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Feb. 8, 2013
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Jewish World Review
Oct. 22, 2012/ 6 Mar-Cheshvan, 5773
Benghazi is the Rule, Not the Exception
By
Arnold Ahlert
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
One of the primary questions being asked about the Benghazi debacle--by those in the mainstream media whose first calling isn't protecting the president at all costs--is why the four Americans who were killed were so vulnerable to attack. The answer to that question is obvious: the political philosophy that animates this administration inevitably trumps events on the ground, no matter how many "bumps in the road," or "not optimal" outcomes, as president Obama has characterized them, arise as a result. Yet last week, two other stories that deserve far wider dissemination than they will ever receive, illuminate just how deep the ideological rot has penetrated. Benghazi is critically important--but far more revealing are the twin circuses surrounding the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Nidal Malik Hasan.
First, it worth remembering that if the Obama administration had proceed as they originally wished, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would have been tried in a civilian court in New York City. Why? For the same reason Barack Obama and his minions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, were busy hawking the Benghazi-inducing, "offensive video" lie until it could no longer be sustained. For the same reason video-maker Mark Basseley Youssef still remains in jail without bail, even as the excuse for that detention wears perilously thin. In short, this administration is determined to show a horde of Islamic savages that they are as sensitive to religious disrespect and perceived injustice as the savages themselves are.
Thus, it is completely unsurprising that the pre-trial motions taking place in this case resemble a Monty Python farce. It began Monday when presiding judge, Army Col. James Pohl, ruled that the defendants were not required to attend the hearings, after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed decided he wished to boycott the proceedings. Two of the other four defendants, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsaw and Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, followed suit. Prosecutors argued that the rules of military tribunals require such attendance, but it seems Col. Pohl was more attuned to the defense attorney arguments that the threat of forcible removal from their cells would be psychologically damaging for men who had been "brutalized" by the CIA in secret overseas prisons, prior to their imprisonment at Guantanamo in 2006.
It went downhill from there. Pohl then granted a request by the defendants to wear camouflage clothing in court if they wanted, over-ruling the prison commander's prohibition on such nonsense. In other words, Pohl was more than willing to legitimize KSM's desire to show up dressed as a "prisoner of war," as his lawyer, Army Capt. Jason Wright, put it, because KSM is entitled to "wear the same type of uniform he wore while fighting for the U.S.-supported Mujahedeen in Afghanistan and in Bosnia," the attorney contended.
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Insulted yet? If not, Pohl was up to the task of getting you there with one more ruling: he granted KSM's request to have court break an hour early, letting out at 4 p.m. "because of the early hour the accused are awakened," said Pohl who once again succumbed to the b.s. flung in his direction by KSM's lawyer. "For Mr. Mohammed, the worst thing about sleep deprivation in the present is that it will almost inevitably trigger a re-traumatization and re-triggering of the sleep-deprivation torture techniques inflicted upon him in the past at the hands of other American guards," reprised his attorney.
Debra Burlingame, whose brother, Charles Burlingame, piloted American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon, asked the most relevant question. "How can you give so much respect to a man responsible for the death of thousands of men, women and children?" she wondered. The answer is as simple as it is horrific: when one embraces the political correctness that forms the core of progressive ideological bankruptcy, all such insults--and more--are possible.
Yet such insults pale in comparison to the machinations taking place behind the scenes with respect to the massacre at Fort Hood in 2009. Note I said behind the scenes. In the forefront is the reality that this trial has yet to begin, despite the fact that Nidal Malik Hasan executed 13 people and wounded 29, while shouting "Allahu Akbar!" almost three years ago.
The reason for that is obvious: absolutely nothing about this crime, or the the ideologically-driven ineptness leading up to it, accrues to a president desperately determined to have his foreign policy failures ignored leading up to the election. Not the fact that Hasan was a known radical with ties to American-born terrorist leader Anwar al-Awlaki. Not the fact that the president offered up a "shout out" during a Tribal Nations Conference meeting of Native American leaders, before getting around to mentioning the massacre. Not the fact that the Army's top officer at the time, former Gen. George Casey, was more concerned about "greater tragedy" regarding military diversity, than he was about dead troops.
The latest delay in this trial was caused by the same kind of PC-inspired inanities that animate the KSM trial: Hasan refused to shave for his appearance in court. He had grown a beard "as an expression of his Muslim faith," according to his lawyers. Beards violate Army regulations, and Fort Hood's chief circuit judge, Col. Gregory Gross, had refused to allow Hasan in the courtroom as a result. Hasan's lawyers appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and won a stay. It took until last week for the appeals court to rule that Hasan must follow the aforementioned military regulations.
