Thursday, May 9, 2013
Bible verse for day
"For I
know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and
not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." - Jeremiah 29:11
Families to disclose explosive government culpability in SEAL Team 6 deaths
Family members of some of the Navy SEAL Team 6
members killed when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan in
2011 have scheduled a news conference on Thursday to reveal government culpability in the death of their sons.
In the aftermath of the successful raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, the elite quick reaction force was called on to reinforce an engaged unit of Army Rangers when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter transporting them was shot down by the Taliban. The crash killed all 38 people on board.
The news conference is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. tomorrow at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
A release announcing the event states, in part:
In the aftermath of the successful raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, the elite quick reaction force was called on to reinforce an engaged unit of Army Rangers when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter transporting them was shot down by the Taliban. The crash killed all 38 people on board.
The news conference is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. tomorrow at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
A release announcing the event states, in part:
(Washington, D.C.) – Three families
of Navy SEAL Team VI special forces servicemen, along with one family of
an Army National Guardsman, will appear at a press conference on May 9,
2013, to disclose never before revealed information about how and why
their sons along with 26 others died in a fatal helicopter crash in
Afghanistan on August 6, 2011, just a few months after the successful
raid on the compound of Osama Bin Laden that resulted in the master
terrorist’s death.
Accompanying the families of these
dead Navy SEAL Team VI special operations servicemen will be retired
military experts verifying their accounts of how and why the government
is as much responsible for the deaths of their sons as is the Taliban.
The areas of inquiry at the press conference will include
1. How President Obama and Vice
President Biden, having disclosed on May 4, 2011, that Navy Seal Team VI
carried out the successful raid on Bin Laden’s compound resulting in
the master terrorist’s death, put a retaliatory target on the backs of
the fallen heroes.
2. How and why high-level military
officials sent these Navy SEAL Team VI heroes into battle without
special operations aviation and proper air support.
3. How and why middle-level military
brass carries out too many ill-prepared missions to boost their standing
with top-level military brass and the Commander-in-Chief in order that
they can be promoted.
4. How the military restricts special
operations servicemen and others from engaging in timely return fire
when fired upon by the Taliban and other terrorist groups and interests,
thus jeopardizing the servicemen’s lives.
5. How and why the denial of
requested pre-assault fire may have contributed to the shoot down of the
Navy SEAL Team VI helicopter and the death of these special operations
servicemen.
6. How Afghani forces accompanying
the Navy SEAL Team VI servicemen on the helicopter were not properly
vetted and how they possibly disclosed classified information to the
Taliban about the mission, resulting in the shoot down of the
helicopter.
7. How military brass, while
prohibiting any mention of a Judeo-Christian God, invited a Muslim
cleric to the funeral for the fallen Navy SEAL Team VI heroes who
disparaged in Arabic the memory of these servicemen by damning them as
infidels to Allah. A video of the Muslim cleric’s “prayer” will be shown
with a certified translation.
Benghazi Hearing Gets Political Immediately Democrat Blasts ‘Full-Scale Media Campaign Designed to Smear Obama Admin’
Fire it up
92
....
Below is a transcript of Cummings’ remarks as prepared for delivery:
Mr. Hicks, I would like to start by expressing my gratitude for your service and my condolences for your loss. I can only imagine what you went through on the night of the attacks. If I had been in your place—hearing Ambassador Stevens’ voice on the phone and wanting to do everything possible to help him—I would have had the same questions you had: Where is the military? Where are the special forces? Where are the fighter jets to rescue my colleagues?
These are legitimate questions, and I wanted to know the answers myself. For example, last week there was a widely publicized news report that a team in Europe called the Commanders In-Extremis Force could have gotten to Benghazi before the second attack. When I heard this claim, I wrote to the Secretary of Defense. Yesterday, I received an official response. It says this press report was wrong. The team was too far away, and the logistical requirements were too great.
Others have suggested that F-16s stationed at Aviano Air Force Base in Italy could have gotten there in time. But according to General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who testified before the Senate in February, they could not. General Carter Ham, the former head of the U.S. Africa Command, agreed.
The fact is that our nation’s top military commanders have testified repeatedly that they did everything in their power to mobilize and deploy assets as soon as possible, and every independent and bipartisan review has confirmed this fact. We have the best military in the world, but even with all of their technological advances, they could not get there in time.
Mr. Hicks, I know these answers provide no comfort to you or the families of the victims, but this is the testimony Congress has received, and I have seen nothing to make me question the truthfulness of our nation’s military commanders.
Our Committee has a fundamental obligation to conduct responsible oversight, and that includes carefully examining the information that you and others provide. But we also have a duty to thoroughly investigate these claims before we make public accusations.
In contrast, what we have seen over the past two weeks is a full-scale media campaign that is not designed to investigate what happened in a responsible and bipartisan manner, but rather to launch unfounded accusations and to smear public officials.
Let me be clear: I am not questioning the motives of our witnesses. I am questioning the motives of those who want to use them for political purposes.
Chairman Issa has accused the Administration of intentionally withholding military assets—which could have helped save lives on the night of the attacks—for political reasons. Of all the irresponsible allegations leveled over the past two weeks, this is the most troubling. And based on what our military commanders have told us, this allegation is false.
