The US has begun preliminary military preparations for possible action in and around Libya. Drones have reportedly been moved into the sky over Africa and strike forces have been placed on standby—but that’s it for now. The idea behind the preparations is to be ready for a strike in case suspects in the killing of Christopher Stevens are located, but the administration is still debating the long-term wisdom of such a strike. The information was confirmed to AP by three current administration official and a few others. source
I take responsibility. I’m in charge of the State Department’s 60,000-plus people all over the world (at) 275 posts. The president and the vice president wouldn’t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They’re the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Saying that the buck stops at her feet, not the president’s, for the attack in Benghazi that led to the death of a U.S. ambassador. The State Department, and by extension the Obama administration, had faced criticism in recent days for not increasing security at the Benghazi base, despite the fact that it had been requested.
First question’s on the attack in Libya: ”We will find and bring to justice the people who did this,” Biden says. Ryan, however, is on the attack, emphasizing the weaknesses of Obama’s policy: “First they blamed the YouTube video, now they’re trying to blame the Romney-Ryan ticket.”
On tonight’s episode of “Glenn Beck”, Glenn laid out a new theory regarding the attacks on American Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya. On the show, Glenn stated that he believes, based on his research and analysis, Stevens was not killed as a result of spontaneous riot spurned by the video spreading around YouTube parodying Muhammad. Instead, Glenn believes he was killed in a targeted attack and that the protests were just used as a distraction.
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Before the attack, one of the guards who died alongside Stevens, Sean Smith, posted the following on an online gaming message board: “assuming we don’t die tonight. We saw one of our ‘police’ that guard the compound taking pictures”.
Glenn wondered if all the elements of the timeline above and the message from Smith really match up with the story circulating Washington D.C. and the media – that the attacks were the result of a spontaneous protest spurned on by the YouTube video. He had a different theory.
Get your tinfoil hats ready: Glenn Beck thinks that Stevens’ last words to his friends on EVE Online are proof that the SomethingAwful forums are a front for CIA communications. We couldn’t make up stuff this fantastic/sad if we tried.
In Libya it’s only been a year and the idea of democracy and political parties is difficult for people to absorb. The people have not responded to this imported, packaged democracy. We don’t accept it. We have a religion that needs to be taken into accountAbdul Qader Azouz, former political prisoner in Libya • Expressing his, and many other eastern Libyans’, unhappiness with the state of the country one year after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Azouz was one of the few survivors of a massacre, targeting prisoners that Gaddafi believed to be dangerous Islamic fundamentalists, that claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people. Many like Azouz, who fought or lost loved ones (in many cases, both) to Gaddafi before/during the Libyan revolution, feel as if yet another Western-backed government is being installed which will ignore and/or oppress the community in eastern Libyan cities like Derna. source
In the immediate aftermath, there was information that led us to assess that the attack began spontaneously following protests earlier that day at our embassy in Cairo…As we learned more about the attack, we revised our initial assessment to reflect new information indicating that it was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists.Director of National Intelligence James Clapper re: the attack on the US consulate in Libya. Shortly after the incident, Obama’s UN ambassador Susan Rice said that the violence was “initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo.” In his statement, released yesterday, Clapper claims that the intelligence community’s “understanding of the event continues to evolve,” and while the official story is now that the attack was planned, “it remains unclear if any group or person exercised overall command and control of the attack, and if extremist group leaders directed their members to participate.” source
National Assembly President Mohammed el-Magarief vowed to dissolve all militias and military camps operating outside the control of the state. His announcement came after authorities took control of militia bases in the eastern city of Benghazi Saturday following fighting that left 11 people dead and more than 60 others wounded.
Those clashes outside the jihadist militia compounds followed large-scale protests Friday in which tens of thousands of Libyans marched through Benghazi, demanding the dissolution of the militant groups.
The order comes days after protesters forced the militia Ansar al-Shariah from their headquarters.
“I am sorry, America,” said one such protester. “This is the real Libya.” Early in the day yesterday, thousands of protesters gathered in Libyan streets to denounce the attacks and disown the sentiments of Ansar al-Sharia, the Islamist group suspected of carrying them out. Later in the night, an offshoot of several hundred protesters split off and stormed the Ansar al-Sharia headquarters. They torched a vehicle, but managed to assume control of the compound without firing any shots. Some of those involved claim to have freed 20 captives held inside.
It was like pulling teeth to get information yesterday…a lot of senators were frustrated. And you pick up major newspapers in the country and you find details not shared with you.Senator Lindsey Graham • Voicing frustration within the Senate GOP caucus that the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal received more detailed briefing on the Libya attacks than did congress. Senator Bob Corker called it “the most useless, worthless briefing I have attended in a long time,” and John McCain accused the Obama administration of holding the Senate in “disdain.” The closed-door briefing in question presumably also included Senate Democrats, but none have made hay about it in the way Senate GOPers have.
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For what it’s worth: The New York Times’ new public editor, Margaret Sullivan, asked the question Wednesday after the Times ran the photo online. She decided it was worth running, but said this: “I would not want to see a similar photograph on the front page of Thursday’s print edition, where its prominence and permanence would give it a different weight.” The New York Times did not run it on its front page Thursday morning, but other papers did.
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