Dozens of guns, 20,000+ ammo seized from 3 Iraqi Kurdish Britons in Greece near the Turkey border.

Dozens of guns, 20,000+ ammo seized from 2 Britons in Greece coming from the Turkey border. (RT).

Greece’s coast guard has reportedly arrested three “heavily armed” British men carrying more than a dozen guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition from Turkey, a top security official said.

A high-ranking security official told AP that the suspects were both Iraqi-born British subjects in their 20s. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the ongoing investigation.
The two were arrested Saturday night by coast guard officers near the port of the Greek city of Alexandroupolis, off the Turkish border.
The two suspects were driving a trailer loaded with more than a dozen guns of an unspecified type and well over 20,000 rounds of ammunition, the security official said. According to preliminary reports, the load included “3 magnum 357 handguns.” The number has not yet been confirmed by any other sources or official statements.

The two suspects are reportedly not on any terrorist or criminal database.

Police counterterrorist elements and National Intelligence Agency officers were scrambled to head for Alexandroupolis, AP reported.

Keep Talking Greece has more details:

Three men, holders of British passports, were arrested in the town of Alexandroupolis near the Greek-Turkish border on Saturday. All three suspects were reportedly heavily armed and two trailers they were driving were transporting dozens of weapons and thousands of bullets.

The first arrest occurred on Saturday, with the Greek Coastguard to have handcuffed two men, aged 22 and 28 years old, Iraqi-born and holders of British passports. They were reportedly arrested driving a trailer carrying dozens of guns (3 Magnum revolver 357 and some 15 revolver 22) as well as 27,000 bullets.

The trailer had been allegedly “parked at the port of Alexandroupolis for 2-3 days,” while the men were staying in a local hotel. According to Greek media, the local coastguard had the two men under surveillance due to “suspect moves.” Brought before the prosecutor the men did not originally give information about their destination or any explanation as to why they were heavily armed.

However, they reportedly hinted to a third man, also holder of a British passport. Police arrested him at the Kipoi customs point to Turkey. The third Kurd, 39, was also driving a trailed and was in possession of four Kalashnikov, more than 200,000 bullets and night binoculars. One of the suspects was in Alexandroupolis since beginning of February.

It looks as if none of the three was on Interpol’s Wanted list or otherwise known to European authorities as “terrorists.”

The three denied that they had any connection to the Islamic State and they apparently claimed during the interrogation that they were bringing the weapons to a group of Kurds in Syria.

According to latest reports by state ERT TV (12 o’ clock News):

The three suspects are Iraqi-born Kurds with British passports, Kurds fighting against the Islamic State.

Experts from counter-terrorism and the national intelligence are reportedly heading to Alexandroupolis. Local Alexpoli.gr, implies that also ‘foreign experts’ rush to the city in the Greek North.

UPDATES

Greek police found documents suggesting the route of the three suspects to Greece:

a domestic flight ticket Diyarbakir-Istanbul (Turkey), dated Jan 10th 2016

a receipt from a shop in Germany, dated Jan 25th 2016

a ferry ticket Italy – Igoumenista port (Greece) dated Feb 2nd 2016

a highway toll ticket from Malgara, near Thessaloniki

There are indications that the three bought the weapons and ammunition either in Germany where they were a month ago or in Austria. They have not named so far the seller or the final destination of the weapons.

They have reportedly told police that they would earn 3,000 euro per person for the delivery of the arsenal and that the seller gave them the cars for moving the trailers around as a “present”.

sources: Mega Tv 2 pm news, ERT TV 3 pm News

The suspects declare that they are translators. And they want interrogation to be held in Kurdish and not in English. Interrogation continues.

The arrests occur just two weeks after two Isis suspects with Swedish passports were arrested also in Alexandroupolis, some 15 km away from the Greek-Turkish borders in north-eastern Greece.

The two men, one from Bosnia and one from Yemen were carrying one machete and military uniforms in their luggage. The man from Bosnia was known to European authorities to have connections with the Al-Qaida in the Balkans and he had also convicted.

Sweden blocks suspect Middle East-bound Turkish cargo ship carrying 'Rockets and explosives' in port.

