The First Time Since The Recession Ended

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/us-economy-shrinks-gdp_n_2580897.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=013013&utm_medium=email&utm_content=FeatureTitle&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

Cool US Reception to French Sahara Success William Pfaff

Cool US Reception to French Sahara Success

William Pfaff

http://www.williampfaff.com/article.php?storyid=610

Jamestown Exchanges Views with Belarusian Government Leaders

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 30, 2013

Contact: Matthew Czekaj

pubs@jamestown.org

202.483.8888

Jamestown Exchanges Views with Belarusian Government Leaders

Last week The Jamestown Foundation led a small group of analysts on a three-day visit to Minsk, Belarus. Headed by Jamestown President Glen E. Howard, the group included Jamestown analysts Vladimir Socor and Grigory Ioffe, as well as Janusz Bugajski, a long-standing Washington expert on Eastern Europe. The Jamestown Foundation initiated this fact-finding trip to learn more about the current state of US-Belarus, EU-Belarus, and Belarus-Russia relations.

As one of the Western world's leading research and analysis organizations on Eastern Europe and Eurasia, The Jamestown Foundation frequently conducts fact-finding visits to the countries we cover. Our analysts regularly write about Belarus in Jamestown's flagship publication, Eurasia Daily Monitor, which is circulated to policymakers and analysts around the world. During our Minsk visit, Jamestown met with President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey, and other senior officials. The group presented a compendium of analyses on Belarus by Jamestown analysts, which may be accessed here:

http://www.jamestown.org/programs/recentreports/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=40384&tx_ttnews[backPid]=63&cHash=65aa3b7d9698d50939357c2823f0728a

During the visit, Jamestown also met with diplomats of the European Union- and NATO-member countries stationed in Minsk, as well as members of the Polish community in Lida.

The Jamestown delegation received a comprehensive briefing from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, and Railway authorities, concerning the role of Belarus in the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), which supplies American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The route runs from the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda, via Belarus, and onward to Afghanistan. In the past year the volume of goods and supplies that transit via the Belarus route of NDN has doubled. Belarus is set to play a growing role in the reverse transit when the U.S. and NATO forces exit from Afghanistan in 2014. It should be noted that Belarus has undertaken such cooperation with the United States and NATO at a time when it is under Western sanctions.

Founded in 1984, The Jamestown Foundation is an independent, non-partisan research institution dedicated to providing timely information concerning critical political and strategic developments in China, Russia, Eurasia and the world of terrorism. Jamestown produces three periodic publications: Eurasia Daily Monitor, Terrorism Monitor and China Brief. Jamestown research and analysis is available to the public free of charge via Jamestown's website, www.jamestown.org.

The Latest National Security coverage from FP 1/30

The Latest National Security coverage from FP

Suspected: Iranian Arms Shipment Intercepted, Bound for Yemeni Insurgents

Suspected: Iranian Arms Shipment Intercepted, Bound for Yemeni Insurgents
http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/suspected-iranian-arms-shipment-intercepted-bound-for-yemeni-insurgents/

Yemeni forces intercepted a ship on January 23 carrying a large cache of weapons
- including surface-to-air missiles - that U.S. officials suspect were being
smuggled from Iran and destined for Yemeni insurgents, officials said on
Monday.

Yemen's government said the arms intercepted aboard the ship off the country's
coast also included military grade explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and
[...]

U.S. Cyber Command Tapping Hacker Community for Talent

U.S. Cyber Command Tapping Hacker Community for Talent
http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/u-s-cyber-command-tapping-hacker-community-for-talent/

Faced with growing fears of potentially crippling cyber attacks and not enough
skilled technicians to combat the threat, the Defense Department has launched a
massive recruitment drive that's tapping an unlikely group: computer hackers.

The Pentagon plans to dramatically boost the ranks of U.S. cybersecurity
forces, expanding its number of cyber warriors more than five-fold, the
Washington [...]

Treasury Dept. Approved Huge Raises for Bailed out Firms

Treasury Dept. Approved Huge Raises for Bailed out Firms
http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/treasury-dept-approved-huge-raises-for-bailed-out-fims/

The Treasury Department approved “excessive” salaries for executives at a
number of financial firms last year that received taxpayer funds as part of the
2008 economic bailout of Wall Street.

