Government – Page 672 – Public Intelligence Blog

2012/11/042012/11/04

Mini-Me: Germans Suspect Federal Reserve Bank of NY Has Stolen 1536 MetricTonnes of Gold — On Tim Geithner’s Watch

Huh?

Germans demand bullion back after Federal Reserve refuses to let them view their own gold

Marc Howe

Mining.com, 1 November 2012

A secret report by Germany's Federal Audit Office leaked to the public last week states that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York refuses to allow Bundebank staff to even view the gold, triggerin suspicions that the vaults are empty as well as calls for the gold to be shipped back to Berlin.

. . . . . . .

The leaked report has now led to calls from some of Germany's leading politicians for the nation's stateside gold hoard to be shipped back to Berlin. Heinz-Peter Haustein of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) was quoted by German newspapers as saying that “all the gold has to be shipped back.”

Bundesbank board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele has urged calm, however, referring to some of the debate surrounding the gold to be “rather grotesque” and stating that the hoard is in the care of “highly respected central bankers” as opposed to “dubious business partners.” Read full article.

Tip of the Hat to Mark Thompson and Albert Martin at Google+.

Continue reading “Mini-Me: Germans Suspect Federal Reserve Bank of NY Has Stolen 1536 MetricTonnes of Gold — On Tim Geithner's Watch”

2012/11/042012/11/04

DefDog: State Email to White House – Seven Hours Elapsed Time From Advisory to Death of Two in Benghazi

Ethics, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude, Military

So far what we have is a CIA base not a consulate; State blase about security because it was a CIA base; Libyan local security evaporated; attack motivation still up in the air — pre-arranged kidnapping for political milking far-fetched; Stanley Inc. video clearly incidental; Russian intervention to stop CIA's less than covert arms deliveries to Syria makes more sense. Seven hours — and instead of leveraging the multitude of assets within 1-2 hours of the site, the Secretary of Defense focused on relieving two flag officers. My gut says Romney wins big and Obama goes home. If Obama wins, he will need a new Secretary of Defense, not just a new Secretary of State.

CIA Timeline Confirms: Woods and Doherty Killed in Benghazi 7Hrs After WH Told of Attack; Commercial Airliner Can Fly From London to Libya and Back in That Time

By Terence P. Jeffrey

November 4, 2012

Read full article with links.

State Email to WH — Click on Image to Enlarge

See Also:

Phi Beta Iota / Benghazi

Phi Beta Iota / Khost Kathy

2012/11/042012/11/04

Penguin: Close Overhead Photograph of US “Consulate” in Benghazi — Looks More Like a CIA Villa

Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude

In no way does this look like a consulate. Rather, it looks like a high end CIA villa. Bearing in mind image comes from Fox, needs validation, but it seems authentic.

Exclusive: Security officials on the ground in Libya challenge CIA account

Adam Housley

Fox News, 3 November 2012

Despite a carefully narrated version of events rolled out late this week by the CIA claiming agents jumped into action as soon as they were notified of calls for help in Benghazi, security officials on the ground say calls for help went out considerably earlier — and signs of an attack were mounting even before that.

benghazi compound — Click on Image to Enlarge

The accounts, from foreign and American security officials in and around Benghazi at the time of the attack, indicate there was in fact a significant lag between when the threat started to show itself and help started to arrive.

Read full article with video.

Phi Beta Iota: If validated, this photograph shows that the consulate is not, as most would assume, in a high-density urban area. From a military point of view, this is a piece of cake for a helo evacuation and/or a curtain of fire. This looks more and more like a mix of incompetent CIA operations and inattentive political appointees detached from reality.

See Also:

Phi Beta Iota / Benghazi

Phi Beta Iota / Khost Kathy

2012/11/042012/11/04

Mini-Me: Benghazi Update – Russians and French Playing Hard-Ball?

Ethics, Government, Ineptitude, Military

Huh?

Obama’s Silence on Benghazi Indicts Him

EXTRACT: Another report today from Canada Free Presstell us it is likely Russians ordered Iranians to attack our consulate in Benghazi in order to stop the arming of Syrian rebels. … Speculation, buttressed by certain developments, indicates Stevens was being used by Obama to coordinate weapons shipments to the Syrian rebels via the Turks with the use of Libyan shipping. Read full article.

