The CIA has been subjecting operatives to monthly polygraph tests in an attempt to suppress details of a US arms smuggling operation in Benghazi that was ongoing when its ambassador was killed by a mob in the city last year, according to reports.
Up to 35 CIA operatives were working in the city during the attack last September on the US consulate that resulted in the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, according to CNN.
The circumstances of the attack are a subject of deep division in the US with some Congressional leaders pressing for a wide-ranging investigation into suspicions that the government has withheld details of its activities in the Libyan city.
The television network said that a CIA team was working in an annex near the consulate on a project to supply missiles from Libyan armouries to Syrian rebels.
Sources said that more Americans were hurt in the assault spearheaded by suspected Islamic radicals than had been previously reported. CIA chiefs were actively working to ensure the real nature of its operations in the city did not get out.
So only the losses suffered by the State Department in the city had been reported to Congress.
“Since January, some CIA operatives involved in the agency’s missions in Libya, have been subjected to frequent, even monthly polygraph examinations, according to a source with deep inside knowledge of the agency’s workings,” CNN reported.
Frank Wolf, a US congressman who represents the district that contains CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, is one of 150 members of Congress for a new investigation into the failures in Benghazi.
“I think it is a form of a cover-up, and I think it’s an attempt to push it under the rug, and I think the American people are feeling the same way,” he said. “We should have the people who were on the scene come in, testify under oath, do it publicly, and lay it out. And there really isn’t any national security issue involved with regards to that.”
A CIA spokesman said it had been open about its activities in Benghazi.
“The CIA has worked closely with its oversight committees to provide them with an extraordinary amount of information related to the attack on US facilities in Benghazi,” a CIA statement said. “CIA employees are always free to speak to Congress if they want,” the statement continued. “The CIA enabled all officers involved in Benghazi the opportunity to meet with Congress. We are not aware of any CIA employee who has experienced retaliation, including any non-routine security procedures, or who has been prevented from sharing a concern with Congress about the Benghazi incident.”- The Telegraph
NBC, CNN Hillary Clinton movies shed a lot of light on Democratic donors.
Recent news that NBC, which is owned by the Comcast corporation, will produce a four-hour miniseries on the career of former senator, First Lady, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has thrown new light on the communication giant’s long record of support for Democratic politicians and candidates.
David Cohen, Comcast’s executive vice president, raised more than $1.4 million for President Obama’s reelection effort. He also hosted a fundraiser for the president at his Philadelphia home.
The fundraiser reportedly brought in at least $120,000 for the campaign. Comcast employees chipped in another $135,000 to reelect the president, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
They also have donated $124,000 to Clinton’s prior senatorial and presidential runs.
The announcement of the movie sparked criticism from some who say any film is likely to be friendly to Clinton, who is widely expected to run for president in 2016.
“I expect [NBC’s biopic] to cast her as a heroic, pioneering figure,” said Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the Media Research Center.
NBC and its cable arm MSNBC have been criticized for leftward political leanings for some time. Shareholders of Comcast, the cable giant that owns NBC, pressed the company on its political slant at a May shareholder meeting.
MSNBC personalities, including the controversial Rev. Al Sharpton, have enjoyed high levels of access to President Barack Obama and several former members of the president’s administration have joined the network as paid contributors.
NBC is not the only media company working on a Clinton biopic, however. CNN announced on Monday that it will produce its own documentary. Another film on Clinton, produced by the Arlook Group and Temple Hill Entertainment, is also in the works. – Washington Free Beacon
Hillary Clinton and Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed to support Israeli security on Tuesday while calling for a quick de-escalation of Gaza fighting that raged on unabated amid signs of an emerging truce deal.
The top US diplomat flew in for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as efforts continued across the region to refine an elusive accord to end a week of violence that has cost 136 Palestinian and five Israeli lives.
The Israeli army confirmed its first fatality from rocket attacks on Tuesday, and a defence ministry official was also killed, while another missile landed harmlessly just south of Jerusalem on a day of continued strikes from Gaza.
The unrelenting violence also claimed the lives of 26 more Palestinians and witnessed an Israeli strike on a Gaza City building that houses foreign media organisations including AFP — the third such strike in three days.
Clinton told Netanyahu — a right-winger who has had strained relations with US President Barack Obama’s administration in the past year — that Washington’s commitment to Israeli security was “rock solid and unwavering.”
But she also stressed that this “is why we believe it is essential to de-escalate the situation” in the Palestinian territory.
