Republicans Benghazi Rage Not About National Security

You will be shocked, shocked I say, when you hear Politico's Mike Allen tell Charlie Rose that the reason Republicans are making an issue out of Benghazi is to damage Hillary Clinton's chances in 2016.

ALLEN: Privately, Republicans say that Benghazi probably wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for Hillary Clinton. Unlike the IRS...

ROSE: If this wasn't for her in 2016, this wouldn't be an issue?

ALLEN: Yeah, because it's something that people don't understand. Even the White House will tell you it's never going to be resolved to anyone's satisfaction, but there is going to be a real effort to make it last.

And when we're talking about these three controversies, we should remember, world event history tells us that world events can change everything. Somebody pointed out to me that if the Boston marathon happened next week, this would all look different.

ROSE: Right.

I wish there actually was a debate on improving security for diplomats and CIA operatives. Instead we are debating talking points. Mitt Romney was more concerned about whether or not President Obama called the Benghazi consulate attack an act of terror. Obama did label the attack an act of terror in a speech.

"No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation."

If there were mistakes made by members of the Obama administration then those people should be held accountable. The problem is Republicans are more concerned about blaming the Obama administration for talking points that were partly crafted by disgraced CIA director David Petraeus. The same talking points Republicans asked Petraeus to give them.

Tas wrote a guest post on how difficult it is for U.S. official to move unseen in a place like Benghazi.

As for the Benghazi “scandal”, that attack happened at a time of protests in Muslim majority cities around the globe. There was absolutely no intelligence about an upcoming attack on a US consulate office in Libya’s second city. After all, usually it’s the embassy in a capital city that is targeted, not a minor office. We don’t even know if the Benghazi attack was planned ahead of time or just happened on the spot. I've lived in Cairo, so I’m familiar with how streets in Arab cities in Africa look; and there’s not a lot of opulence in those streets. If an American ambassador is driving into town in a rich American car, with security in tow, then the city residents can at least deduce that this is somebody important. There are a lot of weapons available in a country that just went through a civil war, and from there the only organizing that takes place is a couple of on the spot telephone calls and, bam, you have an attack.

That’s. It. There was no conspiracy to hide information about this attack because there was probably absolutely no information at all until it happened. And it happened at a time of global protests in Muslim cities, which was enough to make anyone question whether it was a protest gone awry or an attack. Period. End of story.

We do need to improve diplomatic security. Republicans don't care about that. If they did they wouldn't cut funding for diplomatic security. A person warning Republicans in 2011 about cutting diplomatic security was Sec. of State Hillary Clinton.

Noting her own eight years in Congress, Clinton said she understands the tight fiscal environment and the need to trim spending. “But the scope of the proposed House cuts is massive,” she said. “The truth is that cuts of that level will be detrimental to America’s national security.”

This is why I don't take Republicans seriously on Benghazi.

Republicans Lied About Contents of Benghazi Emails

This is what the media should do to political figures that feed bogus information for political purposes. I wished CBS News went a step further and publicly outed the congressional Republicans that were feeding was quote from the Benghazi emails.

Republicans told CBS News that deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes wrote this in an email. Republicans alleged that Rhodes was trying to protect the State Department and Sec. of State Hillary Clinton. This is the bogus quote congressional Republicans fed to CBS News.

"We must make sure that the talking points reflect all agency equities, including those of the State Department, and we don't want to undermine the FBI investigation."

CBS News reports that Rhodes doesn't mention Clinton or the State Department in the actual email.

"We need to resolve this in a way that respects all of the relevant equities, particularly the investigation."

Republicans lied about the contents about an email by State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland. The CIA had asked the State Department to not reveal their role at the Benghazi consulate. The CIA was running operations out of the consulate. This is the actual Nuland email.

"The penultimate point could be abused by members to beat the State Department for not paying attention to Agency warnings."

At the request of the CIA, Nuland cut out mention of the CIA. Republicans made up a fake quote that gave the impression that the State Department was ignoring terrorist threat warnings from the CIA.

"The penultimate point is a paragraph talking about all the previous warnings provided by the Agency (CIA) about al-Qaeda's presence and activities of al-Qaeda."

This is an utter smear campaign by Republicans.

BACKGROUND: the CIA was running several different operations in Benghazi. David Petraeus' mistress, Paula Broadwell, was being briefed by the CIA. Broadwell even had classified CIA materials. After the affair became public, Broadwell's house was searched by the FBI. What was more disturbing is Broadwell publicly talking about the Benghazi annex.

