REPORT: US Switched Sides in 'War on Terror'. Funding ISIS and Al-Qaeda

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-66qw-qSGz2M2-hH6ADx7SGP1Lj8BwFosDVYzmQAE_0C4dIsZiF3R02iPHiFzivZE9HPuAb5Q7U4b0W7Rq2WMLAbLH1vefP5d_Yfee8yQs6xT8wb7U8xSvc6-QRtsgIBbzFLI_0ywEY/s1600/0000.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-66qw-qSGz2M2-hH6ADx7SGP1Lj8BwFosDVYzmQAE_0C4dIsZiF3R02iPHiFzivZE9HPuAb5Q7U4b0W7Rq2WMLAbLH1vefP5d_Yfee8yQs6xT8wb7U8xSvc6-QRtsgIBbzFLI_0ywEY/s640/0000.png" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Benghazi attack could have been prevented if US hadn't 'switched sides in the War on Terror' and allowed $500 MILLION of weapons to reach al-Qaeda militants, reveals damning report</span></div> <ul> <li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Citizens Committee on Benghazi claims the US government allowed arms to flow to al-Qaeda-linked militants who opposed Muammar Gaddafi</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Their rise to power, the group says, led to the Benghazi attack in 2012</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The group claims the strongman Gaddafi offered to abdicate his presidency, but the US refused to broker his peaceful exit</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The commission, part of the center-right Accuracy In Media group, concluded that the Benghazi attack was a failed kidnapping plot</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: inherit;">US Ambassador Chris Stevens was to be captured and traded for 'blind sheikh' Omar Abdel-Rahman, who hatched the 1993 WTC bombing plot</span></li> </ul> <div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The Citizens Commission on Benghazi, a self-selected group of former top military officers, CIA insiders and think-tankers, declared Tuesday in Washington that a seven-month review of the deadly 2012 terrorist attack has determined that it could have been prevented – if the U.S. hadn't been helping to arm al-Qaeda militias throughout Libya a year earlier.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'The United States switched sides in the war on terror with what we did in Libya, knowingly facilitating the provision of weapons to known al-Qaeda militias and figures,' Clare Lopez, a member of the commission and a former CIA officer, told MailOnline.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">She blamed the Obama administration for tacitly approving the diversion of half of a $1 billion Qatari arms shipment to al-Qaeda-linked militants.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <br /></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'Remember, these weapons that came into Benghazi were permitted to enter by our armed forces who were blockading the approaches from air and sea,' Lopez claimed. 'They were permitted to come in. ... [They] knew these weapons were coming in, and that was allowed..  </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">'The intelligence community was part of that, the Department of State was part of that, and certainly that means that the top leadership of the United States, our national security leadership, and potentially Congress – if they were briefed on this – also knew about this.'</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The weapons were intended for Gaddafi but allowed by the U.S. to flow to his Islamist opposition.</b></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <br /></div> <div class="clear"> </div> <div class="artSplitter"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="The Citizens Committee on Benghazi released its interim findings on April 22, 2014 in Washington. Pictured are (L-R) Clare Lopez, Admiral (Ret.) Chuck Kubic, Admiral (Ret.) James 'Ace' Lyons, former CIA officer Wayne Simmons and civil rights attorney John Clarke" class="blkBorder img-share" height="419" id="i-a7de0e5e" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D4500E400000578-425_634x419.jpg" width="634" /></span><div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Citizens Committee on Benghazi released its interim findings on April 22, 2014 in Washington. Pictured are (L-R) Clare Lopez, Admiral (Ret.) Chuck Kubic, Admiral (Ret.) James 'Ace' Lyons, former CIA officer Wayne Simmons and civil rights attorney John Clarke</i></span></div> <div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> </div> <br /> <div class="clear"> </div> <div class="artSplitter"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="On September 11, 2012 armed terror-linked militias attacked U.S. diplomatic outposts in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans and driving the United States out of that part of the country" class="blkBorder img-share" height="419" id="i-a72a0e54" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D4511C000000578-131_634x419.jpg" width="634" /></span><div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">On September 11, 2012 armed terror-linked militias attacked U.S. diplomatic outposts in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans and driving the United States out of that part of the country</span></div> </div> <br /> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'The White House and senior Congressional members,' the group wrote in an interim report released Tuesday, 'deliberately and knowingly pursued a policy that provided material support to terrorist organizations in order to topple a ruler [Muammar Gaddafi] who had been working closely with the West actively to suppress al-Qaeda.'</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'Some look at it as treasonous moves,' said Wayne Simmons, a former CIA officer who participated in the commission's research. 