The news comes in a report authored by the Special Inspector General for the
Troubled Asset Relief Program, which said that “Treasury approved all 18
requests [...]

Another "Gun Fire" Military Drill Reported in Houston

Another "Gun Fire" Military Drill Reported in Houston
http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/another-gun-fire-military-drill-reported-in-houston/

This is Just like the Live fire drill that occurred in Miami a couple of days
ago...
The sight of Army helicopters and the sound of gunfire created a lot of concern
Monday afternoon in one Houston neighborhood.

We received a lot of phones calls, Tweets and Facebook posts from worried
neighbors, wondering what was going on.

The Latest from FP 1/30

The Latest from FP

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Declines

29 Jan. 2013

New York, January 29, 2013…The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index^®, which had declined in December, fell further in January. The Index now stands at 58.6 (1985=100), down from 66.7 in December. The Expectations Index declined to 59.5 from 68.1. The Present Situation Index decreased to 57.3 from 64.6 last month.http://www.conference-board.org/data/consumerconfidence.cfm

Iran on the Offensive

Yves here. This post may seem a smidge wide of usual NC fare, but it caught my attention because it discussed electromagnetic pulse weapons. I’ve frankly been stunned at how little discussion there has been of then up to now. Anyone who has read Cryptonomicon, or merely has gotten a magnet too close to a computer is familiar with the concept: magnetic fields fry chips, and it is possible to create a device that can send a magnetic pulse over a distance. The technical details are way over my pay grade, but my understanding is that it would not be hard to construct an inexpensive device that could do a lot of damage to electronic infrastructure, which is a major point of vulnerability. If you think America is in a fraught position thanks to the Chinese stranglehold over rare earths, which enables them to dictate who gets first dibs on certain types of chips and advanced electronic components, think of what might happen in the wake of an EMP attack. I suspect they only reason this sort of threat hasn’t been the focus of a major action movie is that Hollywood is afraid of getting on the wrong side of the military-industrial complex.
By James Stafford, editor of OilPrice. Cross posted from OilPricehttp://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/01/iran-on-the-offensive.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

CFR Update: Envoy Decries Syria's 'Horros' 1/30

Daily News Brief
January 30, 2013

Top of the Agenda: Envoy Decries Syria's 'Horrors'

International uproar heightened on Tuesday as the bodies of more than seventy Syrian men and teenagers were found on the banks of a river (BBC)

in Aleppo's rebel-held western district, with indications they were executed summarily. U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, whose tenure ends in February, criticized (al-Arabiya) the UN Security Council's Geneva Declaration for being too vague, saying the conflict has reached "unprecedented levels of horror." More than $1.1 billion has been pledged to aid civilians in the conflict that has so far seen 700,000 refugees (Reuters) flee to neighboring countries.

Analysis

"Moscow, then, ultimately sees the West and Russia as having similar interests in preserving the status quo in Syria

. Sadly, it has been the pusillanimous Western—and especially American—reaction to the popular uprising against the Assad regime that has contributed to this Russian misperception," writes Mark Katz for Syria Deeply.

"Washington had gone wobbly on chemical weapons. With the deterrent value of the president's remarks in question – and one unconfirmed report that Syria used a chemical agent in Homs on December 23 – the chemical specter remains. This raises the key question:

Would Obama really stand by if the Syrian government gassed thousands of its citizens?" writes Bennett Ramberg for Reuters.

"In some ways, Washington's overt – and covert – support for the rebels is playing into President Bashar al-Assad's hands, allowing him to claim

he is fighting foreign intervention rather than domestic dissent, while also giving him space to fight back as brutally as he wants with no immediate threat of military involvement by the US, NATO, or other western powers," writes al-Jazeera.

A Cold War Idea Respawned

By Sumit Ganguly

http://thediplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2013/01/30/a-cold-war-idea-respawned/

US economy shrinks 0.1% in fourth quarter

US economy shrinks 0.1% in fourth quarter
The US economy shrank at an annualised rate of 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012 as fiscal cliff concerns weighed on business investment.

