The 'Phony Scandal' of Benghazi

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Dribble, dribble.....

(Deny, deny, deny, stonewall, call it 'phony', threaten everyone with any information within an inch of life.)

WHOOOOOOSH!

That's how these things work out, these scandals.

OS hears the distant sound of approaching waters.

The Telegraph tells the tale, since our own press are too busy assisting the Administration with its cover story.

Up to 35 CIA operatives were working in the city during the attack last September on the US CNN.

The circumstances of the attack are a subject of deep division in the US with some Congressional leaders pressing for a wide-ranging investigation into suspicions that the government has withheld details of its activities in the Libyan city. 

The television network said that a CIA team was working in an annex near the consulate on a project to supply missiles from Libyan armouries to Syrian rebels.

Sources said that more Americans were hurt in the assault spearheaded by suspected Islamic radicals than had been previously reported. CIA chiefs were actively working to ensure the real nature of its operations in the city did not get out. So only the losses suffered by the State Department in the city had been reported to Congress.

Paragraph two is the doozy. What in the name of sanity are we doing funneling arms from Libya to Syria?

'Scuze Me Miz Hilary...Could You Tell Where Those 150,000 Landmines And Crates Of Semtex Ended Up?'

It's the stuff of John LeCarre novels.

While the Obama and Cameron administrations were giving one another the 'High-Five' for helping dispatch Ghadaffi, they seem to have missed a couple of details.

Telegraph reporter Richard Spencer was led to a field outside Tripoli in September 2011, and reports...

When I read the story of Steven McFaul, the hostage from Belfast who did a runner from the jihadis in southern Algeria with a Semtex suicide belt around his neck, I was taken back to a slightly nerve-racking, sweltering afternoon spent in a field on the southern edge of Tripoli, Libya, at the beginning of September 2011.

The city had just fallen to the Libyan rebels, and journalist colleagues and I were being regularly alerted to evidence of atrocities committed by Gaddafi's elite 32nd or Khamis Brigade around their base in Salaheddin suburb. We found the bodies of a hundred men cremated in a barn, after being machine-gunned and blasted to death; decomposing bodies of other victims, hands tied behind their backs, in ditches.

Perhaps the most extraordinary find, though, was something Heathcliff O'Malley, the Telegraph photographer, two New York Times colleagues and I stumbled across almost by chance. We climbed into a field where we were told there might be a mass grave only to discover something even more startling: pile upon pile of landmines, neatly stored in their boxes. I made an initial, conservative calculation that there were 60,000 of them. I now learn that it was two and a half times that: 150,000.
We picked our way nervously through the field, into an orchard. Here there were boxes containing rubbery and plasticky blocks, their lids off and exposed to the harsh summer sun. They were clearly marked: Semtex and TNT. In a guardhouse, carelessly scattered around, were a couple of bags full of hand grenades.

Nothing was done to secure this ammo dump, or destroy it, and all that stuff that goes BOOOOM and kills people in large numbers simply...disappeared...

Now, Miz Hilary, we know you're on the way out, and you're feeling poorly, and have no interest in talking to anyone about anything, especially not the Senate about the Benghazi debacle (By the way, that was not a riot, that was an organized assault, and you and yours did nothing except watch while those poor people fought for their lives,) or much of anything else. Egypt. Syria. Libya.

But, it would be nice to know where all that stuff that goes BOOOOM and kills people in large numbers ended up. Your successor may need to know, at least.

And Now, A Word From Our Friendly Despot To The South, Mourning Ghaddafi's 'Martyrdom'

The chaotic images, with glimpses of the bloodied and dazed old man, sensing that he has run through his last ally, in the hands of those who despise him, and with just minutes to live, have flashed across the screens of the world repeatedly. It was a real-world re-enactment of the final minutes of Richard the Third, with the defeated king pleading for a horse to escape the inevitable: 'A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!' As if, by that point, he had a kingdom to grant.

Not everyone, naturally, welcomes such news. The Russians bleated a protest about the illegality of it all. They were stone silent in 1988 when Mohamar sent his agent to blow up a PanAm flight with hundreds of innocents aboard, but OS digresses...

