Was There Any Doubt That He Knew

We knew it was just a matter of time before some evidence of come out. Every since the attacks on the Embassy in Benghazi and the nearly two weeks of denying the fact that it was a coordinated terrorist attack most of us the paid attention to this kind of thing knew that Obama new about the attacks at some point. Make that at some point very early on.

Eating some of that suspicion, and I admit that this is probably not as fair as it should be, is the fact that I do not trust Obama any further than I can throw him upwind. To be fair, there are not many politicians at the national level that I trust any further than I can throw up wind.

Now we have the inevitable leak of the emails that show Obama and the White House actually did know that it was a terrorist attack and that a group linked to al Qaeda was claiming responsibility.

The first email, timed at 4:05 p.m. Washington time - or 10:05 p.m. Benghazi time, 20-30 minutes after the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission allegedly began - carried the subject line "U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack" and the notation "SBU", meaning "Sensitive But Unclassified."

The text said the State Department's regional security office had reported that the diplomatic mission in Benghazi was "under attack. Embassy in Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well."

The message continued: "Ambassador Stevens, who is currently in Benghazi, and four ... personnel are in the compound safe haven. The 17th of February militia is providing security support."

A second email, headed "Update 1: U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi" and timed 4:54 p.m. Washington time, said that the Embassy in Tripoli had reported that "the firing at the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi had stopped and the compound had been cleared." It said a "response team" was at the site attempting to locate missing personnel.

A third email, also marked SBU and sent at 6:07 p.m. Washington time, carried the subject line: "Update 2: Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibility for Benghazi Attack."

Okay, so the emails show that there was a coordinated attack, but they don't show that the White House knew or that they were even recipient on those emails. Ah, but wait. There's more.

The records obtained by Reuters consist of three emails dispatched by the State Department's Operations Center to multiple government offices, including addresses at the White House, Pentagon, intelligence community and FBI, on the afternoon of September 11. [Emphasis added]

I am not sure what I believe is the worst part of this. There is the fact that the President has been lying about what he knew and that's bad. There is the fact that there are the lemmings across the nation who will believe that the President is innocent in all of this. That is just scary. And I mean scary in the sense that people are so stupid to believe that there is nothing wrong with what is going on. There is the fact that we have a "leader" who doesn't respect the people on the ground enough to try to protect them, or who doesn't respect enough the military who would do the protecting enough to help with their lives being in danger. Instead he acts like it is just politics as usual.

That is just pathetic.

Missing foreign students and WWIII

I'm sure this is nothing...I mean the government authorities say so.

[FBI Special Agent Richard] Kolko said there is no reason to believe the missing students, all men around 20 years old, represent a threat.

What missing 20-year old male students?

Eleven Egyptian students who were supposed to travel to a Montana university after flying to JFK airport late last month disappeared in New York, spurring federal authorities to issue a nationwide alert, officials said yesterday.

The students - who were traveling with six classmates from Mansoura University in Egypt - had their student visas revoked for failing to show up at Montana State University in Bozeman, the officials said.

The other six students made it to the college.

"The FBI and ICE [Immigration and Custom Enforcement] would like to locate these 11 students in order to speak with them," said FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko after the "be-on-the-lookout" alert was issued to all police in the United States.

Now, that is nothing to worry about? Really? At what point do we worry?

"At this point, all they have done is not show up for a scheduled academic program, and their visas have been revoked," Kolko said.

"We do not know of any association with any terrorist or criminal groups. There is no threat associated with these men. We have simply asked law enforcement's assistance in locating them so that the FBI and ICE may interview them."

Rep. Peter King (R-NY), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said the situation "has to be taken very seriously."

"Having a number of students from an Arab country arriving on student visas and disappearing is cause for concern," he said.

Montana State University Provost David Dooley said 17 Mansoura University students signed up for a 32-day cultural-exchange program to intensively study English, learn about Montana history and go on several field trips.

They arrived at JFK on a flight from Egypt on July 29, but only one managed to clear immigration in time to make a connecting flight, Dooley said.

By July 31, five others had arrived in Bozeman, but the rest were unaccounted for.

I remember the outrage at various colleges and from the Left when the Student Visa programs were beginning to clamp down on their requirements. Again, it is proven that compromise on the issue was compromising our security. In all seriousness there is nothing preventing this from happening with scores upon scores of foreign students. Perhaps some more national-background profiling is necessary to help diminish the risk of this happening.

Why is this posting also listed under the WWIII category? Because this story is fishy AND it ties very nicely with my unease since the beginning of the Israeli defensive that August is going to be a very troublesome month at best.