But much of the fall was due to a big reversal in business inventories – which knocked 1.3 percentage points off growth – suggesting that the underlying economy remains stuck on a feeble growth path of around 1-2 per cent.
http://link.ft.com/r/XYEWFF/7ZWMVQ/40OA1R/2OPE4W/B4J8O5/OS/h?a1=2013&a2=1&a3=30

Nikrad: Treasury Identifies Billions in Waste

http://www.rollcall.com/news/nikrad_treasury_identifies_billions_in_waste-222009-1.html?ET=rollcall:e15054:132044a:&st=email&pos=eam

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Guest Post: You Know You're Not Living In A Free Country When...

from zero hedge by Tyler Durden

Via Simon Black of Sovereign Man blog,
You know you’re no longer living in a free country when the government tells you what you can and cannot put in your body. Or when an unelected board of bureaucrats and corporate insiders can confiscate the assets of hardworking small business owners.
Yet these have become par for the course in the Land of the Free.http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-29/guest-post-you-know-youre-not-living-free-country-when

Erskine Bowles: National Debt Threatens U. S. Innovation

from Forbes Real Time by Henry Doss, Contributor

"The US Debt is the single biggest threat I see to innovation in American business." -- Erskine Bowleshttp://www.forbes.com/sites/henrydoss/2013/01/29/erskine-bowles-national-debt-threatens-u-s-innovation/

Mongolia’s Economic Boom

from The Diplomat by diplomat_admin

Mongolia enters 2013 as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, with forecasters predicting GDP growth of 18-20 percent. Driven by a boom in mining revenues, the impact of this growth is clearly visible in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar, where expensive office high rises, modern apartment buildings, and luxury stores are now common sights. While the capital’s elite and wealthy are enjoying the benefits of this boom, more than half of the city’s 1.2 million still live without access to even basic public services in the “ger” areas that are spread around the city.http://thediplomat.com/2013/01/30/the-monglias-economic-boom/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+the-diplomat+%28The+Diplomat+RSS%29

US debt headed toward 200 percent of GDP even after 'fiscal cliff' deal

US debt headed toward 200 percent of GDP even after 'fiscal cliff' deal
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/economy/279857-report-fiscal-outlook-not-improved-by-debt-deal#ixzz2JOAYHF2u

Google unveils detailed N. Korea map... with gulags

Google unveils detailed N. Korea map... with gulags
Weeks after its chairman Eric Schmidt's secretive visit to North Korea, Google has rolled out a detailed map of the isolated state that even labels some of its remote and infamous gulags. http://phys.org/news/2013-01-google-unveils-korea-gulags.html#nwlt

Hagel Is Under Attack for Having Views on Nuclear Weapons That Have Been Mainstream Since Reagan

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/hagel-is-under-attack-for-having-views-on-nuclear-weapons-that-have-been-mainstream-since-reagan/272597/

Why Are Domestic Workers Ignored in Immigration Reform?

Why Are Domestic Workers Ignored in Immigration Reform?
BRYCE COVERT | They perform backbreaking work for low pay just like agricultural workers. Where's their fast track? http://www.thenation.com/blog/172499/why-are-domestic-workers-ignored-immigration-reform?rel=emailNation%22

Rob DuBois, author of Powerful Peace: A Navy SEAL's Lessons on Peace from a Lifetime at War talks with Derek Leebaert on counter-terrorism, COIN, cultural competence , Iraq & Afghanistan

Rob DuBois, author of Powerful Peace: A Navy SEAL's Lessons on Peace from a Lifetime at War talks with Derek Leebaert on counter-terrorism, COIN, cultural competence , Iraq & Afghanistan

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/powerfulpeace/2013/01/29/powerful-peace-with-derek-leebaert-on-counter-terrorism

Veronique de Rugy: Living Eisenhower's nightmare

http://washingtonexaminer.com/veronique-de-rugy-living-eisenhowers-nightmare/article/2519601#disqus_thread

Sen. Paul and Rep. Duncan Issue Dear Colleague Letter Calling for Congressional Investigation of Benghazi Attack

5:21 PM (19 minutes ago)

United States Congress

Sen. Paul and Rep. Duncan Issue Dear Colleague Letter Calling for Congressional Investigation of Benghazi Attack

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) issued a Dear Colleague letter to members of House and Senate leadership requesting immediate action from both chambers of Congress to fully investigate the facts surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Below is the text of that letter.

