Free Republic

The attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed American ambassador Chris Stevens was pre-planned and included foreigners, Libyan President said yesterday. President of Libya’s National Congress, Mohamed Magariaf, in an interview to the CBS news aired yesterday said his government has arrested about 50 people, some of which are foreigners and connected to al-Qaeda. “They entered Libya from different directions, and some of them definitely from Mali and Algeria,” he said. “These ugly deeds, criminal deeds were directed against them, the late ambassador, Chris Stevens, and his colleagues, does not represent in any way, in any sense, the...

You have to give Obama credit, this is a man who knows how to deal with a crisis. Some nut like Mitt Romney would run around shooting Muslims from the hip, but Obama meets with his advisers and dutifully studies ways to make each and every crisis that much worse. Because that’s what good government is. Obama’s Sequestration Plan Would Cut $1.084 Billion From The State Department’s Diplomatic And Consular Program, Including $2 Million For The Protection Of Foreign Missions And Officials, And $129 Million For Embassy Security, Construction, And Maintenance. (“OMB Report Pursuant To The Sequestration Transparency Act Of...

"Let the step of kicking out the embassies be a step towards liberating Muslim countries from the American hegemony," a statement posted on an Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) website on Saturday said.

A full day after the U.S. ambassador to Libya was brutally killed by a Muslim mob, another mob attacked Mitt Romney. While armed only with pens and notebooks, the cabal meant to inflict the same outcome on the Republican’s presidential campaign. Protecting and defending President Obama through his failures and blunders and gaffes is a full-time job for America’s mainstream press corps — and they’re getting worried. So, they attacked the GOP nominee for his reaction to the U.S. Embassy in Egypt’s statement condemning “the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims.” Was that “appropriate”?...

Al Qaeda has six regional branches and affiliations with at least 14 other terrorist groups. All together, the organizations have operations in almost 30 countries, according to research by IntelCenter, a Virginia-based organization that tracks terrorist groups.

It’s quite troublesome that the “the Middle East is burning” meme is still gaining traction. It’s really putting a chill on our celebrity fundraising season which is just kicking into high gear as we draw close to the second coming reelection. Meanwhile, our counter meme “It’s the MOVIE, stupid!” seems to be falling apart a little too fast. Just like in the movies, shit happensJust like in the movies, shit happens Now even the Libyans themselves seem to be blaming Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for the attack on our consulate and the killing of our embassy staff instead...

DUBAI - Al-Qaeda said the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya was in revenge for the killing of the network's number two Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi, SITE Intelligence Group reported Saturday. "The killing of Sheikh Abu Yahya only increased the enthusiasm and determination of the sons of (Libyan independence hero) Omar al-Mokhtar to take revenge upon those who attack our Prophet," Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said in a statement, quoted by the US-based monitoring group. Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based offshoot did not claim direct responsibility for Tuesday's attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that killed the US...

No U.S. Marines were in Libya when protesters stormed a diplomatic mission in the eastern city of Benghazi and killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans late Tuesday, a senior Obama administration official said Saturday. The official’s comments contradict earlier reports of a small Marine presence at State Department facilities in the North African nation. The U.S. diplomatic compound breached Tuesday by Libyan protesters in Benghazi had a relatively light security posture compared to diplomatic facilities in other conflict zones. Marines are guarding diplomatic facilities in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, Defense Press Secretary George Little told reporters Thursday. “The...

(April 24, 2011) Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda bin Qumu was a prisoner at the Guantánamo Bay prison, judged “a probable member of Al Qaeda” by the analysts there. They concluded in a newly disclosed 2005 assessment that his release would represent a “medium to high risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to the U.S., its interests and allies.” Today, Mr. Qumu, 51, is a notable figure in the Libyan rebels’ fight to oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, reportedly a leader of a ragtag band of fighters known as the Darnah Brigade for his birthplace, this shabby port...

AL-Qaeda said the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya was in revenge for the killing of the network's number two Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi, SITE Intelligence Group reported. "The killing of Sheikh Abu Yahya only increased the enthusiasm and determination of the sons of (Libyan independence hero) Omar al-Mokhtar to take revenge upon those who attack our Prophet," said al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula said in a statement, quoted by the US-based monitoring group. Al-Qaida's Yemen-based offshoot did not claim direct responsibility for Tuesday's attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that killed the US ambassador to...

The Brigades of the Imprisoned Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, which claimed the June 6, 2012, bombing of the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, released a video of what it says is the attack. In a communiqué posted on jihadist forums on June 11, the group reported that its fighters planted an explosive in the wall of the consulate, the blasting of which injured a number of guards. It added that the attack came in response to the drone strike on al-Qaeda official Abu Yahya al-Libi in North Waziristan, and also in response to American drones flying in Libyan skies.