Sweden blocks suspect Middle East-bound Turkish cargo ship 'carrying 'Rockets and explosives' in port. (TheLocal).

The Panamanian-flagged Whiskey Trio, belonging to a Turkish company called Trio Shipping, has remained at the Varberg port in Halland county since Friday.

Thomas Åström, a senior official at the Swedish Transport Agency told AFP: "We are prohibiting them from leaving port, mainly for safety reasons, but also because of the working conditions for the crew."


The transport workers' union (transportarbetareförbundet) on its website decried "a rusty ship with poverty wages", which it said was "laden with rockets and explosives".

The authorities did however speak of multiple breaches of safety rules, notably in the areas of fire safety and safety and rescue equipment.

"When we came the crew were having breakfast. They were eating old, dry bread which they tried to toast, olives and tea. It was horrible to see," he said.

According to Larsson the ship's final destination was the Middle East.


According to reliable information the HN however, there was military equipment, including weapons of type MK36. The ship should have gone in for loading in Sheernes, and then go on to Varberg and then the Netherlands, Belgium, and Montenegro. According to HN information shall be the final goal of the vessel being Yemen and Oman on the Arabian Peninsula. -

I get so worried, first they load the boat with rockets and explosives and then they are not allowed to leave. It's fortunate we were able to help these people because otherwise you don't know what would have happened. Perhaps they would have exploded in the middle of the sea," he said. Read the full story here.

Bulgaria 'Sold Millions Worth of Arms' to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US for Use in Syria, Yemen Conflicts.

Bulgaria 'Sold Millions Worth of Arms' to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US for Use in Syria, Yemen Conflicts. (Novinite).

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US bought millions in weaponry made in Bulgaria, an investigation of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) reveals.

Carried out by Bulgarian journalist Mariya Petkova and titled "War Gains: Bulgarian Arms Add Fuel to Middle East Conflicts", it tells the story of Saudi and UAE aircraft which over a certain periods of time landed at Sofia Airport and later took off with tons of cargo, in crates whose content was hard to discern.

Even though the governments of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bulgaria do not disclose the contents of the shipments, BIRN's investigation shows both countries "bought large quantities of weapons and ammunition from Bulgaria in the past two years".

It alleges it is almost certain that the weapons were "for use by local forces they support in the war in Syria, and possibly also the conflict in Yemen".

Armed forces of Saudi Arabia and the UAE both use modern Western weapons, whereas Bulgaria's output is more Soviet-style, the text adds.

A Bulgarian source is quoted as saying the weaponry was "intended for Syrian opposition fighters, with later shipments possibly also being used in Yemen". Other sources are cited later on who suggest countries such as Yemen, Iraq and Syria are where the Bulgarian weapons are used.


The US, however, also purchased arms from Bulgaria as part of its training and equipment program for part of the Syrian opposition. Read the full story here.

ISIS Distributes SD Cards Loaded With Propaganda To Soldiers Stationed On Battlefronts.

ISIS Distributes SD Cards Loaded With Propaganda To Soldiers Stationed On Battlefronts.HT: MEMRI.

The full text of this report is available to MEMRI’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Subscribers.

Greek Coast Guard seize Turkish Ship From Iskenderun Port To Misurata Libya. Islamic state Destination?

Greek Coast Guard seize Turkish Ship From Iskenderun Port To Islamist-Held Misrata.(KeeptalkingGreece).

Greece’s Coast Guard seized a cargo vessel loaded with weapons off the island of Crete in the east Mediterranean Sea.

According to local media, cargo vessel HADDAD 1 is carrying a Bolivian flag and was sailing from Turkey to Libya.

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, units of the Greek coast guard seized the vessel off the city of Ierapetra, after a tip off. The inspection revealed an illegal cargo, an unknown number of weapons hidden containers. Officially, the vessel was carrying plastic items.

After the inspection concluded, the Greek coast guard arrested the crew and forced the vessel to change route and sail to the port of Heraklion.

According to information leaked to local media, the vessel’s destination was a port in Libya and there is suspicion that the weapons were to be delivered to Islamic State units.

The crew reportedly consists of nationals from Syria, Egypt and India.

According to marinetraffic.com and the vessel’s official records, HADDAD 1 left the port of Iskenderun, Turkey, on August 29th, its destination was Misurata in Libya.

