Friday, November 16, 2012

Friday, November 16, 2012

Petraeus Testifies

Former CIA Director General David Petraeus testified behind closed doors on Capitol Hill this morning about the 9/11 attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Gen. Petraeus told members of the intelligence committees that he “knew almost immediately” that the attack on the consulate was carried out by Ansar al Sharia, an Al Qaeda group in Libya.

Emerging from the hearing, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told reporters that Gen. Petraeus was asked about the talking points used by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. As you may recall, Rice said repeatedly on national television that the attack was a spontaneous demonstration in response to an anti-Islamic film.

Gen. Petraeus told the committee that the original CIA talking points were “much more specific about al-Qaeda involvement.” But they were edited during an “inter-agency process,” and no one knows where in the process that “much more specific” information got cut.

Unfortunately, as Rep. King indicated, General Petraeus’ testimony this morning contradicts what he told the committee in September when he essentially toed the White House line. It also raises questions about who cut information about Al Qaeda’s involvement and why.

On MSNBC this morning, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), vice chairman for the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, “Susan Rice was sent to give a White House message. It was not an intelligence community message, and there’s a very clear distinction in that.”

Jerusalem Targeted

Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem today. Fortunately, they landed in open fields outside the Holy City and no one was hurt. A Hamas spokesman said, “We are sending a short and simple message: There is no security for any Zionist on any single inch of Palestine and we plan more surprises.”

Israel has already called up 16,000 reservists, and IDF tanks are massing on the Gaza border in preparation for a possible ground assault. After today’s attack on Jerusalem, Reuters reported that as many as 75,000 reservists may be called up.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian prime minister, our supposed ally and product of the Arab Spring, has rushed to Gaza to show Egypt’s solidarity with the Palestinians.

Egypt has a peace treaty with Israel. Egypt receives $1.5 billion dollars in aid from the U.S. each year. It is time to demand more from our “allies” in Cairo. President Obama should get Mohamed Morsi on the phone and tell him to stop standing with the terrorists or go find his $1.5 billion somewhere else!

As this crisis continues, we will no doubt hear more about alleged Israeli “war crimes.” So let’s talk about real war crimes.

As David French correctly notes, “Every Hamas rocket attack is a war crime.” Why? Because they are aimed at civilian targets with the intention of terrorizing the Israeli people. These rocket attacks are terrorist attacks.

Moreover, Hamas has intentionally positioned its rocket launchers in civilian areas, near mosques, schools and hospitals, thereby turning innocent Palestinians into human shields. Under international law, placing such weapons in civilian areas constitutes a war crime, and it is not a war crime for Israel to take them out.

Union Bankrupts Twinkies

For all the talk about compromise in Washington these days, some on the left are in no mood to compromise, even when thousands of jobs are on the line. Here’s a good example.

Hostess Brands, makers of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, is shutting down and laying off 18,000 workers at its 33 bakeries and 565 distribution centers. Hostess is going out of business because the bakers’ union refused to accept a new contract, ignored repeated warnings that the company risked bankruptcy and went on strike.

No doubt Michelle Obama and Michael Bloomberg are doing a victory dance. First they tell us that men can “marry” other men. Now they are telling us that we must do without Twinkies and Ding Dongs!

Joking aside, the president of the Service Employees International Union said a few years ago, “‘Workers of the world unite,’ it’s not just a slogan anymore.” Presumably he knows that slogan comes from Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto.” But I wonder just how much unity the workers of Hostess Brands are feeling today.