Clinton further indicated that any truce announcement may not emerge until after she completes visits to the West Bank capital of Ramallah and Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
“In these days ahead, the United States will work with our partners here in Israel and across the region for an outcome that bolsters security for the peace of Israel, improves conditions for the people of Gaza and moves toward a comprehensive peace for all people of the region,” said Clinton.
Optimistic negotiators had initially said a deal could be announced in Cairo later Tuesday following days of negotiations brokered by Egypt’s new Islamist leadership.
“There will be a joint press conference between Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the Egyptian mediators tonight to announce the truce,” an Islamic Jihad source told AFP in Gaza City. A Hamas source separately backed up the report.
But Hamas later said in a statement that there was no truce accord, stressing that it could only be announced by Egypt and calling on Palestinian armed groups to “continue to riposte against Israel’s crimes.”
And an Egyptian official told AFP in Cairo that “the truce announcement is not expected tonight because we are still waiting for a response” from the Jewish state.
A meeting was held between Egypt’s intelligence chief Rafat Shehata and top-level delegations from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but it wound up with no agreement being reached on a ceasefire, a source close to the discussions told AFP in Cairo.
“Hamas and Islamic Jihad told the Egyptians they weren’t in a hurry, and it was Israel that had asked Egypt for a truce,” the source said.
“Hamas says it has not yet received a reply from Israel and asks all the media not to rush. It is the Egyptian presidency that will announce a truce if an accord is reached. Any declaration before that, or different from that, is irresponsible.”
An Israeli diplomatic source told AFP that negotiations were ongoing.
“We are working very hard using our diplomatic channels. We are working continuously. But I cannot give you an estimated time of arrival (of a truce),” the source said.
The bloodshed meanwhile showed no signs of abating as the military pressed on with its bombardment of northern Gaza positions from which most of the militants’ rockets have been launched.
Netanyahu told Clinton he was ready to agree to a “long-term solution” as long as the rocket attacks from Gaza stopped.
“If there’s a possibility of achieving a long-term solution for this problem by diplomatic means, we prefer it. But if not, I’m sure you understand that Israel will have to take every action necessary to defend its people,” he said.
A senior Hamas official told AFP in Cairo that a key sticking point was whether Israel would begin easing its six-year-old blockade of Gaza coinciding with the truce or at a later date.
“A compromise solution is for there to be agreement on lifting the siege, and that it would be implemented later at a specified time,” he said.
Netanyahu and his key ministers decided in a closed-door meeting late Monday to place “a temporary hold on a ground incursion to give diplomacy a chance to succeed,” a senior Israeli official told AFP.
The move came as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met Netanyahu and again urged all parties to end fire “immediately”.
A delegation of more than 10 Arab foreign ministers and other senior representatives also visited Gaza in a symbolic show of solidarity with the Palestinians — the latest in a string of regional leaders’ visits to the impoverished coastal enclave.
“The real problem is not a truce,” Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi told reporters in Gaza City.
“The real problem that the Arab and Islamic countries and all friendly countries in the world must focus on is ending the occupation,” the organisation’s secretary general said.
Hamas is understood to be seeking guarantees that Israel will stop its targeted killings and end its blockade.
Israel for its part is believed to be looking for a 24- to 48-hour truce as a buffer to work out a more permanent arrangement.
The Security Council held talks late Tuesday to discuss a demand by Arab nations that it hold a public meeting on the crisis.
Western diplomats had expressed fears that comments made at an open meeting could harm efforts to reach a ceasefire, but they agreed to hold the meeting on Wednesday at 2000 GMT. – AFP
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday signed a new deal supporting efforts to fight AIDS in South Africa, which has the world’s biggest population of people with HIV.
“South Africa and the entire region has a brighter and healthier and more secure future,” she said while visiting a clinic in the Cape Town township of Delft.
“Even as we take a moment to say ‘well done’, we cannot make the mistake of thinking that our job is done,” she said. “The disease is still very dangerous.”
The United States has spent $3.2 billion since 2004 supporting South Africa’s fight against AIDS. The new five-year agreement gives South Africa’s government more control over the spending.
“Some people may hear ‘South Africa is in the lead’ and think that it means that the US is bowing out,” Clinton said. “Let me say this clearly: the US is not going anywhere.”
“The partnership is changing for the better,” she said. “Our goal is no new patients — zero.”
The agreement highlights South Africa’s shift from an international pariah on AIDS, under former president Thabo Mbeki, who refused to believe the scientific evidence that AIDS is caused by a virus — to a celebrated one.
