Friday News Roundup - International
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-11-16/friday-news-roundup-international
An Israeli airstrike kills the top Hamas military commander. Congress holds hearings on the Benghazi, Libya, consulate attack. And China’s ruling Communist Party names its top leader. A panel of journalists joins guest host Frank Sesno to discuss the week’s top international stories, what happened and why.
Guests
James Kitfield
senior correspondent for National Journal.
Courtney Kube
national security producer for NBC News.
Nathan Guttman
Washington correspondent for Channel 1 Israeli News and The Jewish Daily Forward.
Comments
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The more Fox News rants and raves about the Benghazi tragedy,the more it smells like 'Iran Contra'. A paid event created by the Republican candidate for President Ronald Reagan. A plot to bribe Iranians to hold U. S. Consulate prisoners until after the U.S. election. Here we have armed militants,possibly mercenaries,maybe hired by Mitt Romney and Fox News or one of their billionaire handlers. Until I see evidence to the contrary,I will consider Benghazi another failed October Surprise by the NeoCons.
Interesting stats for Senator McCain to consider regarding possible misleading statements made by Susan Rice vs. Condaleesa Rice:
Iraq total US casualties - 4,488 deaths over 100,000 wounded
Benghazi total US casualties - 4 deaths
Also of note, repeated statements about WMDs including mushroom clouds over ten years......comments about Benghazi revised within two weeks
Sen. McCain indicates Ms. Rice has had much greater negative impact on US personnel
But which Ms. Rice?
I thought we would get a break from the silly wastes of time and resources that were the elections.
"Watergate style/type" proceedings to dissect the brutal, jihad terrorist attack in Benghazi? We now know it was most likely Al-Qaeda. It seems insignificant that it took a few days to really ascertain and understand the source anyway. Without a HUGE and EXPENSIVE foreign bureau of sorts, would anyone have the capability to have known of the impending terrorist attack? With all of the publicity this showboating is getting, isn't Al-Qaida getting exactly what it wants? Many reports I've heard or read lately indicate just how extremely dangerous it is and has been throughout many different presidential administrations to be a diplomat, let alone one as bravely effective as the late Christopher Stevens was.
With all of the problems we have at home and in the world, the criticism of diplomacy as it is done and has been done for a long time, bickering about what happened and demands for further investigation seem like sad, imprudent, politics that are a distraction from the more urgent, truly important issues that need attention. McCain, et al need to focus on positive, thoughtful work that may actually accomplish something. I'm disgusted. What we really can't afford more of is this kind of...malarkey.
Clifford: It is no joke that "Innocence of Muslims" has been connected to the Romney campaign. Can they afford for their version of South Park to be blamed for smoking an ambassador? Mitt sounds just like Cartman in his explanation for defeat. (Respect mi authoritay!)
Question: Was the targeted killing of Ahmed al-Jabari a test of the new American assassiation drone?
Question: Why does the American public tolerate Israel's (real estate agent dominated Likud) government imprisoning 1.5 million people in Gaza?
Question: How long before drones kill our business and government notables on K Street?
I am very surprised that I have not heard about the ramifications due to the administration blaming the anti-Muslim video. With the admistration blaming the video, many people were made aware of a video that no one had heard of. This created many more demonstrations and many more deaths. Also, a death threat to the creator of the video. I have not seen the video, I do not support anti Muslim hatred, but I am very surpised this angle is not being pursued.
nauticalshell's reasoning exhibits a timeline problem.
It also disregards the global overextension of US Empire.
Riots in Cairo set off actions in Bengazi: That is not disputed.
Said film initiated riots in Cairo: That is not disputed.
Nautical is in a shell far from the events....
Shelly: See Oliver Stone on Showtime Mondays to clarify American history.
He has a book "Untold American History" and he covers Obama's crimes too.
Netanyahu seems to have hit at least three birds with one stone with his violent and hugely disproportionate attacks on the Gaza. One... another kick in the Obama administrations cajones for standing up to Israel pushing the US to attack Iran, two attempt to provoke the Palestinians into more violence before their push at the UN for upgrading their status and three continue to distract from Israel's continuous expansion of existing illegal settlements and the plan to implement new settlements in the West Bank as well as new illegal housing in E Jerusalem. What do your guest think about this summary of why Israel is bombing the daylights out of Gaza again.