PS Misrata is not in the area controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), but the mystery might be solved once the Greek authorities conclude the investigation.

HADDAD 1 is expected to dock at the port of Herakleion Tuesday afternoon or early Wednesday where customs authorities and inspectors will proceed with further investigation. Read the full story here.

Obama and BFF Erdogan agree to stop 'foreign fighters' crossing into Syria.

Obama and BFF Erdogan agree to stop 'foreign fighters' crossing into Syria. (JPost).

US President Barack Obama and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan agreed in a telephone call on Wednesday to work together to "stem the flow of foreign fighters and secure Turkey's border with Syria," the White House said in a statement.

It said the two leaders also discussed deepening their cooperation in the fight against Islamic State, which has grabbed swaths of Syrian and Iraqi territory and declared a caliphate.

Thousands of foreign fighters have crossed through Turkey, a NATO member, to join Islamic State over the past few years.

The Turkish government has rejected accusations from the opposition that it has in the past tacitly supported Islamic State militants operating from Syria and had unwittingly opened the door to a suicide bombing that killed at least 32 people in a Turkish town near the Syrian border this week.

The White House said Obama had condemned Monday's bombing in the Turkish town of Suruç.

"He conveyed condolences on behalf of the American people to the families of the victims, and the two leaders affirmed that the United States and Turkey stand united in the fight against terrorism," the statement said.

The phenomenon of Israeli Arabs joining the ranks of ISIS in Syria and Iraq is growing and, according to estimates, numbers in the dozens.

The latest report came on Monday when it was revealed that three Israeli Arab youths have been seeking to enter Syria from Turkey in recent days in order to join the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group, according to reports. Hmmmm......The numbers of TURKS joining ISIS and ISIS Members inside 'Islamist' Turkey is way higher than suspected, Don't talk about three Arab Israelis Period.

Smuggled Armored vehicles bound for Libya seized from roro ship in Greece.

Smuggled Armored vehicles bound for Libya seized from roro ship in Greece.(Splash24/7).

Athens: Greek customs have seized 16 armoured vehicles from a roro carrier stopped at the port of Keratsini, allegedly bound for Khalid port in Libya.

The contraband cargo consisted of eight armoured Typhoon GSS-300 military vehicles; five armoured civilian Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles, and three armoured vehicles including a BMW and Mercedes.

Carriage of these vehicles to Libya is a violation of paragraph 9 of UN Decision 1970/2011, which prohibits the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of military and paramilitary equipment to the country.

The Panama-flagged Tychy (8,044 dwt, built 1988; pictured) had arrived at Keratisini, near Piraeus, from the port of La Spezia in northern Italy. The vessel was due to make a stop at the port of Deringe, Turkey, before arriving in Libya.

This is not the first time the Tychy has been caught carrying arms illegally. The vessel was stopped in February this year for carrying another cargo of prohibited vehicles. Hmmm.......

Allegation of illegal arms air traffic from Ostend in Belgium to Libya Dawn cities Tripoli & Misrata

Libya’s Global restarts European flights

Allegation of illegal arms air traffic from Ostend in Belgium to Libya Dawn cities Tripoli and Misrata. (HLN in Dutch)[GoogleTranslated].

The planes fly every two weeks from Ostend to Libya, often with illegal weapons on board. Say sources in the African country. UN experts also expressed such suspicions.

Libyan sources who told us about the arms trafficking, are not neutral. They belong to the camp of the internationally recognized government and say that the weapons are intended for the coalition of Islamists fighting against the government.

But the allegation contains details: so would the 747 last week who flew from Ostend to Libya, have transported various types of ammunition and portable anti-aircraft weaponry.

Where weaponry comes from, the Libyans do not know. But they point out, however, that the Ostend airport except of Libyan also regulary receives United Arab Emirates flights.

A country of which is already proven that sends weapons to go to Libya.

The United Nations already expressed suspicions about Ostend.

So did inspectors found late last year "suspicious items" on the transport bills to.

They asked explanations to the Belgian authorities and were told that exactly one plane for Libya had searched for illegal content. "In it no prohibited items were found," it sounded laconic.