'And our men and women had to follow what many purport as, qualify as treasonous moves.'</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Retired Rear Admiral Chuck Kubic, one of the commission's sources, told reporters Tuesday that those weapons are now 'all in Syria.'</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'Gaddafi wasn't a good guy, but he was being marginalized,' Kubic recalled. 'Gaddafi actually offered to abdicate' shortly after the beginning of a 2011 rebellion.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'But the U.S. ignored his calls for a truce,' the commission wrote, ultimately backing the horse that would later help kill a U.S. ambassador.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Kubic said that the effort at truce talks fell apart when the White House declined to let the Pentagon pursue it seriously. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">'We had a leader who had won the Nobel Peace Prize,' Kubic said, 'but who was unwilling to give peace a chance for 72 hours.'</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">In March 2011, Kubic said, U.S. Army Africa Commander General Carter Ham told NBC News that the U.S. military was not actively targeting Muammar Gaddafi. That, Kubic revealed, was a signal to the Libyan dictator that there was a chance for a deal.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Gaddafi responded by 'verifiably ... pull[ing] his forces back from key rebel-held cities such as Benghazi and Misrata.'</span></div> <div class="clear"> </div> <div class="artSplitter"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Christopher Stevens served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from June 2012 to September 11, 2012 when he was killed in the attack" class="blkBorder img-share" height="444" id="i-a8880e65" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D4511C800000578-835_634x444.jpg" width="634" /></span><div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Christopher Stevens served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from June 2012 to September 11, 2012 when he was killed in the attack</i></span></div> <div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></div> </div> <br /> <div class="clear"> </div> <div class="artSplitter"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 23 that it mattered little why the Benghazi diplomatic compound was attacked: 'What difference, at this point, does it make?'" class="blkBorder img-share" height="442" id="i-ab190e79" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D2DD85600000578-573_634x442.jpg" width="634" /></span><div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Honorable? Far from it. Elite Criminal Kingping is more appropriate.</i></span></div> <div class="imageCaption"> <br /></div> <div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 23 that it mattered little why the Benghazi diplomatic compound was attacked: 'What difference, at this point, does it make?'</span></div> <div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> </div> <br /> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Gaddafi wanted only two conditions to step down: permission to keeo fighting al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and the lifting of sactions against him, his family, and those loyal to him.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The Obama administration's unwillingness to help broker a peaceful exit for the Libyan strongman, 'led to extensive loss of life (including four Americans)' when al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked U.S. diplomatic facilities in the city of Benghazi,' the commission told reporters.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The White House and the National Security Staff did not immediately respond to questions about the group's findings.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'We don't claim to have all the answers here,' said Roger Aronoff, whose center-right group <a href="http://www.aim.org/aim-column/material-support-to-terrorism-the-case-of-libya/" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Accuracy in Media</a> sponsored the group and its work.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'We hope you will, please, pursue this,' he told reporters. 'Check it out. Challenge us.'</span></div> <div class="floatRHS"> <br /><div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Retired Admiral Chuck Kubic said the White House refused to let the Pentagon pursue a peaceful exit for Muammar Gaddafi: 'We had a leader who had won the Nobel Peace Prize, but who was unwilling to give peace a chance for 72 hours'</span></div> </div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The commission and AIM filed 85 document requests under the Freedom Of Information Act, hitting the Department of Defense, State Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency with demand after demand.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">But most of its information has come from insiders with deep knowledge of the flow of weapons in Libya and elsewhere in the African Maghreb.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Admiral James 'Ace' Lyons told the group that he believes the raid on the Benghazi compound was intended as a kidnapping exercise, aimed at snatching U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and demanding a prisoner swap for the 'blind sheikh' Omar Abdel-Rahman.