Video: Benghazi Eye Witness Accounts

After two years, now comes eye-witness accounts from those on the ground of what actually happened the night Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were murdered in Libya.

Despite ongoing Congressional Hearings supposed to reveal the truth of that dark episode in American history, it is only now that FOX News has broadcast interviews with US Contractors who share their first-hand minute by minute accounts of what really transpired.  Hint: It had nothing to do with a video, and yes, there is plenty of culpability to lay at the White House administration door.

13 Hours At Benghazi - Fox News Reporting With Bret Baier 1 Of 5 

 13 Hours at Benghazi Part 2

13 Hours at Benghazi Part 3

13 Hours at Benghazi Part 4

13 Hours at Benghazi Part 5


Even if you believe, as I do, that there are some American missions that the public does NOT need to know about, THIS disgraceful episode in Benghazi demonstrates the worst of US foreign policy in as the current administration rushed to get before the media and spin, spin, spin to deny that Americans serving our country were  needlessly left to die..

Hillary Clinton et al may bob and weave all they like, BUT how American conducts itself on the world stage - how they make decisions to protect all Americans -  really DOES make a difference..

Hillary Clinton may insist on playing coy as to her plans to run for President in 2016,  but the way she and  her boss 'mishandled' Benghazi, should disqualify her from EVER holding any further office.

Period.

Canada: Sending "Military Advisors" to Iraq

(photo courtesy Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Remember back after 9/11 when POTUS George W Bush was putting together the Coalition of the Willing?   Canadian Prime Minister of the day, Jean Chretien,  infamously did not sign on the Canadian Troops for that mission.  But that was then, and this is now.

From the CBC:

Canadian military advisers join fight against ISIS in Iraq

Harper announces deployment of 'several dozen' for 'up to 30 days' to help Kurds

CBC News Posted: Sep 04, 2014 


Canada's next contribution to the fight against ISIS in Iraq will be the deployment of "several dozen" members of the Armed Forces to provide security advice, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today.

A release from the government calls Canada's contribution "an advisory and assistance role" to help prevent any escalation of the humanitarian crisis.

"The fanaticism of the ISIL terrorist group is a real threat to regional security and millions of innocent people in Iraq, Syria and beyond. Left unchecked, ISIL is also a direct threat to Canada and its Allies," Harper said in the release.

[...]

CBC News has learned about 100 Canadians will be deployed. Iraqi forces would receive strategic and tactical advice from the Canadians before they commence tactical operations against ISIS.
  
The initial deployment will be for a period of up to 30 days, the announcement says, and "will be reassessed after that time." Iraq still needs to give its final consent to Canada's offer....

Read more here. 


Let's hope those ISIS terrorists have the memo that these are 'advisors' and not 'combat' Troops.

UK: Woman Beheaded - but don't you be calling it terrorism

Lee Rigby is not available for comment....

From Jihad Watch comes this:

UK: Woman beheaded in broad daylight by machete-wielding Muslim, police rule out terrorism 

Robert Spencer   September 4, 2014

“When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks…” (Qur’an 47:4)

“When you gonna wake up, and strengthen the things that remain?” (Bob Dylan, echoing Revelation 3:2)

This is denial and willful ignorance on a scale so massive as to spell nothing less than a doomed society.

“Woman beheaded ‘with machete’ in north London garden,” by Tom Whitehead, Ed Malnick, Tom Brooks Pollock and Gordon Rayner, the Telegraph, September 4, 2014 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

An 82-year-old woman was beheaded in a north London garden after a crazed attacker went beserk with a machete.

Pensioner Palmira Silva was decapitated at her house in Edmonton in broad daylight in an apparent frenzied assault by a 25-year-old man who randomly targeted victims.

The horror scene unfolded as terrified eye witnesses saw the man, who was wielding a foot long blade, attack a passing vehicle and a cat before roaming back gardens for a victim.

Police believe the man also tried to attack two people at another address in Nightingale Road but they were able to escape without injury.

The man was arrested after armed police, who had distracted him to avoid other attacks, cornered him in a house and Tasered him, during which some officers were injured.
Ms Silva was pronounced dead at the scene.

One line of inquiry for detectives is now understood to be whether the man had been inspired by recent footage of the Isil beheadings of two US journalists in Syria.

Locals last night claimed the arrested man had converted to Islam last year.

However, detectives said they had ruled out terrorism as a motive for the killing....

Much more on this NON terrorist killing here.
 

Nigeria: Meanwhile...Boko Haram gains ground

From Christian Science Monitor:

Kids a major target as Boko Haram gains ground in Nigeria (+video)

Despite #BringBackOurGirls and international pledges to help rein in the Islamist militant group, kids and schools are still preyed on by Boko Haram. This week, Boko Haram won control over the key northern town of Bama. 

By Ryan Lenora Brown

September 4, 2014

 Civilians who fled their homes following an attacked by Islamist militants in Bama, take refuge at a school in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. A Nigerian senator says thousands of people are fleeing a northeastern city amid conflicting reports that it has been seized by Boko Haram Islamic militants. Jossy Ola/AP

 Johannesburg — When Janine Morna arrived in northern Nigeria in March to study child abductions by local militias, few outside the region had any idea of the scope of the problem. 

