Benghazi Embassy Attack Suspect Captured

rugcat · Jun 17, 2014

Abu Khatallah, the alleged leader of the attack on the Benghazi embassy has been taken into custody by US forces.

Abu Khatallah will be brought to U.S. soil to face charges "in the coming days" for his role in the attack that left U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. citizens dead, said Edward Price, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/17/world/africa/benghazi-suspect-captured/

On the right, senators Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte, and of course John McCain are outraged that the suspect is not being taken to Guantánamo.

On Fox News, several talking heads opined that the timing of the arrest was "way too convenient" coinciding as it does with Hillary Clinton's book tour.

And here's an interesting sidelight:

On the day of the attack, Islamists in Cairo had staged a demonstration outside the United States Embassy there to protest an American-made online video mocking Islam, and the protest culminated in a breach of the embassy’s walls — images that flashed through news coverage around the Arab world.

As the attack in Benghazi was unfolding a few hours later, Mr. Abu Khattala told fellow Islamist fighters and others that the assault was retaliation for the same insulting video, according to people who heard him.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/06/1...r-questions-on-assault.html?hp&_r=2&referrer=

Synonym · Jun 17, 2014

I guess I don't understand the intricacies of snagging someone like this.

Wasn't he interviewed, four or more times, between the attack and his capture? The press didn't have any trouble finding him.

nighttimer · Jun 17, 2014

rugcat said:
Abu Khatallah, the alleged leader of the attack on the Benghazi embassy has been taken into custody by US forces.

On the right, senators Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte, and of course John McCain are outraged that the suspect is not being taken to Guantánamo.

Fuck the Three Stooges. :e2stooges

Haters gonna hate. :rant:

rugcat said:
On Fox News, several talking heads opined that the timing of the arrest was "way too convenient" coinciding as it does with Hillary Clinton's book tour.

And fuck Fox News too. They always want Obama to do something until he does something.

A good day for Barack Obama is always a bad day for Johnny Mac and his sidekick, Little Lindsay.

The response from the GOP’s hawkish foreign policy duo is predictable. For nearly two years, Obama has been castigated for being ineffective, weak, and complacent about bringing the perpetrators of these murders to justice. (Republicans have even batted around the surreal idea of his impeachment over the matter.) The moment one of the supposed masterminds is apprehended, Obama all of sudden has nothing to do with it.

For McCain and Graham, the president is incapable of getting any credit for being the commander-in-chief when he has just overseen a successful operation. A victory against a common enemy is just another opportunity to suggest that Obama is a weak executive who doesn’t have a rational plan. (The mention of Guantanamo is a moment to neatly remind everyone both that the president hasn’t delivered on his promise to close it, and to suggest that Republicans, who believed in its legitimacy, were always thinking of a situation just like this. So, really, Republicans were right all along.)

It seems that for these senators, Obama only has his fingerprints on a policy when it’s failing. When it results in an unmitigated victory, he is somehow MIA.

clintl · Jun 17, 2014

rugcat said:
On the right, senators Lindsey Graham, Kelly Ayotte, and of course John McCain are outraged that the suspect is not being taken to Guantánamo.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/06/1...r-questions-on-assault.html?hp&_r=2&referrer=

Considering how much effort they've invested in trying to convince the public that Benghazi is a scandal, they're probably scared to death about having the truth come out in a courtroom.

cmhbob · Jun 17, 2014

I found this amusing. I'm not at all endorsing West. I just found it amusing. For both sides, really.

Zoombie · Jun 17, 2014

Okay...what the flying fuck is supposed to be funny about that image?

Is it the fact that it's basically tying together things that Obama didn't start (Iraq) with something that doesn't FUCKING MATTER (even members of the Taliban doesn't deserve to be prisoners of the Taliban), with mashing in the most absurd, 19th century bullshit xenophobic anti-immigrant racist stupidity at the same time...

Gah, that sentence got away from me, but I'm having a really goddamn hard time following RYFW, because that image is just so...blatantly dishonest and the fact that it uses LITERALLY ONE OF THE BEST PIXAR MOVIES EVER MADE to make it's...bullshit anti-point I...

GAH!

