Submitted by George Washington on 11/10/2012 15:27 -0500
The Deeper Questions Behind the Ambassador’s Murder … and the CIA Boss’ Sudden Resignation
While the GOP is attacking (and Dems defending) the Obama administration in connection with the murder of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, there is a deeper story.
Sure, it is stunning that the State Department never requested backup or that people such as Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer allege that President Obama personally watched in real time the attacks as they occurred via video feeds from drones flying over the Benghazi consulate.
But these claims only can be assessed – and the whole confusing mess only makes sense – if the deeper underlying story is first exposed.
Many Syrian Terrorists Come from Libya
The U.S. supported opposition which overthrew Libya’s Gadaffi was largely comprised of Al Qaeda terrorists.
According to a 2007 report by West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center’s center, the Libyan city of Benghazi was one of Al Qaeda’s main headquarters – and bases for sending Al Qaeda fighters into Iraq – prior to the overthrow of Gaddafi: 
Al Qaeda is now largely in control of Libya. Indeed, Al Qaeda flags were flown over the Benghazi courthouse once Gaddafi was toppled.
(Incidentally, Gaddafi was on the verge of invading Benghazi in 2011, 4 years after the West Point report cited Benghazi as a hotbed of Al Qaeda terrorists. Gaddafi claimed – rightly it turns out – that Benghazi was an Al Qaeda stronghold and a main source of the Libyan rebellion. But NATO planes stopped him, and protected Benghazi.)
CNN, the Telegraph, the Washington Times, and many other mainstream sources confirm that Al Qaeda terrorists from Libya have since flooded into Syria to fight the Assad regime.
Mainstream sources also confirm that the Syrian opposition is largely comprised of Al Qaeda terrorists. See this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this.
The U.S. has been arming the Syrian opposition since 2006. The post-Gaddafi Libyan government is also itself a top funder and arms supplier of the Syrian opposition.
The Real Story At Benghazi
This brings us to the murder of ambassador Stevens and the sudden resignation of CIA boss David Petraeus.
The Wall Street Journal, Telegraph and other sources confirm that the US consulate in Benghazi was mainly being used for a secret CIA operation.
They say that the State Department presence in Benghazi “provided diplomatic cover” for the previously hidden CIA mission.
Reuters notes that the CIA mission involved finding and repurchasing heavy weaponry looted from Libyan government arsenals.
Business Insider reports that Stevens may have been linked with Syrian terrorists:
There’s growing evidence that U.S. agents—particularly murdered ambassador Chris Stevens—were at least aware of heavy weapons moving from Libya to jihadist Syrian rebels.
In March 2011 Stevens became the official U.S. liaison to the al-Qaeda-linked Libyan opposition, working directly with Abdelhakim Belhadj of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group—a group that has now disbanded, with some fighters reportedly participating in the attack that took Stevens’ life.
In November 2011 The Telegraph reported that Belhadj, acting as head of the Tripoli Military Council, “met with Free Syrian Army [FSA] leaders in Istanbul and on the border with Turkey” in an effort by the new Libyan government to provide money and weapons to the growing insurgency in Syria.
Last month The Times of London reported that a Libyan ship “carrying the largest consignment of weapons for Syria … has docked in Turkey.” The shipment reportedly weighed 400 tons and included SA-7 surface-to-air anti-craft missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.
***
Reuters reports that Syrian rebels have been using those heavy weapons to shoot down Syrian helicopters and fighter jets.
The ship’s captain was ”a Libyan from Benghazi and the head of an organization called the Libyan National Council for Relief and Support,” which was presumably established by the new government.
That means that Ambassador Stevens had only one person—Belhadj—between himself and the Benghazi man who brought heavy weapons to Syria.
Furthermore, we know that jihadists are the best fighters in the Syrian opposition, but where did they come from?
Last week The Telegraph reported that a FSA commander called them “Libyans” when he explained that the FSA doesn’t “want these extremist people here.”
And if the new Libyan government was sending seasoned Islamic fighters and 400 tons of heavy weapons to Syria through a port in southern Turkey—a deal brokered by Stevens’ primary Libyan contact during the Libyan revolution—then the governments of Turkey and the U.S. surely knew about it.
Furthermore there was a CIA post in Benghazi, located 1.2 miles from the U.S. consulate, used as “a base for, among other things, collecting information on the proliferation of weaponry looted from Libyan government arsenals, including surface-to-air missiles” … and that its security features “were more advanced than those at rented villa where Stevens died.”
And we know that the CIA has been funneling weapons to the rebels in southern Turkey. The question is whether the CIA has been involved in handing out the heavy weapons from Libya.
In other words, ambassador Stevens may have been a key player in deploying Libyan terrorists and arms to fight the Syrian government.
Other sources also claim that the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was mainly being used as a CIA operation to ship fighters and arms to Syria.
Many have speculated that – if normal security measures weren’t taken to protect the Benghazi consulate or to rescue ambassador Stevens – it was because the CIA was trying to keep an extremely low profile to protect its cover of being a normal State Department operation.