Egypt's new government is sparking growing outrage in the U.S. for its attempts to win the release of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind cleric behind the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. In Cairo, President-elect Mohamed Morsi proclaimed to hundreds of thousands of supporters in Tahir Square on Friday that he will gain the release of Rahman, who is in a federal prison in North Carolina after having been convicted of masterminding the bombing that killed six and unsuccessfully plotting to blow up other landmarks, including the United Nations. Although a U.S. official told FoxNews.com the sheik will...

A militant Islamist leader whose forces have just conquered two-thirds of the West African state of Mali vows to launch holy war against the West. Omar Ould Hamaha, the military commander of Ansar Dine, or "Defenders of the Faith", which has scored a stunning victory in Mali against the failed state's armed forces, now controls a region larger than France which includes three paved runways that could be used to fly in weapons or drugs. He said: "Even if they (western forces) don't come here, when we have finished conquering France, we will come to the USA, we will come...

RIYADH: US troops were led to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by his own deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, because of a simmering internal power struggle, a Saudi newspaper reported on Thursday. Al-Watan newspaper, quoting an unnamed "regional source," said the top two Al-Qaeda men had differences and that a courier who led US forces to bin Laden was working for Zawahiri. The courier was a Pakistan national and not a Kuwaiti as the US suspected, Al-Watan said. The man knew he was being followed by the US military but disguised the fact. "The Egyptian faction of Al-Qaeda is defacto running the...

As you'll recall, I was very skeptical this morning of initial US government assertions that there was "no intelligence" indicating the deadly Benghazi raid was premeditated or planned in advance.  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney repeated this heavily-parsed denial at his briefing today (note that he appears to be reading a verbatim statement), only to give a markedly different answer just 45 minutes later:   Carney Contradicts On Whether There Was Advance Warning Of Embassy AttacksABC's Jake Tapper notes that the Defense Secretary briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee on the attack, telling Senators that the US Government believes...

Someone had better roust Barack Obama from whatever fundraiser he is attending at the moment and let him know there is a crisis going on. The State Department is belatedly trying to secure our embassies and consulates around the world; in the meantime, rioters swarmed over the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia, tore down the American flag and replaced it with the black flag of al Qaeda.

It was here at the courthouse in Benghazi where the first spark of the Libyan revolution ignited. It’s the symbolic seat of the revolution; post-Gaddafi Libya’s equivalent of Egypt’s Tahrir Square. And it was here, in the tumultuous months of civil war, that the ragtag rebel forces established their provisional government and primitive, yet effective, media center from which to tell foreign journalists about their “fight for freedom.” But according to multiple eyewitnesses—myself included—one can now see both the Libyan rebel flag and the flag of al Qaeda fluttering atop Benghazi’s courthouse. According to one Benghazi resident, Islamists are driving...

A black Islamic flag is currently flying over the U.S. embassy in Tunisia after it had been stormed by an angry mob of protesters, who were upset over an anti-Islam film that was made by Americans. This is just one of many incidents occurring around the world today, in which Americans are being targeted. In Tunis, the mob overran the compound, scaling walls and setting fire to trees before tearing down the American flag and replacing it with a symbol of Islam. It is not thought that any U.S. staff were actually in the embassy in Tunis. An American school...

Security forces in Yemen have killed Said al-Shihri, described as the second-in-command of a regional branch of Al Qaeda, senior U.S. and Yemeni officials say. Al-Shihri's death is a major blow to the militant group. The U.S. officials said Saeed al-Shihri was killed, but could not confirm any U.S. involvement in the airstrike Monday that Yemeni leaders say killed the terrorist and five others. Yemeni officials said the missile that killed al-Shihri was believed to have been fired by a U.S.-operated, unmanned drone aircraft. The U.S. doesn't usually comment on such attacks although it has used drones in the past...

By Mr. Curmudgeon:President Obama has certainly stepped in it where Libya is concerned. He and our NATO allies inserted themselves in the middle of Libya's civil war, between the Gaddafi regime - which suspended its nuclear program fearing what the administration of George W. Bush might do - and Islamic rebels with known ties to al Qaeda.Obama sided with the rebels.Condemn the terrorist though he may, Obama owns them. The Arab Spring will forever be associated with him and the feckless "international community" on whose behalf he surrendered American interests - and lives.A Libyan jihadist splinter group is responsible for...