Changes

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi said [[jihad]]ists who fought against American troops in [[Iraq]] served on the front lines. <ref> [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8407047/Libyan-rebel-commander-admits-his-fighters-have-al-Qaeda-links.html Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links.] </ref> <ref> [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/world/guantanamo-files-libyan-detainee-now-us-ally-of-sorts.html Libyan, Once a Detainee, Is Now a U.S. Ally of Sorts.]</ref> NATO's Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee days before President Obama publicly admitted to intervention that U.S. intelligence knew of [[al Qaeda]] and [[Hezbollah]] elements among the Libyan insurgents.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8414583/Libya-al-Qaeda-among-Libya-rebels-Nato-chief-fears.html</ref>  

Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi said [[jihad]]ists who fought against American troops in [[Iraq]] served on the front lines. <ref> [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8407047/Libyan-rebel-commander-admits-his-fighters-have-al-Qaeda-links.html Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links.] </ref> <ref> [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/world/guantanamo-files-libyan-detainee-now-us-ally-of-sorts.html Libyan, Once a Detainee, Is Now a U.S. Ally of Sorts.]</ref> NATO's Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee days before President Obama publicly admitted to intervention that U.S. intelligence knew of [[al Qaeda]] and [[Hezbollah]] elements among the Libyan insurgents.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8414583/Libya-al-Qaeda-among-Libya-rebels-Nato-chief-fears.html</ref>  

On March 21, 2011, President Obama publicly disclosed U.S. military forces operations began over Libya two days earlier, on March 19, "to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe". Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] opposed the action and warned establishment of a no-fly zone meant attacking the legitimate government of Libya.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20038391-503544.html</ref>  Officials such as National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough and the counterterrorism chief, [[John O. Brennan]], had urged caution. Libya was not vital to American national security interests and Libyan rebels remained unknown to American officials, and had ties to Al Qaeda.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19policy.html?_r=2&hp]</ref> But [[Secretary of State]] "[[Hillary Clinton]] won the bureaucratic battle to use [Department of Defense] resources to achieve what's essentially the State Department's objective... and Obama let it happen". <ref>[http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/18/how_obama_turned_on_a_dime_toward_war How Obama turned on a dime toward war.] </ref>  Secretary Clinton stated:

On March 21, 2011, President Obama publicly disclosed U.S. military forces operations began over Libya two days earlier, on March 19, "to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe". Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] opposed the action and warned establishment of a no-fly zone meant attacking the legitimate government of Libya.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20038391-503544.html</ref>  Officials such as National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough and the counterterrorism chief, [[John O. Brennan]], had urged caution. Libya was not vital to American national security interests and Libyan rebels remained unknown to American officials, and had ties to Al Qaeda.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19policy.html?_r=2&hp]</ref> But [[Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Clinton]] "won the bureaucratic battle to use [Department of Defense] resources to achieve what's essentially the State Department's objective... and Obama let it happen". <ref>[http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/18/how_obama_turned_on_a_dime_toward_war How Obama turned on a dime toward war.] </ref>  Secretary Clinton stated:

{{cquote|We are currently doing everything we can to bomb, strafe and use missiles to carry the rebels into power in Libya. We want them to win. We just don’t know who they are.” Hillary Rodham Clinton. [http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/06/23/hillary-clinton-to-libya-skeptics-whose-side-are-you-on/]}}

{{cquote|We are currently doing everything we can to bomb, strafe and use missiles to carry the rebels into power in Libya. We want them to win. We just don’t know who they are.” Hillary Rodham Clinton. [http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/06/23/hillary-clinton-to-libya-skeptics-whose-side-are-you-on/]}}