Yet behind the scenes, the Obama administration has made an utter mockery of anything resembling military regulations. The first insult was the ludicrous decision to label the massacre "workplace violence." And once again, it goes downhill form there. Kudos to PJMedia's Bridget Johnson for doing the work the mainstream media refuses to do, exposing the despicable manipulations of an Obama administration bereft of common sense and common decency. Before the $642.5 billion National Defense Authorization Act was passed, it was threatened with a presidential veto if certain items remained in the bill. Here is the relevant item:
"The Administration objects to section 552, which would grant Purple Hearts to the victims of the shooting incidents in Fort Hood, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas," the veto threat stated. "The criminal acts that occurred in Little Rock were tried by the State of Arkansas as violations of the State criminal code rather than as acts of terrorism; as a result, this provision could create appellate issues." (Fyi, the Little Rock provision refers to a case in which Muslim convert and avowed jihadist, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, killed one soldier and wounded another in a drive-by shooting at a military recruiting office. He pleaded guilty to murder to avoid the death penalty, and is currently serving a life sentence).
The Obama administration's rationale? "The victims of the Fort Hood massacre are not eligible for the Purple Heart, because the attack is not considered to have been made by the enemy, or an 'international terrorist attack,'" writes Dana Pico at the Death Before Dishonor website. "The Department of Defense seemingly does not want to consider Major Nidal Malik Hasan as acting as part of the enemy, because that might bring all Muslim soldiers under suspicion of being considered the enemy."
Need more evidence of ideological bankruptcy? Because the administration steadfastly refuses to call what Hasan did an act of terrorism, neither the dead victims relatives, nor the soldiers wounded in the shooting, are eligible for the same level of benefits soldiers in a combat zone receive.
In a better world all, of the above would be hoisted front and center before the American public in these last days leading up to the election. Unfortunately, the number of Obama-protecting Candy Crowley types in the mainstream media far outnumber the truth-diggers like Bridget Johnson and Dana Pico.
Here's hoping Mitt Romney comes armed to tonight's debate with more ammunition than the Benghazi fiasco. If Romney mention theses two trials and the administration's orchestrations behind them, that would be a great start. Equally deserving of exposure is the recent change in orders that now require our troops to carry loaded weapons around their armed Afghan trainees. 40 deaths were the price our fighting forces paid--this year alone--when some of those Afghan trainees turned their weapons on their unarmed American trainers, who were disarmed as part of a policy aimed at "winning the trust'" of those trainees. In short, the public desperately needs to know that, as bad as Benghazi is, it is by no means an exception to the worldview that informs this administration. It is just another piece in a pattern of consistency.
A degenerate, duplicitous and despicable consistency.
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Previously:
10/15/12: Deadly Hubris Drives the Benghazi Narrative
10/10/12: Shooting Down the 2nd Amendment, One Lawsuit At a Time
10/01/12: The 'Free Obama Phone Lady' Video Goes Viral
09/24/12: The Lovers' Quarrel Between CNN and the State Department
08/22/12: PC Kills American troops: More than 100 unarmed already murdered by Muslim 'friends'
08/20/12: The PC Insanity Surrounding the Nidal Hasan Trial
08/16/12: Dems Believe Nothing Beats Something
08/14/12: Republicans Roll Over on Debate Moderators
08/08/12: Soc Sec Propaganda: the Left's Greatest Triumph
08/06/12: Harry the Weasel
08/03/12: First They Came For My Chicken Sandwich . . .
07/30/12: Stupidity Sold As Common Sense
07/24/12: Obama's 'You Didn't Build That' Was No Gaffe
07/17/12: LIBOR: Another Symptom of the Same Disease
07/09/12: Dear Mr. Romney
07/02/12: Different Shades of Lipstick on the Same Socialist Pig
06/27/12: We're Going to Do What We Want, and We Dare You to Stop Us
06/25/12: Fast and Furiously Diverting Attention from the Economy
06/20/12: So Much For Stopping the Leaks
06/18/12: Another Feckless Attempt to Change the Conversation
06/12/12: Mr. Obama's Latest Fantasies and Fabrications
06/04/12: Progressivism: An Adolescent Ideology
05/21/12: Drones Against Democracy
05/17/12: Pay Up --- Or Else
05/07/12: A Tale of Two Women
05/01/12: 2012: The Economic Paradox No One Wants to Talk About
04/23/12:2012: A Referendum on Our National Character
04/13/12: Feel This
04/11/12: Teaching Dependency
04/04/12: Network News Shapers
04/02/12: Stabbing Israel in the Back Is More Like It
03/19/12: Gas Pains and Debt Bombs
03/12/12: Israel Under the Bus
03/05/12: Baby Steps Down the Road to Depravity
02/27/12: Debasing Our Military, One Politically Correct Moment After Another
02/20/12: The 'New Normal' of Rampant Illegitimacy
02/13/12: Sandwiches or Freedom?