Why Did CIA Chief David Petraeus Suddenly Resign?
CIA boss David Petraeus suddenly resigned, admitting to an affair. This could be the real explanation, given that affairs of high-level intelligence chiefs could compromise national security.
But the timing of Petraeus’ resignation becomes more interesting once one learns that that he was scheduled to testify under oath next week before power House and Senate committees regarding the Benghazi consulate.
Many speculate that it wasn’t an affair – but the desire to avoid testifying on Benghazi – which was the real reason for Petraeus’ sudden resignation.
The Big Picture
Whatever the scope of the CIA’s operation in Benghazi – and whatever the real reason for the resignation of the CIA chief – the key is our historical and ongoing foreign policy.
For decades, the U.S. has backed terrorists for geopolitical ends.
The U.S. government has been consistently planning regime change in Syria and Libya for 20 years, and dreamed of regime change – using false flag terror – for 50 years.
Obama has simply re-packaged Bush and the Neocons’ “war on terror” as a series of humanitarian wars.
And the U.S. and its allies will do anything to topple Iran … and is systematically attempting to pull the legs out from Iran’s allies as a way to isolate and weaken that country.
Americans should ask ourselves if that’s what we want …
Yojimbo says:
For those who denegrate Alex Jones: I heard about this two weeks ago, when Alex interviewed a guy named Douglas Hagman, from HomeLandSecurityUS.com. He said his sources told him that the US was sending arms through Libya to Syrian “rebels”.
He said Russia got pissed and attacked our embassy in a battle by proxy.
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11th November 2012 at 11:34 am
ASIG says:
The US Gov. has been supplying weapons to terrorist (Al-Qaeda clones) through out the MENA at the same time that they strip us of our freedoms on the pretext of protecting us from the very terrorist that they support.
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11th November 2012 at 1:44 pm
Administrator says:
Congress to investigate whether Petraeus scandal was a political cover-up
CIA Director David Petraeus revealed his affair almost immediately after the election, even though the FBI may have discovered it months ago. The timing has caused Congress to wonder if it was a political cover-up to help Obama’s campaign.
The FBI began a criminal investigation in February after discovering that Paula Broadwell, Petraeus’ 40-year-old mistress and biographer, had accessed the former four-star general’s email account. FBI officials also found harassing emails sent by Broadwell to another woman close to Petraeus. These emails, including one that referred to “sex under a desk,” sparked the FBI investigation that ultimately ended the general’s career in public service.
But although the affair was uncovered months ago, Petraeus and government officials familiar with the matter kept quiet. The renowned intelligence director disclosed his relations with Broadwell and sent the president a letter of resignation on November 7 – the day after Obama was re-elected, and one week before he was scheduled to testify before Congress about what the CIA knew about the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed an ambassador and three staffers.
The director of national intelligence, James Clapper, had allegedly been told of the Petraeus investigation on election night and subsequently urged him to resign, senior intelligence officials told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. US government officials claim that the White House and the CIA both remained uninformed of the FBI investigation until after the election.
An FBI insider told NBC News that Obama was in the dark about the affair until Wednesday.
“He made the decision to tell the White House. We handled it discretely,” the official said, emphasizing that disclosing an affair that had not breached security was not the responsibility of the FBI.
But some believe the White House knew about the affair for much longer than they claim, and Congress is looking into the matter to determine if this is a major political cover-up delayed until after the election to protect Obama’s presidency.
“The real question is, what did the president know, and when?” was the famous question from the Watergate scandal, which was repeated in the wake of Petraeus’ resignation.
“It is hard to believe the White House did not know about this prior to the election,” Frances Townsend, a former senior security official, told the Washington Times.
“What would he have told us? The resignation is incredibly convenient for the administration. Would he have revealed the CIA knew the Banghazi compound was under threat and Washington did nothing to secure it?” asked a senior Congressional staffer, as reported by the Daily Mail.
While questions over Obama’s knowledge of the scandal linger, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was distressed that she did not learn of the affair and planned resignation sooner. Petraeus had been scheduled to testify on the September 11 attack in Benghazi next week, and his resignation will have a significant impact on that hearing.
“It was like a lightning bolt,” Feinstein said. She told Fox News Sunday that she wishes she had had time to plan for the CIA director’s absence, and would have liked to have been briefed by the FBI sooner, the Associated Press reports.
Other members of Congress have also expressed their frustration with the secrecy of the investigation, which they believe should have been exposed sooner.
“The FBI should have had an obligation to tell the president,” House Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told CNN. “It just doesn’t add up.”
Congress, by law, must be informed about “significant intelligence activities or failures.” Lawmakers are wondering why the affair – which could have ties to a cyber crime and security breaches – was kept secret until the night of the election, and whether or not the White House knew about and supported the cover-up.
“There are strict rules, there is a wall, about sharing information on ongoing criminal investigations,” an unnamed government official told the Wall Street Journal.