Now the country runs the world’s largest AIDS treatment programme, with more than 1.3 million people receiving drugs, out of a total infected population of 5.6 million.
The rate of newborns catching the disease from their mothers during childbirth has fallen from 8 percent in 2008 to 2.7 percent last year. – SAPA
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged South Africa to build on icon Nelson Mandela’s legacy and flex its growing influence on the global sticking points of Syria, Iran and Zimbabwe.
“The man who did so much to shape the history of a free South Africa has never stopped thinking about the future of South Africa,” she said in a speech at a Cape Town university.
“Because of your history, South Africa has an obligation to be a constructive force in the international community,” she added.
Washington’s top diplomat said strong African partners were needed to tackle the world’s challenges and urged the continent’s biggest economy to do more.
“There cannot be a strong global network unless there are strong African partners. Now I’ve often heard it said that African problems need African solutions. Well I’m here to say that some of our global problems need African solutions too,” said Clinton.
“And few nations on this continent can carry as much weight or be as effective partners and leaders as South Africa. You are a democratic power with the opportunity to influence Africa and the world.”
On her sixth stop of a continent-crossing mission, Clinton noted differences between Washington and Pretoria, particularly on recent conflicts in the Ivory Coast and Libya, but said this should not obscure common goals.
“We welcome South Africa’s support last week with the resolution at the UN General Assembly condemning Syria and the Assad regime’s brutal reign of terror,” she said.
“I hope this vote can be the foundation for a new level of cooperation.”
Clinton called on South Africa to lead efforts at the United Nations human rights council to protect global human rights.
“When old friends in power become corrupt and repressive, a decision by South Africa to stand on the side of freedom is not a sign that you are giving up on old allies, it’s a reminder to yourselves and the world that your values don’t stop at your borders.”
Drawing out neighbouring Zimbabwe, she urged leaders in the region to push for progress for new polls that will end a troubled power-sharing deal that pulled the country out of election chaos five years ago.
“Now the same leaders can help accelerate progress for finalising and adopting that constitution through a credible referendum and holding a free and fair election monitored by the international community,” she said.
“And if Zimbabwe’s leaders meet these commitments, the United States is prepared to match action for action.”
The US has insisted that Zimbabwe take more steps to curb political violence before agreeing to ease sanctions against veteran President Robert Mugabe and his inner circle.
In a speech that blended praise and encouragement, Clinton called on South Africa to use its “rare authority” as the first country to have voluntarily given up its nuclear weapons to discourage armaments.
“You can help ensure that any country that pursues nuclear weapons programmes will invite only more pressure and isolation,” she said.
“This means South Africa can play an even greater role on issues like curbing Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons from preventing nuclear materials from falling into the hands of terrorists.”
Clinton reserved parts of her speech to pay homage to Mandela’s example of humanity by reaching out to his former apartheid jailers.
“That is the true legacy of president Mandela — calling all of us to complete the work he started. To overcome the obstacles, the injustices, the mistreatments that everyone, every one of us will encounter at some point in our lives.”
Earlier, she signed a new deal supporting efforts to fight AIDS in South Africa, which has the world’s biggest population of people with HIV.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited with Nelson Mandela at his home on Monday to pay her respects to the aging South African icon.
Clinton and a small group flew to the 94-year-old Mandela’s home village of Qunu, where they reminisced and had a small private lunch.
Clinton and Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, talked as photographers snapped pictures and Mandela looked on smiling from his wingback chair.
“That’s a beautiful smile!” Clinton said.
“Madiba’s smile is a trademark,” Machel said, affectionately referring to Mandela by his Xhosa clan name.
Afterwards, Clinton, Machel and the others went into the main dining room for lunch. Mandela remained in the living room with his medical attendants.
The former president of South Africa has homes in Johannesburg and Qunu. In recent years, he has spent more and more time in Qunu and in May, it was announced that he would stay there indefinitely.
Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, has retired from public life. – Associated Press
Hillary Clinton and President Joyce Banda of Malawi
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to meet with South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela on Monday, the State Department said, hours after her arrival on the latest leg of her Africa tour.
The luncheon with the 94-year-old former president will take place in Qunu, a village in the country’s southeast.
Clinton, who met schoolgirls and Africa’s second woman president during an unprecedented visit to Malawi Sunday before jetting to South Africa, will be in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town until Thursday morning.
While in South Africa, Clinton is also expected to meet with senior government officials, as well as senior representatives from the South African private sector.