The fact is that the Ostend transports are carried out by dubious companies.

As the Libyan client has already been caught on illegal arms trafficking from the Emirates, while one of their subcontractors is on the US their black list because would have flown those weapons to the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad .

HT:

Allegation of illegal arms traffic from #Ostend in #Belgium to #Libya #Dawn cities #Tripoli & #Misrata (in Dutch): http://t.co/PJiz7PCq9M
— Guy Van Vlierden (@GuyVanVlierden) April 15, 2015

Video - Benghazi: Extensive Report On Cover Up By The White House - Fox News.

Video - The Obama & Hillary COVERUP (Warning Graphic)

Video - Issa: In Benghazi we had not provided the kind of security the ambassador asked for, & that cost him his life.

Full Senate Intelligence Committee report on Benghazi attack.

Full Senate Intelligence Committee report on Benghazi attack.HT: read it @ WashingtonPost.

Turkish Prosecutor passes off Hatay Arms smuggling truck case in protest.

Turkish Prosecutor passes off Hatay Arms smuggling truck case in protest.(TZ).

The prosecutor whose request to search an aid truck in Hatay last week was blocked has handed over the case to another prosecutor in protest of the intervention in his investigation.

According to a report in the Taraf daily on Sunday, public prosecutor Özcan Şişman applied to the chief public prosecutor's office to be taken off the case after his repeated requests to search a truck that was reportedly carrying weapons and ammunition to Syria were denied by gendarmerie and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officers who were accompanying the truck.

His request was turned down on the grounds that the truck's mission was a “state secret.”

New Interior Minister Efkan Ala told reporters on Thursday after making an oath in Parliament that officially inaugurated him into his new position that the truck had been carrying aid to Turkmen in Syria and asked everyone to mind their own business.

Şişman, who had acted in accordance with Article 10 of the Counterterrorism Law (TMK) in his move to search the truck, filed an official complaint when security and intelligence forces refused his orders.

In accordance with his complaint, an investigation was launched into public officials who had not complied.In his complaint, Şişman said that although he had insisted on searching the truck, the Interior Ministry intervened and allowed the truck to continue its journey.

Şişman also stated that his call to the chief prosecutor in Hatay did not help him conduct his search.According to Taraf, Şişman told the chief prosecutor that he does not want to work with the police officers and MİT agents who refused his orders on Jan 1.

His request was approved, but the prosecutor who will replace Şişman and be responsible for investigations in the province of Hatay has not yet been announced.

Taraf also reported that the police officers who stopped the truck in the first place have been transferred to other positions within the police force.

Additionally, the police have had to transfer the investigation to the gendarmerie as the location where the truck was stopped is reportedly outside of city limits.

Hatay Governor Celalettin Lekesiz, who was informed of the incident, reportedly instructed the gendarmerie not to search the truck.

Meanwhile, the Turkmen in Syria have rejected the claim by Minister Ala that the truck was carrying aid for them. 

Syrian-Turkmen Assembly Vice Chairman Hussein al-Abdullah said on Saturday that no such trucks have come from Turkey and the Turkmen do not use the route on which the truck in question was stopped in Hatay. “We have never received aid or weapons from Turkey,” Abdullah stated. 

Vice Chairman Abdurrahman Mustafa also said that he has no information about an aid truck from Turkey and that all he knows about it he read in newspapers.Şişman remains in charge of the Reyhanlı investigation, the biggest terrorist attack in Turkish history and which claimed the lives of 52 people in Hatay in 2013.

Democrats slam Chairman Issa for upcoming 'partisan' trip to Libya.

Democrats slam Chairman Issa for upcoming 'partisan' trip to Libya.(Thehill).

Democrats on the House oversight panel slammed chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) for planning to visit Libya without informing Democrats.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member on the panel, called on Issa to postpone next week's trip, saying it violates Issa's own rules that congressional delegations must be bipartisan. Issa has been leading the investigation into the Benghazi terror attack that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans last year.

“I am writing to request that you immediately postpone your upcoming delegation to Libya and several other countries until you come into compliance with your own Committee directives, stop your partisan efforts to deliberately exclude Democrats from this trip, and provide adequate notice to allow Democratic Members to join this delegation at a later date,” Cummings wrote.