This from Yahoo News (no link--it will be dead in a few days anyway)

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has renewed calls on Muslims to rally to the defence of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah in its war against
Israel, state television reported.

"Today it is the entire Muslim community's duty to defend Hezbollah," Khamenei told a meeting Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the birth of the Shiites' first Imam, Ali.

I have no doubt that Iran is behind the whole mess right now.

Iran helped to create and arm Hezbollah in 1982 in response to Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and Tehran stands accused by the United States and Israel of fomenting chaos in the region by channelling weapons to the guerrillas.

Iran denies the allegation, saying it provides only moral support to the movement.

Nevermind the fact that each rocket fired from Hezbollah right now must have the express approval from Iran...we are simply jumping to conclusions that Iran has an active hand in this offensive against Israel.

Wait, there's more.

The all-powerful Iranian leader lashed out at the
United Nations for what he called its "incompetence", and also attacked some Arab countries for "looking on in silence".

"Some Arabic states that have kept quiet should know that the United States will never consider their interests," Khamenei said.

More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians have been killed in the Israeli offensive unleashed after the capture of two of its soldiers by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid from Lebanon on July 12.

Khamenei also accused the US and Britain on Tuesday of encouraging the "Zionists' crimes" and "seeking to eradicate Islam in this region".

Let me explain how this works. These guys believe that it is OK to have a stated goal of the "extermination" or "annhilation" of Israel, and any resistance to that is "seeking to eradicate Islam". Quite honestly, if these guys are the representatives of Islam in that region then the world will be a better, more tolerant, more peaceful place after their eradication. The ONLY question is if these angels-of-satan are representative of Islam.

And further proof that the end of the world is near...I agree with a Princeton professor (Bernard Lewis to be exact). Some of you have been critical of me for (1) calling this WWIII...and maybe it is not YET WWIII, but I think the liklihood of it is stronger than the liklihood it is not/will not be WWIII, and (2) of having the heebie-jeebies about August.

According to a Flash Report from Drudge I am not too far off.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "and his followers clearly believe that [the time of Armegeddon] is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the US about nuclear development by Aug. 22," which this year corresponds "to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to 'the farthest mosque,' usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1).

"This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind."

Now some smaller minded people have decided to use this as political fodder. Essentially, the end of the world may be beginning this month so 'vote for my party' in November. Logic...they don't need no stinkin' logic. Rationality...won't find that from them either.

Domestically what is important in all of this is that the USA is not going to do much in all of this and it is the fault of the partisans...all of them. Two general groups are to blame.

First, the Left for weakening the resolve of the nation to fight evil which threatens us. Also the Left for putting very short-sighted lenses on the whole issue of terrorism, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, etc. Rather than look at these issues as a "what is best for the survival of the United States against evil" they turned it into a "how can we dennigrate Bush on this topic?" The Democrats turned it into a "what do we need to do to make this a political chip in our favor?" Health of the country be damned. Survival of the country be damned...because the party comes first.

Second, the Right for many reasons. They (Bush in the forefront) failed to make the brazenly honest case about Iraq...it has always been primarily about Iran. Failing to make the ABSOLUTELY HONEST case allowed the partisan Left to turn the survival of America into a political gambit. Next they failed by getting weak in the spine on national security. Yes, many of them will come back and say they were strong...but when they failed on so many fronts that are equally tied to security (border security, immigration reform, illegal immigration lockdown, etc) they hold the blame ticket as well. By having so many of the Right and the Republicans start wavering on Iraq specifically it perpetuated the domestic reality that America's survival is just another campaign issue again in yet another campaign year. Being strong on national security is more than just supporting Bush in fighting "terrorism" and "on Iraq"...it is more than repeating the talking points on those narrow topics.

Shame on 100% of the party members and partisans on both sides. And I guarantee they will continue to do it through November.

Most importantly is this: Keep your eyes firmly planted on Iran. They are the root of all that is going on right now...they are on the verge of nuclear weapons, and all the negotiations in the UN is playing into Iran's advantage.

********** UPDATE **********
You can comment on the blog...and you can comment on Race to the Right's new Discussion Board.

Worldwide News Sources...not a good source

While reading the news about the conflict in the Middle East, which I believe has the very real potential to become WWIII, keep in mind something that conservatives have known. You cannot trust worldwide "news" service.

Case #1
Reuters is forced to admit they were disseminating doctored photos to make the plight of Beirut as victim seem larger.