Harsh Indictment: Benghazi Reveals Obama-Islamist Alliance

The nature of the Benghazi disaster is now clear. Ambassador Stevens was engaged in smuggling sizable quantities of Libyan arms from the destroyed Gaddafi regime to the Syrian rebels, to help overthrow the Assad regime in Syria. Smuggling arms to the so-called “Free Syrian Army” is itself a huge gamble, but Obama has been a gambler with human lives over the last four years, as shown by the tens of thousands of Arabs who have died in the so-called Arab Spring — which has brought nothing but disaster to the Arab world. Read full article.

The Benghazi Drip-Drip-Drip

As of now, the White House has disclosed that President Obama was informed about the attack on the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi at roughly 5pm by his National Security Adviser Tom Donilon as he was in a pre-scheduled meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey. At that meeting, senior administration officials say, the President ordered that the U.S. begin moving military assets into the region to prepare for a range of contingencies. Read full article.

Continue reading “Mini-Me: Benghazi Update – Russians and French Playing Hard-Ball?”

2012/11/04

Marcus Aurelius: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on Land / Sea Roles

Ethics, Government, Military

Marcus-Aurelius-150x150 — **Marcus Aurelius**

Land, Sea Roles Changing, Dempsey Says

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON October 10, 2012 – While the Navy’s aircraft carrier fleet is sized correctly to carry out its mission, land forces are facing “significant changes,” Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said here today.

“At this point in time, I believe we’ve got what we need,” Dempsey said in response to questions following his speech at a National Press Club luncheon.

After the Budget Control Act of 2011 imposed about $500 billion in defense spending cuts over 10 years, he said, the Defense Department had to examine its strategic positions.

“Strategy that's not sensitive to resources is nothing more than rhetoric,” he said. “There's always this balance between ends, ways and means. So the means changed. We had to take a look at the ends and the ways.”

Read full article.

Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on Land / Sea Roles”

2012/11/032012/11/03

Mini-Me: Benghazi All CIA, State Off the Hook?

Government, Ineptitude

Huh?

CIA’s response to Benghazi attack under scrutiny

Agence France Press, 4 November 2012

The US Benghazi mission was essentially a CIA operation instead of a diplomatic post, and most staff worked for the spy agency.

Read rest of AFP Story.

Phi Beta Iota: This makes a lot of sense and goes a long toward toward explaining, if true, why State was unconcerned and why Pentagon was caught by surprise. The Wild Card is the Ambassador and whether a major arms transfer was going down. Attacking a known CIA base is a completely different proposition from attacking a legitimate working US consulate probably not needed at all in Benghazi.

2012/11/032012/11/03

Dolphin: 30 Days Warning No Protest CIA Acts Pentagon Freezes

Government, Ineptitude, Military

A few days old, but a good effort by a citizen.

Benghazi: A Reader Assesses the Evidence [Updated]

John Hinderaker in Benghazigate

PowerLine, Posted on October 27, 2012

A reader, relying on publicly available information, has reconstructed what we know and can infer about what happened in Benghazi. I haven’t tried to verify all of his facts nor do I necessarily vouch for his inferences, although in general they seem reasonable. But his analysis is, I think, a valuable contribution to our understanding, and I reproduce it here in slightly edited form:

This last week may have finally broken the protective wall around the POTUS. Between the comments of Hillary Clinton, Gen. Petraeus, Defense Secretary Panetta and the FOX News report, the picture of what really transpired in Benghazi is starting to emerge. The trail is leading straight to the POTUS….

I have no military service, security clearance, or contacts in the middle east. I don’t speak Arabic and have no special skills that would allow me to have a special insight into how the travesty in Benghazi happened, and who is responsible for letting our people die.

All I have are my instincts and google. They allowed me to ascertain within a couple of days that there was no protest outside the consulate before it was attacked. For the administration to attempt to sell such a story infuriated me, especially when Ambassador Rice appeared on five Sunday talks shows on September 16th to spin an obvious lie.

Read full article.

See Also:

Phi Beta Iota / Benghazi