Posted on 05/09/2009 4:30:54 AM PDT by Beckwith
A White House military aide who authorized an Air Force flyover of New York that caused panic among some people in the city resigned on Friday.
Louis Caldera said in a resignation letter to Obama that the controversy over the mission -- a photo shoot of a jumbo jet used as Air Force One with the Statue of Liberty in the background -- made it impossible for him to lead the White House Military Office (WHMO).
White House officials said the flight was designed to update the official photo of the plane, known as Air Force One when the president is aboard.
The flight over lower Manhattan for a photo shoot scared some New Yorkers who remembered the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 involving hijacked airliners that destroyed the World Trade Center. Many people panicked and evacuated office buildings when the planes flew over -- as low as 150 feet.
Caldera had approved the mission. His resignation came on the same day Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a letter to Senator John McCain that the photo shoot cost U.S. taxpayers as much as $357,000.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs (Gibbels) said Obama had accepted the resignation. Obama had been described as furious when the incident occurred on April 27 and demanded a review.
Isn't that tidy -- Louis Caldera is responsible -- but responsible for what?
Louis Caldera is responsible for "approving" the flight. No need to look any further. Caldera is responsible -- off with his head -- move on!
However, none of this answers the key question -- WHO REQUESTED THE FLIGHT?
Start with Caldera's boss. Who does Caldera work for -- and who does that guy work for -- and who does that guy work for. Somewhere up that food chain is the genius whose brainstorm is responsible for this clusterflop -- that person is the "Requestor" or "Initiator" -- that's the guy that is really responsible.
When the flight was a "Go," the WHMO Deputy Director sent an email to the Director, saying the flight would receive some "local press," but the White House shouldn't catch any questions about it. The email also suggested notifying Jim Messina and Robert Gibbels.
The flight then flew into history.
The White House (read Rhambo) investigated the flight and The White House Counsel's Office (Gregory Craig) produced a report, "Internal Review Concerning April 27, 2009 Air Force One Flight." (It's interesting this report uses the "Air Force One" designation, as the aircraft is only referred to in this way when POTUS is on board. Is Craig suggesting that Obama was on the flight?)
The report (I could access only the first 3 pages of the .pdf file for some reason) says that the Deputy Director of the WHMO "suggested that when the plan was finalized, the Director MAY want to inform White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Jim Messina (not the singer). The Deputy Director believed that Mr. Messina would want notice because the plan involved the use of the Presidential aircraft and because it was unusual."
Note, the focus of this report is on the WHMO, the initial flight planning and the subsequent processes and reviews that resulted in the flight. Nowhere in the "official" report is there any mention of the person or persons who initiated the request for the flight mission that was ultimately "approved" by Caldera.
And, it doesn't answer the secondary question -- WHO WAS ON BOARD? Any honest investigation would provide the flight and passenger manifests. Neither of these are addressed in the report (whitewash).
A Reuters news article said the report of the review, mentioned above, said ultimately Caldera did not notify relevant White House officials about the flyover in advance.
"When asked why he failed to do so, he did not offer a coherent explanation. He stated that it was not a conscious decision -- he did not intend not to notify them," it said. "Instead, he suggested that it may have been an oversight."
An oversight? I just find that statement to be unbelievable.
Caldera had previously apologized for the April 27 incident, saying, "Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision (approving the flight). While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."
And like a good little Obot, Caldera fell on his sword.
The White House Military Office (2,300 managers and staff) knew about the flight, and so did the Department of Defense, and Andrews Air Force Base, and the Air Mobility Command, and the Presidential Airlift Group, and the 89th Airlift Wing, and the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control representatives in the New York are, and "federal, state and local authorities."
It seems everyone in the government knew about the "secret flight" except Obama and his senior White House advisers. Sgt. Schultz ("I know nothing") would be proud.
Of course Obama was furious when the incident occurred. It hit the fan the day before his 100th day's celebration and victory speech, dramatically affecting the news.
But he knew nothing about it -- nor did any other "responsible" person in and around the White House -- just Caldera, even though the report contains several mentions of Jim Messina, whose boss is Rhambo -- and Rhambo's boss is Obama -- that's two degrees of separation.
Unreceived by the MSM and WH, of course.
The least Transparent administration ever.
Pray for America
If what you report is correct apparently the story is true and the Truman paperweight has been moved to the writing desk in the Lincoln bedroom.
THIS IS WORTH LOOKING INTO
I did a little research and it would seem that paperweight hasn’t been on the desk in the Oval Office since Truman had it there. Apparently the reverse side says “I’m from Missouri”. Anyway I think it is in the Truman Library.
WhiteHouseMuseum.org has photos of the oval office desks going way back and each President had their own memorabilia if any.
bttt
You’ll pardon the redundancy, but I need to crosspost my comment here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2247156/posts?q=1&;page=284#284
Well, I hope I’m wrong, but this discovery is too ominous to ignore.
Exerpt: Just before the workday began on Monday, an airliner and supersonic fighter jet zoomed past the lower Manhattan skyline. Within minutes, startled financial workers streamed out of their offices, fearing a nightmarish replay of Sept. 11.
For a half-hour, the Boeing 747 and F-16 jet circled the Statue of Liberty and the Financial District near the World Trade Center site. Offices evacuated. Dispatchers were inundated with calls. Witnesses thought the planes were flying dangerously low End exerpt.
Look who was in town that day.
LIVE STREAM TODAY: US-Saudi Relations in a World Without Equilibrium
- Monday, Apr 27 2009, 7:40AM
9:00 am
A Forward Projection of What the Saudi-US Relationship Should Look Like and Needs to Achieve
The Honorable Chuck Hagel
Former United States Senator
Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance, Georgetown University Chairman, Atlantic Council of the United States
His Excellency HRH Turki Al-Faisal
Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research & Islamic Studies
Former Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States
Former Director, Saudi Arabia Intelligence Services
Rita E. Hauser
Chairperson, International Peace Institute
Chair, Director's Council, New America Foundation
The Honorable Zbigniew Brzezinski
Trustee & Counselor, Center for Strategic & International Studies
Chair, Center for Middle East Public Policy, RAND Corporation
Former National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter
Co-Author, America and the World: Conversations on the Future of US Foreign Policy
The Honorable Abdulla Alireza
Minister of Commerce, Saudi Arabia
The Honorable Ibrahim Al-Assaf
Minister of Finance, Saudi Arabia
Brad Bourland
Chief Economist, Jadwa Investments
Former Chief Economist, Samba Financial Group
The Honorable Muhammad Al-Jasser
Governor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority
Heidi Crebo-Rediker
Chief, International Finance and Economics
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Flynt Leverett
Director, Geopolitics of Energy Initiative, New America Foundation
Former Senior Director for the Middle East, National Security Council
The Honorable William J. Burns
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Former US Ambassador to Russia
His Excellency Nigel Sheinwald
Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the United States
Former Foreign Policy and Defense Adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair
The Honorable Abdulrahman Al-Saeed
Director General, Specialized Studies Center/Riyadh
Advisor to the Royal Court
The Honorable Wyche Fowler
Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Former United States Senator
Joseph McMillan
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs Department of Defense
His Excellency Pierre Vimont
Ambassador of France to the United States
Former Chief of Staff to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of France
The Honorable Abdulrahman Al-Saeed
Director General, Specialized Studies Center/Riyadh
Advisor to the Royal Court
Quite a guest list....
Joseph McMillan
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs Department of Defense
His Excellency HRH Turki Al-Faisal
Chairman, King Faisal Center for Research & Islamic Studies
Former Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States
Former Director, Saudi Arabia Intelligence Services
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