"Now I don't know if a lot of you heard this, but the CIA annex had actually -- had taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoner and they think that the attack on the consulate was an effort to try to get these prisoners back. So that's still being vetted," she said.

David Brooks has an excellent op-ed defending his friend Nuland. Brooks also points out that Benghazi was mainly a CIA operation.

Remember, this was at a moment when the State Department was taking heat for what was mostly a C.I.A. operation, while doing verbal gymnastics to hide the C.I.A.’s role. Intentionally or not, the C.I.A. seemed to be repaying the favor by trying to shift blame to the State Department for ignoring intelligence.

Brooks goes on to point out the under-reported fact that Petraeus gave Congressional lawmakers the anti-Muslim video talking points. The question should also be why is a CIA director for a Democratic administration giving Republican lawmakers talking points. Brooks reports that Nuland was asking the same question.

On Friday evening of Sept. 14, the updated talking points were e-mailed to the relevant officials in various departments, including Nuland. She wondered why the C.I.A. was giving members of Congress talking points that were far more assertive than anything she could say or defend herself. She also noted that the talking points left the impression that the C.I.A. had issued all sorts of warnings before the attack.

Remember, this was at a moment when the State Department was taking heat for what was mostly a C.I.A. operation, while doing verbal gymnastics to hide the C.I.A.’s role. Intentionally or not, the C.I.A. seemed to be repaying the favor by trying to shift blame to the State Department for ignoring intelligence.

The whole scandal started by Republicans attacking the false administration reports that Ambassador Chris Stevens death was related to protests over an anti-Muslim video. David Petraeus gave his mistress classified intelligence and Congress horrible talking points. Obama's biggest fault in the Benghazi saga is appointing someone as incompetent as Petraeus.

Rubio During Senate Benghazi Hearing

I am no fan of Sen. Marco Rubio. That said, Rubio managed to be rather respectful to State Department officials. The questions Rubio asked were fairly sound. What remains unclear if why security requests from Ambassador Chris Stevens were never addressed.

Senator Rubio: "So beyond that level, were any senior officials beyond the assistant secretary level made aware of the repeated request from the post for extended or additional security? In particular, there were request made in March and July 2011. Do you know if beyond the assistant secretary level those requests were ever forwarded in a memo or in some other written document?"

Deputy Secretary Burns: "I am not aware of any specific memo that went beyond the sixth floor to those specific requests at that time, no, Senator."

That isn't good. That means either someone on the sixth floor of Foggy Bottom blew off Steven's request or Secretary of State Clinton nixed the request.

Update: the Accountability Review Board report is placing a good portion of the blame on the late Stevens.

The two top officials on the review board, retired Ambassador Thomas Pickering and retired Adm. Michael Mullen, chose their words carefully at the news conference Wednesday as they weighed Stevens' responsibility in the security lapses, saying that he did support having more additional security personnel. But they also said that he was the ultimate authority on the deteriorating local security conditions.

As chief of the mission, he certainly had a responsibility in that regard, and actually he was very security conscious and increasingly concerned about security," Mullen said. "But part of his responsibility is certainly to make that case back here, and he had not gotten to the point where you would, you might get to a point where you would be considering, 'It's so dangerous, we might close the mission.'"

So Stevens is being blamed for not abandoning his post. He asked for security. Yet, Stevens is blamed for not asking for extra security in the right way. This sounds like bullshit.

Big Brother Government: State Department Edition

The new changes the State Department is making it harder for travelers to require a passport.

The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.”

This will just create a backlog of paperwork. Why does the State Department need to know the details of the religious ceremony of my birth. I have no idea if I was baptized after I was born. I don't have contact information for my employers from when I was a teenager. I don't even know if the people I worked for is still alive.

The State Department is now assuming al-qaeda terrorists are homegrown in the United States. None of the 9-11 hijackers were born in the U.S.

Here is a PDF copy of the State Department form. The form asks your mother's address at the time of your birth, a year after your birth and your mother's employer at the time of your birth. The State Department also wants to know the name of your mother's employer at that time and the job address. How people whose mothers are deceased going to be able to provide that information is not the State Department's problem. You also have to know if your mother had pre-natal or post-natal medical care.

I blame Hillary Clinton for this form.

Rubio & Menendez Amendment on Cuba

Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Bob Menendez (D - New Jersey) are co-sponsoring an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration bill. The amendment would "prevent the expansion of commerce through direct flights with state sponsors of terrorism."

