Pentagon leaders favored arming Syrian rebels

The Pentagon’s top leaders said Thursday that they favored supplying weapons to rebels locked in a grinding civil war with the Syrian government, a position that put them directly at odds with the White House.

At the tail end of a line of questioning about Benghazi, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked Panetta and Dempsey whether they supported a plan “that we provide weapons to the resistance in Syria.” The plan, he said, was floated in the summer by then-CIA Director David H. Petraeus and endorsed by another heavyweight in the administration at the time, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“We do,” Panetta replied. “You did support that?” McCain asked again. “We did,” added Dempsey, who was sitting next to Panetta. Neither elaborated on their positions. (Washington Post, Posted 8 Feb 13)

Posted on Friday, February 8th, 2013 | RSS feed |

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Detainee Spotlight

Saad Iqbal Madni

During his combatant status review tribunal, Madni freely conceded: “I also told [Yahya] that there was a type of shoes in which you could hide the bombs.”

In addition, U.S. intelligence officials identified Madni as the “acquaintance” of Richard Reid, who attempted to blow up an airliner in December 2001 – the same month Madni was telling IDF terrorists about shoe bombs.

Yahya was so impressed with what Madni had to say, according to Madni’s own testimony, that Yahya began to divulge the details of his terrorist plotting. Yahya “explained to me that one year ago, he tried to blow up the American embassy in Jakarta,” Madni told his tribunal at Gitmo.

Yahya took Madni to meet with IDF leader Habib Rizq, and there Madni “saw approximately 50 to 100 people sitting in rooms” as they were preparing to commit “terrorist acts” to commemorate New Year’s Day 2002. (Thomas Joscelyn)

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Keep America Safe Board Member Debra Burlingame on President Obama’s press conference on the eve of September 11: “President Obama’s remarks today, on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, showed a regrettable disconnect with the American people who regard 9/11 as a world-changing event that touched all of our lives.” Read more.

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