On a hunch, OS looked up references in the Venuezuelan press to the week's events, and he was not disappointed. Chavez, Ghaddafi's home-boy, issued a vigorous condemnation of his buddy's demise, translated below by Google.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday, counter to the majority of opinions around the world, Muammar Gaddafi's death was an "outrage" to life and said the ousted leader will be remembered as a Libyan "martyr. "

Gaddafi was killed by Libyan fighters he called "rats" for injuries suffered, some apparently after his capture at the Battle of Sirte, his hometown and last bastion of support.

Chavez, who on Thursday claimed to have overcome cancer that was detected four months ago, maintained a friendly relationship with the Libyan leader characterized by his military background, leftist economic ideas, antagonistic relations with the United States and membership in OPEC.

"A Gaddafi was murdered, is an outrage is more to life (...) remember him as a fighter, a revolutionary and good, as a martyr," Chavez said in the western state of Tachira, where he went to thank a picture of Christ for his speedy recovery.

"This story is just beginning in Libya because there's a village, no dignity, rule yankee (United States) can not dominate this world," said the president.

Gaddafi was overthrown by rebel forces on 23 August, a week before the 42 th anniversary of the coup that brought him to power in 1969.

Gaddafi's death itself became perhaps the most dramatic since the riots of spring that have toppled Arab rulers in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt and threatening to the leaders of Syria and Yemen.

One has to wonder how well Hugo is sleeping these days, as he contemplates these images. He can keep the Gulfstream fueled, but there are fewer places to land with his buddy Muammar no longer available.

Thoughtful Take On Libya, The Morning After Gadaffi's Exit: Juan Cole, University of Michigan

Juan Cole is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. For three decades, he has sought to put the relationship of the West and the Muslim world in historical context. His most recent book is Engaging the Muslim World (Palgrave Macmillan, March, 2009) and he also recently authored Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

His thoughts on recent events in Libya here.

There is a lot of tin-foil-hat nonsense floating about. This seems like a level-headed, considered view of the situation.

Tripoli Is Hotting Up: France 24

This from France 24, which tends to have a good handle on Middle East news:

Explosions and gunfire rocked Tripoli on Saturday night, after days of battlefield defeats left Muammar Gaddafi’s government and troops penned ever more tightly in the besieged capital.

The scale of the unrest was unclear, but speculation was rife that Gaddafi’s 41-year rule was close to collapse.

Tripoli residents told Reuters they could hear shooting from several locations and there were anti-Gaddafi protesters in the streets. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told state television however: “All of Tripoli is safe and stable.”

This week’s rebel advances on Tripoli—Muammar Gaddafi’s last major stronghold—have transformed the war by cutting the capital off from its main road link to the outside world and putting unprecedented pressure on Gaddafi.

Two twitter feeds from appear to be reputable sources are here:

http://twitter.com/#!/JomanaCNN

http://twitter.com/#!/jessradio

Gates of Vienna has been keeping up with the refugee flood making its way from Northern Africa to Southern Europe, which has been generally overlooked in all the tizzy about Europe being, well, broke.

Chinstraps on, ya'll. If you're in the markets, the waters will be choppy. If you're in Tripoli, though, you're likely to get caught in the crossfire. Gadafi and his ilk tend to create as much chaos, and as many refugees and casualties as possible, in order to retain power and/or cover their escape to the airport with the country's gold reserves to keep them warm. Gas up that Gulfstream, Mohamar! don't fergit the bullion. Hugo Chavez may be yer home-boy, but nothing sez 'thank-yew' like about a ton of gold.

BTW, if the rebels capture the Lockerbie Bomber again (who did not, after all, die of cancer) will they ship him back to the Scots for safekeeping? Or will they quietly turn him over to the CIA? Just sayin...