That changed abruptly on the evening of April 14 - 15, when members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram stormed a secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok and captured some 300 teenage girls.  

Suddenly, child kidnappings in northern Nigeria — which had concerned human rights researchers like Ms. Morna for years — were global front-page news. Around the world, nations pledged aid and counterterrorism assistance, while #BringBackOurGirls floated to the top of trending topics on Twitter. It gave many who live and work in the region hope that change was imminent.

[...]

Read more here. 

 Related: Hundreds flee Nigerian city as Islamist militants gain ground

Murderered Steven Sotloff an Israeli?

As this slain journalist's beheading by ISIS terrorists hit the airwaves (and Obama reads a scripted, TPT aided,  wishy washy response to this second murder,) I came across an interesting piece out of Israel.

From Israel National News: 

Murdered US Journalist Was Actually Israeli

Journalist beheaded by Islamic State had made aliyah, risked his life to fast on Yom Kippur and pray towards Jerusalem in captivity.

By Shimon Cohen
9.3.2014

American journalist Steven Sotloff, who was brutally beheaded by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, took great risks to keep his Jewish faith in captivity, a former fellow-captive of the murdered journalist told Yediot Aharonoth.

However, it turns out that Sotloff was in fact Israeli.

A media gag order on the issue was released on Wednesday, allowing publication of the fact that Sotloff made aliyah (immigration) to Israel in 2005 by himself, and studied at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya.

IDC Herzliya released a statement shortly after the gag order was released, noting its great sadness over 31-year-old Sotloff's brutal murder and adding that he studied at the institution from 2005 to 2008.

The statement pointed out that Sotloff, whose work was published in Time, The National Interest and Media Line and Foreign Policy, had been stationed in Egypt, Bahrain, Turkey and Libya, before finally going to Syria where he was abducted by IS.

"In this act the Muslim jihad group has removed itself from the family of humanity," said IDC Herzliya founder and president Prof. Uriel Reichman. "The murder of Steven also erased the immunity that civilized society grants journalists, even in times of war, as their goal is to guard the truth and freedom of speech."...

Much more here. 

To learn more about Steven and James Foley's lives - who they ARE -  go watch this interview with a friend of them both.

As Israel has proved many times in the past, anybody who attacks Israelis WILL pay a price.  It is my belief that if, in fact, Sotloff, IS an Israeli, Netanyahu will wreak vengeance for this latest atrocity.  Meanwhile, Obama will continue with his empty 'stern words.'

Rest in peace, Mr Sotloff and Mr Foley.  Prayers for all who love you....

[Related: Latest victim was Jewish grandson of two Holocaust survivors who had joint Israeli citizenship]

Wednesday Hero

This Post Was Suggested By Mike



Technician 5th Grade Robert Maxwell93 years old from Boise, Idaho
3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division



From Technician 5th Grade Maxwell's Medal Of Honor citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 7 September 1944, near Besancon, France. Technician 5th Grade Maxwell and 3 other soldiers, armed only with .45 caliber automatic pistols, defended the battalion observation post against an overwhelming onslaught by enemy infantrymen in approximately platoon strength, supported by 20mm. flak and machinegun fire, who had infiltrated through the battalion's forward companies and were attacking the observation post with machinegun, machine pistol, and grenade fire at ranges as close as 10 yards. Despite a hail of fire from automatic weapons and grenade launchers, Technician 5th Grade Maxwell aggressively fought off advancing enemy elements and, by his calmness, tenacity, and fortitude, inspired his fellows to continue the unequal struggle. When an enemy hand grenade was thrown in the midst of his squad, Technician 5th Grade Maxwell unhesitatingly hurled himself squarely upon it, using his blanket and his unprotected body to absorb the full force of the explosion. This act of instantaneous heroism permanently maimed Technician 5th Grade Maxwell, but saved the lives of his comrades in arms and facilitated maintenance of vital military communications during the temporary withdrawal of the battalion's forward headquarters.
You can read more about Technician 5th Grade Maxwell here and here

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.

Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

'Tribute In Light' returns to GZ

From New York Daily News:

'Tribute in Light' returns to Ground Zero for the 9/11 memorial, open to the public

For the first time since the 2001 terrorist attack, the memorial plaza in Lower Manhattan will be open to one and all between 6 p.m. to midnight on the anniversary.

BY Larry Mcshane

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, August 30, 2014

 

 James Keivom/New York Daily News The annual “Tribute in Light” of 88 powerful light bulbs provides a symbolic recreation of the two 110-story World Trade Center towers.

The annual “Tribute in Light” returns to Ground Zero for the 9/11 memorial — and this year, the public can come along.

For the first time since the 2001 terrorist attack, the memorial plaza in Lower Manhattan will be open to one and all between 6 p.m. to midnight on the anniversary.

The new policy will provide anyone interested with an up-close view of the massive twin shafts of light beamed above the city skyline each Sept. 11. The display of 88 powerful light bulbs provides a symbolic recreation of the two 110-story World Trade Center towers.

Source.