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A reader, relying on publicly available information, has reconstructed what we know and can infer about what happened in Benghazi. I haven’t tried to verify all of his facts nor do I necessarily vouch for his inferences, although in general they seem reasonable. But his analysis is, I think, a valuable contribution to our understanding, and I reproduce it here in slightly edited form:

Mr. Panetta was at the White House for a regular meeting on the afternoon of Sept. 11 as the first reports of the attack unfolded, an American official said. By that evening Mr. Panetta had consulted with General Dempsey and General Ham and had ordered a number of American military forces in the region to move closer to Libya. Defense officials say they did not receive a request for military support from the State Department as the attack unfolded. In response to Mr. Panetta’s decision, a small Special Operations “strike force” team moved from Central Europe to the Sigonella Air...

Have no fear FReepers, we will win Wisconsin and there are a lot good reasons why. 1. Wisconsin is ultimate purple state. In 2000 Gore won the state by less than 5,000 votes out of 2.7 million votes cast. Kerry won in 2004 by only 11,000 votes out of 2.9 million votes cast. 2008 was unusual because Obama won by 412,000 votes out of 2.9 million votes cast. 2. Fast forward to 2012, and the recall election on June 5th. Scott Walker was the devil incarnate to the public employee unions and the Democrats in this state. They went ALL...

In Wisconsin we have been getting deluged with mail and TV ads. Today takes the cake....6 pieces of mail on various candidates and referendum 1. Americans for tax reform...anti-Tammy Baldwin 2. Republican Party of Wisconsin....vote republican, vote early 3. Republican Party of Wisconsin----Anti Baldwin--addressed to me 4. Republican Party of Wisconsin---Anti Baldwin addressed to wife 5. Democrat Party of Wi...Anti Romney 6. Pro Fire Dept referendum

Which is worse, Barry saying 'when four Americans get killed, it's not optimal' or Romney saying he wanted 'binders full of women' to be able to find more qulaified women to put in his cabinet?

NBC's Tom Brokaw blasted Joe Biden's debate antics on Friday's Morning Joe. "I mean he just can't contain himself," note Brokaw. "And he's become a caricature on the talk shows." "I just don't think you should be laughing during a discussion about thermonuclear war with Iran," Brokaw called out Biden, who repeatedly shook his head at opponent Paul Ryan while smiling and laughing.

Last week Mr. Obama was weirdly passive. Last night Mr. Biden was weirdly aggressive, if that is the right word for someone who grimaces, laughs derisively, interrupts, hectors, rolls his eyes, browbeats and attempts to bully. He meant to dominate, to seem strong and no-nonsense. Sometimes he did—he had his moments. But he was also disrespectful and full of bluster. "Oh, now you're Jack Kennedy!" he snapped at one point. It was an echo of Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle, in 1988. But Mr. Quayle, who had compared himself to Kennedy, had invited the insult. Mr. Ryan had not. It...

After each debate I like to watch MSNBC Morning Joe to see how they try to spin things. Imagine my surprise when I tuned in a few minutes ago and saw Tom Brokaw trashing Biden's debate performance. Mika and the gang (including Joe) tried to use the 'We all know Joe personally, and he is a really nice guy' routine, but Brokaw was not biting. He said Biden was so off putting in his behavior that the undecided voters would not be moved towards Obama after watching the debate. Everyone on the show agreed that both men passed the 'one...

In a testimony written by Colonel Andrew Wood to the Committee of Oversight and Government Reform he describes the vulnerability and lack of proper protection for the US Embassy in Benghazi where 4 Americans were murdered including US Ambassador Chris Stevens. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., will hold hearings on what went wrong today at noon ET. Nordstrom will testify at that hearing. TESTIMONY: I am Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood. I am a member of the Utah National Guard with 24 years of service as a Special Forces soldier. I was mobilized...

The Daily Caller reports that Peter King, the House Homeland Security Committee Chairman, is asking CIA director Gen. David Petraeus and White House national security adviser James Clapper to investigate whether a columnist for The Daily Beast received the same classified foreign policy briefings as President Obama. The Daily Beast columnist in question is Leslie Gelb, a crony of Joe Biden (back in 2006-07, they jointly pushed a plan for “federalism” in Iraq that amounted, in essence, to partition of the country). King’s inquiry arises from Gelb’s defense of Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., who disgraced herself...