02/10/12: Progressive Obsolescence
02/06/12: Safeguarding Kids No Match for Following Procedure
01/29/11: 2016: R.I.P. GOP
01/26/11: Obama's Happy Talk Versus Bernanke's Action
01/23/11: South Carolina Goes for the Media-Masher
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01/06/11: Will We Retire Obama --- or the Constitution?
01/03/11: Dumb -- or ‘Disabled?’
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12/19/11: A Deficiency of Decency
12/16/11: Better a A War On Whiners Than Christmas
12/12/11: Anybody But Obama
12/07/11: Connecting the Feckless Foreign Policy Dots
12/05/11: Can We Keep Our Republic?
11/28/11: Cyber Crack-heads
11/21/11: Water Water Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Think
11/18/11: Walking along Avenue J(ew)
11/09/11: Military Scandal, Media Blackout
11/09/11: Open-Mics and Closed Minds
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10/31/11: Camping Out in La-La Land
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09/09/11: Solving the 9/11 Invitation Controversy
09/06/11: Our Progressive Economic Wrecking Crew
09/01/11: Summer Swoon
08/29/11: The Real American Fanatics
08/24/11:The Five Stages of (Progressive) Grief
08/22/11:The Inevitable Descent From Progressivism to Nihilism
08/22/11: Perry Stands Firm. Obama Stands Mute
08/15/11: Give Me a Flatscreen TV, or Give Me Anarchy!
08/11/11: Resign, Mr. President
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08/03/11: Manufactured Crises
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07/28/11: Existential Crisis, Part 2
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07/18/11: News Nuggets
07/13/11: The ‘Write Stuff’
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07/05/11: Stimulating Disaster
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05/16/11: ‘Krauthammering’ Amnesty
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04/14/11: Trumping the Debate
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04/04/11: Charlie and Snookie --- and Barack
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03/28/11: The MSM Kills the ‘Kill Team’ Story
03/23/11: Another Military Scandal
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03/16/11: The Inevitable Viability of Conservatism
03/14/11: Progressives in Their Own Words
03/09/11: $61 Billion in Cuts --- Vs. $223 Billion in One Month of Spending
03/07/11: Bean Bag B.S.
03/02/11: A ‘Green’ Catastrophe in the Making
02/28/11: Ain't Noting Like the Real Thing
02/23/11: Progressive Rot vs. the ROTC
02/21/11: Wisconsin: Progressivism in All its Ugly Glory
02/18/11: News reporters --- or Narrative Shapers?
02/16/11: The Presidents Budget Proposal: An Obamination of Progressive Profligacy
02/14/11: Only Another 9/11 Will Alter the Illegal Immigration Status Quo
02/10/11: Is O'Reilly losing his touch or is he just irresponsible?
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02/03/11: Starving the World In Order to Save It
01/31/11: Walking the Middle East Tightrope
01/27/11: Small-scale Terrorist Attacks: Big Strategy?
01/24/11: Jeffery Immelt: A Crony Capitalist In Charge of Job Creation
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01/17/11: Progressives: Always Angry, Newly Desperate
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01/10/11: Politically Correct Passports?
01/05/11: Showdown at the Fiscal Corral
01/03/11: Reading the Constitution Aloud is a Good Start
12/30/10: Getting Our Moral Mojo Back
12/27/10: PC Airport Safety is an Oxymoron
12/23/10: Getting America Back On Track
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12/15/10: The President Who Wasn't There
12/13/10: Tech-No!
12/08/10: A Lethal Military, Inclusive or Not
12/06/10: The ‘Unexpected’ Consequences of Progressivism
12/01/10: Leakers and Losers
11/29/10: ‘We Won’, Part One
11/22/10: Keep Your Hands Off My Constitution
11/17/10: Grope and Change
11/14/10: Taking Back Our Country, One School At a Time
11/11/10: Checks (and Balances), Please
11/08/10: Curtain Up, Progressives Down
11/04/10: Last Chance, Republicans
11/01/10: By Their Own Words Shall Ye Know Them
10/28/10: Progressive Determination to Undermine American Elections
10/25/10: Shock, but more importantly, action: De-Unionize Public Schools now
10/20/10: Multiculturalism? Check, Please
10/18/10: Healthcare: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ vs. The Constitution
10/11/10: Vote for Restoring the Rule of Law in November
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10/07/10: Hypersensitive Hogwash
10/04/10: ‘Comprehensive’ Con Artists
09/29/10: Why Dems Are Going Down in November
09/27/10: The Unholiest of Unholy Alliances
09/22/10: Two Words for Republicans to Remember: ‘I Won’
09/20/10: Purging ‘Me First’ Politicians
09/17/10: No More ‘Lesser of Two Evils’
09/15/10: ‘Recovery’ Arms Race
09/13/10: ‘Bigots’ in the Majority --- Again?