The press release:

"Increasing direct commercial or charter aircraft flights with state sponsors of terrorism is totally irresponsible and would amount to unilateral gifts to tyrants and regimes that actively undermine America’s security," Rubio said. "There is no reason for the United States to help enrich state sponsors of terrorism, especially at a time when free trade agreements with our close allies in Colombia, Panama and South Korea are lingering."

Cuba was placed on the State Department's list of nations sponsoring terrorism in 1982. My personal believe is that the embargo has been a failure. I do wonder did anyone in the Obama administration think about how commercial flights could be justified when its own State Department considers Cuba a terrorist nation. Something tells me President Obama and Sec. of State Hillary Clinton didn't think out the political implications. The Cuban government made complaints to the Obama administration about being on the State DEpartment list. Obama's response was to keep Cuba on the list.

Rubio comes from a family of Cuban hardliners. Rubio's position doesn't surprise me. Rubio overstates the danger posed to the United States by Cuba. After the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Revolutionary Armed Forces has suffered poor morale and has only 49,000 military personnel. Cuba has turned to Pakistan for military assistance. Pakistan is hardly a military powerhouse and sponsors more terrorism than Cuba. Yet the United States considers Pakistan an ally.

Cuba is on friendly terms with nations tied to terrorism. The Obama administration's complaint against Cuba is on the harboring of terrorists. The Raul Castro could help its own cause by kicking ETA terrorists out of the country. Unfortunately, Castro is just as stubborn has his brother.

Obama is triangulating his Cuba policy. Obama wants to label Cuba a terrorist state and open travel and future trade. Obama wants to use the China model and hope that capitalism eventually destroys communism. Cuba is ripe for redevelopment. The nation was a tourist mecca before Fidel Castro took power.

Tourism in pre-1959 Cuba was a major industry and a primary source of hard currency and employment. In 1957, 347,508 foreigners visited Cuba (Truslow 1950; Grupo Cubanode Investigaciones Económicas 1963; Martín Fernández 1988) and tourist receipts
amounted to 62.1 million pesos. In that year, hard currency earnings from tourism were greater than those from the tobacco industry and were only surpassed by earnings from the sugar industry (Banco Nacional de Cuba, 1960b, 1960c). During the
1950s, Cuba’s share of the Caribbean tourism market ranged between 18 and 21 percent (Espino 1994; 1993; 1991) and most visitors to the island were from the United States.

Fidel Castro was forced to open Cuba to tourism after the Soviet Union fell. The Castro government practices tourism apartied. Cubans are not allowed to enter areas where tourists shop or stay.

Cuba and the United States policy are both a mess. Both expect either to chanfe anytime soon.

Obama's State Dept. jokes about Osama but is serious about WikiLeaks

Guest post by Ron Brynaert

Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip “P.J.” Crowley isn't playing around when it comes to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange.

At the Daily Beast, Howard Kurtz reports, "As Julian Assange steps up his rhetoric and his releases of sensitive material, the State Department is becoming increasingly undiplomatic."

With Julian Assange in jail, the State Department steps up its WikiLeaks counteroffensive. Howard Kurtz talks to State brass about his motive and why he should be considered dangerous.

As Julian Assange steps up his rhetoric and his releases of sensitive material, the State Department is becoming increasingly undiplomatic.

“Mr. Assange is not seemingly worried about real lives and real careers which can be put at risk of being intimidated, jailed or killed,” Assistant Secretary P.J. Crowley told The Daily Beast. His most recent statements “really unmasked him.”

Hours after WikiLeaks published a secret memo listing more than 100 factories, labs, and underseas cables that the United States considers critical for world security, Crowley said: “In releasing that kind of information, Mr. Assange is giving a group like al Qaeda a potential targeting list.”

All seriousness now, Mr. Crowley is not in a joke-telling mood.

Unfortunately, when the subject matter is al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden, the State Department flack believes it's his duty to turn into Robin Williams (of the unfunny Patch Adams variety).

On March 29, 2010 at a State Dept. press conference a reporter and Crowley had the following exchange after President Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan:

QUESTION: I hope you have some Osama bin Laden soon.

MR. CROWLEY: Hmm?

QUESTION: I hope you have Osama bin Laden coming soon.

MR. CROWLEY: (Laughter.) We all hope for that day.

In May, Crowley's joking on bin Laden attracted a bit more attention.

AFP reported,

The US State Department, after hearing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad say Osama bin Laden was in Washington, joked Wednesday it found no trace of him despite a thorough search.

