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