Chairman Issa suggested that four military personnel were told to stay in Tripoli rather than board a plane for Benghazi at 6 a.m. the morning after the attacks, supposedly because of the Administration’s political desire not to have a military presence in Benghazi. There is no evidence to support this claim. As Mr. Hicks told the Committee, one plane had already left for Benghazi at 1:15 a.m. that night, and it included a seven-person security team with two military personnel. The decision the next morning to keep four military personnel in place in Tripoli was not made by the White House or the State Department, but by the military chain of command.
There are other allegations. Chairman Issa went on national television and accused Secretary Clinton of lying to Congress. He said she personally signed a State Department cable authorizing security reductions. We have now seen this cable, and she did not sign it. Her name is printed at the bottom just like tens of thousands of cables sent every year from the Department. The Washington Post Fact Checker called this accusation a “whopper” and gave it “Four Pinocchios.”
Chairman Issa attacked Ambassador Susan Rice for statements she made on the Sunday talk shows, claiming the Administration “deliberately misled” the American people. This claim has been directly contradicted by our nation’s top intelligence official, General James Clapper. He testified before the Senate that these attacks against Ms. Rice are “unfair” because “she was going on what we had given her, and that was our collective best judgment at the time.”
There have also been allegations that the Accountability Review Board led by Ambassador Thomas Pickering and Admiral Mike Mullen failed to examine the role of Ambassador Patrick Kennedy. This accusation is inaccurate, according to the Board.
Mr. Chairman, if this Committee is going to suggest that General Dempsey, General Ham, and General Clapper are involved in a conspiracy of withholding military assets and then covering it up, and if this Committee is going to accuse Ambassador Pickering and Admiral Mullen of failing to fully investigate these attacks, the least you could have done is invite these officials here today to answer these serious charges face-to-face.
I respect the witnesses who are here today to offer their testimony. But today’s hearing is not the full story. I hope we will eventually hear from our military, intelligence, and diplomatic officials. Then, I hope we can turn to the real work of this Committee, which is ensuring that the Department implements the recommendations to improve the security of our diplomatic officials serving overseas.
Solar eclipse set to turn sun into 'ring of fire' this week
Charles Medendorp
Skywatcher
Charles Medendorp took this photo of the annular eclipse at the Very
Large Array outside Socorro, N.M., on May 20, 2012.
Space.com
The moon will block the sun in a potentially spectacular solar eclipse this week — a celestial event that will transform
the sun into a cosmic "ring of fire" in the daytime sky.The ring-shaped solar eclipse , known as an annular eclipse, will occur Thursday and Friday Eastern time. Weather
permitting, the eclipse will be visible in certain parts of Australia
and the Southern Pacific Ocean, where the local time will be Friday."Solar eclipses can be inspirational
to students and others, so it is interesting to have everyone view the
eclipse, but only safe methods of viewing should be used," Jay
Pasachoff, an astronomer at Williams College and chairman of the
International Astronomical Union's working group on eclipses, said in a
statement. [See Spectacular Photos of a 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse]While nearly 95 percent of the sun will be covered by the moon at the eclipse's peak, the sky will not be noticeably darker to the naked eye at any point, explained Williams College officials in Williamstown, Mass.
For this reason, special protective lenses, camera and telescope filters and other methods of protection should be used in order to safely watch the eclipse even during full annularity, when the sun is silhouetting the moon.
Eclipse predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA / GSFC
The
first solar eclipse of 2013 occurs at the moon's descending node in
eastern Ares. An annular eclipse will be visible from Australia, eastern
Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the Gilbert Islands.
The Hawaiian Islands, other parts of Australia, the southern Philippines, eastern Indonesia, other areas in Papua New Guinea and a small part of New Zealand will get at least a partial show, Williams College officials said.
The entire world should be able to catch a glimpse of the annular eclipse thanks to the online Slooh Space Camera. Slooh will play host to a webcast featuring expert commentary and views of the eclipse on Thursday starting at 5:30 p.m. EDT. You can watch the broadcast live on Space.com.
During annular solar eclipses, the moon casts a shadow on the face of the Earth when it passes between the planet and the star. Because of its orbit, however, the moon still appears about 4.5 percent smaller than the sun, creating the distinct ring in the sky, Joe Rao, a Space.com contributor and meteorologist said.
This week's solar eclipse comes on the heels of a partial lunar eclipse that shadowed the moon above Central Asia, Western Australia, Eastern Europe and Africa. Another minor lunar eclipse will occur on May 24.
These aren't the only eclipses of 2013. On Nov. 3, a rare hybrid solar eclipse — an annular eclipse that transitions into a total eclipse — will be visible in the northern Atlantic Ocean and into equatorial Africa.
WARNING: Never look directly at the sun during an eclipse with a telescope or your unaided eye. Severe eye damage can result and scientists use special filters to safely view the sun.
Editor's note:If you live in the observing area of Thursday's solar eclipse and safely snap an amazing picture of the sun that you'd like to share
for a possible story or image gallery, send photos, comments and your name and location to Managing Editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter and Google+. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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