"We've done an intensive search here at the Department of State -- every nook and cranny, every rock -- and we can safely report that Osama bin Laden is not here," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

"You mean Greater Washington, or you just looked at the State Department?" a reporter asked as he played along with the joke from Crowley, the spokesman for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Just the confines of the State Department, but it was reported by the president of Iran that he's here in Washington. That's news to us," Crowley said before turning to the news of the day.

"And thank you for laughing," he said, smiling broadly.

Just a few weeks ago, on November 16, Crowley again elicited laughs when asked about Osama bin Laden, although the transcript seems to be missing the punchline:

Q And -- but just to follow up, should we wait for later in the day? Because the second is that bin Laden is still at large because the U.S. Army has not caught him, you know. So --

MR. CROWLEY: I'm not sure. Is there a question there?

Q He says it is because we haven't caught him. Bin Laden is still out there.

(Cross talk.)

MR. CROWLEY: (Laughs.) That would be true. (Laughs.)

Q So is it -- how do you take it? Like is it that you know where he is and you are just letting him around?

Q (Tell us ?).

MR. CROWLEY: Look, we continue our hunt for and interest in capturing Mr. bin Laden.

The funny thing is, years ago, when Crowley worked for the progressive Center for American Progress, he was more serious about Osama bin Laden.

The blog Jihad Watch reported in June of 2007,

P.J. Crowley, a military analyst at the Center for American Progress and a former national security aide to President Clinton, said the Iraq war has diverted assets that could be used to find bin Laden.

"Now that he is in the tribal areas, I doubt that a bounty of any number will be helpful," Crowley said "Given tribal relationships, they will protect him."

But after being tapped to Obama's State Department in May of 2009, Crowley began to dismiss bin Laden's relevance.

From an Associated Press article in January shortly after the failed underwear bomb attempt,

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that while bin Laden remains a "catalyst" for terrorist activities by groups affiliated with his organization, there is no indication that he or his lieutenants have a direct hand in ordering attacks.

"They offer strategic guidance and rely on their affiliates to carry out that strategic guidance," Crowley said in an interview. The audio tape made public Sunday offers no evidence that bin Laden's relationship with affiliates such as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, has changed, Crowley said.

"He's trying to continue to appear relevant" by talking up an attempted attack by an affiliate, Crowley added.

This October 15, 2001 interview of Crowley, when he was vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, is very revealing in a post-WikiLeaks sense.

TERENCE SMITH: Colonel Crowley, Dr. Rice told reporters today that analysts were still studying the messages to see if there was any imbedded message to al-Qaida's followers in it but had not yet detected any. Do you feel it was a legitimate request to limit the exposure of these?

P.J. CROWLEY: I think it is unusual but not necessarily unprecedented. In every crisis there's always going to be times where the news media is in possession of information that, as you evaluate the national interest, it's better that they not broadcast right away or not broadcast at all. This is a little bit unusual in the nature of the delivery system where al-Qaida will pass a videotape to al Jazeera and then from there to the networks, but, you know, bin Laden is not the President of the United States. He should not be able to have unfettered access to our airwaves any time one of those tapes gets past.

I do agree with Bob that this is something where we need to have the administration make its case. If they have concerns that there are codes being passed, they need to be able to substantiate that. I also agree that over time these guys don't wear well. As we saw, for example, in the crisis in Kosovo, the more we heard from Slobodan Milosevic, the stronger the international resolve was to defeat him. I think that could be well the case in this instance, but I think early on where we have this kind of very strong emotion and unprecedented kind of situation caution is appropriate.

"It could well be that it's putting television at a slight reportorial disadvantage but television, on many occasions agrees to restrictions in return for access," Crowley said in October of 2001.

Marco Rubio's Neoconservative Foreign Policy Worldview

Senate candidate Marco Rubio runs on a neoconservative foreign policy that helped Republicans lose the last two election cycles. Rubio claims President Obama has made the world and Israel more dangerous.

The Obama doctrine of appeasing our enemies, alienating our allies, and delegating our national security to the international community may have won Obama a Nobel Peace Prize, but it has made the world a more volatile and dangerous place. The administration has turned its back on the decades-old-post-World War II system of alliances that previous presidents, Republicans and Democrats alike, built and nurtured. The result has been chaos. Today our allies look at America and the future of America and the future of U.S. foreign policy as a proverbial jump ball, with unprecedented uncertainty about where America will stand. Israel is a paticularly striking example of what is wrong with President Obama's approach to foreign policy.

Exactly how has Obama undermined post-World-War II alliances? President Bush was famous for his go it alone approach. The countries that either would not commit resources or pulled out of the Iraq war was staggering.