Also why is it that almost all US MSM reports about these latest attacks begin with Palestinians response which was in retaliation for Israel's killing of a Palestinian kid playing soccer on Nov. 8th. Why do all the reports start with Palestinians attack on the Israeli soldiers in the jeep? Amy Goodman of Democracy Now reported about this and a timeline of the latest attacks is at the premiere middle east website Mondoweiss
Amy Goodman at Democracy Now reported that Israel attacked first on Nov and a timeline of who shot first in this latest conflict posted at Mondoweiss one of the premiere websites on middle east issues that shows the first attack came from Israel on
Although the Ambassador started out her comments that the full details were not known, by the end of the progam she came off as what I would characterize and more than forcefull that the attack was a direct result of the video. As I recall her words on "This Week" were something to the effect of "let me be clear" this was a direct result of an insulting video. Her tone and body language were rather clear on that point and she treated the question like it was way out of line, which it was not.
So my question would be: Why didn't the Administration just come out and say we don't know what the heck happened yet, we will share when we know. Instead they insinuated to the American people the video was to blame.
Seems like Netanyahu hits three birds with one stone with this latest disproportionate attack on the Gaza.
1. Kicks the Obama administration in the cajones again for not going along with their push to attack Iran
2. Provokes the Palestinians into a violent conflict just before the UN vote which would upgrade Palestinians status so that they would be able to take their human rights evidence against Israel to the International Criminal Court
3. Distracts from Israel's continued theft of internationally recognized Palestinian land in the West Bank and E Jerusalem.
What would your guest say about this summary?
Do any of your guest think that the Obama administrations decision to promote the idea that the attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi were attached the hateful film because they wanted to distract from the fact that they were immediately on the trail of those who attacked the consulate?
We are experiencing right now, in real time, an Orwellian exercise in 'newspeak'. As Adrian Monk might put it, 'here's what happened' - The Obama Administration screwed up. They had lots of warning prior to the significant danger date of 9/11. The Ambassador was out on the perimeter and Al Qaeda got us. Then, it being an election, they tried to cover it up. Sending the UN Ambassador out there on Sunday mornings was a measure of desperation. Hillary was, of course, missing from the scene but that wasn't the UN Ambassador's job and it surely wasn't her job to be so adamant about it all day long. Let us not forget that the President of the United States for weeks on end was out there on television news and every manner of variety show giving the same message which was and is now being definitively exposed as a giant LIE. It is a LIE. The president was Lieing. He wasn't simply in error. This is what has politicized this whole mess. The lie. If they had simply admitted that we were hit right away they could have pushed the investigation into the particular failings that led to it down the road. But they didn't. They chose to lie. Why would they do that? Because they knew they could. They knew that this show and every other non-FoxNews show would go along with the Orwellian magic.
What about alleged Libyan prisoners at Benghazi. Is this one of the things that the Obama administration is trying to hide? If there were prisoners did they escape... Mr. Kittfield
At Democracy Now it was reported that Jabiri who had negotiated Israeli prisoners Ghalid Shalits release had just received a draft of a permanent peace agreement with Israel. He was assassinated a few hours later. What do your guest know about this claim?
HOW LONG WILL THE WORLD TOLERATE THE OUTSPOKENLY VITRIOLIC POLICY OF THE MUSLIM WORLD TOWARDS ISRAEL?
As long as the world deludes itself into thinking that the problem is merely a perplexing "Israel v. Palestinian" issue, when the problem is a "Muslim v. Muslim", "Muslim v. World", "Muslim v. Israel" problem, then the world will only exacerbate the suffering of the Jews and Arabs of Palestine. I say "Palestine" because it is the name given under Roman occupation to Israel, where Jews have lived continually since long before the faiths of Christianity and Islam came into existence. Jews are Palestinians. Today there are also Arab Palestinians.
Muslim terrorists make war everywhere in the world. And they perpetrate lie after lie about Jews, Buddhists, Christians, Bahai, Hindus, Secularists, even other Muslims! They destroy holy places of everyone everywhere, from the Buddhist statues in Central Asia to Jewish and Christian sites in the Holy Land to the holy sites of Muslims in Timbuktu; the Shia-Sunni destructions of each other and each others' holy sites and mosques is legendary! Ridiculously, stupidly, and perniciously, the World perpetuates and gives credibility to the propaganda that somehow it is the fault of Israel and the Jews!
HOW LONG WILL THE WORLD PAINT JEWS AND ISRAEL TO BE A WARMONGERING NATION, WHEN IT IS ISRAEL, A NATION OF ONLY 8-MILLION PEOPLE, WHOSE EXISTENTIAL RIGHT IS ON THE LINE EVERY DAY AND EVERY MOMENT?
"Arab Spring" should properly be called the "Muslim Terrorist Uprising". Our desire to see it as the bloom of democracy should not blind us to the realities of terrorism and fundamentalist extremism. Israel is surrounded by well-armed, well-financed, well-propagandized, incessantly active terrorism. No one should be surprised by the present escalation, nor by the likely inevitability of another and far greater war, as Israel must defend itself directly from at least Hamas, Egypt, Hezbolla, Syria, and Iran.