===Libyan Islamic Fighters Group===

===Libyan Islamic Fighters Group===

A document published by the U.S. [[West Point]] Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center  revealed that jihadi rebels between 2005 and 2007 exited Libya to join the [[Operation_Iraqi_Freedom#InsurgencyIraq|Islamic insurgency]] in Iraq in greater numbers than any other country. The captured Sinjar documents<ref>[http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony/pdf/CTCForeignFighter.19.Dec07.pdf A First Look at the Sinjar Documents]</ref> includedbackground information on foreign jihadists who migrated to Iraq to kill American soldiers,<ref> The Sinjar Documents are a collection of al Qaeda computer data captured by Americans in 2007 in a predawn raid near Sinjar, Iraq, six miles from the Syrian border.</ref> many of those jihadi rebels coming from among the very people Obama pledged to protect in the name of "humanitarianism". David Wood wrote: "Almost one in five foreign fighters arriving in Iraq came from eastern Libya, from the towns of Surt, Misurata and Darnah. On a per capita basis, that’s more than twice as many than came from any other Arabic-speaking country, amounting to what the counter terrorism center called a Libyan 'surge' of young men eager to kill Americans." The report notes 82% of Libyan jihadi rebels volunteered as suicide bombers, well above the 56% of all foreign insurgents in Iraq.

A document published by the U.S. [[West Point]] Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center  revealed that jihadi rebels between 2005 and 2007 exited Libya to join the [[Operation_Iraqi_Freedom#Insurgency Iraq|Islamic insurgency]] in Iraq in greater numbers than any other country. The captured Sinjar documents<ref>[http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony/pdf/CTCForeignFighter.19.Dec07.pdf A First Look at the Sinjar Documents]</ref> included background information on foreign jihadists who migrated to Iraq to kill American soldiers,<ref> The Sinjar Documents are a collection of al Qaeda computer data captured by Americans in 2007 in a predawn raid near Sinjar, Iraq, six miles from the Syrian border.</ref> many of those jihadi rebels coming from among the very people Obama pledged to protect in the name of "humanitarianism". David Wood wrote: "Almost one in five foreign fighters arriving in Iraq came from eastern Libya, from the towns of Surt, Misurata and Darnah. On a per capita basis, that’s more than twice as many than came from any other Arabic-speaking country, amounting to what the counter terrorism center called a Libyan 'surge' of young men eager to kill Americans." The report notes 82% of Libyan jihadi rebels volunteered as suicide bombers, well above the 56% of all foreign insurgents in Iraq.

The report reminded that Benghazi has long been associated with Islamic militancy in Libya, in particular for an uprising by Islamist organizations in the mid‐1990s. One group—the Libyan Fighting Group (''jamaʹah al‐libiyah al‐muqatilah'')—claimed to have [[War on Terror|Afghan]] veterans in its ranks. The West Point study noted Gaddafi had taken measures to mitigate the threat from rebel jihadi groups, and amnestied some Muslim Brotherhood activists in the hope that they would moderate the views of more violent Islamist activists.

The report reminded that Benghazi has long been associated with Islamic militancy in Libya, in particular for an uprising by Islamist organizations in the mid‐1990s. One group—the Libyan Fighting Group (''jamaʹah al‐libiyah al‐muqatilah'')—claimed to have [[War on Terror|Afghan]] veterans in its ranks. The West Point study noted Gaddafi had taken measures to mitigate the threat from rebel jihadi groups, and amnestied some Muslim Brotherhood activists in the hope that they would moderate the views of more violent Islamist activists.

{{Cquote|"It’s almost a certitude that at least part” of the Libyan opposition includes members of al-Qaeda, said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA analyst and adviser to President Obama. Riedel said that anti-Gaddafi elements in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi have had “very close associations with al-Qaeda” dating back years....I would hope that we now have a good sense of the opposition in Libya and can say that this is 2 percent, not 20 percent,” Riedel said. “If we don’t, then we are running the risk of helping to bring to power a regime that could be very dangerous.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/libyan-opposition-includes-a-small-number-of-al-qaeda-fighters-us-officials-say/2011/03/29/AFRlXWyB_story.html</ref>}}

{{Cquote|"It’s almost a certitude that at least part” of the Libyan opposition includes members of al-Qaeda, said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA analyst and adviser to President Obama. Riedel said that anti-Gaddafi elements in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi have had “very close associations with al-Qaeda” dating back years....I would hope that we now have a good sense of the opposition in Libya and can say that this is 2 percent, not 20 percent,” Riedel said. “If we don’t, then we are running the risk of helping to bring to power a regime that could be very dangerous.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/libyan-opposition-includes-a-small-number-of-al-qaeda-fighters-us-officials-say/2011/03/29/AFRlXWyB_story.html</ref>}}

With several U.S.embassies besieged on the anniversary of the [[September 11 attacks]], White House Press Secretary [[Jay Carney]] declared authorities had no reason to believe the attack on the sovereign territory of the United States consulate in Benghazi less than two months before the [[2012 Presidential election]], resulting in the deaths of several Americans, was a terrorist attack.

