Posted on 10/12/2012 7:35:05 AM PDT by bayouranger
Imagine, pre-9/11/12, that you were responsible for arranging the defense of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Would you have considered American interests and personnel best protected by bringing in a local security outfit called the February 17 Martyrs Brigade?
The question has yet to come up in House hearings, but I think it holds the key to the Obama administration’s betrayal of the American people in “Benghazi-gate.” To an American with common sense not subverted by advanced degrees, the thought of putting Islamic “martyrs” in charge of American “infidels” in Benghazi – which, fun fact, literally means “city of holy warriors” – would trigger the inevitable “heck, no.” And that’s without even knowing what is significant about Feb. 17.
But I’m talking about Washington, D.C. Here, placing the lives of Americans in the hands of a thug-army linked to multiple atrocities and drawn from jihad-epicentral eastern Libya disturbs no collective brain wave. No matter that Benghazi and nearby Derna sent more men, per capita, to Iraq to kill Americans than anywhere else in the world. As far as the Obama administration is concerned, putting local boys in barracks inside the consulate compound was a great idea. Why not? President Obama’s ambassador, the late Christopher Stevens, was, as they say, “reaching out” across the jihad spectrum on official business.
Meanwhile, Ansar al Sharia (“Supporters of Islamic Law”), the al-Qaida-linked militia believed to have led the consulate assault in September, is a spinoff of the February 17 Martyrs Brigade, but that didn’t scratch the lacquered political surface, either. And even as reports remind us of ties among February 17 Martyrs Brigade leadership, the Muslim Brotherhood and the web of jihad-poison spun by Qatar’s Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Libya’s Ali al-Salabi – the latter having been tapped by the Qatari dictatorship to distribute $2 billion to Libyan “rebels” – the focal point remains elsewhere.
Partly, that’s because the breathtaking lies the Obama administration has told us post-9/11/12 distract our attention from the disastrous policy previously in place. Plus, there remains a lingering confusion over good guys and bad guys. After all, Uncle Sam isn’t supposed to support bad guys. The Obama administration, however, threw in Uncle Sam’s lot with bad guys – the “rebels,” the “martyrs,” the Muslim Brothers, the whole jihad-happy crew in Libya and the wider Middle East. Uncle Sam, more or less, crossed to the “other side.” It is this alliance or support for “martyrs” and their sympathizers in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Syria that is the betrayal from which Benghazi-gate rises, particularly as our veterans’ cemeteries and hospitals are filled with casualties caused by such “martyrs.”
Whether, as the Daily Beast reported, the February 17 Martyrs Brigade may have been ordered by a pro-al-Qaida Libyan politician to “stand down” for the attack remains to be verified. Meanwhile, the State Department reminds us not to forget the service of two brigade members who were beaten and two who were shot defending the compound. “But there were some bad apples in there as well,” one intelligence source told the Daily Beast.
How could there not be? And here is where the significance of Feb. 17 comes in.
John Rosenthal, an independent journalist based in Europe, wrote early on that the Libyan rebellion wasn’t led only by al-Qaida commanders. This anti-Gadhafi movement was symbolically also an Islamic jihad on Western liberty itself. We know this because, as Rosenthal reported, the “Day of Rage” called for Feb. 17, 2011, to kick off the Libyan civil war was the fifth anniversary of another assault on the West, also in Benghazi.
Following Friday prayers on Feb. 17, 2006, thousands of Benghazians attacked the Italian Consulate to punish the temerity of an Italian minister, Roberto Calderoli, who several days earlier had publicly defended free speech in the West. The world was then experiencing another cycle of Islamic violence, this one orchestrated to punish a tiny Danish newspaper for publishing a sheet of Muhammad cartoons and, in turn, Denmark itself for refusing to punish the journalist-transgressors of Islamic law, which outlaws any critiques and all depictions of Muhammad.
Calderoli didn’t merely defend free speech. During his TV interview, he dramatically unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a T-shirt featuring a cartoon of Muhammad. Referring to Islamic rioters worldwide, he added: “When they recognize our rights, I’ll take off this shirt.” He was forced to resign from his post the next day, a sacrifice on the altar of Shariah (Islamic law) by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. It wasn’t enough.
“We feared for our lives,” the wife of the Italian consul later told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, describing the attack in which the consulate was set on fire. All personnel were safely evacuated. Libyan police used tear gas to try to disperse the rioters, later opening fire and killing 11 attackers.
These are the “martyrs” who serve as role models for the security team that was defending the U.S. Consulate. Symbolically, they figure into the wider war in Libya, which is often called the February 17 Revolution. With this in mind, it becomes clear that the Islamic war on free speech, the basis of our liberty, was an inspiration of “regime change” in Libya. And we supported it.
That’s the real scandal.
Good someone noticed. Uncle Sam did that in 2008.
obama gone native. No surprise there.
And that is not all, Joe DEFENDED the surrender of the current regime to the Muslim Brotherhood and its spinoff brand, al Qaeda, in the debate last night.
After all, Christopher Stephens DESERVED what he got, for wading into the situation in Benghazi. There had to be a sacrifice made to al Qaeda, in exchange for the killing of bin Ladin, doncha know, now things are all even in the strange balance sheet kept by the Current Regime.
Except al Qaeda is not keeping the same kind of books.
0bama is an Islamic brother.
- The Al Nour government party logo (party of the Salafists) started last year and are partnered with the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)is the government wing of the Muslim Brotherhood party.
Thank you for posting thsi Diana West article...enjoy her fact-finding investigative, easy to read and understand reporting, iow, one of my favorites.
If you have something to say, throw your punch and land it in the first sentence:
“Why did the State Department hire Islamists for American Consular defense?