"The burdens of this century can not fall on our soldiers alone," Obama said at West Point. "Our adversaries would like to see America sap it's strength by overextending it's power."

Anyone who is sane would know that Bush didn't spend 8 years attempting to build friendships with the international community. The United States staunchest ally Britain rejected Tony Blair's commitment to Iraq and thew him out of power. Kendall Myers worked at the State Department during the Bush years. Myers said the Bush administration's relationship with Europe was "disappearing before our eyes."

Myers described how Bush showed no respect for Blair's commitment to the invasion of Iraq.

"It was a done deal from the beginning, it was a one-sided relationship that was entered into with open eyes... There was nothing, no sense of payback,no sense of reciprocity."

Is that Rubio's idea of maintaining friendships?

Bush and Blair had a private meeting on January 31, 2003. Bush and Blair agreed Iraq would be invaded; regardless on whether weapons of mass destruction were found or a second United Nations resoltion. Despite several leaked Downing Street Memos and historical facts: Rubio believes Iraq was invaded to promote democracy.

America doesn't invade Iraq because it wants to turn Iraq into a colony. America isn't going into Afghanistan because it wants to make Afghanistan a colony. America by and large, sends its young men and women off to die on foreign battlefields almost for other people's freedom and for freedom around the world.

Rubio's lack of knowledge of history is staggering. The United States didn't invade Afghanistan to turn the nation into a democracy. The Afghanistan war was a response to the al-Qaeda attacks on September 11, 2001. The Iraq war was sold on the danger of Saddam Hussein posssessing (nonexisting) weapons of mass destruction. If there is any doubt that Rubio has an allergic reaction to history then this quote should convince you otherwise.

America is pretty much the only military power in human history that has not used his power to conquer land and grow it's terrotory.

Is Rubio aware that the United States took land from Native American Indians and Mexico? I sincerely hope Rubio is aware that the ancestors weren't born in America.

In Rubio's speech to Republican Jewish Coalition; he stated his support of the naval blockade. The Israelis goverment's latest ploy will not punish Hamas or Hezbollah. All that will be accomplish is starving the Palistinian population. In 2000, the Vatican warned of hunger in the occupied terrotories. A 2008 photo essay showed long lines at the few Palistinian-owned bakeries. The blockade is only making the situation worse and helping the standing of Hamas with the Palistinian people. But the goal of the Israeli government isn't to win the Palistinian people over.

Rubio can't equate that not letting civilians starve isn't supporting terrorism. The international community isn't protesting the blockade because they don't want Israel to defend herself. The international outcry is because the Israeli government is attempting to starve people to death. More likely, Rubio doesn't know the reasoning behind the blockade. Rubio was clueless about the U.S. military not wanting offshore drilling off the coast of Florida. If Rubio isn't aware of what is going on in his home state then don't expect him to study up on Israel.

George Lemieux Panders to Cuban American Conservatives

Sen. George Lemieux has blocked the nomination of State Department official Tom Shannon. Lemieux is not a foreign policy expert. The only reason to block the nomination is to pander to elder Cuban conservative voters. Shannon was the top Latin America State Department official under President George W. Bush. The Bush administration wasn't known for being friendly with Cuba. Shannon was approved by the Foreign Relations Committee by a 14 to 4 vote.

Nine former State Department secretaries of expressed their displeasure to Lemieux.

``He has every right, if he doesn't think this individual is qualified, to go to the floor and make his case, but why should one freshman senator with no background in Latin America, no background in Brazil, decide the Senate can't vote on the president's nominee?'' said Bernard Aronson, who served as an assistant secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, and signed the letter. ``It's really a slap in the face to Latin America. You don't see nominees to France, Germany, China, held up by a single senator. It would be an insult.''

News flash to Republicans: you are losing the Hispanic vote and the Cuban policy has been a massive failure. The majority of Cubans now want an end to the embargo. Younger Cuban Americans are more concerned with the economy. The days of Republicans milking Cuba for political gain are over.

Hillary at State

USA Today has an interesting article on how Hillary Clinton is handling her role as Sec. of State. The review in Washington have been good. An interesting part of the article is Clinton and Vice-President Joe Biden had a disagreement over sending more troops to Afghanistan. Hillary wanted the increase. Biden was against. Obama sided with Clinton.

Justice Served to Blackwater

The Associated Press reports the Blackwater mercenaries involved in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians could be charged as early as Monday. The Blackwater contractors face charges of manslaughter and assault. The strangest possible charge is prosecutors using the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Under the ADA Act, any person committing a crime with a fully automatic weapon are sentenced to 30-year prison terms.

