(Reuters) – A suicide car bomber killed four Iraqis and wounded 11 others close to an entrance to Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, where several Western embassies are located, three police sources said on Monday.
The central area, known officially as the International Zone, houses diplomatic missions including the U.S. embassy.
The blast was near Baghdad’s July 14th suspension bridge which leads into the zone. Two of the four killed were soldiers, the sources said.
“Cars were lining up waiting to be searched at the checkpoint that leads to the Green Zone and suddenly a speeding car exploded nearby,” said one police source whose patrol was stationed near the scene of the attack scene.
If we would have just stayed out of that Country, none of this would be going on. But, lessons are not always learned the proper way. I am sure the Wilsonian Conservative crowd will try and tie this one to Obama too; like they have done all the rest of this stuff. Should be interesting.
The killings of the US ambassador to Libya and three of his staff were likely to have been the result of a serious and continuing security breach, The Independent can reveal.
American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential.
The US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the “safe house” in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed “safe”.
Some of the missing papers from the consulate are said to list names of Libyans who are working with Americans, putting them potentially at risk from extremist groups, while some of the other documents are said to relate to oil contracts.
According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and “lockdown”, under which movement is severely restricted.
Of course, the Obama Administration is in denial mode, via The Politico:
The Obama administration is flatly denying a blaring British newspaper report that the U.S. diplomats in Libya were killed as a result of a “continuing security breach,” and that “credible information” about possible attacks had been ignored.
A U.S. official told POLITICO: “There’s no intelligence indicating that the attack in Benghazi was premeditated.”
[…]
Shawn Turner, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, emailed: “This is absolutely wrong. We are not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent.”
Of course, the Independent story didn’t say that the Obama administration had “actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent.” It said that “the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted,” but did nothing to step up security. The administration’s denial does not contradict the Independent’s statement, and the fact that the denial is phrased so narrowly suggests that the Independent’s report is, in fact, accurate.
[…]
So the Obama administration is already in cover-up mode. Note how willing administration spokesmen are to take absurd positions, secure in the knowledge that reporters will help them with their cover-up.
I can tell you this; the fallout from this is going to be great. I believe this little incident right here and the fact that embassy works were unguarded like this will be amplified during this election cycle and it might just cost Barack Obama the election. I realize Romney might not have handled the situation the greatest. But this here is nothing more than a dereliction of duty.
For once, I actually agree with Sarah Palin. I also agree with the fact that this bogus movie was not the cause of these attacks. These attacks were pre-planned and this movie just happened to be out there and it was used, by these terrorists, as a cover for their actions. The sad fact folks is this, the United States of America and more broadly; The West is involved in a Religious War, between Christianity and Islam. The people over at Gates of Vienna, Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch, and Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs, and others have been covering this for a very long time. The sad truth is that those who point to these sites and just dismiss them as hatemongers are just willfully blind to the danger that Islam is for this Country. The Nation should have realized this after 9/11, but because we had a President who wanted to remain Islam-friendly; the truth was ignored.
Furthermore, as a Christian, allow me to say this; Islam is an intolerant Religion and should be totally outlawed in America. There are extremist Christians in America, there is no denying that. But the last time, I checked, they were not as well funded as these people are. (and before anybody mentions him, Timothy McVeigh was not a Christian! Nor was he well-funded…) This is not a Religion anyways, it is a political philosophy, intermingled with a fascist religion and should be eliminated from this Country. If you are offended at this, tough crap; because the facts are that there is no such thing as peaceful Muslim. There are Muslims who choose to fight Jihad, and there are those who refrain from it. Because of this, America will never be safe at all. Call me a bigot, call me a hater, call me an A-hole; I really do not care. But America is going to learn this lesson of what Islam really is, one way or another. It really is too bad that more people are going to have to die, before the United States Government gets a clue and finally wakes up to this threat.
As a compassionate human being, I hate to think that people would actually be so ate up with their religion that they would act in this manner. However, as a realist; I have to go with my gut feelings and with what I see and all I see is this that is happening.
The sick part is, the way this Nation is headed at the moment, we will most like be too darned broke to even deal with the situation much less even fight it. It is a depressing state of affairs, which is why I try to avoid writing about it, because it just makes me sad and depressed to watch it all happen.
There is my statement, quote me, if you wish. Please, just be aware of this here. Thanks.
I remember seeing this news breaking early this morning, before I finally drifted off to sleep. I remember thinking to myself, “oh crap…” and thinking, here we go again, another situation in the middle east.
Meanwhile, an couple of Americans are dead today. Their bodies being drug through the streets in some God-forsaken Country. What does our President do? Act like some aloof jackass, who cannot be bothered with the situation. As for Romney, he takes advantage of the Situation and points out that this President’s foreign policy has been a utter failure. In response, the media tries to portray Mitt Romney as not ready for Prime time. A typical tactic that was used on John McCain as well. Not to mention the fact that the media is coordinating to try to tear down Romney in this election.