The Pope Speaks Words Of Reason From The Steps Of Notre Dame: Compare and Contrast

OS, as an old-line Protestant, doesn't track the path of the Pope too closely. But today, this came across the transom, and given recent events both here and abroad, these words, delivered today in Paris, are cogent:

At the heart of the "City of Light", in front of the magnificent masterwork of French religious culture which is Notre Dame, a great court has been created in order to give fresh impetus to respectful and friendly encounter between people of differing convictions. You young people, believers and non-believers alike, have chosen to come together this evening, as you do in your daily lives, in order to meet one another and to discuss the great questions of human existence. Nowadays many people acknowledge that they are not part of any religion, yet they long for a new world, a world that is freer, more just and united, more peaceful and happy. In speaking to you tonight, I think of all the things you have to say to each other. Those of you who are non-believers challenge believers in a particular way to live in a way consistent with the faith they profess and by your rejection of any distortion of religion which would make it unworthy of man. Those of you who are believers long to tell your friends that the treasure dwelling within you is meant to be shared, it raises questions, it calls for reflection. The question of God is not a menace to society, it does not threaten a truly human life! The question of God must not be absent from the other great questions of our time.

Dear friends, you are challenged to build bridges between one another. Take advantage of this opportunity to discover, deep within your hearts and with serious arguments, the ways which lead to profound dialogue. You have so much to say to one another! Do not turn away from the challenges and issues before you!

The rest is at the link above, and are worth the time taken to read.

Now, let's take a peek at what other folks are saying and doing this weekend.

Our friends at UK Uncut have been cheerily vandalizing central London. Such nice boys and girls.

UK Uncut secret occupation revealed as Fortnum & Mason 3.30pm – UK Uncut occupy Fortnum & Mason and aim to stay for as long as possible
UK Uncut groups from across the country transofrmed banks and shops on Oxford Street into hospitals, libraries and theatres with Sam West, Josie Long and Mark Thomas performing.
UK Uncut, the anti-cuts direct action group, are currently occupying Fortnum & Mason over the tax dodge of over 40 million by its owners Whittington Investments which have a 54% stake in Associated British Foods who produce Ryvita, Kingsmill and others and own Primark. ABF have dodged over £40 million in tax. Over 500 activists congregated on Oxford Circus from the march and from Oxford Street where they had been transforming tax dodging retailers such as Vodafone, Boots and BHS where actors Sam and Timothy West performed and Soho Square where comedians Josie Long and Mark Thomas performed stand up comedy gigs.   The activists left Oxford Circus at 3:30 reaching Fortnum & Mason by 4 PM. They are vowing to stay for as long as possible in the shop where there will be music, speeches and games. 

Then, let us not forget the cheery group of Islamists who marched yesterday, calling for the imposition of Sharia law in Libya--sweet...



OS has one question: Which of these three alternatives offers us a future?

OldSouth Is Speechless, So He'll Let Peter Hitchens Speak

Words fail. OS keeps attempting to string some words together to relate what he is thinking and feeling about recent events. He just splutters and stutters and begins to curse, and his writing is bad enough as it is...

People like OS are why God created real writers, like Peter Hitchens.

Our British cousins have the same problem we have--a chief executive who decided to start a war without consulting Parliament, just because he concluded that the Libyan dictator is a VeryBadMan (which indeed, he is), and the UN sez it's ok.

Hitchens has it nailed for us all, on both sides of the pond.

Here's just a bit of it:

My test is this: If you are so keen to set Libya to rights, establish an International Brigade of like-minded persons, all so truly concerned about that country's fate, and so sure of which side is in the right, that you are prepared to be maimed or rendered limbless and disfigured in that cause, Off you go. Fly to Egypt, slip across the border and offer your services to the heroes of Benghazi.

I won't stop you. But I pay for armed forces to defend me, not to go off on righteous adventures, and soldiers likewise sign up to defend their own country, not mess around with other people's.

My case is that 'democracies' whatever they are, have enough to do at home keeping the weak from being robbed and attacked by the strong. And that war is so wicked that the only real justification for it is to defend yourself against those who would destroy, rob or subjugate you.

In the meantime, OS gets some face-time tomorrow night with his House member. He hopes he'll have his thoughts in order by that time, so he can calmly take it up with the one person locally who can actually do something about this tragic blow to Constitutional government.

The US is making war on Libya. Obama is making war on the Constitution.

A Quick Memo To TheWinnerOfTheNobelPeacePrize: If'n Yuh Gunnah Startcherself A War Bubbah

...check to make sure the other guy don't have over 140 tons of gold in his vaults in Libya.