***

January 29, 2013

The Honorable Harry Reid

Senate Majority Leader

522 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable John Boehner

Speaker of the House

H-232, U.S. Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Mitch McConnell

Senate Minority Leader

317 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington DC 20510

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

House Democratic Leader

H-204, U.S. Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Reid, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Boehner, and Ms. Pelosi:

            We write to respectfully urge immediate action from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to fully investigate the facts surrounding the terrorist attack against the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

            The FBI has led an ongoing criminal investigation into the events in Benghazi, relying on cooperation from local and national police in Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt. Incredibly, this investigation has proceeded very slowly with the FBI only reaching the scene of attack weeks afterwards due to the Libyan government’s lack of approval. The FBI has also been conducting its investigation in Tripoli – more than 500 miles from the scene of attack. Worsening the situation, the Tunisian authorities recently released Ali Ani al-Harzi, the only suspect in the attack to have been taken into custody. To-date, the U.S. Government has yet to bring to justice any of the terrorists responsible for the attack in Benghazi.

            On December 30, 2012, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) released a report on the Benghazi terrorist attacks entitled, Flashing Red: A Special Report on the Terrorist Attack in Benghazi. Among its findings, it stated that “the State Department failed to take adequate steps to fill the resulting security gap, or to invest in upgrading the Libyan security forces” and that “the Department of State did not adequately respond to security requests from its personnel in Benghazi.”

            Last week, Secretary Hillary Clinton testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee on the finding of the Accountability Review Board’s (ARB) report on the attacks and on the State Department’s performance leading up to, during, and following the attack. The ARB found that “systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.”

            In a CNN interview last October, Secretary Clinton stated, “I take responsibility [for the security of American diplomatic outposts]. I’m in charge of the State Department’s 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts.” Yet, Secretary Clinton was not interviewed by the ARB, and she has chosen not to relieve those responsible for gross negligence in the State Department from their posts. Instead, these individuals have only been placed on administrative leave, and they continue receiving paychecks from the American taxpayers.



The Administration’s explanation to the American people about what occurred in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 reveal stunning discrepancies between the falsehood that was propagated for weeks on end by Ambassador Susan Rice that the attack was “spontaneous,” the outcome of a protest “spun out of control” and the truth validated in the ARB that “the Board concluded that there was no protest prior to the attacks.” The American people do not take lightly to being misled about what really happened in Benghazi, and we believe that those decision-makers responsible for such action should be held accountable.

            Further, we find Secretary Clinton’s attempts to shift the blame for the State Department’s mismanagement and poor leadership to a lack of funding from the U.S. Congress extremely troubling. Secretary Clinton’s own Deputy Assistant Secretary Charlene Lamb testified to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on October 10, 2012 that budgetary considerations played no role in the State Department’s refusal to send additional security personnel to Benghazi.

            This is not a money problem – it is a leadership and management problem entrenched within the State Department. Last year, instead of ensuring that Americans in high-risk areas had adequate security, the State Department and USAID spent $322,000 to build dog kennels in Iraq, $750,000 to restore a sixteenth-century tomb complex in India, $700,000 to conserve ruins in Tanzania, and $20 million to spark “private sector competitiveness” in Ethiopia. While some of these programs may support U.S. interests in some capacity, shouldn’t the State Department consider the lives of American diplomats more valuable when prioritizing funding?

            On May 7, 2012, the State Department denied a request by a group of Special Forces assigned to protect the U.S. consulate in Libya to continue their use of a DC-3 airplane for security operations. Yet four days later, the State Department authorized the U.S. embassy in Vienna to purchase a $108,000 electric vehicle charging station for the embassy Chevrolet Volts as part of the “Energy Efficiency Sweep of Europe” initiative. We find that these priorities in expenditures in light of the deteriorating security environment in Benghazi a matter that requires full accountability by those responsible.

            We believe that the U.S. Congress has a responsibility to the American people to conduct appropriate oversight over this issue. We are not satisfied by the testimony given by Secretary Clinton last week, nor do we believe the complete picture was given by the ARB.

            In light of all of this, we feel there is a compelling reason for Congress to open its own investigation into what happened in Benghazi.

            We appreciate your timely consideration of this matter.

                                                            Sincerely,

            Senator Rand Paul, M.D.                                            Jeff Duncan (SC-03)

            United States Senator                                                 Member of Congress

###

__

Moira Bagley

Communications Director

Sen. Rand Paul

_______________________________________________

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Thursday, January 31, 2013

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