Cummings said he obtained a copy of Issa's itinerary on Friday.
“The only congressional travelers on this itinerary are you and your Republican staffer,” Cummings wrote. “No Democratic Members are listed on the itinerary, and you have not contacted me or my staff about this trip. According to this itinerary, you are planning to leave this Sunday, which means Democratic participation at this late date is impossible.”Issa's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Why did the CIA let a crazed al-Qaeda mob kill America’s ambassador?

Why did the CIA let a crazed al-Qaeda mob kill America’s ambassador?HT: Dailymail.co.uk

Fumbling in the dark, the American ambassador hurriedly pulled on bullet-proof body armour over his blue trousers and T-shirt. A shrill warning siren was sounding and the crash of gunshots could be heard, getting closer by the second.
‘Follow me, sir,’ urged a diplomatic bodyguard, gripping his M4 assault rifle, shouldering an additional pump-action shotgun and looking anxiously around him as they set out along blacked-out corridors. ‘We are under attack.’
It was 9.40pm in the United States diplomatic mission in Benghazi, the second city of strife-torn Libya, a country trying to re-build itself in the aftermath of civil war and the ousting and killing of its mad dictator, Colonel Gaddafi.

The year was 2012 and the date hugely significant for the American and Arab worlds alike — September 11, the anniversary of the 9/11 attack by Islamic terrorists on the Twin Towers in New York. To mark it, one of the many rogue militia armies that were now ripping Libya apart as the so-called Arab Spring turned sour fired up a mob to launch a murderous assault on this vulnerable U.S. outpost.

Read the full story here.

US Military tasked with hunting down the Benghazi attack suspects in Lybia had their 'Stuff' Stolen.

US Military tasked with hunting down the Benghazi attack suspects in Lybia had their 'Stuff' Stolen.HT: Fox News

Highly sensitive U.S. military equipment stored in Libya was stolen over the summer by groups likely aligned and working with terrorist organizations, State Department sources told Fox News — in raids that contributed to the decision to pull Special Forces personnel from the country.

The stolen equipment had been used by U.S. Special Forces stationed in the country. Lost in the raids in late July and early August were dozens of M4 rifles, night-vision technology and lasers used as aiming devices that are mounted on guns and can only be seen with night-vision equipment.“This stuff is how we win wars. The enemy doesn’t have that,” one source said.

The overnight raids happened at a military training camp run by American Special Forces on the outskirts of Tripoli, in the weeks before the team was pulled from the country in August.


That U.S. team was funded by the Department of Defense Section 1208, which provides support to assist and stand up foreign counterterrorism forces in other countries. And in the case of Libya, the trainers were also tasked with hunting down the Benghazi attack suspects that killed four Americans one year ago.

As Fox News previously reported, members of that team are leaving Libya.

“The loss of this military equipment is what pulled the plug on the U.S. operation,” one source with direct knowledge of the events told Fox News. "No one at the State Department wanted to deal with the situation if any more went wrong, so State pulled its support for the training program and then began to try and get the team moved out of the country.”

The 12-member American team was not at the training camp when either raid occurred, as they regularly stayed at a nearby villa that served as a safehouse at night.

Located just outside of Tripoli, the camp was supposed to be secured each night by Libyan forces. But on two occasions, the camp was attacked and raided by either militia members or groups affiliated with terrorist organizations.

The training and the stolen equipment was provided by American forces and thus paid for by U.S. taxpayer dollars.The raids and stolen equipment quickly caused a rift among U.S. Special Forces, Libyan military leaders and ultimately the U.S. State Department.Hmmmm......Another 'Obamination'.Read the full story here.

Cheney: Obama Lacks Honesty, Credibility

Cheney Knew

Cheney: Obama Lacks Honesty, Credibility.HT: Newsmax.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that President Barack Obama has lost his integrity in the wake of numerous scandals that have rocked the administration including the Benghazi attack and IRS targeting of conservatives.

“The problem is the guy has failed to be forthright and honest and credible on things like Benghazi and the IRS, so he’s got no credibility,” Cheney told “Fox News Sunday.”