I could sit here and yowl on about this shows that America and Judeo-Christian Values are under attack by Islam and Muslims. However, I believe most of you, that read this blog already know this. Whatever the cause of these American Embassies being attacked, it is a tragic thing.
However, as a Non-Wilsonian Conservative, allow me to float this idea. Could this be a piece of living, in color, proof that the United States of America ought to just withdraw from these Countries and not have American Embassies in those Country? Perhaps that this is one of the signs that America needs to stop kowtowing down to the United Nations and stop trying to be the world’s policeman. Perhaps we should stop getting involved in the affairs of other Nations. Perhaps we should being to restrict our immigration polices more and stop allowing a free flow of Muslims into this Country.
Perhaps we as a Nation need to take a second look at the practice of Islam and how it is intolerant to other Religion and to criticism; and possibly pass laws banning the Religion in this Country, on grounds it is threat to Nation security. After all, this attack happened one day after the 11 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks in NYC and at the Pentagon, and Shakesville, Pa.
Again, is it wrong to ask such questions? I am not hating on any religion of any sort. I am looking at the protection of our Republic and all I really know, is that foreign citizens have killed Americans working abroad; this is unacceptable and something needs to be done. However, with the current leadership in the White House, nothing will be done, at all. Yes, I know, Military has been dispatched; at this point, that is nothing more than window dressing and buttocks covering by the White House. The truth is, that once again, leadership in the White House has failed us.
This is why we must vote differently, come November.
This remarkable CIA mea culpa, just declassified this summer and published here for the first time, describes the U.S. intelligence failure on Iraq’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction as the consequence of “analytic liabilities” and predispositions that kept analysts from seeing the issue “through an Iraqi prism.” The key findings presented in the first page-and-a-half (the only part most policymakers would read) are released almost in full, while the body of the document looks more like Swiss cheese from the many redactions of codewords, sources, and intelligence reports that remain classified even today, seven years after the Iraq Survey Group reported to the Director of Central Intelligence how wrong the prewar assessments had been. The key findings do not contain the most striking sentences; instead, these are tucked into the tail-end of the document. For example, on page 14, the assessment reports, “Given Iraq’s extensive history of deception and only small changes in outward behavior, analysts did not spend adequate time examining the premise that the Iraqis had undergone a change in their behavior, and that what Iraq was saying by the end of 1995 was, for the most part, accurate.” On page 16, going even further, the assessment says, “Analysts tended to focus on what was most important to us — the hunt for WMD — and less on what would be most important for a paranoid dictatorship to protect. Viewed through an Iraqi prism, their reputation, their security, their overall technological capabilities, and their status needed to be preserved. Deceptions were perpetrated and detected, but the reasons for those deceptions were misread.”
The Document:
I think we will see more of this sort of a thing, now that the Iraq War is over and the persons responsible for that mistake are safely out of office.
Mitt Romney continued to take flak from Democrats over the weekend for not mentioning war in his nomination acceptance speech.
But the Republican campaign was quick to point out what critics seemed to be ignoring – Romney spent the day before his convention speech visiting the American Legion conference in Indianapolis, where he talked exclusively about national security and America’s veterans. President Obama, by contrast, addressed that conference in the form of a three-minute video aired at the conference site.
“Now that was an invitation that President Obama declined,” Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said in an interview Sunday. “Governor Romney thought it was a privilege to be speaking to people who had served so nobly.”
Though Romney did not mention the war in Afghanistan on Thursday night, he focused on that issue, as well as the veterans who are returning home, in his American Legion speech.
Hmmmmm… Perhaps it is the fact that Mitt Romney is mindful of stuff like this here?
(Reuters) – U.S. Forces in Afghanistan said on Sunday they have suspended training new recruits to the Afghan Local Police (ALP) amid a spike in the number of insider attacks which are damaging trust between Afghans and their allies.
The ALP is a militia, set up two years ago by U.S. Forces, in villages where the national police force — a separate body trained by NATO — is weak. The ALP has been beset by allegations of abuse and widespread corruption.
Rogue shootings have killed 45 NATO-led troops so far this year, 15 last month alone, despite the coalition taking steps to try prevent them, such as requiring foreign soldiers to carry loaded weapons at all times.
In a statement, U.S. Forces said they will temporarily suspend training of about 1,000 new ALP recruits while they re-vet members currently belonging to the 16,000-strong force.
“We believe this is a necessary step to validate our vetting process and ensure the quality indicative of Afghan Local Police,” it said.
Perhaps Mitt Romney is not wanting to be a President who continues to fight a war that simply cannot be won? Maybe Romney will call it a victory in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
We shall see on that, I hoping for the best on that subject. But I am preparing for the worst.