The State Department announced earlier it was partnering with the US Chamber of Commerce to lead a business delegation of approximately 10 senior US executives to the three cities Clinton is visiting.
“South Africa is the leading market in Africa for American goods, and the United States is both an important export market and a source of foreign direct investment for South Africa,” it said.
Members of the business delegation were said to include senior executives from Black & Veatch, Boeing, Chevron, EMD/Caterpillar, FedEx Express, GE, Symbion, Trimble, Wal-Mart, and Zanbato.
A trade mission meanwhile includes the heads of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the US Trade and Development Agency, as well as Robert Hormats, under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, and Francisco Sanchez, under secretary of commerce for international trade.
“The mission showcases our commitment to highlighting investment opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in infrastructure, the State Department said.
After trips to Nigeria and Benin, Clinton is due to travel to Turkey Saturday for talks on the conflict in Syria. – Sapa
If you care about rebels the world over, as Sens. John McCain, Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham think you ought to, consider the fate of one brave rebel. Stacked as they are with The Dictator’s judges, the courts in this rebel’s country want to place him behind bars for shooting a predator on his property. Ursus arctos horribilis is a wild and extremely dangerous carnivore that thrives in the northwestern parts of this dictator’s dominion.
The tribesman is guilty of no more than aggressively repelling from human habitat a creature that had become brazen, making itself at home near the man’s six young children, as they frolicked.
It used to be that the country’s tribesmen instilled fear in encroaching beasts, animal and human. But due to decades of cultural and legal emasculation, under a succession of like-minded dictators, the queered men folk are no longer licensed to protect home and hearth. If they do, they risk losing their liberty.
One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. Our rebel’s plight would never be popularized by CNN’s Anderson Cooper or the rest of America’s journalistic priesthood. For he is an American, one among many.
“Jeremy M. Hill, 33, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court to killing a grizzly bear with a rifle on his 20-acre property near Porthill, Idaho, at the Canadian border.
At least five of Mr. Hill’s six young kids, ranging in age from 14 years to 10 months, were home when their dad killed a brown bear that had gone after penned pigs the kids had been raising.
I wonder how many Syrian rebels or regulars President Bashar al-Assad has arrested for shooting wild animals that had threatened their families.
If given the choice, this scribe would choose the absolute right to defend life and property over the democratic vote, any day.
Fighters for the family and the farm are never “rebels.” Or so McCain, Lieberman and Graham would impatiently insist. Wresting dominion from the distributive state: now that’s the defining battle of an “authentic” freedom fighter.
Speaking of our Syrian soul mates, the Free Syria Army, aka “The Rebels”: By now you’ve viewed their handiwork. Purity of arms is not exactly their military or moral motto. In footage uploaded to the Internet Aug. 2, members of the Free Syria Army were captured committing war crimes. They lined up pro-government militia against a wall in the city of Aleppo and mowed them down.
Where have we seen a similar scene before? Yes, yes, on YouTube. But YouTube is not a place, America; Libya is.
Backed by American drones and French fighter jets above, another bunch of rebels to whom the U.S. took a shine intercepted Col. Moammar Gadhafi as he fled his hometown of Sirte, dragged him from his vehicle and lynched him then and there.
To these rebels’ blood-curdling harangues of “Allahu Akbar,” Hillary Rodham Clinton added her own ululation. “We came, we saw, he died!” cackled the secretary of state in solidarity, when tidings arrived of the actions of her thugs of choice.
Political illiteracy being a precondition for political office, these “three blind mice,” naturally, don’t know Shia from Shinola. Grasping Syria’s ethnic and religious mix is clearly beyond the ken of one John McCain.
“To put it simply,” writes its Times Literary Supplement reviewer, “the Alawite sect, to which Bashar al-Assad belongs, is favored by the regime. The Christians are in a similar position. Therefore, both of these groups support the government. The Sunnis are a marginalized majority, so many turn to political Islam to find a voice. The Kurds are non-Arabs in an ‘Arab Republic.’ Many do not feel Syrian and even support Israel. Damascenes are isolated and care little for anything outside Damascus.”
The analysis in “Revolt in Syria” makes it clear that the divisions between the factions are in flux. “There are Sunnis who ‘would die for the president,’” as are there anti-government Christians.
The recent slaughter perpetrated by her preferred sect has yet to elicit Secretary Clinton’s familiar hee-haws.
Given her history in Libya, Hillary is likely postponing the hoedown for when her proxies eliminate Bashar al-Assad.
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