From FT:

The international community has hit Muammer Gaddafi with a raft of sanctions and asset freezes aimed at cutting off his funding. But the embattled Libyan leader is sitting on a pot of gold.

The Libyan central bank – which is under Colonel Gaddafi’s control – holds 143.8 tonnes of gold, according to the latest data from the International Monetary Fund, although some suspect the true amount could be several tonnes higher.

That's upwards of $6.5 billion USD, which can buy your boy Gadafi boatloads of weapons, ammo, intelligence, and Black African mercenaries quite willing to slaughter people wholesale.

Add a bunch of cash from all that oil money stuffed under the proverbial mattress, and plenty of time to get everything out of sight and reach of the West, and you, Bubbah, have gotcherself a big-ass mess on your hands.

And a really really really pissed-off Congress and a bunch of former friends to boot.



Hell'sBells, Bubbah! Yo' home-boy Kucinich be raking yo ass ovah the coals with yo' own damn words! Didjew evah stop to think that all that verbiage you spouted just to get yo scurvy self elected might someday be quoted?

Enjoy Latin America--wolf down a few extra burritos while you can, MissahPrezident.

To quote that great Cuban intellectual, Ricky Ricardo: 'You gots some 'splainin' to do, Lucy!'.

A Quick Memo For Future Western Governments: A Lesson From Libya

Date: 7 March 2011

[begin memo]


Lissen-up, ya'll. Only got time to send this memo 'round once.

If'n you sell boatloads of gee-whiz-modern weapons to lunatic dictators, 'cuz ya wanna make some dough and curry their favor, remember this: The most likely target for your toys will be the civilians in that country, and you'll be left to clean up the GodAwfulHumanitarianTragedy created by those lunatic dictators, to whom you sold those boatloads of gee-whiz-modern weapons to make some dough and curry their favor.

And, no matter how much cash you make today, you'll be spending shitloads more on the cleanup of the GodAwfulHumanitarianTragedy before too long.

And you'll end up like Lady MacBeth, desperately trying to wash the blood from her hands.

Better off drilling for our own oil and gas, mining our own coal, developing our own hydro and nuke capacity. Lots cheaper, and saves millions of lives.

And, if'n you don't believe OldSouth, you can hit the BBC Live Feed here, and see fer yerself.

Shit-fahr, yall. Don't take my word fer it.

[end memo]

£100,000,000 In Lybian Currency Seized In British Waters By UK Customs

...to add to the £900,000,000 impounded before it could be shipped to Gadafi.

Score one for our cousins in the UK. Mercenaries from tribes in Chad don't take checks...

This is, and will be, a bloody and confusing mess for a long long time.

Half of Libya's oil production capacity was knocked out Friday.

France24 LiveBlog Feed From Libya

What appears to be developing is a full-blown civil war.

As much as OS's old heart aches for them all, he hopes the US has better sense than to commit any sort of ground forces to the fray. We have this terrible habit of stepping in, and finding ourselves still there some twenty years later, resented by all sides.

Humanitarian aid to succor the suffering? Certainly, in the great American tradition.

Choosing sides in a civil war? Never a good idea. It is impossible to have the wisdom to know with whom to side, especially in a culture so removed from our assumptions.

We're better off, OS drones on again, drilling-developing-consuming-selling our own oil, gas, coal and nuclear. It would save countless lives around the world, much more inexpensively than flying plane-loads of Marines into the next civil war in some tragically failed oil-exporting part of the world.

Libya: Reports Of Mutinies Within Government Ranks

This website recently set up by someone sympathetic to the Libyan insurgents--no way of judging its veracity, however.

News has reached us via email that a security battalion commander in az Zawiya was killed by a soldier in the battalion. Soldiers refused orders to shoot and the commander was determined on the implementation of the orders of Khoweildy. One of the solders stepped forwards and rendered him dead with a bullet to the head. The soldier then said: It’s better that you die rather than the victims be tens of youth.

Again, no way of knowing the truth of the tale.

However, when a country ends up with 40+ years of dictatorial rule, sooner or later, it blows sky-high.

And then the darkness descends...

Just a note for future political leadership, when they decide to get in bed with characters like Gadafi, or Mubarak, or the Iranians, or the House of Saud.