This is what happens when you piece-meal a war, this is what happens; when you leave a war to fester, while you invade another Country, based on bad information. More importantly, this is what happens when you elect warmongering Neoconservatives into power. This is what happens, when you fight “armchair general’s” wars.
You end up with dead people, who should not have to die to protect an empire; and you get religious strife within a Country.
Kabul, Afghanistan — A man in an Afghan police uniform shot and killed an international service member on Sunday, NATO said, raising the death toll to 10 in such attacks in the space of just two weeks.
The surge in violence by Afghan allies against their international partners has raised doubts about the ability of the two forces to work together at a key transition time. Afghan forces are expected to take over security for the country by the end of 2014, when the majority of international combat forces are scheduled to leave.
On the other side, a coalition airstrike killed dozens of Taliban militants, including one of their leaders, officials said.
Few details were immediately available about Sunday’s killing of a coalition member in southern Afghanistan. NATO said only that they and Afghan authorities were investigating. Afghan officials could not be reached for comment.
The Taliban have been actively recruiting members of the Afghan security forces, saying in a statement last week that they considered these turncoat attacks a major part of their strategy against international forces.
Baghdad — A bomb struck the convoy of a senior Sunni cleric in western Baghdad on Sunday, killing four and critically wounding the anti-extremist Muslim leader, police said.
The attack highlights the threats faced by relatively moderate Sunni clerics whom the Shiite-led government needs to help rebuild the country and establish security. It follows a series of assaults in what is becoming an increasingly bloody month.
The blast in the capital’s Yarmouk neighborhood left Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaie badly hurt, a Sunni religious official said. The cleric had just finished leading prayers at a nearby mosque to mark the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which follows the holy month of Ramadan.
Al-Sumaidaie has sided with the government against Sunni extremists. Earlier this year, he called for a unified religious authority to bridge the gap between Iraq’s Sunnis and Shiites. Insurgents often target Sunni clerics seen as working closely with the Shiite-led government.
Two police officers and a hospital official confirmed the attack. They said four of the cleric’s bodyguards were killed and three others were wounded.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the attack. In a statement posted on his website, the Shiite leader said the attack was aimed at “spreading sedition and silencing any patriotic moderate voice.”
“Even as we condemn this ugly crime, we are confident that our people are aware of the evil goals of such schemes,” he said.
The invasion of the Sovereign Nation of Iraq was supposedly to bring peace and stability to that region. So much for that eh? The only thing that the invasion of Iraq did was destabilize and inspire more Muslims to become radicalized, and try to attack America and our allies. As for Afghanistan, that war could have been fought quickly and efficiently; however, because the American people were looking for a scalp, after the events on 9/11 and Osama was well protected within Afghanistan and Pakistani ranks — President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq.
This left the Afghanistan War to fester and turn into what it is today —- a huge cluster fark. This was a huge error on our part and one that will be stain on the United States of America for a very long time. This War was about as bad as Vietnam, if not worse. What made this worse than Vietnam, is the fact that Vietnam was requested by the United Nations at the time. The Military action in Iraq was requested by no one at all, and was based upon false premises and horrifically bad information by a dissident who defected to Germany.
Least anyone think that I have become anti-military or something silly like that; none of the above was the fault of the United States Military. The United States Military did their jobs most excellent, some of them giving their lives in service to their Country. For that they should be commended. However, the leadership, at the time; was the problem. That leadership started in the White House, and for that we, the American people — will be paying, for a very long time —- fiscally, spiritually, and the eyes of the World. The United States of America, in the span of about eight years —went from being the World’s leader to the World’s bully in the eyes of the rest of the World. The Neoconservative reaction to this, is “Who cares?” But anyone who truly loves this Country, ought be very worried about that little problem.
The best thing we, as Americans can do, is hope and pray that none of the radical Muslims can get enough money and support to try and attack this Country again. It is, truly — all we can do.
I will say this, the American people are about to make the same mistake again. Putting Mitt Romney, as the Republican for President of the United States; is about the stupidest thing that the Republican Party could have ever done. In light of the Bush era, that is. We are about to make the same mistakes again —- In Iran. You watch and see.
I have to like Chuck Baldwin, he does not mince words:
It has happened again. We go through this every four years, and every four years the vast majority of “conservatives” fall for it. This is such a broken record. What did Forrest Gump say: “Stupid is as stupid does”? And wasn’t it P.T. Barnum who said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”? Well, here we go again.
