Government Corruption Runs Deep

Ladies and Gentlemen, I admit, I wasn’t really “keeping up” with the news the last few months as this “memo” thing began, nor did I pay much attention to the “Russian Collusion” story based solely on the fact I have no television and rarely see much news.

I read things on FB or the Internet and get interested and start digging. It’s how I get all my news. By getting interested in a story and then reading all side of the coin, not just one news agency, ALL OF THEM. Right, Left, Middle, Russian, German, French, makes no difference to me. I READ IT ALL.

After poring over that memo release and all the various news sources associated with it, I have come to a rather scary conclusion. Following are my thoughts only:

1) The memo details a lot of corruption. But, it’s only the surface. There is more to come, a LOT more. Names will get named, and connections will be made.

2) The corruption went all the way up the chain of command back to Obama himself, Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton, James Comey and many others.

3) This makes Watergate look like a “speeding ticket”.

4) The Democratic Party is in absolute MELTDOWN right now and you can judge that for yourselves by simply reading the screeching going on just on Facebook. They are self-destructing, and the lies keep coming, in droves.

5) I predict – and I rarely do this because I’m usually wrong – that there will be major protests in the next few weeks over this as more details are revealed. They will turn violent, to the point of destruction, turning over cars, “Antifa” will suddenly reappear, as will the “New Black Panthers” and other “Democrat support groups”… and the violence will get very, very large in major cities.

6) The Civil War is ON. This is no joke any more. It has been on-going now since before the elections (See a previous article I posted about How Civil War Happens) and understand that the violence will be directed at the cities at first, then at Right Wingers, Conservatives, White men and women, and children because they wil use Alinsky tactics to “pick a target, freeze it and attack it”. Mark my works on this.

7) The violence will get worse as the Spring and Summer drag on.

Be prepared. Keep your powder dry. Stock up on food and water and be ready for anything – or nothing at all. But always be Prepared for the worst. If you are a conceal carry license hold (and I don’t care if you are) don’t go OUT without your weapons any more and be trained and prepared to defend yourself. No one else is going to do it for you.

Before long, I’m afraid, we’re going to have to remove the Communists from America and take it back from them.  They’ve had a grip for too long.  It’s time to clean house.

Why are the Iranians Holding this former marine? Still?

Two YEARS?  This administration has done nothing to get his release?  I don’t care what his name is.  He served in the United States Marine Corps.

September 11, 2013, 11:25 AM

American held in Iran writes letter to John Kerry describing “miserable prison conditions”

This undated file photo released by his family via FreeAmir.org shows Amir Hekmati. / AP Photo/Hekmati family via FreeAmir.org, File

DETROIT A former U.S. Marine held in Iran for two years said in a letter to the U.S. secretary of state that he has endured “miserable prison conditions” and believes Tehran is holding him hostage for use in a possible prisoner exchange.

Amir Hekmati’s letter, handwritten and dated Sept. 1, was addressed to John Kerry and first published Wednesday by Britain’s Guardian newspaper.

Hekmati, 30, wrote that he has been “held on false charges based solely on confessions obtained by force, threats, miserable prison conditions and prolonged periods of solitary confinement.

“This is part of a propaganda and hostage-taking effort by Iranian intelligence to secure the release of Iranians abroad being held on security-related charges,” he wrote in the letter that the Guardian said was smuggled from the prison.

Family spokesman Greg Romano told The Associated Press that Hekmati’s sister, Sarah Hekmati, authenticated the letter, confirming that the handwriting is her brother’s as is the letter’s tone. Romano provided the AP with a copy of the letter.

The AP sent an email seeking comment from the State Department on Wednesday.

Hekmati has been detained in Iran on what the U.S. says are false espionage charges since his 2011 arrest. Hekmati’s family says he traveled to Iran to visit his grandmothers.

The letter goes on to say that while Hekmati and his family “have suffered greatly,” he “will accept nothing but” an unconditional release.

The State Department late last month repeated its call for Tehran to release Hekmati and two other Americans. It said the U.S. requested assistance from new President Hasan Rouhani — viewed as more moderate than his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Related articles

• Marine in Iran: I confessed under duress (cnn.com)
• American ‘spy’ hits back at Iranian captors (theguardian.com)
• American Held in Iran Writes Letter to John Kerry – ABC News (abcnews.go.com)
• Former US Marine Tells Kerry In Letter That Iran Is Holding Him Hostage (washington.cbslocal.com)
• American denies spying charge (edition.cnn.com)

Kerry refusing to allow interviews of Benghazi Survivors

Sep. 10, 2013 5:27pm Jason Howerton

TheBlaze’s Becket Adams contributed to this report

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Secretary of State John Kerry has informed Congress he “will not honor the request to make Benghazi survivors available for questioning,” CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson reports.

Republicans in the House Oversight Committee reportedly plan to issue subpoenas if Kerry does not reverse his decision and provide congressional investigators access to Benghazi survivors.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on Monday sent Kerry a formal letter demanding access to the survivors of the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

“I must receive confirmation that the [State] Department will makes these witnesses available to Committee investigators by September 24, 2013,” the letter reads.

“Otherwise, I will have no alternative but to consider the use of compulsory process,” the letter adds.

The congressman points out that this is not the first time that the Committee has demanded access to the Benghazi survivors. In fact, he notes, the State Department has dutifully ignored or denied earlier requests for access.

The State Department told the Committee on Aug. 23, 2013, that it was not “prepared to support the [Committee’s] request for transcribed interviews.”

This would appear odd, the letter notes, considering certain Benghazi survivors have been available for various media appearances.

A recent “Vanity Fair” article, for instance, described the night of the attack and included details that only “persons who survived the attack could possibly know.”

Additionally, Rep. Issa explains, Fox News reported in July that it had made contact with David Ubben, one of the survivors

You can read the full letter here:

Rep. Issa by Becket Adams

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/10/cbs-reporter-kerry-tells-congress-he-wont-make-benghazi-survivors-available-for-questioning-subpoenas-could-be-coming/

 

US Dept of State Travel Warning: Iraq

Travel Warning
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs

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Iraq

September 05, 2013

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against all but essential travel to Iraq. Travel within Iraq remains dangerous given the security situation. This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning dated February 25, 2013, to update information on security incidents and to remind U.S. citizens of ongoing security concerns in Iraq, including kidnapping and terrorist violence. The ability of the Embassy to respond to situations in which U.S. citizens face difficulty, including arrests, is extremely limited.

U.S. citizens in Iraq remain at high risk for kidnapping and terrorist violence. Methods of attack have included roadside improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including explosively formed penetrators (EFPs); magnetic IEDs placed on vehicles; human and vehicle-borne IEDs; mines placed on or concealed near roads; mortars and rockets; and shootings using various direct fire weapons. Numerous insurgent groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq, remain active and terrorist activity and sectarian violence persist in many areas of the country at levels unseen since 2008. Due to the potential for political protests and demonstrations to become violent, U.S. citizens in Iraq are strongly urged to avoid protests and large gatherings.

The U.S. government considers the potential threat to U.S. government personnel in Iraq to be serious enough to require them to live and work under strict security guidelines. All U.S. government employees under the authority of the U.S. Chief of Mission must follow strict safety and security procedures when traveling outside the Embassy. State Department guidance to U.S. businesses in Iraq advises the use of protective security details. Detailed security information is available at the U.S. Embassy website.
The U.S. Embassy is located in the International Zone (IZ) in Baghdad. The IZ is a restricted access area. Iraqi authorities are responsible for control of the IZ. Travelers to the IZ should be aware that Iraqi authorities may require special identification to enter the IZ or may issue IZ-specific access badges. Individuals residing and traveling within the IZ should continue to exercise good personal safety precautions.

Increasingly, many U.S. and third-country business people travel throughout much of Iraq; however, they do so under restricted movement conditions and often with security advisors and protective security teams.

Although there have been significantly fewer terrorist attacks and lower levels of insurgent violence in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), which includes the governorates of Sulymaniya, Erbil, and Dohuk, than in other parts of Iraq, the security situation throughout the IKR remains dangerous, and threats have increased in recent months. U.S. government personnel in northern Iraq are required to be accompanied by a protective security escort when traveling outside secure facilities.
The Government of Iraq strictly enforces requirements regarding visas and stamps for entry and exit, vehicle registration, authorizations for weapons, and movements through checkpoints. The Embassy highly recommends that all U.S. citizens in Iraq carefully review the status of their travel documents and any necessary licenses and government authorizations to ensure that they are current and valid. U.S. citizens are urged to immediately correct any deficiencies in their travel documents. U.S. citizens are strongly advised against traveling throughout the country with deficient or invalid documents. For more information about entry/exit requirements for U.S. citizens, please see our Country Specific Information page for Iraq.

U.S. citizens should avoid areas near the Syrian, Turkish or Iranian borders, which are especially dangerous and not always clearly defined. The Turkish military appears to have suspended operations against elements of the Kongra-Gel terrorist group (KGK, formerly Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK) located along Iraq’s northern border. However, hostilities could commence at any time. Sporadic confrontations also occur between Iranian security and Kurdish rebels in Iran, near the border with Iraq. Additionally, extensive unmarked minefields remain along this border. In many places, the border between Iraq and Syria is not under Iraqi government control and armed groups operate in these areas, which has led to violent incidents at some border crossings. Unrest in Syria has resulted in large numbers of people seeking refuge in the area. Iranian authorities previously detained, for an extended period, U.S. citizens who were hiking in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR) in the vicinity of the Iranian border. The resources available to the U.S. Embassy to assist U.S. citizens who venture close to or cross the border with Iran are extremely limited.

The ability of the U.S. Embassy to provide consular services to U.S. citizens throughout Iraq, including Baghdad, is particularly limited given the security environment. The U.S. Consulates in Basrah and Kirkuk cannot provide routine services such as passport applications, extra visa pages, and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad. U.S. citizens in need of these services in Erbil must make an appointment with the Consulate on-line, either through the Embassy’s website or the website for the Consulate in Erbil. The Embassy’s website includes consular information and the most recent messages to U.S. citizens in Iraq. U.S. citizens in Iraq who need emergency assistance should call 0770-443-1286.

For information on “What the Department of State Can and Can’t Do in a Crisis,” please visit the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Emergencies and Crisis link. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

U.S. citizens who choose to visit or reside in Iraq despite this Travel Warning are urged to take responsibility for their own personal security and belongings (including their U.S. passports) and to avoid crowds, especially rallies or demonstrations. U.S. citizens who choose to travel in Iraq should be aware that Iraqi authorities have arrested or detained U.S. citizens whose purpose of travel is not readily apparent. Persons also have been detained for taking photographs of buildings, monuments, or other sites, especially in the IZ in Baghdad.
All U.S. citizens in Iraq, including those working on contract for the U.S. government, are urged to inform the U.S. Embassy of their presence in Iraq by enrolling in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) in order to obtain updated travel information. By enrolling, U.S. citizens make it easier for the Embassy to provide updated security information or to contact them in emergencies. The Embassy also offers SMS text alerts delivered to your mobile phone when new security and emergency messages are released.

U.S. citizens may obtain the latest security information or other information about Iraq by contacting the U.S. Embassy, located in the International Zone, via email, or by accessing U.S. Embassy Baghdad’s website. The after-hours emergency numbers are 011-964-770-443-1286 (from the United States) or 0770-443-1286 (within Iraq). As cell phone service is unreliable in Iraq, emergency calls may also be placed through the Department of State at 1-888-407-4747.

Stay up to date by bookmarking our Bureau of Consular Affairs website, which contains current Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts as well as the Worldwide Caution. You can also download our free Smart Traveler App, available through iTunes and Google Play for travel information at your fingertips. Follow us on Twitter and the Bureau of Consular Affairs page on Facebook as well.

Benghazi: More cover up!

Well, it’s been almost a year.  Nothing has been done.  No one brought to justice.  No one has been arrested, not even in the White House.

Team involved in tracking Benghazi suspects pulling out, sources say

By Adam Housley

Published August 23, 2013

FoxNews.com

Two weeks after the Obama administration announced charges against suspects in the Benghazi attack, a large portion of the U.S. team that hunted the suspects and trained Libyans to help capture or kill them is leaving Libya permanently.

Special operators in the region tell Fox News that while Benghazi targets have been identified for months, officials in Washington could “never pull the trigger.” In fact, one source insists that much of the information on Benghazi suspects had been passed along to the White House after being vetted by the Department of Defense and the State Department — and at least one recommendation for direct action on a Benghazi suspect was given to President Obama as recently as Aug. 7.

Meanwhile, months after video, photo and voice documentation on the Benghazi suspects was first presented to high-level military leaders, the State Department and ultimately the White House, prison breaks in the country have eroded security. U.S. special forces have now been relegated to a “villa,” a stopover for the operators before they’re shipped out of the country entirely.

“We put American special operations in harm’s way to develop a picture of these suspects and to seek justice and instead of acting, we stalled. We just let it slip and pass us by and now it’s going to be much more difficult,” one source said, citing 1,200 prisoners escaping two weeks ago. “It’s already blowing up. Daily assassinations, bi-weekly prison escapes, we waited way too long.”

The latest development raises questions about when the attackers will be brought to justice in the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans last September.