A Reuters photograph of smoke rising from buildings in Beirut has been withdrawn after coming under attack by American web logs. The blogs accused Reuters of distorting the photograph to include more smoke and damage.

The photograph showed two very heavy plumes of black smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut after an Air Force attack on the Lebanese capital. Reuters has since withdrawn the photograph from its website, along a message admitting that the image was distorted, and an apology to editors.
...
In the message, Reuters said that "photo editing software was improperly used on this image. A corrected version will immediately follow this advisory. We are sorry for any inconvience."

Reuters' head of PR Moira Whittle said in response: "Reuters has suspended a photographer until investigations are completed into changes made to a photograph showing smoke billowing from buildings following an air strike on Beirut. Reuters takes such matters extremely seriously as it is strictly against company editorial policy to alter pictures."

No big surprise, but it is evidence of Reuters lack of credibility.

Case #2
Have you noticed all of the stories about every single death on the Palestinian side of the war? And, by following the news stories, you would think that the Israelis are untouched in the conflict for the most part...especially the civilians. Well, you would be wrong if you believed the proportion of civilian casualties from the worldwide media.

Hours after mother and two daughters are killed in Hizbullah rocket attack, media outlets around world fail to report deaths; meanwhile, British press continues anti-Israel tirade

Media bias? Hours after 60-year-old Fadia Jumaa and her two daughters, Samira, 31, and Sultana, 33, were killed by a Hizbullah rocket attack on their home in the Israeli-Bedouin village of Arab al-Aramshe, the international media has so far largely ignored their deaths.

Reuters was alone among non-Israeli media outlets to report the deaths, according to a Google news search, a number of hours after the first reports of the attack surfaced.

The lack of coverage of the Israeli civilian war casualties stands in marked contrast to the swift response by many sections of the international media to reported Lebanese casualties.

Meanwhile, the British press, which has produced some of the most venomous anti-Israel coverage during the war, has continued its tirade against Israel.

No surprise there. The media, most of the EU and half of the United States are anti-Semitic. They don't have the "pair" on them to admit it, but they are. Look at how so many on the Left are rooting against Israel, condemning Israel and skewing sympathy towards the terrorist arms of Iran (aka Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine).

Case #3:
I have received death threats from "pacifists" while attending the University. I have received threats from "pro-peace" people. So it is of no surprise that pro-Israel websites are subject to death threats from the anti-Semitic wing of the Left. The interesting part is that it is from the so-called "objective" reporter clan.

Worker suspended after telling American blogger: 'I look forward to day when you pigs get your throats cut'

A Reuters employee has been suspended after sending a death threat to an American blogger.

The message, sent from a Reuters internet account, read: "I look forward to the day when you pigs get your throats cut."

It was sent to Charles Johnson, owner of the Little Green Footballs (LGF) weblog, a popular site which often backs Israel and highlights jihadist terrorist activities.

In the threat, the Reuters staff member, who has not been named, left his email address as "zionistpig" at hotmail.com.

Reporting the message to his readers, Johnson wrote on his website: "This particular death threat is a bit different from the run of the mill hate mail we get around here, because an IP lookup on the sender reveals that he/she/it was using an account at none other than Reuters News."

The examples grow and grow showing that (a) the EU and UN are anti-Semitic, (b) the media are anti-Semitic and (c) the Left condones and embraces the anti-Semites, their rhetoric, their tactics and their organizations. It is not unfair to conclude that these coupled with the Left's constant drive to protect the Muslim terrorists and their nations that the Left is strongly (1) anti-Semitic, (2) pro-Muslim terrorists, and (3) an enemy, in mind at minimum, of the United States and its allies.

Iran says no way...Why it is WWIII

(H/T: Northern Alliance Wannabe)

Can We Think About That...No Thanks
In case you have not heard the completely expected news:

Iranian state radio said Saturday that the government would reject a proposed U.N. resolution that would give it until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment or face the threat of international sanctions.

"Iranians will not accept unfair decisions, even in the framework of resolutions by the international bodies," the commentary on state-run radio said.

There has been no official comment to the draft resolution, but state radio often is thought to provide the Iranian government line.

There has been no official comment to the draft resolution, but state radio often is thought to provide the Iranian government line.

The resolution was formally circulated to the full 15-member U.N. Security Council late Friday and likely will be adopted next week.

"Ultimatum and deadline cannot be acceptable to us," the commentary said, accusing the United States and its allies of making what it called an illegal demand.

The commentary also said the draft might not be approved because of opposition by China.