HOW LONG WILL THE WORLD TOLERATE THE IMPRISONMENT OF GAZA BY HAMAS?
Hamas behaves like an organized criminal military, practicing extortion, torture and murder as it's modus operandi. Gaza could be free and truly democratic, not a "popular" rule by this Muslim mob, if Hamas and the other terrorist groups making Gaza an armed camp of terror were not the factori domineri.
IT IS NOT THE EXISTENCE OF 1.2-BILLION MUSLIMS THAT IS AT STAKE, WHO OCCUPY MUCH OF AFRICA, ALL OF ARABIA, ASIA MINOR, CENTRAL ASIA, MUCH OF INDIA, SOUTHEAST ASIA, INDONESIA, AND MUCH OF THE PHILIPINES.
Wake up, World! It is not love and chocolate that the terrorists rain on Israel! Those missiles now reaching Jerusalem and Tel Aviv give deadly proof to the devotion of today's Islam to the destruction and annihilation of Israel. When "David" does take out the "Eye of Goliath" and slay "him", then there will be peace in the Middle East and beyond. If "David" does not take out the "Eye of Goliath", then there will be world war.
The events in Cairo had nothing to do with the events in Benghazi; can't have it both ways. NOW this corrupt administration is saying that they knew ALL ALONG that the 'riots' were an act of terrorism. They still can't put 2 words together; Islamic Terrorists who murdered 4 Americans while we stood and watched and did nothing for fear of inciting Muslims. The Embassy is American soil just as Washington DC, we had 2 fully able, fully armed respondents at the ready but did nothing while our boys begged for their lives. No wonder our POTUS gets NO respect from our military. None. Yet the administration 'removed' the terrorist talking points from Rice and allowed her to spread a known lie 1/2 dozen times on national tv...then made a propaganda commercial with SOS Clinton stating it was the video also and the MSM claims there is nothing there!? I say thank God we have at least one news organization that doesn't 'get a tingle up their leg' and don't believe 'you never lose' to a president who has never made a decision based on what is best for this country.
Just a thought!!
A panel member in the domestic hour, in response to a question/comment from a caller that the Palestinian people have no organized army to defend them she responded … the Iranians have missiles they can target right in the middle of Israel ... so not true that the people of Palestine don't have an army to defend them. Seriously??? When was the first or last time the Iranians did just that??
It's so easy to be indifferent when in blind support (or to appear so) of one side or the other in a conflict that is both complex and sad that the realities are largely ignored and hypotheticals abound.
shakazulu and baygirl are entirely correct. Rice and the administration are now FORCEFULLY stating that they KNEW for a fact that the attack on our embassy was by ISLAMIC (my emphasis, BHO doesn't have the guts to say it) terrorists. If so; why would they lie, lie and lie? Just like Occidental or Columbia transcripts. Why and what are they hiding? Because they have something to hide. And only Fox News has the guts to stand up to the lie and ask the hard questions.
THE EYE OF GOLIATH
As long as the World chooses to see the conflict in the Middle East by ignoring the reality of the worldwide Muslim Uprising and by choosing to blame those fames on Israel; as long as the World chooses to misnomer the "Israel-Palestinian" conflict, which properly and correctly is an "Arab-Israel" conflict, and which conflict is a subset of the larger "Muslim v. World" conflict; then the World will continue to fan the flames, both of the Arab-Israel Conflict and of the larger Arab-World Conflict.
The World fans those flames in the media, in politics, in roundabout material ways, in legitimate material ways, in clandestine material ways, by intellectual fraud, and by spiritual fraud.
To choose to see this way and behave this way is for the World to choose to be "Goliath", even going so far as to portray Israel as Goliath and the Arabs as David. This is perverse.
Israel, which today is up against the Wall and is challenged in life-or-death terms, must take out the "Eye of Goliath" and then kill "Goliath".
Please understand these words to be an intellectual and spiritual metaphor, not as a call for Israel -- Heaven Forbid -- to destroy the World. Israel must open the "Eyes of the World" so that the flames of the inclination in the World to be "Goliath" will die down for lack of fuel.
Would that I had sponsorship to write a book by the title "Eye of Goliath"!
I listend to the show on Friday and thought Mr Sesno was less than evenhanded. This country would not allow hundreds of missiles to come in from Cuba, Mexico or Canada without taking very appropriate retaliatory measures. The Israeli's deserve the same right to defend themselves against these constant attacks