Selah March · Jun 18, 2014

Yeah, anything that refers to human beings as illegals -- particularly as the current swarm* includes tens of thousands of children escaping gang warfare -- fails my personal sniff test for funny. YMMV.

*Oh, looky, another dehumanizing term. How coincidental. It's almost like the whole thing was created by an asshole.

William Haskins · Jun 18, 2014

good that they caught him. here's hoping the prosecution sticks and he faces the music.

raburrell · Jun 18, 2014

^ What William said.

eta: And Selah March too.

RichardGarfinkle · Jun 18, 2014

William Haskins said:
good that they caught him. here's hoping the prosecution sticks and he faces the music.

The prosecution success rate is pretty high. Here's an NYU study on the matter.

Of the several hundred resolved cases in this category, 87% resulted in convictions, roughly the same conviction rate that we find for all federal criminal indictments.

Torgo · Jun 18, 2014

Been reading quotes today where a bunch of people say things like "Let's not read him his rights. Send him to Guantanamo for, you know, interrogation?" *winks* "Not torture obviously, 'cause that's wrong, but you know, spend some quality time, interrogating him? Totally legally?" *winks some more*

Prozyan · Jun 18, 2014

Hmm, if only someone would promise to close Guantanamo (then actually do so), it wouldn't even be an option to send him there.

Torgo · Jun 18, 2014

Prozyan said:
Hmm, if only someone would promise to close Guantanamo (then actually do so), it wouldn't even be an option to send him there.

GEE IF ONLY

Elias Graves · Jun 18, 2014

Good to see they finally tracked down the guy who made that awful video.

raburrell · Jun 18, 2014

Funny that:

On the day of the attack, Islamists in Cairo had staged a demonstration outside the United States Embassy there to protest an American-made online video mocking Islam, and the protest culminated in a breach of the embassy’s walls — images that flashed through news coverage around the Arab world.

As the attack in Benghazi was unfolding a few hours later, Mr. Abu Khattala told fellow Islamist fighters and others that the assault was retaliation for the same insulting video, according to people who heard him.

(above from rugcat's OP, my bold)

William Haskins · Jun 18, 2014

Libya condemns U.S. arrest of Benghazi suspect, demands his return

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya on Wednesday condemned U.S. special forces' arrest of a man on its soil suspected of masterminding a deadly Islamist militant attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, describing the detention as a violation of Libyan sovereignty.

In the first official reaction from Tripoli, Justice Minister Saleh al-Marghani said the suspect, Ahmed Abu Khatallah, should be returned to Libya and tried there.

"We had no prior notification. We did not to expect the U.S. to upset our political scene," Marghani told a news conference.

He said Khatalah had been wanted by Libyan authorities for questioning but a lack of security had prevented this.

http://news.yahoo.com/libya-condemns-u-arrest-benghazi-suspect-demands-return-131315735.html

nighttimer · Jun 18, 2014

William Haskins said:
Libya condemns U.S. arrest of Benghazi suspect, demands his return

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya on Wednesday condemned U.S. special forces' arrest of a man on its soil suspected of masterminding a deadly Islamist militant attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, describing the detention as a violation of Libyan sovereignty.

In the first official reaction from Tripoli, Justice Minister Saleh al-Marghani said the suspect, Ahmed Abu Khatallah, should be returned to Libya and tried there.

"We had no prior notification. We did not to expect the U.S. to upset our political scene," Marghani told a news conference.

He said Khatalah had been wanted by Libyan authorities for questioning but a lack of security had prevented this.

http://news.yahoo.com/libya-condemns-u-arrest-benghazi-suspect-demands-return-131315735.html

See my previous post. And fuck the Libyans too.

You kill Americans. You get caught and judged by Americans.

clintl · Jun 18, 2014

The Libyans are protesting because they have to. I suspect they are not really as upset as they're claiming to be.

Benghazi Embassy Attack Suspect Captured

rugcat

Lost in the Fog

Synonym

nighttimer

No Gods No Masters

clintl

Represent.

cmhbob

Did...did I do that?

Zoombie

Dragon of the Multiverse

Selah March

William Haskins

poet

raburrell

Treguna Makoidees Trecorum SadisDee

RichardGarfinkle

Nurture Phoenixes

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

Prozyan

Are you one, Herbert?