Tehran said last week it would reply Aug. 22 to a Western incentive package, but the council decided to go ahead with a resolution and not wait for Iran's response.

The incentive package includes economic incentives and a provision for the United States to offer Iran some nuclear technology, lift some sanctions and join direct negotiations. The proposal also calls for Iran to impose a long-term moratorium on uranium enrichment — which can produce peaceful reactor fuel or fissile bomb material.

The U.S. and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran maintains its program is purely peaceful and aimed at generating electricity.

Iran has said it will never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel but has indicated it may temporarily suspend large-scale activities to ease tensions.

Had to do the whole article...sometimes the full story on FoxNews.com does not go into long term archives.

In case you didn't hear us yesterday (show is available through webcast) I explained why this whole Iranian consideration of the UN proposal was a delay tactic.

Short version in chronological bullet points:
* Iran enriching Uranium...making U-235. Takes about a year of spinning in centrifuge to make it weapons grade (80% pure).
* Israeli intelligence has been putting the estimated timeline for completion between May 2006 and October 2006.
* Iran claims enrichment is for needed power.
* In June Iran is offered enriched Uranium in exchange for them shutting down all enrichment facilities (estimated to be about 17 or 18 facilities). If the offer is not accepted there will be sanctions.

Consider how long sanctions would take to (a) be put in place and (b) have any effective impact.

* Iran says, "give us 'til the end of August to decide".
* Shortly after Iran's surrogate kidnaps Israeli soldiers and fighting begins.

Why? My belief is for a few reasons.
1) Create a distraction enough to take public attention away from Iran's development (completion soon?)
2) Tie up some of Israel’s military resources so Israel will be less able to effectively perform a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities
3) Have an event that will still be a higher priority in most people's minds when it is discovered that Iran's U-235 weapons grade enrichment is complete
4) Give the borderline Arab states a more solid justification for attacking Israel or at least standing on Iran's side firmly. As it is, Saudi Arabia is already swaying from the "Israel can defend itself" to the "Israel’s response is unhumanitarian"

That Iran is going to turn down an offer giving them everything they claimed they needed from nuclear enrichment is not surprising at all.

Why World War III is More than the GOP 2006 Campaign Slogan
Israeli intelligence is also indicating that once Iran has weapons grade U-235 and a delivery system (not difficult to buy, really) their first three targets will be simultaneous strikes on Israel, London and New York. Absolute collapse of the Western World's economic structure in more devastating fashion than 9/11.

What is Israel going to do? What are we going to do?

We will likely do nothing. We are immasculated by the war-protesting movement that effectively and falaciously blurred the line between "support our troops" and "against the war". While they are actually mutually exclusive the war-protesters have succeeded in making many people believe that it is possible to believe both. This strengthened the consensus of people who think the troops should come home from Iraq. Mind you, Iraq was never primarily about WMD, but was about Iran. That does not matter to the ideologues (party over principles on the Left)...they want a Bush defeat no matter the cost. The result is American sentiment leaning towards withdrawal from Iraq. That queasy stomach is also weakening support for being in Afghanistan (which, btw, borders Iran). The result is also the unwillingness of sitting politicians to take a strong stance for action against Iran.

That leaves Israel to act. There are 3 main scenarios from this.
1. ACTION AND SUCCESS
If they act (and succeed) in time by annihilating ALL of Iran's nuclear facilities they will have likely ended the immediate nuclear threat. But what will the response from Iran and the Arab world be? My belief is the attack on Iran will give them all the concrete justification to "unload in the face" of Israel. Then a good portion of the Western World and the few Arab states the do not attack Israel will be pressured into an actual armed response. We then will likely lead the charge with Canada and Australia, maybe even Japan. The UK will follow. Eventually I believe Russia will give the same neutrality for Iran that we gave the UK before WWI and WWII. Then Germany will jump in, I think on Israel's side. They are so aware and haunted by their history that they try to side on non-violence. At this point they will not be able to be on that side and, continuing to be in the shadow of judgement for the Holocaust, will side with Israel. France I believe will be the last to jump in...and I think their spineless nature will affect their decisions. They are a coin toss as to which side they would support. My money (though not a lot of it) is on them trying the road of appeasement once again...trying to satisfy their Muslim minority and side with Iran.

2. ACTION AND FAILURE
If Israel attempts to destroy all of the facilities and misses any or does not effectively damage/destroy any the response will be similar to above. Arab nations attack and sides will be taken. The difference is Iran will be able to turn the battle nuclear to some degree. That may affect which side and how strongly Germany & France join, but the important detail is: nuclear will be a factor. How soon into the fighting will nuclear weapons be deployed depends on the amount of damage, but it will be a question.