The State Department granted immunity to the Blackhawk personal involved; in exchange for their testimony. FBI agents told the Washington Post that any information from those testimonies is inadmissible. The Justice Department had to use other investigative methods. Forenic evidence and eyewitness reports from Iraq civilians. Another possibility is the DoJ got a member of Blackwater to come forward. I am looking forward to finding out how prosecutors were able to build their case.

I truly hope the AP story pans out. I never thought Blackwater would have to answer for these senseless killings. This gives me new faith in the justice system.

Conpassionate Conservatism: Bushies Say Go Pound Sand To KBR Victims

Senator Bill Nelson sent letters to Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice and Attorney General Michael Mukasey about new rape allegations against Kellogg Brown and Root. KBR has come under intense scrutiny after Jamie Leigh Jones went public about her rape. Nelson's website states that a Tampa, Florida woman and two Houston, Texas women have accused KBR employees of raping them. Nelson wrote letters to Rice and Mukasey asked what investigations have the State Department and the Pentagon done. He has yet to receive a response.

Nelson gave Rice a Dec. 21 deadline to respond. Rice missed the deadline and didn't even bother asking for and extention. That takes serious Chutzpah, even more shameless was a State Department spokesman's spin: "If the senator has asked questions, I’m quite sure we will provide answers. But it’s not something I could discuss with you." Or with Nelson.

The only course of action is issuing subpoenas. Nelson is better known for taking his own party to court than standing up to the Bush administration.

The Justice Department has already decided not to press charges in the Jones case. All American citizens in Iraqare exempt from prosecution. A Blackwater contractor literally got away with murdering the bodyguard of Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi. It is unlikely the State Department, DoJ and Pentagon will budge an inch for the new women whom came forward. What makes matters worse is that the story is fading from the political landscape. It is hard to force the Bush administration to move contractors under the Department of Defense (which would make contractor liable under military law) and retroactively change the State Department's Iraq contracting law if there is no outrage from the public.

Jamie Leigh Jones On 20/20 & CNN

Jones describes waking up after being gang raped.

"Then I don't remember anything at all after that. I woke up naked, I was bruised. And then when I sat on the toilet, that's when I realized my inner thighs were very bruised and I was bleeding pretty bad. And then I knew I had been raped."

The Justice Department told Jones's lawyer her case is closed because they dis not have jurisdiction.

CNN has a report and interview with Jones.

Tracy Barker tells Brian Ross she was locked up for three days for trying to call the KBR hotline. Barker endured constant sexual harassment. Her superior repeatly asjed her to have sex with him.

Barker accuses State Department official Ali Mokhtare of attempting to rape her in Iraq. The Justice Department refuses to investigate and Mokhtare is still employed with the State Separtment.

Related: Jamie Leigh Jones
John Conyers and Ted Poe Information Request On Jones Case
Pajamas Media Embarrasses Itself On Jamie Leigh Jones Story
Jamie Leigh Jones Update
Eyewitness Tells ABC News Rape Kit Given To KBR
Bill Utt In Damage Control Mode

jamie leigh jones, kbr, tracy barker, iraq,

Jamie Leigh Jones

Jamie Leigh Jones told ABC News she was drugged and raped fellow Halliburton/KBR contractors. Jones told 20/20 she was locked in a crate by her assaulters and told not to file charges.

"It felt like prison," says Jones, who told her story to ABC News as part of an upcoming "20/20" investigation. "I was upset; I was curled up in a ball on the bed; I just could not believe what had happened."

Finally, Jones says, she convinced a sympathetic guard to loan her a cell phone so she could call her father in Texas.

"I said, 'Dad, I've been raped. I don't know what to do. I'm in this container, and I'm not able to leave,'" she said. Her father called their congressman, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas.

Imagine being a father and hearing your daughter say she has been raped and held captive. Jamie's situation is even harder to fathom. Being a woman in a foreign country at the mercy of brutal men.

Welcome to the heart of darkness.

Media reports, Congressman Ted Poe and Jones' father say that she was released because of State Department intravention.

"We contacted the State Department first," Poe told ABCNews.com, "and told them of the urgency of rescuing an American citizen" -- from her American employer.

Poe says his office contacted the State Department, which quickly dispatched agents from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to Jones' camp, where they rescued her from the container.

A Congressman confirmed the story. The Bush administration would be stupid to use the State Department to protect Halliburton and KBR. The State Department granted Blackwater mercenaries, involved in the killings of 17 Iraqi civilians, were granted immunity. The only logical reason for doing this is to destroy the FBI chances of prosecution. People should put pressure on the State Department to make sure that doesn't happen again.

