U.S. Court Ruling: Bin Laden's Death Photos Can Remain Secret

U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) and Vice President Joe Biden (L), along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. REUTERS/White House/Pete Souza/Handout

Court Rules Bin Laden Death Photos Can Stay Secret -- Reuters

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. government had properly classified top secret more than 50 images of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden taken after his death, and that the government did not need to release them.

The unanimous ruling by three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a request for the images by a conservative nonprofit watchdog group.

Judicial Watch sued for photographs and video from the May 2011 raid in which U.S. special forces killed bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after more than a decade of searching.

The organization's lawsuit relied on the Freedom of Information Act, a 1966 law that guarantees public access to some government documents.

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More News On Yesterday's US Court Ruling That Bin Laden's Death Photos Can Stay Secret

Court: US Can Keep Bin Laden Photos Under Wraps -- ABC News/AP
Bin Laden Corpse Photos Can Be Kept Secret, Court Rules -- Bloomberg
Bin Laden burial pictures will stay secret -- Washington Post
U.S. appeals court says no to release of bin Laden death photos -- UPI
Osama's Bin Laden's Death Photos Will Be Kept Secret for Your Own Good -- Atlantic Wire
Appeals court won't release Osama Bin Laden photos -- Politico
Government Keeping Grisly Bin Laden Death Photos Close to Its Chest -- Vanity Fair

Nigeria's Boko Haram Fighters Are Heavily Armed With Libyan Weapons

Nigerian Military In Heavy Fighting With Boko Haram Militants -- The Guardian

Army says it has faced fierce resistance in its offensive against Islamist insurgents who are armed with weapons from Libya

Nigeria's military has been involved in heavy fighting with Islamist insurgents armed with sophisticated weapons from Libya as it steps up an offensive aimed at flushing out Boko Haram from its north-eastern bases.

"They have been putting up fierce resistance and they are very, very well-armed with weapons from Libya," a senior military official told the Guardian, adding that most of the militants who have waged a bloody four-year battle to create an Islamist state have scattered across the region's semi-desert borders.

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My Comment: Like Mali .... the failure to control the flow of Libyan weapons has destabilized much of this region.

Top U.S. General At Fort Jackson Suspended For Sexual Misconduct

Photo: Brig. Gen. Bryan Roberts (Army)

Army General Suspended After Fight With Mistress -- Washington Post

An Army brigadier general who commanded a South Carolina post has been suspended for allegedly having a physical altercation with a mistress, officials said Tuesday.

Brig. Gen. Bryan T. Roberts, the top commander at Fort Jackson, is the latest in a string of senior military officials who have come under investigation for alleged misconduct. The case comes amid an outcry from lawmakers and other critics who say the Pentagon is failing to address pervasive sexual harassment and assault in the ranks.

“The allegations are being thoroughly investigated,” said Harvey Perritt, a spokesman for the Army Training and Doctrine Command. Perritt said the Army’s criminal investigations division is handling the probe. Army officials did not say when the incident is alleged to have taken place or how it came to their attention. Perritt said Roberts would not be available to comment.

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More News On Top U.S. General At Fort Jackson Suspended For Sexual Misconduct

Fort Jackson 1-star suspended amid misconduct allegations -- Army Times
Commander of Army training center suspended, faces adultery charges -- Stars and Stripes
Army general suspended following adultery allegations -- UPI
Army Suspends Training Center Commander on Alleged Adultery -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Army pulls general in adultery case -- Politico
Army general suspended from duties amid adultery investigation -- NBC

Picture Of The Day

U.S. Army Sgt. Shawn Adams keeps watch from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter over mountains in the Chorah district of Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, May 12, 2013. Adams is assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment, Connecticut and Pennsylvania Army National Guard. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jessi Ann McCormick

F-35 Flight Test Intentional Departure

The Most Awesome F-35 Video I've Ever Seen -- Gizmodo

Lockheed Martin just completed the latest high angle of attack test series. It was a complete success, as this video shots. The video footage is spectacular, especially that unreal first shot:

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., May 16, 2013 – The latest in a series of Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35A high angle of attack (AOA) testing was recently completed. The testing accomplished high AOA beyond both the positive and negative maximum command limits, including intentionally putting the aircraft out of control in several configurations. This included initially flying in the stealth clean wing configuration. It was followed by testing with external air-to-air pylons and missiles and then with open weapon bay doors. The F-35A began edge-of-the-envelope high AOA testing in the Fall 2012. For all testing, recovery from out of control flight has been 100 percent successful without the use of the spin recovery chute, which is carried to maximize safety.

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A Heartwarming Moment For A Marine Who Lost Three Limbs In Afghanistan Blast

The Heartwarming Moment Marine Who Lost Three Limbs In Afghanistan Blast Marries His Bride After Town Raises $30,000 To Pay For Dream Wedding -- Daily Mail

A Marine who returned from active duty in Afghanistan following a devastating injury found a home that truly embraces their 'local' hero.

Former Marine corporal Juan Dominguez, 29, who lost both his legs and right arm from an IED (improvised explosive device), and his bride Alexis had the wedding of their dreams last month.

According to The TODAY Show, the couple were treated by residents of their adoptive home in Temecula, California who donated goods and services totaling $30,000 for their special day.