The IRS targeting is “one of the worst abuses of power imaginable” and was not guided by regional bureaucrats but from a “higher-up” in Washington, Cheney charged.“It clearly was used for political purposes to go after a particular category of organizations,” Cheney said. “That is the kind of gross abuse of power that everybody is legitimately concerned about. I have trouble believing that two guys in Cincinnati dreamed this scheme up I just don’t think that’s true.”

The former defense secretary also questioned the Obama administration’s failure to send a military team to Benghazi to rescue the ambassador and other U.S. personnel during an attack by al-Qaida-linked terrorists last year.
“We should have been on that step before that ever happened,” said Cheney, who noted that armed forces were stationed an hour away and should have been deployed.
“If you’re not going to be ready in Libya of all places, then where are you going to be ready?”
Cheney criticized Obama’s recent pick of Susan Rice to be his national security adviser and said that she too suffered from a credibility shortage.
Rice was the U.N. ambassador to the United States when the Benghazi terror assault occurred, but delivered inaccurate information when she acted as the administration’s spokesperson about the cause of the attack.
“She appears to have been part of the cover-up. She went out and peddled the party line that had been put together at the State Department. I question … someone’s judgment who was so flawed that they took what was apparently very bad information and peddled it as aggressively as she did. I think what she did was a huge mistake,” Cheney said.Read the full story here.

Al-Qaeda group in Mali feared to possess SA-R(Sams) rockets.

Al-Qaeda group in Mali feared to possess SA-R(Sams) rockets.HT: TundraTabloids.

TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) — The photocopies of the manual lay in heaps on the floor, in stacks that scaled one wall, like Xeroxed, stapled handouts for a class.

Except that the students in this case were al-Qaida fighters in Mali. And the manual was a detailed guide, with diagrams and photographs, on how to use a weapon that particularly concerns the United States: A surface-to-air missile capable of taking down a commercial airplane.

The 26-page document in Arabic, recovered by The Associated Press in a building that had been occupied by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in Timbuktu, strongly suggests the group now possesses the SA-7 surface-to-air missile, known to the Pentagon as the Grail, according to terrorism specialists.
And it confirms that the al-Qaida cell is actively training its fighters to use these weapons, also called man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, which likely came from the arms depots of ex-Libyan strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi.Hmmmm........Countdown till the first commercial airliner is shot down........running.Read the full story here.

Manpads in Lybia

Benghazi Investigation Still Very Much Ongoing.

Benghazi Investigation Still Very Much Ongoing.HT: Heritage.By Helle Dale:

Benghazi is back in the headlines with a vengeance as investigations continue on several congressional fronts:

• Representative Darrell Issa (R–CA) subpoenaed the State Department to deliver more email threads on the Benghazi talking points;
• The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee threatened to subpoenaAmbassador Thomas Pickering regarding the Accountability Review Board’s inadequate investigation; and
• The House Armed Services Committee is probing the absent military response on the night of September 11, 2012.

While many aspects of the Benghazi scandal are troubling, the lack of information on the military front is particularly serious. Getting information out of the Pentagon has been like pulling teeth. The Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in February revealed that former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey had briefed President Obama at 5:00 p.m. on the day of the Benghazi terrorist attack, and unbelievably had had no communication after that.

Dempsey then informed the committee that there were no assets available that could have reached Benghazi in time to assist the American diplomats and CIA personnel under attack there — a statement that was contradicted directly by Gregory Hicks, second in command at the U.S. embassy in Libya, in highly emotional testimony. As Hicks revealed, a military support team was ready to take off from Tripoli to Benghazi on the night of the attack, but was told to stand down. By whom we don’t yet know.

Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Buck McKeon (R–CA), has been vigilant in seeking answers and has told Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that he is “deeply concerned” about the lack of answers, reported The Washington Examiner’s Byron York. Last week, McKeon’s committee received a briefing from Pentagon officials, the content of which unfortunately remains largely classified, as does far too much of the information relating to Benghazi. Among McKeon’s questions are:

What aircraft the U.S. had in the region that might have come to the Americans’ aid; where those planes were; whether they were armed or could have been armed; whether they would have needed refueling; the presence of un-manned aircraft, armed and unarmed; the status of various U.S. emergency response teams; and the decisions commanders at all levels made in deciding to deploy or not deploy those assets.