With several U.S.embassies besieged on the anniversary of the [[September 11 attacks]], White House Press Secretary [[Jay Carney]] declared authorities had no reason to believe the attack on the sovereign territory of the United States consulate in Benghazi less than two months before the [[2012 Presidential election]], resulting in the deaths of several Americans, was a terrorist attack.

{{Cquote|The unrest that we’ve seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims, find offensive,}}

{{Cquote|The unrest that we’ve seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims, find offensive.}}

became the official White House line. President Obama went on the ''Comedy Channel'' to say the deaths of Americans was "not optimal".<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/18/Obama-Benghazi-murders-not-optimal Interview with Jon Stweart of the ''Daily Show''].</ref> When pressed by reporters, who pointed out evidence that the violence in Benghazi was a terrorist attack, Press Secretary Carney argued “the unrest around the region has been in response to this video.”

This became the official White House line. President Obama went on the ''Comedy Channel'' to say the deaths of Americans was "not optimal".<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/18/Obama-Benghazi-murders-not-optimal Interview with Jon Stewart of the ''Daily Show''].</ref> When pressed by reporters, who pointed out evidence that the violence in Benghazi was a terrorist attack, Press Secretary Carney argued “the unrest around the region has been in response to this video.”

Leading suspected jihadis in the murders and terrorist attack were the local Benghazi branch of Ansar al-Shariah, known to have ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.<ref>http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/10/19/when-an-obama-adviser-called-benghazi-an-al-qaeda-hotbed/?cxntfid=blogs_political_insider_jim_galloway</ref> A commander of the terrorist group boasted jovially about the attack over drinks with reporters for the ''[[New York Times]]'' in Benghazi<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/world/africa/election-year-stakes-overshadow-nuances-of-benghazi-investigation.html?pagewanted=2&ref=world</ref>.<ref>http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/frappe-libya-attack/</ref>

 

Around a week after the attack Obama finally ordered an investigation. The leading suspected jihadis in the murders and terrorist attack were the local Benghazi branch of Ansar al-Shariah, known to have ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).<ref>http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/10/19/when-an-obama-adviser-called-benghazi-an-al-qaeda-hotbed/?cxntfid=blogs_political_insider_jim_galloway</ref> A commander of the terrorist group boasted jovially over drinks with reporters for the ''[[New York Times]]'' in Benghazi<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/world/africa/election-year-stakes-overshadow-nuances-of-benghazi-investigation.html?pagewanted=2&ref=world</ref> as President Obama's investigators failed to interview him.<ref>http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/frappe-libya-attack/</ref>

==Algeria and Mali==

==Algeria and Mali==

Hillary Clinton testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the wake of the Benghazi murders that occurred under her stewardship, that weapons and fighters equipped by the Obama administration made their way into [[Mali]] and [[Algeria]]:

Hillary Clinton testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the wake of the Benghazi murders that occurred under her stewardship, that weapons and fighters equipped by the Obama administration made their way into [[Mali]] and [[Algeria]]:

{{cquote|There is no doubt that the Algerian terrorists had weapons from Libya. There is no doubt that the Malian remnants of AQIM [Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb] have weapons from Libya.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-says-militants-used-weapons-libya-algeria-attack-154222664.html Clinton says militants used weapons from Libya in Algeria attack,] Reuters, Jan 23, 2013.]</ref>}}

{{cquote|There is no doubt that the Algerian terrorists had weapons from Libya. There is no doubt that the Malian remnants of AQIM [Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb] have weapons from Libya.<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/clinton-says-militants-used-weapons-libya-algeria-attack-154222664.html Clinton says militants used weapons from Libya in Algeria attack,] Reuters, Jan 23, 2013.]</ref>}}

== References ==

== References ==