Benghazi, Agency Scandals and Syria; The Most Perverted Shell Game Yet.

The stories of government agency corruption and the blurring of Constitutional guidelines has certainly caused a storm of consternation and outright anger in the past many weeks. It seems each day has provided us with yet one more glimpse into the seedy world of a government which has clearly lost its way, and shed even the appearance of concern for maintaining the public trust.

While the debacle in Benghazi had dominated the national media stage for a few months, it was quickly shifted to the back burner to make room for far more salacious tales starring State Department appointees and prostitution as well as a litany of stories detailing every manner of corrupt behavior.

Learning that the IRS abused its power and deliberately targeted groups with a very specific political leaning was just one more.  Certainly the American public has a right to be concerned when the single most powerful agency in government, shamelessly exerts its influence and authority against the very Americans it collects money from in order to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States".

It was as disconcerting to learn that the Department of Justice was gleaning Associated Press documents for who knows what purpose, as it was ironic that the media which has acted as a pro-bono ad agency for this Administration and its agencies, should take issue with this particular infringement on our Constitutional "Rights".

The NSA digital surveillance program really isn't news except to those who haven't been concerned about it since the last time it was discussed some 6 or 7 years ago. The fact is, that program really hasn't changed, it just happened to come to light again but this time in the midst of a list of other abuses of authority and power, levied during this seemingly teflon coated administration's second term.

There is no doubt that all of these things give reason for concern. It does however remain to be seen which, if any, of these things will be deemed to be truly illegal if not arrogantly applied.

The real problem is, these things, while troubling have served a much darker purpose and it appears that purpose is now all but accomplished; Weapons to the Syrian Rebels.

It seems just a little too convenient that all of these "scandals" should appear on the scene right in the middle of Congressional hearings to determine exactly what happened in Benghazi. And being as Congress has yet to learn how to multi-task, they have been easily side-tracked from that most important investigation to these sideshows. What this has managed to do is take the spotlight from Benghazi and away from any suggestion of Administration guilt in order to focus on what may be determined to be not much more than poor judgment in some cases and horrible supervision in others.

Since September 11, 2012, Benghazi has been a mine filled with potential evidence of wrong-headed vision, Administration malfeasance, upper echelon military incompetence, Pentagon and Administration collusion, Administration protectionism and a list of bald face lies.

Let's look back at the events just days before, during, and following the attack by members of the Al Qaida splinter group, Ansar Al Sharia on the compound in Benghazi:

1. August 30, 2012 - Jamaa Islamiya, a State Department-designated terrorist group, called for an assembly at the US Embassy in Cairo to protest the ongoing imprisonment of its spiritual leader, Sheikh Omar abdel Rahman. This story was reported by USA Today, September 12th. If a reporting agency could find this information, it stands to reason intelligence agencies were already aware of it which means, the Embassy knew of it. If the Embassy knew of it, it also follows they willfully lied having released a statement which included language blaming the home-made video in California for instigating the protest. They, and the Administration continued to lie about the motivation for this protest and the attack in Benghazi - for weeks even though it was well established not to be an element of a protest about a you tube video which only had a few hundred hits by the day of the attack.

2. September 6, 2012 - The Libyan-flagged vessel, Al-Entisar laden with weapons, docked at the Turkish port of Iskanderun, bound for the Syrian Rebels. The only active question is whether or not the Administration tasked either the CIA or other US agencies with collecting these weapons with the intent of circumventing the desire of Congress, to arm the Syrian Rebels.

3. September 11, 2012 - It has been reported that Ambassador Stevens met with Turkish Consul General Ali Sait Akin just hours before the attack. One pertinent question is why a sitting US Ambassador to a very volatile Libya whose principle office is in Tripoli, risked driving thirteen hours through "indian country" to meet with a Turkish Emissary at what seems to have been a CIA black house?

4. September 25 2012 - President Obama speaks to the UN Council, in large part to recommend a resolution which would make any speech considered blasphemous to Islam or Islam's founder, Mohammed, illegal. It is important to know that President Obama had been collaborating with the OIC for some time prior to either the unrelated protest in Cairo or the attack in Benghazi. Diana West Provided some insight within hours of the session.

It is also important to recall that the President had already announced Al Qaida, essentially, irrelevant due to the effects of policies his Administration had operated under for nearly four years. Openly declaring that Ansar Al Sharia, a known Al Qaida affiliate had attacked the compound for reasons that would seem to suggest autonomy, unit cohesion, planning and commitment would cause this President and his Administration to look just a little foolish so close to an election.

Those Congressmen who have led the investigation into the events leading up to the attack and the abysmal failure of the Administration and high ranking military Officers to provide any kind of fire support or rescue operation during this entire seven hour fight seem to have become fixated on questions which would indicate the President and his cohorts acted as they did simply to buy time and win the election.

If this is the case, they are either incredibly narrow sighted, or politically motivated, themselves. The truth is, there was no single issue which motivated the Administration to act - or rather not act to defend the American personnel in Benghazi on 11 September 2012; there were several reasons not the least of which was a need to cover any suggestion of this Administration's attempts to funnel weapons to the Syrians without public scrutiny. Another reason was the need to protect the Administration's narrative about the disposition of Al Qaida.

There was one other reason, however, that has not received as much attention as it should and this may have carried as much weight as anything else; the need to build a pool of sympathy here in the United States for the Ummah and the support it would then lend President Obama's desire to see anti-blasphemy legislation enacted in the UN.

He has made his loyalties quite clear over these past years; Islam first, US security and the lives of War Fighters, second. And this is where a great disservice is being done to our Service Members right now.

For as we speak, there is every indication that this nation is poised to supply arms and munitions to the rebels in Syria, in spite of the fact they are associated with Al Qaida; in spite of the fact they have committed attrocities with religious zeal; in spite of the fact they are almost certainly responsible for the murder and disposition of the Christians in Homs and in spite of the fact the rebels are fundamentalists and doctrinally, no different than the sitting government.

The point being, there are no good guys, once again, in this fight. For once the smoke clears, whoever lands on top will hold within their hearts the very same animosity toward the US, the West and Israel, that the vanquished holds. Once again, President Obama has proven he either doesn't understand the fundamental influence of this religion on its followers or worse, he does and is acting to support them anyway. And what makes it even worse is that nearly every single sitting member in both chambers of Congress, are acting or, not acting, out of the same ignorance.

What these latest scandals have done, is to keep Congress, the Media and most of the Public focused on lesser things while allowing a true travesty, the debacle in Benghazi fall from view.

If Benghazi falls so far out of view that Congress and the people lose their desire to find out what truly happened, it will do nothing less than vindicate this sitting President's policies and his vision of Islam and neither of these will be good for our War Fighters.

As it seems almost certain that this country is poised to deliver weapons to a known enemy of the United States, it is also then highly likely that American troops will be asked to once again shed their blood on another sand swept, Islamic landscape working within the failed paradigm of Counter Insurgency doctrine and within the parameters of an ROE that continues to take American War Fighters lives.

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard