Showing posts with label War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label War. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

BEST OF 2014: Stuff Bush Didn't Do, Illustrated

Please distribute to your progressive "friends":



Related: President Barack Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts [Updated]

Monday, December 29, 2014

Did the Saudis and the US Really Collude to Smash Oil Prices?

By Andrew Topf

The oil price drop that has dominated the headlines in recent weeks has been framed almost exclusively in terms of oil market economics, with most media outlets blaming Saudi Arabia, through its OPEC Trojan horse, for driving down the price, thus causing serious damage to the world's major oil exporters – most notably Russia.

While the market explanation is partially true, it is simplistic, and fails to address key geopolitical pressure points in the Middle East.

Oilprice.com looked beyond the headlines for the reason behind the oil price drop, and found that the explanation, while difficult to prove, may revolve around control of oil and gas in the Middle East and the weakening of Russia, Iran and Syria by flooding the market with cheap oil.

The oil weapon

We don't have to look too far back in history to see Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and producer, using the oil price to achieve its foreign policy objectives. In 1973, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat convinced Saudi King Faisal to cut production and raise prices, then to go as far as embargoing oil exports, all with the goal of punishing the United States for supporting Israel against the Arab states. It worked. The “oil price shock” quadrupled prices.

It happened again in 1986, when Saudi Arabia-led OPEC allowed prices to drop precipitously, and then in 1990, when the Saudis sent prices plummeting as a way of taking out Russia, which was seen as a threat to their oil supremacy. In 1998, they succeeded. When the oil price was halved from $25 to $12, Russia defaulted on its debt.

The Saudis and other OPEC members have, of course, used the oil price for the obverse effect, that is, suppressing production to keep prices artificially high and member states swimming in “petrodollars”. In 2008, oil peaked at $147 a barrel.

Turning to the current price drop, the Saudis and OPEC have a vested interest in taking out higher-cost competitors, such as US shale oil producers, who will certainly be hurt by the lower price. Even before the price drop, the Saudis were selling their oil to China at a discount. OPEC's refusal on Nov. 27 to cut production seemed like the baldest evidence yet that the oil price drop was really an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and the US.

However, analysis shows the reasoning is complex, and may go beyond simply taking down the price to gain back lost marketshare.

“What is the reason for the United States and some U.S. allies wanting to drive down the price of oil?” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro asked rhetorically in October. “To harm Russia.”

Many believe the oil price plunge is the result of deliberate and well-planned collusion on the part of the United States and Saudi Arabia to punish Russia and Iran for supporting the murderous Assad regime in Syria.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

EXCELLENT NEWS: Mainstream, Moderate Muslim Group Cheers Unveiling of ISIS Flag on Mt. Everest

Yes, really. Muslim Matters is a news hub for all things Islamic, with a special focus on Western countries. MM has a mere 425,000 "likes" on Facebook, which indicates it is quite mainstream.


Of course, he's not just holding up a book; he's also holding up a flag. And not just any flag, the black flag of ISIS.


When even Al-Arabiya is reporting that ISIS has committed crimes against humanity, you may want to rethink the cheerleading, fellows. To wit, "Massacres, beheading boys as young as 15, and amputations and lashings in public squares that residents -- including children -- are forced to watch figure on the list of crimes, as does the widespread use of child soldiers, stoning women to death for suspected adultery and holding women as sexual slaves and forcing them to bear children for the fighters."

Or is ISIS now what passes for moderate, mainstream Islam?


Hat tip: BadBlue News. Reference: "Know Your Terror Flags."

Monday, December 22, 2014

BOTH PC's ARE DOWN: North Korea Suffering a Complete Internet Blackout

While there are credible reports that North Korea may not have been behind the Sony hack, that hasn't stopped someone from taking out the DPRK's entire Internet infrastructure.

Which means both Commodore 64's are down.

[DPRK] has just four networks that connect to the world wide web -- and none of them are working today. "The situation now is they are totally offline," Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Dyn Research told Bloomberg. After a weekend of spotty connections, the country's pipeline to the outside world reportedly went down this morning. "This isn't normal for them," Madory said. "Usually they are up solid. It is kind of out of the ordinary. This is not like anything I've seen before."

The Network researcher didn't go out of his way to suggest that North Korea's internet service is under direct attack, but the idea has some merit. Just last week the FBI officially stated that it believed North Korea to be behind the recent hack at Sony Pictures, and US President Barack Obama promised to "respond proportionally, and in a place, time and manner that we choose." Considering the events of the past week, it's an easy suspicion to cling to, but it's also very unconfirmed: White House National Security spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan stated that the White House has no new comments on North Korea today. "If in fact North Korea's internet has gone down," she wrote to Bloomberg, "We'd refer you to that government for comment."

US involvement isn't the only possibility either -- North Korean's own infrastructure could simply be buckling due to poor maintenance or, more likely, China (the country through which North Korea pipes all of its internet connections)could be disrupting service directly.

Rumor has it that the country's chubby, mass-murdering dictator is highly exercised that he no longer has access to his favorite, eh, "lingerie" sites.


BRILLIANT: U.S. offers $5 million reward for Al Qaeda terrorist it released from Gitmo

Just when you think the Left's tactics have hit rock bottom, they pull out a Tunnel Boring Machine and start digging a new sub-level. Judicial Watch has the summary of another brilliant maneuver by the Smartest President Ever™ with an assist from everyone who thinks Gitmo should be shut down:

Years after liberating an Al Qaeda operative from the military prison at Guantanamo, the United States government has put him on a global terrorist list and offered a $5 million reward for information on his whereabouts.

The unbelievable story comes as President Obama frees more and more terrorists—including four to Afghanistan over the weekend— long held in the military compound at the U.S. Naval base in southeastern Cuba. The president’s goal is to close the prison, a campaign promise that dates back to 2008, by relocating the last of the world’s most dangerous terrorists. Still left at the facility are 9/11 masterminds Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi as well as USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Hundreds of Gitmo terrorists have been discharged over the years under a program that started with President George W. Bush and continued full-throttle with this administration. Intelligence report after intelligence report has revealed that many rejoin terrorist missions after leaving the military prison. In fact, Judicial Watch has been reporting this for years. Back in 2010 JW wrote about a report that the Director of National Intelligence gave Congress documenting that 150 former Gitmo detainees were confirmed or suspected of “reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities after transfer.” At least 83 remained at large, according to the document.

Friday, December 19, 2014

China Tests Ballistic Missile That Uses Guidance Technology Traded by Bill Clinton for Campaign Donations

By Investor's Business Daily

Defense: China has just tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile that can deliver up to 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads, using technology given to them on President Clinton's watch to launch communications satellites.

The Dec. 13 test of the DF-41 was the third for the new weapon. But it marked the first test of a multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle, or MIRV, technology and raises by an order of magnitude the nuclear threat to the U.S. as China continues its massive arms buildup. And disturbingly, the threat is in large part of our own making.

"The DF-4, which could be deployed as early as 2015, may carry up to 10 MIRVs, and have a range as far as 7,456 miles, allowing it to target the entire continental United States," according to the latest report produced for Congress by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

"China could use MIRVs to deliver nuclear warheads on major U.S. cities and military facilities as a means of overwhelming (existing) U.S. ballistic missile defenses," the report added.

NO. PRINTABLE. COMMENT: Obama Apologizes to Castro

Yes, really. Michael Warren reports:

Barack Obama apologized to Cuban president Raul Castro during their phone conversation after the American commander in chief's opening remarks... Obama began the phone call with Castro with what he described as 15 minutes of opening comments. It was the first conversation between the heads of state in both countries since 1961.

"I apologized for taking such a long time," Obama said... According to the president, Raul Castro proceeded to speak to Obama uninterrupted for 30 minutes.

I tremble to think what additional damage this President will do to liberty, both here and abroad, in his remaining 25 months in office. Twenty. Five. Months.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

I Really, Really Want to See "The Interview"

I just watched the final, extended trailer over at Obiter Dictum and I must say: the movie looks good. Not award-winning or anything, but silly good.

Hard to tell at this point, but it could -- I emphasize the world could -- even reach keeper status like Animal House, Old School, Stripes, Caddyshack and Ghostbusters. That's a stretch, I know, but the trailer's promising enough for me to want to see the flick.

Obiter had a compelling idea for the feckless boobs at Sony*:

Release your film
THE INTERVIEW
on YouTube.
Available for the entire internet world to view,
WITHOUT CHARGE

You know: make the genocidal mass-murderer Kim-Jong Un a global laughingstock.

And at this point, to paraphrase the smartest Secretary of State ever, what difference does it make?

We also have an administration certain to blame a video, whether warranted or not -- so that angle's covered.

*I call Sony a bunch of feckless boobs because this ain't the company's first dance at the Hackbarn. The Playstation Network was hit earlier this year and in 2011 as well.

You'd think they'd have spent some serious money on network defense, countermeasures and cyberwar talent.

That does not appear to be the case. Obvi.


Hat tip: BadBlue Tech News.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

IF ONLY AUSTRALIA WOULD GET OUT OF "PALESTINE": Islamists Take Hostages in Downtown Sydney

Islamonazi terrorists displaying the flag of ISIS have raided a busy Sydney cafe and taken as many as 50 hostages.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families, who were disarmed beginning in 1996 with draconian gun control laws that literally read "personal protection [shall] not be regarded as a genuine reason for owning, possessing or using a firearm."

I'll bet there are many people in Australia today who wish concealed carry permits were as plentiful as they are in the U.S.

...live TV footage showed people standing inside a café with their hands pressed against the windows. At least one of the attackers was caught on camera wearing a traditional Islamic cap.


...The hostages were forced to hold a black flag with an Arabic inscription, prompting fears that ruthless Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants were behind the attack.

...The gunmen’s attack, which took place in Sydney’s central business district, forced nearby buildings in Martin Place – including the Reserve Bank of Australia – to go on lockdown... Soon after news of the hostage situation emerged, Sydney’s iconic Opera House was also evacuated. The move was reportedly prompted by a suspicious package found inside the building.

But this tragedy is just another coincidence, eh, Ben Affleck?


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

EXCLUSIVE: Photo of Dianne Feinstein Press Conference, Plus Our Comment o' the Day Award

Chris wins our oh-so-prestigious Comment o' the Day award, which entitles him to either a 2015 Mercedes GLK 350 or a box of Kaboom Cereal (our choice):


The level of hypocrisy has jammed the meter's needle up against the peg and wrapped it around.

These hyperventilating, panties-in-a-wad harpies (female, male, and ?) are the same slime balls (alternately, slime-without-balls) who were BRIEFED many times on what was planned and done, as well as wondering if there wasn't more that could be done.

These now-incredulous (golly gee, we never would have guessed) geniuses let the dogs off the leash, loudly commanded, "Sic 'em!" and then jumped up and down, pom poms waving, while they gleefully cheered, "Go team, go! Fight, team, fight!"

Now they're collectively on the fainting couch (getting a tad crowded there, it is), ready to throw under the bus those out on the pointy end of the spear who did their expressed bidding.

As they cry out for punishment for the "doers" of all this "evil" and those at the CIA who gave the orders, they conveniently ignore that it was they, themselves, who ordered the CIA to march forward. If the "foot soldiers" just "carrying out orders" are to be indicted, how about the ultimate order-givers? Does Nuremberg ring a bell?

Chris refers to, of course, the fact that Feinstein, Pelosi and the other weasels were fully briefed on the Enhanced Interrogation program. Further, their very "investigation" failed to interview a single member (not one) of the very intelligence community it claimed to review.

I would call these people pond-scum, but that would unfairly tarnish hard-working algae.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Why don't you ask him about torture?

The corrupt, conscious-less, traitorous Democrat Party released the one-sided Senate report on interrogation techniques this week for one reason and one reason alone: to shriek "BUSH" at the top of their lungs one last time before the reins of power are ripped from their greasy hands.


The Democrat cruds -- it was an entirely partisan enterprise -- did not interview CIA directors during the time in question; did not interview CIA personnel during the time in question; and whitewashed their own involvement and approval of the techniques.

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

BEYOND BENGHAZI: Massive Security Gaps in State Department Security on Hillary's Watch Revealed

And this seems so unexpected coming as it does under the watch of a Secretary of State whose sole qualification was squelching "Bimbo Eruptions."

The Wall Street Journal elaborates:

State Department investigators discovered numerous security deficiencies in global hot spots when reviewing U.S. diplomatic facilities in 2012 and 2013, suggesting problems were more widespread than previously known.

...The review, which hadn’t been made public before, was undertaken from April to October 2012, toward the end of Hillary Clinton ’s tenure as secretary of state. It provides the best snapshot of security when the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked in September 2012, leading to the deaths of four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

Congressional panels investigating the Benghazi attacks concluded that State Department officials didn’t beef up security despite requests from diplomats in Libya. The reviews suggest such problems went well beyond Benghazi.

DRONES ARE JUST PEACHY: Ex-Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-KS) Slams Dianne Feinstein for enhanced interrogation hypocrisy

Alex Griswold points us to a disappointed Andrea Mitchell, whose face resembles papier-mâché (not that there's anything wrong with that) when confronted with the stark idiocy of Democrat policy positions.

Former Democratic Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey called out Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” for her “incompatible” positions in support of droning terrorists, but in opposition to using enhanced interrogation.

“Well the other thing is, you’ve got guys out there right now running drones. Dianne Feinstein supports the use of drones,” he noted. “What happens if ten years from now, there is another investigation saying those guys violated international law as well?”

“I mean you’re basically saying, ‘I can’t interrogate Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, but I can put him out with his family and drop a drone [strike] on him.’ There seems to be something incompatible with those two positions.

Well, let's put it this way, Bob: wiping out a terrorist's family with a drone strike is no more hypocritical than Michelle Obama gorging on fast food while insisting that growing kids starve themselves.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Monday, December 08, 2014

RESET: China Conducts Third Test of Game-Changing "Carrier Killer" Missile System

By Investor's Business Daily

Defense Threat: China conducts its third test in a year of a hypersonic glide vehicle designed to evade our missile and other defense systems, including the Aegis defense system guarding our carrier battle groups.

As we downsize our military, scale back weapons procurement and development, China proceeds at top speed towards weapons designed to counter our once-huge technical advantage and qualitative superiority. Case in point is the third flight test of a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), dubbed the WU-14 by the Pentagon, following earlier tests on Jan. 9 and Aug. 7 of this year.

The U.S. Navy is particularly concerned, as an HGV would be a potent weapon against U.S. carrier battle groups in the western Pacific.

A Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile — the road-mobile DF-21D, called a "carrier killer" by some — already poses a potent threat, but it is countered by our extraordinarily capable sea-based Aegis missile defense.

In February 2008, the Aegis missile cruiser Lake Erie shot down a National Reconnaissance Office 2.5-ton spy satellite before it could strike the Earth with its deadly hydrazine fuel tank nearly full.

"The beauty of the HGV (hypersonic glide vehicle) is that it can perform hypersonic precision strikes while maintaining a relatively low altitude and flat trajectory, making it far less vulnerable to missile defenses," says Rick Fisher, a China military affairs expert with the International Assessment and Strategy Center.

Sunday, December 07, 2014

Obama-Jarrett-Kerry Deal With Iran All But Certain to Deliver Nukes into the Hands of Terrorists

By Ted Bromund

It’s no secret that the Obama administration badly wants a nuclear deal with Iran. And it’s no secret that the Iranians are playing hard to get. The talks, which were supposed to yield a final agreement this week, have been extended to July. That’s a relief, because right now, the best deal is no deal.

Many of the finest minds in strategy and physics have spent years arguing over the parameters of a deal with Iran. But it’s easy to overthink this problem. We know what nations that give up on nuclear weapons programs look like. They look nothing like Iran.

The United States has done a lot of good work to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. We discouraged Taiwan and South Korea from going nuclear. After the Soviet Union fell, we encouraged, and paid, the former Soviet states of Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus to get rid of the Soviet nukes they had inherited.

We supported confidence-building efforts between Brazil and Argentina that ended their nuclear rivalry. In the 1990s, our pursuit of Iraq’s nuclear program persuaded South Africa to come clean about its nuclear stash. In 2004, during the Iraq War, we frightened Moammar Gadhafi into giving up Libya’s program.

But all of these places either went through a democratic transition, or — in Libya’s case — were scared into doing the right thing. Fundamentally, they came clean about their nuclear programs of their own accord. While we offered incentives, our incentives were never decisive.

We’ve offered loads of incentives to North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, with no success. We’ve never been able to bribe or talk nations into giving up nuclear weapons: They usually give up nukes because they have newly free political systems and no longer want to have the bomb.

None of this is true of Iran. The anti-Western regime of 1979 is still in power. If you doubt that, watch the videos of the charming “Death to America” rallies held across Iran earlier this month. Rallies like that are organized by the regime.

This isn’t complicated. If Iran wanted only civilian nuclear power, it would make that clear. Instead, it has repeatedly been caught cheating, it is developing long-range missiles, and it demands the right to unlimited nuclear research, with no accountability for its past lies.

Friday, December 05, 2014

AN OPEN LETTER TO REP. MICHELE BACHMANN: I Beg You to Reveal the Truth About Hillary Clinton

Why is this letter addressed to Rep. Michele Bachmann? Because she is one of the few members of Congress with the courage and stamina to stand up to the Beltway elites in both parties. She isn't running for reelection, so she presumably doesn't care whose feathers she ruffles.

Dear Rep. Bachmann:

I have a favor to ask. The favor is not for me personally: it is for every American concerned about the future of this Republic.

I know you are a patriot. I know you are courageous. I know you care deeply about the future of this nation. Therefore I have addressed this request to you and you alone.

Hillary Clinton, like Barack Obama, is a radical leftist who despises the Constitution and the free market. Her troubling history is well-documented, as even The Washington Post observed in 2008 when the editors of that dying journal were trying to get then-Senator Obama nominated.

Hillary Clinton and her husband have some secrets you can help expose.

The Cox Report

The Cox Report was issued in 1999, a time when some House Democrats still put country before party, after an investigation of some shocking transfers of military technology to the Communist Chinese military.

This special committee, created by a 409-10 vote of the U.S. House of Representatives on June 18, 1998, was tasked with the responsibility of investigating whether technology or information was transferred to the People's Republic of China that may have contributed to the enhancement of the nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles or to the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction... ...The committee's final report was approved unanimously by all 9 [bipartisan] members. The redacted version of the report was released to the public May 25, 1999.

The full report has never been released.

Why might that be?

Because the Clintons appear to have traded military secrets to the Red Chinese in exchange for millions in campaign contributions.

For instance, on 9/13/1995, President Clinton met with John Huang and James Riady (pictured below). During the meeting, Huang expressed an interest in becoming a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee.

In this position at the DNC, Huang raised $3.4 million. The DNC was later forced to return nearly $2 million when a Congressional investigation revealed "problems" with the source of the funds. Huang was later convicted of crimes related to illegally reimbursing campaign contributions with Asian funds. Riady was also convicted of related campaign finance crimes. A U.S. Senate campaign finance report stated that Riady had a, "long-term relationship with... Chinese intelligence."

On 3/14/1996, President Clinton signed an order transferring license-granting authority for military/industrial technology from the State Department to the Commerce Department. This order made it easier for the Chinese military (the PLA) to launch American satellites, over objections from the Pentagon and the State Department. During the Clinton administration, focused Chinese espionage efforts made significant headway in the theft of U.S. military/industrial secrets including those concerning nuclear weaponry.

On 5/25/1999, the U.S. House of Representatives released the Cox Report ("Report of the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China"), which detailed publicly for the first time China's espionage campaign against the United States. The report was a redacted version of a still-classified report. Approximately 30% of the original report, the unanimous product of a bi-partisan committee, remains classified.

Rep. Bachmann, you can release the full Cox Report.

The Barrett Report

Another little-remembered scandal involving the Clintons, The Barrett Report:

...is a 400 page [document] created by special prosecutor David Barrett. Initially tasked with investigating allegations of lying to the FBI against Henry Cisneros, Secretary of the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development under U.S. President Bill Clinton, the investigation eventually delved into allegations that President Clinton had used the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service as political tools against American citizens.

Before the release of the report, three Democrat U.S. Senators, John Kerry, Dick Durbin and Byron Dorgan, forced the redaction of certain pages by attaching a rider to an unrelated appropriations bill.

Cisneros, a former San Antonio mayor, eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of lying to the FBI. He paid a US$10,000 fine and was pardoned by President Clinton on Clinton's final day in office.

So three powerful Democrat Senators did their level best to cover up reports that Clinton used the IRS and the DOJ to attack political opponents!

Rep. Bachmann, you can release the full Barrett Report.

So my request is as follows

Rep. Bachmann: please read the redacted portions of The Barrett Report and The Cox Report into the Congressional Record. The classification of this information is not an issue for members of Congress.

Professor Bruce Ackerman and others have stated that members of Congress "cannot be prosecuted for reading classified material into the public record."

Let's find out what Hillary Clinton and her husband were really up to when they occupied the White House for eight years.

The citizens of this country need to know in order to properly vet this woman for elected office. The citizens of this country deserve to know the truth. Please help us discover the truth.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Doug Ross

As an aside, wouldn't you agree that these Democrats are the lowest of the low?


Tuesday, December 02, 2014

RANSOM FOR BOWE BERGDAHL? No Straight Answers Available From the Most Transparent Administration Ever

By Investor's Business Daily

Oversight: A House Armed Services Committee member asks for a probe into reports that money was paid in a failed attempt to ransom alleged deserter Bowe Bergdahl. And where's that Bergdahl investigation report, anyway?

Back on Oct. 16 we noted that the Pentagon had completed its investigation into Sgt. Bergdahl's abandonment of his Afghan post. But the report by Brig. Gen. Kenneth Dahl would not be released, according to an Army spokesman, until the end of a review process that was likely to be conveniently lengthy, lasting at least until after the midterm elections.

It has now been over six months since Bergdahl's May 14 release in exchange for five top Taliban commanders and a month since the administration's electoral thumping. Yet the report has still not been made public.

It presumably contains a conclusion on whether Bergdahl officially deserted and recommended punishment for any offense. It might also deal with reports of a botched cash ransom attempt.

As we noted in June, soon after his May release, Bergdahl was believed to have been held by the militant Haqqani network in the tribal area of Pakistan's northwest frontier on the Afghan border. He was picked up in eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border, by a Navy SEAL team.

The Haqqani network, while designated a terrorist organization, has been described by best-selling author Brad Thor as "80% Tony Soprano and 20% al-Qaida" — a group more interested in cash than a swap of prisoners that would benefit the Taliban.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Variety Magazine Hawks Bloodthirsty Communist Revolution

By Lee Cary

It is common knowledge that most of Hollywood is populated with progressive, liberal Democrats, but, apparently, Variety magazine online is partial to the Revolutionary Communist Party USA.

Revcom.us signs were carried at several of the Ferguson demonstrations across the nation.

Perhaps some of those carrying the signs assume Revcom.us is a cosmetic company, or just didn’t bother to wonder what Revcom.us is.

Here’s part of the Revolutionary Community Party USA mission statement:

The Revolutionary Communist Party, USA has taken on the responsibility to lead revolution in the U.S., the belly of the imperialist beast, as its principal share of the world revolution and the ultimate aim of communism.  This Party is built on and takes as its foundation the new synthesis of communism that has been brought forward through the body of work and method and approach of Bob Avakian.  Its members are united in their profound desire for a radically different and better world, and their understanding of the need for revolution to get to that world. They have dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to revolution, and on the basis of that they channel their individual abilities and passions to the cause and needs of this revolution.”

All that mumbo jumbo has the ring of “fundamental transformation” – which is another linguistic siren song that attracts useful idiots just as Communist doctrine during the 1950’s attracted Americans with the same intellectual DNA as Revcom.us sign-carriers, along with their close cousins, the fellow travelers.

In the Cold War, these folks were supporters of Communism, but not official "card-carrying members" of a Communist party.

The useful idiots abound among us.


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

WHITEWASH: "House Intelligence Report on Benghazi" is Bogus

By Clare Lopez

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Ranking Member C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger (D-MD) issued a much-anticipated “Investigative Report on the Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Facilities in Benghazi, Libya, September 11-12, 2012” late on Friday November 21, 2014 that has administration supporters crowing—and eyewitness, on-the-ground operators pushing back forcefully. A close comparison of the report and other previously released information about the September 2012 attacks on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi shows that the operators have good reason to cry “foul.” While clever wording just might give Messrs. Rogers and Ruppersberger plausible deniability on a witness stand, the overall intent of the report is clear: exonerate the Intelligence Community (IC), and, by extension, the Obama administration, of responsibility for intelligence failures prior, during, and after the terrorist attack that took the lives of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service Information Officer Sean Smith, and CIA contractors Glenn Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

In simple terms, this report is a whitewash of the CIA, which, along with the State Department, was responsible for arming and assisting the very jihadist militia groups that rose to power in the first place during the 2011 rebellion against Muammar Qaddafi, and who later murdered our people in Benghazi. The biggest intelligence failure of all that is never mentioned is the failure to understand the essential hostility of the jihadist ideology of the groups with which our government was dealing.

One of the most riveting revelations from members of the CIA security team who were at the Annex the night of 11-12 September, 2012 concerns the repeated refusal of CIA Chief of Base ‘Bob’ to allow them to go to the rescue of the besieged Americans at the Special Mission Compound (SMC). While the Rogers report is adamant that “…the Committee found no evidence that there was either a stand down order or a denial of available air support,” that statement is directly contradicted by accounts of events from Mark “Oz” Geist, Kris “Tanto” Paranto, and John “Tig” Tiegen. These three members of the Annex security team are co-authors of “13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi,” and have spoken out publicly in multiple media appearances. The Rogers Committee interviewed all three of them, as well as additional members of the Annex staff, so there’s no question about its familiarity with the actual sequence of events that fateful night.