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Abdel-Rahman is serving a life sentence in federal prison for planning the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center garage in New York City. He also masterminded a plan, later foiled, to blow up the United Nations, both the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the George Washington Bridge and a federal building where the FBI had a base of operations.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">A senior FBI source, Lyons said Tuesday, 'told me that was the plan.'</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The attack, history shows, grew in intensity and resulted in the deaths of Stevens and three other U.S. personnel. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lyons also said U.S. claims that it lacked the resources to mount a counterattack in time to save lives is false. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">'I'm going to tell you that's not true,' he said. 'We had a 130-man unit of forces at Sigonella [AFB in Italy]. They were ready to go.' </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">'The flight time from Sigonella to Benghazi is roughly an hour.'</span></div> <div class="clear"> </div> <div class="artSplitter"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Killed: An image captured by a cellular phone camera shows the arrest of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in Sirte, Libya on October 20, 2011" class="blkBorder img-share" height="470" id="i-a8ce0e6a" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D45118C00000578-886_634x470.jpg" width="634" /></span><div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Killed: An image captured by a cellular phone camera shows the arrest of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in Sirte, Libya on October 20, 2011</i></span></div> <div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></div> </div> <br /> <div class="clear"> </div> <div class="artSplitter"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Former CIA officer Clare Lopez accused the U.S. government of allowing arms to flow to al-Qaeda militants who opposed Gaddafi in 2011, 'switching sides in the war on terror'" class="blkBorder img-share" height="450" id="i-ac4a0e85" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/22/article-2610598-1D44FFE000000578-574_634x450.jpg" width="634" /></span><div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Former CIA officer Clare Lopez accused the U.S. government of allowing arms to flow to al-Qaeda militants who opposed Gaddafi in 2011, 'switching sides in the war on terror'</i></span></div> <div class="imageCaption"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></div> </div> <br /> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Some of the group's claims strain credibility, including the assertion that the Obama administration's early effort to blame the Benghazi attack on a protest against a crude anti-Muslim YouTube video 'appears to have been well-coordinated with U.S.Muslim Brotherhood organizations as well as Islamic state members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).'</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Those groups, the commission noted, 'all joined in condemnation of the video, and, even more troubling, issued calls for restrictions on Americans’ free speech rights.'</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">But Simmons, the former CIA officer, criticized the Obama administration on the familiar refrain of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exclaiming in a Senate hearing that it mattered little why the Benghazi facilities were struck.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'They believed they were going to be saved, that they were going to be rescued, but they weren't,' Simmons said of the four Americans who died.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'I know who made the decision, in my heart of hearts, to leave our war fighters there and be blown up. And then to have one of the most powerful politicians in our country sit there and say, "What difference does it make?" – should be an alarm bell for all Americans.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'It haunts me,' Simmons said. 'I play that line over, and over, and over, and over in my mind.'</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">The group has called for a Select Congressional Committee to investigate the Benghazi episode. A total of 189 House members have signed on to a bill that would create the committee, which would be bipartisan and have sweeping powers to subpoena the executive branch.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">House Speaker John Boehner, Lopez said Tuesday, 'he blocked it. One has to wonder if he and Congress have had some sort of briefing on what happened.'</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">Kubic insisted that Congress is unable to break logjams in the Obama administration and find out what happened in the days leading up to and following the Benghazi attack without a new committee.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">'If they don't have strong subpoena power, if they don't have the ability to do long-term cross examination, it won't work,' he said.</span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> By David Martosko, U.S. Political Editor, Daily Mail</div> <div> <span style="font-size: 1.2em;"><br /></span></div> <div class="mol-para-with-font"> </div> <div class="clear"> </div> </div>

REPORT: US Switched Sides in 'War on Terror'. Funding ISIS and Al-Qaeda

Benghazi attack could have been prevented if US hadn't 'switched sides in the War on Terror' and allowed $500 MILLION of weap...

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