09/09/10: Giving Voters Something to Vote For
09/07/10: Irresponsible Dems, Incomprehensible Bills
09/02/10: War Weary Americans vs. Implacable Islamists
08/31/10: A ‘Dream’ Debased
08/25/10: American ‘Bigots’ Versus Media Propagandists
08/23/10: Recovery Bummer
08/19/10: An Unholy Alliance of Radicals
08/16/10: You've Lost America, Mr. President
08/13/10: The Twin Towers of Progressive Disconnect
08/11/10: A Far Better ‘National Discussion’
08/09/10: It's ‘Only’ One Dead Nun
08/06/10: Incremental Tyranny
08/04/10: Ground Zero Mosque: Context Counts
08/02/10: The Arizona Ruling: a Gift for November
07/29/10: The United Cities of America
07/26/10: JournoList: ‘Coordinated’ Ideological Bankruptcy
07/20/10: Go For Broke Or Get Out of the Way
07/14/10: You're a Liberal/Progressive if You Believe…
07/12/10: $33-an-hour--For Sleeping On the Job
07/08/10: Extortionist Government
07/06/10: ‘Commerce Clause’ Totalitarians
07/01/10: Another Public School Travesty in MA
06/30/10: Calling YOUR Bluff, Mr. President
06/28/10: A Trifecta of Progressive Corruption
06/23/10: Plug the Darn Hole --- In Our Border
06/21/10: Our Empty-Suit-in-Chief
06/16/10: Betraying Our Children
06/14/10: Who Gets the Benefit of the Doubt?
06/07/10: Politically Correct Warfare
06/01/10: Bill Maher's ‘Black’ President
05/25/10: A Mosque At Ground Zero
05/23/10: Libs Stand Tall --- For Mexico
05/19/10: The 'Unintended Consequences' of Liberalism
05/17/10: 'Los' Suns: Stuck on Stupido
05/12/10: Union Audacity: Yes We Will!
05/10/10: Greeks, Leaks and and Double-Speak
05/05/10: Twelve Million Illegals --- or Thirty?
05/02/10: Republicans: Playing Not to Lose Doesn't Cut It
04/28/10: Arizona: Progressivism's Waterloo?
04/26/10: Son of Amnesty
04/22/10: Mortgages and Moral Meltdowns
04/20/10: Bashing Christians — Or Gays?
04/15/10: Personal Integri-‘tea’
04/12/10: Fools, Tools and Ghouls
04/08/10: (Tea) Party On
04/05/10: The Triumph of Mediocrity
04/02/10: Two For the Road
03/29/10: The Innate Immorality of Liberalism
03/24/10: The Art of War
03/22/10: I Want My Country Back
03/18/10: A Perpetual Process
03/17/10: American Exhibitionists
03/15/10: A Light Bulb Moment of Clarity
03/10/10: Little Things Mean A Lot
02/03/10: Budgetary Fork in the Road
02/01/10: Liberal Economic Illiteracy
01/27/10: ‘Roe-ing and Wade-ing’ Back to Reason
01/25/10: Arrogance When Up, Denial When Down
01/20/10: Connecting the Educational Dots
01/19/10: The Next Tea Party?
01/15/10: The Myth That Keeps on Giving
01/13/10: Airport Security Begins Away From the Airport
01/11/10: Secrets and Lies
01/08/10: Embracing Bigotry — or Rejecting Bullying?
01/06/10: Hanging by an Ideological Thread
01/04/10: Our ‘Wonderama’ Bureaucracy
12/30/09: A Day Off
12/28/09: Dangerous Myths
12/25/09: I, Me, Mine
12/23/09: A Very Harry Christmas
12/21/09: My Opinon
12/18/09: The Party of Repeal
12/15/09: Privileged Exemption
11/30/09: ‘Settled’ Science and Unsettled Children
11/30/09: American Sharia Law
11/23/09:The Trial (Travesty) of the Century
11/04/09: American Vampires and Their Political Enablers
11/01/09: ‘Opting Out’ of Insanity?
10/28/09: Cell Phones Cause Brain Cancer. Brain Required
10/26/09: Communism: Nazism With Better PR
10/21/09: Just Asking
10/16/09: Cost Projections vs. Actual Costs, or Hope and Change vs. Reality
10/14/09: News you can use …
10/07/09: Incremental Insidiousness
10/05/09: MIA: Common Sense and Common Decency
09/30/09: Iran: Bad Options and Unpreparedness
09/21/09: Crying Racism: the Last Refuge of Scoundrels
09/11/09: 9/11 Cannot Be Sanitized
09/08/09: ‘Truthers’ and Consequences
09/01/09: A ‘Paper Trail’ Challenge for the Mainstream Media
08/31/09: Drowning in Amorality
08/26/09: The Republican Recovery Program
© 2011, Arnold Ahlert
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