Neocon RINO George H.W. Bush picks “conservative” Dan Quayle. “Conservative” G.W. Bush picks neocon RINO Dick Cheney. Neocon RINO John McCain picks “conservative” Sarah Palin. Now, neocon RINO Mitt Romney picks “conservative” Paul Ryan. As long as there is one “conservative” on the ticket, mushy-headed “conservatives” across the country will go into a gaga, starry-eyed, hypnotic trance in support of the Republican ticket. I’m convinced that if Lucifer, himself, was the GOP Presidential candidate, he would get the support of the Religious Right and Republican “conservatives” as long as he selected a reputed “conservative” to join his ticket. And, by the way, the notable “conservative” wouldn’t think twice about joining such a ticket, either, I’m convinced.
Let’s just get this on the record: since 1960, there have only been two Presidential nominees (from the two major parties) who were not controlled by the globalist elitists. One was a Democrat, John F. Kennedy; the other was a Republican, Ronald Reagan. Kennedy was shot and killed; Reagan was shot. Every other President, Democrat or Republican, has been totally controlled, which is why none of them have done diddly-squat to make a difference in the direction of the country. On the issues that really matter, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are just more of the same!
He goes on to say that Ron Paul is the only one; and I disagree with that. However, I will say this; he is right about Romney and Ryan. Which is I am voting for:
What an utter disgrace to the memory of President Harry Truman! 😡
TOKYO – A grandson of ex-U.S. President Harry Truman, who ordered the atomic bombings of Japan during World War II, is in Hiroshima to attend a memorial service for the victims.
Clifton Truman Daniel visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Saturday and laid a wreath for the 140,000 people killed by the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing authorized by his grandfather. Another atomic blast in Nagasaki three days later killed 70,000 more.
“I think this cenotaph says it all — to honor the dead to not forget and to make sure that we never let this happen again,” Daniel said after offering a silent prayer.
Daniel, a former journalist, met Sadako’s 71-year-old brother, Masahiro Sasaki, who survived the bombing, at a peace event in New York in 2010. They agreed to work together to deepen understanding between the two countries, which are still divided over the question of the legitimacy of the atomic attacks.
“There are other opinions, there are other points of view, and I don’t think we ever finish talking about that,” Daniel said after visiting a museum at the memorial. “The important thing is to keep talking, to talk about all of it.”
Daniel said in a statement that he decided to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki because he needed to know the consequences of his grandfather’s decision as part of his own efforts to help achieve a nuclear-free world. He said he hoped to hear stories from survivors about how they overcame their adversity.
Daniel also is to meet with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and participate in discussions with students.
Susumu Miura, a 78-year-old Hiroshima native, wrote in the newspaper Tokyo Shimbun that he was enraged when he learned that many Americans still support the decision to drop the atomic bombs.
“But when I heard on the news that former President Truman’s grandson is visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I felt as if I lost some weight from my chest,” Miura wrote in an op-ed article.
Here is a clue for Mr. Truman and to Mr. Miura —- The imperial Military of Japan attacked us first, on what was known then, as the Republic of Hawaii. Not only were there military officers killed in that attack, there were innocent civilians on that Island killed too. Not only that, but the Japanese Military would not surrender, they kept fighting and would do so to the death. Because of this, President Truman decided to drop the bombs on Japan.
Now before some idiot tries to lecture me —-I know —- there were actions taken by the United States Government covertly to stop Japan from spreading aggression to the other eastern Countries. However, the fact remains that the empire of Japan attacked the United States Military base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 without warning, without consideration of civilian life or any other life for that matter. It was an act of cowardice and was answered by the righteous might of the United States Military.
For this liberal buffoon, Clifton Truman Daniel, to go to the land of our aggressor and basically tell them that we were wrong for dropping the atomic bomb on Japan is akin to urinating on the graves of our World War II dead. It is Anti-American, it is morally wrong and Clifton Truman Daniel should be forcefully deported out this Country for such an act! If we lived in a sane world and not one dominated by liberalism, but one of sane patriotism —- this liberal buffoon would be tried for treason!
As someone who has had multiple family members; including one who fought in Germany during World War II and earned a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for his service and bravery during the war, serve in the Military —— I find this action by this leftist jackass to be offensive and utterly insulting to the memory of ALL of those, who served in the United States Military. Furthermore, this is nothing more than a stab in the back and spitting in the face, to the fine people answered the call of the President of United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to fight for their Country against the evil axis of power that was threatening our Country at that time.
Clifton Truman Daniel owes the United States Military, its officers —- both current and former and their families an apology this most grievous insult.
Fox News and NYT are both reporting that we will be Nation building in Afghan region until 2017.
16 billion will be pissed away in an attempt to covert those people into civilized humans. It will, of course, ultimately fail.
Can you just imagine what 16 billion dollars could do, if invested in the private sector? I know what I could do with it!! There is a real estate market around here that is ripe for the pickings, if one wanted to create a rental real estate empire. That is only a part of what I would do with that sort of money.
But, instead, It will wasted to prop up a corrupt Government.
Hope and Change…. yeah, sure.
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