The problem is we will not know which of these scenarios is occurring until either Iran & co. are defeated or they do launch a nuclear missile.

3. INACTION
Inaction, sadly, is the most likely. As mention already we are hogtied by our anti-war movement. We are nearly as impotent as Europe has been. Israel's resources are distracted/divided right now making an effective strike unlikely, or at least unlikely to succeed. Getting the UN Security Council, the UN in whole, NATO, the EU or any consensus of nations to any action takes tooooooo long. That is a fact I'm certain the enemy is aware of. What happens then? Iran completes enrichment and fires their missiles. Do NOT fool yourself into thinking they are not willing to do so. Mutually Assured Destruction works if neither side wants to die. We fear death and our enemy looks for it.

They launch, and in their mind one of two things happens. (A) We launch back and we all die, they go to heaven, Zion and its allies are defeated, Muslims win, or (B) No equal response happens and they severely weaken, if not destroy, the West. Some of their brothers may die, but that is martyrdom at its finest!

They launch and (I hope) we would respond. Hopefully the yields they manage and yields we respond with are not high enough to destroy civilization (welcome back Cold War nightmares--remember The Day After). Then we simply have a war to be fought that has gone nuclear to start.

Peace and Palestinian Civilian Casualties
Certainly there may be a way for all of this to calm down without WWIII. I see it as a long shot...like trying to draw for an inside straight. I suppose the first step in that no-WWIII scenario is for Israel to cease fire. I don't see that happening as Israeli PM Olmert said so.

Israeli warplanes carried out strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, hours after agreeing to temporarily halt air raids while investigating a bombing that killed at least 56 Lebanese civilians, mostly women and children seeking shelter. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said there will be no cease-fire, adding that "Israel is continuing to fight."
...
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Israel plans to "expand and strengthen" its attack on Hezbollah, diminishing hopes that the 48- hour airstrike halt could become a longer cease-fire.

The worldwide crying against Israel is mostly rooted in the Lebanese civilian casualties. According to Australia's Herald Sun there are photos showing Lebanon is fighting from civilian suburbs...using civilian dressed fighters.

THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia.

The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.

Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.

The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

The reality is if one side dresses as, fires from and hides amongst civilians then the other side is 100% justfied in targeting civilian locations. If the blame is to be laid at the targeter's feet then the targets must be dressed in military uniforms, firing/fighting in uniform and NOT hiding as/among civilians.

No discussion. Sorry, Lebanese innocents, but the people you allow to hide amongst you have deemed you to be worthy and necessary targets. Good luck.

Conclusion
I hope I am wrong. I hope this is not WWIII brewing (or underway). I REALLY hope Iran cannot go nuclear. I see these paths though as being the most likely given the actors participating and the evil that is driving Muslim nations.

And if we, the West, and we, the United States, can get through the Iranian danger we cannot rest. North Korea is the exact same situation...except Iranian's leaders are rational (wrong and evil, but rational). North Korea's leaders is insane which complicates things. And after that...China. BTW, notice that China has been sitting fairly silent on the sidelines, not using any of their resources on this?

WW III watch

Quick poll...is the Middle East going to be a big enough story where I should create a WW III category/icon? If so I am open to icon suggestions.

This is a breaking story from Drudge:

Israeli warplanes destroyed the building housing the headquarters of Hezbollah guerrillas in south Beirut Friday, the group's TV station reported.

In an urgent flash, the station said the building housing Hezbollah's leadership was destroyed.

It did not elaborate, nor say whether there were any casualties.

Hezbollah says the residence and office of its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, have been destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, but he and his family are safe.

May as well know whose on which side

Israel has a right to defend itself
Israel (of course)
Italy
Canada
United States
Saudi Arabia
Egypt
Jordan

Anti Semite...Israel has no right to self-defense
Germany
Britain
Lebanon
France
Palestine
Iran
Russia
Vatican City
Syria
Indonesia
European Union
Spain

********** UPDATE **********
Welcome to the readers of Truth Laid Bear. I don't think this post is really what you were searching for ("Vatican City") but hopefully you will find something the written posts.

Also welcome to the readers of Psycmeistr. Also...feel free to browse, bookmark and participate in the discussions!

********** UPDATE 2 ********** 7/18/06
Updated the list to include Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt.

********** UPDATE 2 ********** 7/20/06
Updated the list to include Spain.