The congressional committees involved in the investigation are doing yeoman’s work. Their stubborn persistence will eventually unearth the truth about Benghazi. The future safety of U.S. diplomatic and military personnel serving overseas depends on it.

Whistleblowers Reveal Stevens Was In Libya To Buy Back Missiles From Al-Qaeda.

Whistleblowers Reveal Stevens Was In Libya To Buy Back Missiles From Al-Qaeda. (FreedomOutpost).By Tim Brown.

More Benghazi whistleblowers are coming forward according to two former U.S. diplomats. According to the former diplomats, these whistleblowers are obtaining legal counsel because they are not protected by whistleblower laws in the areas that they work in.
PJMedia is reporting of an interview with these diplomats:

The former diplomats inform PJM the new revelations concentrate in two areas — what Ambassador Chris Stevens was actually doing in Benghazi and the pressure put on General Carter Ham, then in command of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and therefore responsible for Libya, not to act to protect jeopardized U.S. personnel.
Stevens’ mission in Benghazi, they will say, was to buy back Stinger missiles from al-Qaeda groups issued to them by the State Department, not by the CIA. Such a mission would usually be a CIA effort, but the intelligence agency had opposed the idea because of the high risk involved in arming “insurgents” with powerful weapons that endanger civilian aircraft.
Hillary Clinton still wanted to proceed because, in part, as one of the diplomats said, she wanted “to overthrow Gaddafi on the cheap.”
This left Stevens in the position of having to clean up the scandalous enterprise when it became clear that the “insurgents” actually were al-Qaeda – indeed, in the view of one of the diplomats, the same group that attacked the consulate and ended up killing Stevens.

Now this is interesting in light of the fact that Greg Hicks, the deputy chief of mission in Libya, testified before Congress on May 8, testified that Stevens was sent to Benghazi by Clinton to convert the outpost into a permanent diplomatic facility.
Rep. Lankford (R-OK) questioned Hicks, and he explained: “According to [Ambassador] Chris [Stevens], Secretary Clinton wanted Benghazi converted into a permanent constituent post. Timing for this decision was important. Chris needed to report before Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, on the physical and the political and security environment in Benghazi to support an action memo to convert Benghazi from a temporary facility to a permanent facility.”
In fact, Jerome Corsi writes, “Hicks explained the directive came from the State Department Office of Near Eastern Affairs, headed by Acting Assistant Secretary Beth Jones, that funds were available to be transferred to Benghazi from a State Department fund set aside for Iraq available, provided the funds transfer had been obligated by September 30.”
“He further testified that in May 2012, during his exit with Secretary Clinton following his being sworn in as U.S. Ambassador for Libya, Stevens promised he would give a priority to making sure the U.S. facility at Benghazi was transformed into a permanent constituent post,” Corsi added.
While damaging to Clinton, it was omitted from the State Department’s Accountability Review Board report. Obviously that would add credibility to Raymond Maxwell’s claims that he believes that Clinton and her staff were running the show on the ARB report’s investigation, not an independent board. Should these claims be brought to light, they would be far more explosive than Hicks’ testimony. It also would add credibility to the theory that the Obama administration was running an international Fast and Furious program.
According to one of the former diplomats, he believes that what took place is similar to the Mike Nichols film Charlie Wilson’s War, which is about a clueless congressman who supplies Stinger missiles to Afghan guerrillas. “It’s as if Hillary and the others just watched that movie and said ‘Hey, let’s do that!’” the diplomat said.
He also believes the leaked emails about former CIA director David Petraeus’s adultery with his biographer Paula Broadwell was intended to silence him., especially since Petraeus had stated that the command to stand down could have only come from Barack Obama. Petraeustestified that he knew Benghazi was terrorist attack instantly.
Additionally, there is indication that ARFICOM had Special Ops “assets in place that could have come to the aid of the Benghazi consulate immediately (not in six hours).”
Apparently General Ham was told by the White House not to send aid to the men under attack in Benghazi, but he disobeyed the orders. However, the White House then “called his deputy and had the deputy threaten to relieve Ham of his command,” according to the diplomat.
Ham quietly retired as head of AFRICOM in April 2013.Read the full story here.