The fatal attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya last month has become a test of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s leadership and a threat to her much-admired legacy as America’s top diplomat just a few months before she plans to step down. Clinton was among the first Obama administration officials to publicly condemn the attack and mourn the deaths of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. But as the State Department has weathered Republican-led criticism that it misread warning signs before the Sept. 11 attack, Clinton has been far less visible. Clinton will not appear...

he blundering boobs at the State Department recalled a 16-man security team in August just as the Libyan diplomats were asking for more security, not less. CBS: CBS News has learned that congressional investigators have issued a subpoena to a former top security official at the US mission in Libya. The official is Lt. Col. Andy Wood, a Utah National Guard Army Green Beret who headed up a Special Forces "Site Security Team" in Libya. The subpoena compels Lt. Col. Wood to appear at a House Oversight Committee hearing next week that will examine security decisions leading up to the...

If you want to hear what I think is the funniest, most effective political ad ever made, take a listen. You might need a little local knowledge to fully appreciate the ad. Gwen Moore is the intellectually challenged Congresswoman from inner city Milwaukee. Her son was the one involved in the infamous Milwaukee 2004 presidential election tire slashing incident where he and his thugs friends went and slashed the tires on rented Republican get out the vote vans. Gwen's latest obsession has been Scott Walker. She was all in on the Walker recall effort and held a bunch of rallies...

Amid accusations from Libyans and leading senators on Capitol Hill that the U.S. diplomatic office in Benghazi, Libya, was not adequately protected, top State Department officials offered the agency's most vigorous defense yet of security measures taken to fortify the post in the months before last week's deadly attack on the compound. The sources, who spoke on the condition they only be identified as senior State Department officials because of the sensitive nature of the information, agreed to speak to CNN to respond to claims the United States did not respond to warnings about the dangerous conditions in Benghazi. The...

Though Libya's deputy interior minister described the locating of the safe house as a "critical security breach," the attack may not have been planned for long in advance. The assailants would have had some hours to follow the fleeing Americans and set up an ambush after the consulate attack. "It began to rain down on us," Obeidi said just as the rescue force was preparing to leave. "About six mortars fell directly on the path to the villa," he said. One American fell wounded by him. A mortar struck the building itself, throwing from the roof another American posted there...

I was minutes from ordering a drone strike on a Taliban insurgent – until I realised I was watching an Afghan child at play I find myself caught between the need to follow the drone debate and the need to avoid unpleasant memories it stirs. I used drones – unmanned aerial vehicles – during the nadir of my military career that was an operational tour in Afghanistan. I remember cuing up a US Predator strike before deciding the computer screen wasn't depicting a Taliban insurgent burying an improvised explosive device in the road; rather, a child playing in the dirt....

Almost immediately after President Obama announced the killing of Osama bin Laden, top government officials, including then-CIA Director Leon Panetta and top terrorism adviser John Brennan, made numerous false statements about what took place. That included the claim that Bin Laden was killed after he engaged in a "firefight", that he used his wife as a human shield to protect himself, and that he was living in luxury in a $1m mansion. We now see exactly the same pattern emerging with the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya and the killing of the US ambassador. For a full...

An internal Justice Department investigation into the Operation Fast and Furious scandal recommends discipline for 14 officials, but found no evidence that the department’s top leaders knew about the gun-walking aspect of the operation when it was underway. The long-awaited report from Justice’s Inspector General finds misconduct or poor judgment on the part of officials at DOJ headquarters, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives headquarters in Washington and field office in Arizona, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona. However, the investigators found Attorney General Eric Holder didn’t know about the operation until after the scandal emerged in...

Pakistani protesters broke through a barricade surrounding the U.S. Consulate in Karachi on Sunday, September 16, leading to clashes with the police that killed one demonstrator and injured 18. Demonstrators were protesting against the controversial anti-Islam video released last week. Police used water cannons and tear gas on demonstrators when the protests turned violent. No U.S. officials have been harmed. Another protester was killed in Warai, Upper Dir district in an 800-strong protest against the film. Protesters had set a magistrate’s house and the local press club on fire, resulting in an exchange of gunfire with police. In Lahore, 8,000...

The attack that killed four Americans at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, apparently began as a spontaneous protest against an anti-Islam film before turning violent, Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday. Rice, appearing in NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said she was citing preliminary information and that the FBI was investigating the Tuesday night attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three others. A wave of protests and violence has swept across the Middle East and elsewhere in the Muslim world over an obscure, amateurish movie called "Innocence of Muslims" that depicts...