That’s what the State Department did when they hired the “February 17 Martyrs Brigade.” What legitimate security contractor anywhere else in the world has “Martyrs” in it’s title? None. “Martyrs” tells you all you need to know: These are Muslim Extremists bent on Martyrdom for their religion.”
In retrospect, jimmah cahtuh created radical islamist Iran.
owebama has done him better - he has created radical islamist North Africa. If he is not defeated next month the USA will be destroyed and many of us will die. All according to his plan...
Good question - Lamb said it’s something they did before and it worked - while later they said each country is unique - which is it one might wonder. I listened intently to the hearing for the name, it was mentioned a couple of times as Feb17 - fine, but is was later mentioned as the Feb 17 Brigade - not fine. They obviously knew by mentioning the full title would be problematic so they ommitted it. They can’t even say the name “Martyr” at the hearing yet could hire them to guard our personnel. That’s a problem.
Feb 17th and al Sharia work together, from what one can gather, they weren’t skilled enough to plan and execute such a sophisicated attack since they just formed last year but they were the spies and perhaps the shooters in the aftermath. There’s speculation that it’s a north African al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb...in saying it’s al-Qaeda links all of them together and doesn’t tell us anything per se. They each have their own specific names, and their own specific government Party which means they have their own leader, and that’s the people that need to be tracked (it’s probably already known who they are by their mosque). Most of these groups are either Salafists/Wahabbis now or currently growing their beards. They’re growing in huge numbers. Germany’ intel in 2010 said they had 5-6,000 Salafists in their country.
Who was expert enough to pull off the attack...most say it had to be military. It was either the aforementioned al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or perhaps some of the Green Military Brigade officers who defected. An opportunity to get back for the way Ghaddafi’ died and/or stay aligned with the hardcore al-Qaeda/Salafists.
Exactly. You're one of the only people around who I've seen who is thinking about the sophistication of the attack, and what that means.
Think about the fact that they used MORTARS (indirect fire) effectively, and ANTI-AIRCRAFT weapons. That's amazing. Where did they get such heavy equipment? How did they learn to use it? I understand from some early reports that the indirect mortar fire was amazingly accurate, landing on our personnel as they retreated to supposedly secret safe houses. That means great intelligence, spotters for the mortar teams, radio comms, training, etc.
This was an incredibly sophisticated attack, and we've got nobody anywhere in public investigating that.
I want to know one thing that I believe will be the thread that unravels the whole thing:
Were the weapons American or Russian?
I'll bet they are American weapons, which means 0bama supplied them either to Islamonazis to defeat Ghaddaffi, or Morsi in Egypt sent in the teams. Either way, that fact would blow this Administration to smithereens.
excellent post and thread
bumping for later reference
“Were the weapons American or Russian?
I’ll bet they are American weapons, which means 0bama supplied them either to Islamonazis to defeat Ghaddaffi, or Morsi in Egypt sent in the teams. Either way, that fact would blow this Administration to smithereens.”
We’re thinking along the same lines. I believe many of the weapons were ours which is why the Seals were sent in along with 35 w/men, most likely CIA, to get them. I think Stephenson, who knew most of the Brigades (probably helped arm them), was also told to find them, he was to meet with the Febuary 17th MARTYRS Brigade on 9/11 but the meeting was cancelled.
Did the movie and the UN Resolution 16/18 curtailing our speech rights have anything to do with it...who knows. If one says, yes, then the attack wouldn’t have helped the MB/UN/H/O cause as that idea was quickly nooked after the attack (not unlike the fast/furious weapons on our second amendment rights). If one says, no, then whose left but the Ghaddafi Green Military. If that got out then the whole April Spring deal would become known as a total disaster. I think this might be what they’re hiding. The deputy of interior affairs of the national transitional council, ?al Sharif or ?al Sharaf, was very involved, he accused Ghaddafi’ greenies at the time - realtime. He was since fired, think on Sept 17th for his handling of the attack. Don’t know if he was trying to save his own skin or being truthful in the moment. If he was with the “in” crowd one would think they’d have kept him on therefore more likely he was being truthful.
Note: Many of Ghaddafi officers were hired by the National Transitional Council to help keep order in the choatic aftermath. They worked daily with all the brigades which would include Al-Sharia, the Febuary 17th Martyrs Brigade, and other Salafist brigades.
Aren’t we arming al-Qaeda and other rebels in Syria at the moment? The state department, per the hearing, stated they use successful strategies again, they deemed Libya a success therefore one might surmise they armed al-Qaeda and their affiliates in Egypt.
For Veteran Envoy, Return to Libya Was Full of Hope
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: September 12, 2012
WASHINGTON — J. Christopher Stevens arrived in Benghazi, Libya, in April 2011 aboard a Greek cargo ship carrying a dozen American diplomats and guards and enough vehicles and equipment to set up a diplomatic beachhead in the middle of an armed rebellion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/world/middleeast/for-veteran-envoy-return-to-libya-was-full-of-hope.html?_r=0
Thereagain:
“”The Libyan government has been blaming amorphous pro-Qaddafi elements for everything that goes wrong in their country,” said Tom Malinowski, Washington director of Human Rights Watch. “It’s a way of denying the hard truth that the biggest threat they face to their hopes for democracy and the rule of law comes from among their own fellow former revolutionaries.””
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/09/12/libyan_ambassador_blames_ex_qaddafi_forces_for_consulate_attacks
A counter-punch article though the Human Rights Watch is a George Soros production.
Here’s a better argued article though by a staffer at prisonplanet...
http://www.4thmedia.org/2012/09/13/us-consulate-attack-in-bengazhi-nato-stooge-ludicrously-points-finger-at-gaddafi-loyalists/
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