The special operators are starting to get frustrated at the lack of action, and Fox News has been told by multiple sources that one special forces leader “literally yelled” at former Libyan Chief of Mission William Roebuck “and told him, ‘so you’re willing to let these guys get away with murder?'”

The outburst was “met with crickets,” the sources said.

Asked about what actions have been taken on the suspects, the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment. However, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation in Libya suggested there is always intelligence to be gained by simply watching and listening to the suspects.

In addition, Pentagon officials disputed what the operators in question are claiming, saying that group was not specifically tasked with finding the Libyan suspects responsible for the Benghazi attack. These officials said other forces out of Fort Bragg are tasked with that mission, and they are not leaving. Pentagon officials also say the trainers, which were authorized by Congress under part of the defense budget to facilitate training of Libyans for counterterrorism, were not there to track the Benghazi suspects. They insist congressional funding is very clear in its mission: for training locals in counterterrorism.

However, special operators in the region counter the claims and suggest the Pentagon and State Department are playing with words, saying those being pulled are in fact tasked with both training the Libyans and identifying Benghazi attack suspects. “The training is partly a cover and some of these guys … provided the information on suspects directly to U.S. military commanders and the U.S. State Department last November and again in January. They are there and trained to find, fix and finish,” one said.

Fox News reported earlier this year that American forces had identified suspects by the end of November 2012, and reported on their whereabouts to Roebuck last January, yet no action was taken. They returned again in January to identify and locate these same suspects after being requested to do so by military leaders. In the months since, the operators in the region have been sitting in de facto standby, despite the Justice Department charges being filed.

To make matters worse, the U.S. trainers have been sitting in their Libyan “villa” now for a number of days after a Libyan military leader kicked the Americans out of the camp where they had been standing-up a Libyan special forces team for nearly a year, backed by U.S. taxpayer dollars. The maneuver by the Libyan chief of defense has “left our guys high and dry,” and this same chief has locked down Tripoli as well, Fox News is told. The sources say U.S. leaders have now let the Libyan government occupy the special forces camp — and in turn undermine the effort to train a legitimate force capable of countering Al Qaeda, which was the initial assignment before the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi.

The men tell Fox News their mission was to capture or kill the suspects in question, and they briefed the acting U.S. ambassador in Libya and the senior CIA representative in the country. The men were told both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and an under secretary were briefed about their information and their ability to capture or kill those responsible. Still, they did not get approval from the Department of Defense or the White House.

Some of the individuals report seeing former AFRICOM commander General Carter Ham tell former Libya Chief of Mission Laurence Pope that he could easily submit a plan to kill or capture the suspects, but “politics and fallout kept us from acting. To do an operation we have to have (Chief of Mission) and state approval. We didn’t get it. … They sat on it.”

Multiple sources in Libya tell Fox News that the politics in the lack of response to the Benghazi attacks involves the U.S. State Department position in Libya. “No career diplomat wants to be responsible for giving the green light or supporting an operation that if goes wrong, another Somalia, Blackhawk Down, turns into a political fragmentation grenade that puts any group, party, or element in the public scrutiny spotlight … especially after the train wreck on September 11th.”

Sources told Fox News, though, that the Obama administration will be under pressure to produce some result from its investigation with the one-year anniversary of the attack looming.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/23/team-involved-in-tracking-benghazi-suspects-pulling-out-sources-say/?bcsi-ac-f883d00464788be6=20EC69A20000000218Fqb6Th7mVksls86K/YfnIAzF4lEgAAAgAAAPUoRACEAwAACQAAAJs3BAA=#ixzz2cp2u3Dxd

Related articles

• Team involved in tracking Benghazi suspects pulling out, sources say (foxnews.com)
• SpecOps: Obama Aware of Benghazi Suspects, ‘Won’t Pull the Trigger’ (sfcmac.wordpress.com)
• Top 5 Myths About the Benghazi Attack (libyaagainstsuperpowermedia.com)
• Report: Team involved in tracking Benghazi suspects leaving Libya permanently (hotair.com)
• Dozens of CIA operatives on the ground during Benghazi attack… (thelead.blogs.cnn.com)
• CIA ‘running arms smuggling team in Benghazi when consulate was attacked’ (iowntheworld.com)
• The Truth About Benghazi (americanfreepress.net)
• Officials Faulted in Libya Back on Job (foxnews.com)
• Special Ops team sent to find Benghazi suspects leaving Libya for good (bizpacreview.com)
• Team Involved In tracking Benghazi Suspects Pulling Out (patdollard.com)