The Army test showed Jones was raped. Why in God's name did Army doctors hand the rape kit to KBR? Any criminal investigation should be done by neutral outsiders. Jones is an American citizen protected under the laws of the United States. KBR is not law enforcement. The Army should have informed the FBI about a civilian rape.

The Justice Department had two years to make a case and did nothing. By all accounts: prosecution should have been a slam dunk. Instead the rape kit was given to the last people that should have posession of evidence and we have no idea if DoJ ever questioned State Deparetment officials. Exactly what does a contractor have to do to warrant the Bush administration's outrage?

The sad fact is the Bush administration put contracts under the State Department. Jones's assaulters are protected from prosecution thanks to the law designed by the State DEpartment.

Other bloggers posting on the story:

Majikthise - KBR employee says she was gang raped by coworkers and detained in Iraq

Matthew Yglesias - It's the Strategy

Jesus' General - The Republican Revolution delivers again

Update: Jamie's journel is at her foundation's website.

July 26, 2005 US/ July 27 Baghdad- I sent several e-mails to management to ask to be moved into a container because I was experiencing cat calls even when I was walking through the barrack to get to the restroom. I received the response that I would be fine if I “go to the spa." There was no spa in Greenzone, Baghdad . I started socializing with some Halliburton/ KBR employees, including approximately four or so firefighters. One of these men prepared me a drink and joked that there were no “rooffies” in it, and handed it to me. After having a couple sips, I passed out. I was drugged.

July 28, 2005 US/ July 29 Baghdad- I awoke the next morning in the barracks to find my naked body battered and bruised. I was still groggy from whatever had been put in my drink. I was bleeding from between my legs and my breast implants were severely disfigured. (I found out later that my attackers tore my pectoral muscles due to the brutality of the attack). One of the men who had raped me was brazen enough to be lying in the bottom bunk of my assigned bunk bed. After getting to the clinic and having a rape kit performed, and pictures taken of my bruising, I was locked in a container with no food, no way to call my parents, and was placed under armed guard by Halliburton. I did not have access to soap, toiletries, a tooth brush, or any of my belongings. I was unable to leave, therefore I was imprisoned. After some time, one of the guards allowed me to use his cell phone out of sympathy. I called my father back in Houston, who quickly contacted Congressman Ted Poe, who then initiated a Congressional Inquiry to get me out of Baghdad . At this point I was in a state of shock, severely traumatized, and was scared for my life.

Jones goes into detail about her frustration with the handling of her case. The incompetence is staggering. The doctor wasn't sure if he could find Jones's rape kit because he has "no idea which rape victum you are because so many young contractor girls were raped after drinking with the guys."

Update: More bloggers have covered the story.

Hullabaloo - The Pirates of Mesopotamia

Fiedoglake Halliburton Slips Just A Little Further Down The Barbarism Slope

Newshoggers - Texas Girl Alleges Gang Rape By Contractors In Iraq

Newshoggers links to conservative bloggers defending Halliburton and casting doubt on Jones's story with no facts to back up their assertions. The fact that a Republican Congressman believes Jones's story is not good enough. Exactly how does Halliburton equal conservatives' tough on crime values?

aTypical Joe - Gang-Rape Cover-Up in Iraq. By U.S., Halliburton/KBR

It looks like her only real recourse is a media-induced public outcry.

The federal govenrment is going to have to be shamed about this. Many Americans associate all Iraqis to terrorists. The Right can't say Jones is a member of Al-Qaeda that got what she deserved. The media will go into overdrive over a young attractive woman in distress. CNN couldn't be bothered to question the WMD intelligence. They are too busy covering Anna Nicole Smith, the Runaway Bride and any young attactive woman that will garner ratings. It is sad that it takes a rape of an American woman to get the media to question the State Department's handling of contractors.

Update: Shakesville has a post on the Jones story and links to other bloggers covering the story.

I left this comment at Shakesville.

The outrage has sparked so fast. What people need to do is lobby Congress to retroactively change the State Department contracting laws. Blackwater, Halliburton need to be held accountable.

Jamie's diary states that an Army doctor told her that there are so many rapes of American woman in Iraq that they would have a hard time finding the rape kit. They ultimately did. There is no telling how many Western and Iraqi women have been raped by military and contractor personal.

Change. the. contractor. law. now.