If some speculations are accurate and Petraeus resigned as a way out of testifying about the Libya attack – in an attempt to save the Obama administration from further criticism – then he still may not get off easy. Feinstein said she may still ask Petraeus to testify at a later date to get the much-needed information the now former director may have.
“I don’t see how in the world you can find out what happened in Benghazi before, during and after the attack if General Petraeus doesn’t testify,” Graham told CBS.
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11th November 2012 at 4:33 pm
Mary Malone says:
Congress is irrelevant. Apparently Senator Feinstein didn’t get the memo.
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11th November 2012 at 5:42 pm
Stucky says:
“Congress to investigate whether Petraeus scandal was a political cover-up”
Fuck that shit. Congress couldn’t successfully investigate whether or not Ex-Lax causes the shits.
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11th November 2012 at 7:24 pm
Maddie's Mom says:
Congress are chair warmers.
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11th November 2012 at 11:10 pm
crazyivan says:
There is always a cost associated with good pussy. But if is such good pussy, why should it cost so much?
I’m thinking that it has to do with Shrodinger’s cat
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11th November 2012 at 11:26 pm
FTL says:
Jill Kelley, social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base, is mystery woman Paula Broadwell harassed via email leading to FBI probe
Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa, Fla., reportedly alerted the FBI several months ago about threatening emails she had received from Petraeus alleged mistress, biographer Paula Broadwell, a senior military official told the Associated Press.
Jill Kelley, 37, (right) is believed to be the ‘mystery woman’ who blew the lid off former CIA Director David Petraeus’ career-ending affair. She is seen here with Petraeus’ wife Holly Petraeus (left) and her husband Scott Kelley at a party.
More at: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ap-source-target-emails-petraeus-paramour-state-department-military-liaison-article-1.1200299
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11th November 2012 at 12:49 am
efarmer says:
That is an interesting dress.
EF
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11th November 2012 at 12:00 pm
Thunderbird says:
Funny how the public is intrigued by scandal and misinformation. Our tax dollars at work. At least we get something back…entertainment. Of course it doesn’t measure up to dancing with the stars and survivor.
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11th November 2012 at 12:33 pm
TeresaE says:
Does this Al Qaeda/Benghazi stuff remind anyone else of the Iran-Contra affair?
We destroy and jail American citizens for doing LESS than our own government is doing.
How we can be so filled with hubris when we wallow in such a hypocritical cesspool is completely beyond me.
My hub keeps telling me I’m just “paranoid and easily swayed by conspiracy.”
I’ve resulted to just “baa-ing” back to him. Anything beyond that is a waste of my breath and effort.
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11th November 2012 at 1:20 pm
SSS says:
“My hub keeps telling me I’m just “paranoid and easily swayed by conspiracy.” I’ve resulted to just “baa-ing” back to him. Anything beyond that is a waste of my breath and effort.”
—-TeresaE
Tell hubby that this IS a conspiracy and tell him I said so. There is no friggin way that Obama did not know MONTHS AGO that his CIA director was having an affair. An affair by Petraeus is a serious national security issue because of “pillow talk” (which translates to security leaks) and the blackmail angle, not to mention possible compromises of Petraeus’ personal security which could lead to a kidnapping or homicide attempt.
It is mandatory that the Director of the FBI inform the president of this situation immediately. Mandatory. There simply is no other option. All this translates to incredibly bad judgement by Obama, simply because he likely didn’t want to deal with firing a popular and successful general and having “another black mark” on his administration.
If FBI Director Bob Mueller had any balls, he’d resign and get the truth out there. Including the high probability that the FBI also informed Petraeus that they were aware of his indiscretions. So that’s another twist. Petraeus was probably, and I emphasize probably, aware that the FBI knew of his affair. Yet, if that’s true, and it likely is, he chose to remain as CIA director until after the election. So the question remains. Why?
It’s a conspiracy. Book it, Dan-O.
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11th November 2012 at 6:12 pm
SSS says:
FTL
Re your pic of Jill Kelley. Mama mia, atsa one spicy meatball.
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11th November 2012 at 6:47 pm
FTL says:
SSS – The Whole Family + Natalie & Jill – Two Hot Tomatoes
(L to R) Natalie Khawam (Jill Kelly’s Sister), Gen. David Petraeus, Dr. Scott Kelley, Jill Kelley and Holly Petraeus, attend the Gasparilla parade on Jan. 30. 2010, in Tampa, Fla. Jill Kelley was identified as the woman who received threatening emails from the biographer of Gen. David Petraeus, Paula Broadwell, with whom he allegedly had an affair. (AP Photo/The Tampa Bay Times, Amu Scherzer)
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11th November 2012 at 7:14 pm
SSS says:
FTL
Let’s try again. Here’s the pic.
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11th November 2012 at 8:08 pm
Administrator says:
I wonder what they did to get the beads?
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11th November 2012 at 8:11 pm
SSS says:
Damnit, Admin. It’s my job to ferret out the truth re CIA scandals, including related pics. Here, just to show one and all my total credibility in this respect.
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11th November 2012 at 8:20 pm