Update: John Conyers and Ted Poe Information Request On Jones Case

Pajamas Media Embarrasses Itself On Jamie Leigh Jones Story

Jamie Leigh Jones Update

Latest Update Jamie Leigh Jones & Arbitration Fairness

The Neocon Damage

Esquire has a must-read piece about Bush administration Middle East experts Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann efforts to engage Iran. Both were able to get Iranian leaders to talk about opening up relations with the United States. They were defeated at every turn by the administration's neocons. Stephen Hadley outlined a policy that is designed to make Iran not come to the negotiating table.

After the meeting, Hadley wrote up a brief memo that came to be known as Hadley's Rules:

If a state like Syria or Iran offers specific assistance, we will take it without offering anything in return. We will accept it without strings or promises. We won't try to build on it.

It gets worse. Hadley killed Colin Powell's attempts for peace in Israel.

Then the phone rang. It was Stephen Hadley on the phone from the White House. "Tell Powell he is not authorized to talk about a political horizon," he said. "Those are formal instructions."

"This is a bad idea," Leverett remembers saying. "It's bad policy and it's also humiliating for Powell, who has been talking to heads of state about this very issue for the last ten days."

"It doesn't matter," Hadley said. "There's too much resistance from Rumsfeld and the VP. Those are the instructions."

So Leverett went back into the suite and asked Powell to step aside.

Powell was furious, Leverett remembers. "What is it they're afraid of?" he demanded. "Who the hell are they afraid of?"

"I don't know sir," Leverett said.

The road map temporarily got back on track when Crown Prince Abdullah challenged Bush in an amazing exchange.

In the spring, Crown Prince Abdullah flew to Texas to meet Bush at his ranch. The way Leverett remembers the story, Abdullah sat down and told Bush he was going to ask a direct question and wanted a direct answer. Are you going to do anything about the Palestinian issue? If you tell me no, if it's too difficult, if you're not going to give it that kind of priority, just tell me. I will understand and I will never say anything critical of you or your leadership in public, but I'm going to need to make my own judgments and my own decisions about Saudi interests.

Bush tried to stall, saying he understood his concerns and would see what he could do.

Abdullah stood up. "That's it. This meeting is over."

One thing the Bush administration doesn't do is blow off Saudia Arabia. The White House would later scrap the road map plan because Ariel Sharon didn't want to hurt the Likud Party's election prospects.

Rice sat impassively behind her broad desk. "If we put the road map out," she said, "it will interfere with Israeli elections."

"You are interfering with Israeli elections, just in another way."

"Flynt, the decision has already been made," Rice said.

Read the whole article. It's a fascinating study on how the neoconservatives have hurt American foreign policy. The next president will spend his or her time trying to clean up the mess.

Blackwater Is On the Outs

The investigation into Blackwater is unearthing (unsurprising and) disturbing new information.

The colonel was furious. "Can you believe it? They actually drew their weapons on U.S. soldiers." He was describing a 2006 car accident, in which an SUV full of Blackwater operatives had crashed into a U.S. ArmyHumvee on a street in Baghdad's Green Zone. The colonel, who was involved in a follow-up investigation and spoke on the condition he not be named, said the Blackwater guards disarmed the U.S. Army soldiers and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint until they could disentangle the SUV. His account was confirmed by the head of another private security company. Asked to address this and other allegations in this story.

The State Department has stonewalled the FBI. An October 11, 2007 New York Times article reports that the FBI and Iraqi police have not been allowed to talk to Blackwater. The FBI has been asking the Iraqis for information because their own government has not cooperated.

The U.S. military investigators have been given the same treatment.

The senior U.S. military officer said the State Department has also refused to provide details of its ongoing investigation. “We have asked questions,” the officer said. “They have not responded back on those.”

Two Blackwater employees smuggled weapons into Iraq. No one knows who bought the weapons. It is disturbing to think that taxpaid contractors are very likely arming insurgents.

There is the disturbing video of Blackwater shooting at random motorists for no justifiable reason.


Blackwater Shoot People For Sport - Click here for more free videos

Robert Gates is pushing to have Blackwater removed from Iraq. What is sad is there shouldn't even be a debate. The Iraqi people and U.S. military have both had negative experiences with Blackwater. No one likes them. There is the issue of who will provide security for diplomats. The Bush administration constantly told the American public that the Iraq venture could be done on the cheap. Now diplomats are shitting themselves because they may have reservists providing protection.

What kind of deal can the Bush administration cut with the Iraqi government that can keep Blackwater in the country? The President isn't going to threaten to leave Iraq. Prime Minister El Maliki would lose what little credibility he has with Iraqis if he caved to the White House. Bush has never understood that one does not make a democracy by pissing off the country's population.