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My Comment: My brother's wife is from Temecula, California .... a great place to be. As for former Marine corporal Juan Dominguez and his new wife .... I wish them the best.

The White House 'War' Against Journalists Continues

DOJ Seized Phone Records Of Numbers Tied To Fox News Lines, Documents Show -- FOX News

Newly uncovered court documents show the Justice Department seized phone records associated with several Fox News lines as part of a leak investigation -- a revelation that comes as the White House Correspondents' Association spoke out against the administration's monitoring of reporters.

Documents from October 2011 appear to show exchanges that match the specific locations of Fox News' White House, Pentagon, State Department and other operations. The last four digits of each of the phone numbers listed are redacted in the government filing so it is impossible to know the full numbers.

Meanwhile, the Correspondents' Association spoke out on incidents involving two news organizations. The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of phone records from the Associated Press and obtained a search warrant for the personal emails of Fox News' James Rosen. The information about the phone records was uncovered Tuesday.

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More News On The DOJ Targeting Journalists As Part Of A Leak Investigation

The Justice Department and Fox News’s Phone Records -- Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker
Fox News: ‘They went into our computer servers at Fox News’ -- Erik Wemple, Washington Post
The FBI's Case for Reading a Fox News Reporter's E-mail -- Paul Barrett, Bloomberg Businessweek
In AP, Rosen investigations, government makes criminals of reporters -- Dana Milbank, Washington Post
Report: Justice Dept. seized multiple Fox News, White House phone records -- Politico

Update #1: The New York Times has a collection of opinions on "Obama, the Media and National Security".

Update #2: CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson believes that she has also been targeted by the White House.

My Comment: Criminalizing what reporters do sends a chill up my spine .... and I cannot help but feel that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Why Was The U.S. Military Not Prepared For An Event Like Benghazi?

A man walks inside the U.S. consulate, which was attacked and set on fire by gunmen yesterday, in Benghazi September 12, 2012. REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori

Lawmakers Dig Into Life-And-Death Issues Of Benghazi -- Byron York

Until now, most press coverage of the Benghazi matter has focused on the administration's misleading talking points explaining the attack on the U.S. facility in Libya. But just beneath the surface is the investigation into a potentially more explosive part of the Benghazi story: Whether the U.S. government did everything it could to save Americans whose lives were at risk in the chaotic hours of Sept. 11, 2012.

There were several hours between the first attack in Benghazi, which killed two Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, and a second attack, which left two more dead. Is there something the U.S. military could have done to rescue those last two and others who were badly wounded?

On Tuesday members of the House Armed Services Committee will question Pentagon officials in a classified session. The committee chairman, Republican Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., last week told Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that he remains "deeply concerned" about unanswered Benghazi questions. In a letter to Hagel, McKeon said he wants to know more about:

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My Comment: Byron York raises the same questions that this blog and others have been asking for almost 8 months .... could the US military have done more. What's my take .... I do not have a cartoonist view of the US military being Superman and capable of doing anything and everything .... but I do expect them to be prepared for surprise attacks like what happened at Benghazi. But .... as we now know .... they were clearly not prepared .... and the public needs to know why.

U.S. Military Sources Are Disputing White House Claims That All Efforts Are Being Used To Bring The Benghazi Attackers To Justice

Sources Challenge White House Claim Of All-Hands-On-Deck Pursuit Of Benghazi Suspects -- FOX News

U.S. military sources serving in North Africa are challenging the latest White House claim that the administration is applying "all the resources" at its disposal to bring the Benghazi attackers to justice, charging instead that the Obama administration knows who is responsible but is not acting.

"They have let it slip by because of politics, and now we've taken all the correlation we had and dropped the ball because of risk (aversion) -- and now the security in Libya is more fragile than ever," one U.S. special operator told Fox News. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirms that U.S. forces have tracked the alleged attackers since October but have since lost the trail of some of them, as no one up the chain of command would authorize them to capture or kill the targeted militia members.

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Update: Benghazi suspects: US officials identify 5 men, but don’t have evidence to bring to trial -- Washington Post/AP

My Comment: The Washington Post article reveals the dilemma that the White House now finds itself in. It wants to capture these terror suspects, but it does not have enough legal proof to convict these men in a court of law .... and they certainly have no interest or desire to capture these suspects and then dump them in Guantanamo. Hence .... these men are walking free (for now). As for the U.S. military leaking this information to the press .... it is clear from where I am standing that there is no love lost between the military and the White House.

U.S. Has New Evidence That Iran And Hezbollah Are Now Involved In Syria's Civil War

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (L) chats with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) while on their way to an official dinner in Damascus on February 25, 2010. (Reuters)

New Evidence Of Iran Support To Assad, While Congress Moves To Arm Rebels -- ABC News

The United States has new evidence that Iran and Hezbollah have direct involvement with the Syrian regime, a senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State John Kerry in Oman.

The official said that, according to the Free Syrian Army, Hezbollah and Iranian fighters have been helping the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad in Qusayr, near the opposition stronghold city of Homs.

“It is the most visible effort we have seen of Hezbollah to engage directly in the fighting in Syria as a foreign force. We understand there are also Iranians up there,” the official said. “This is an important thing to note — the direct implication of foreigners fighting on Syrian soil now for the regime.”

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Previous Post: U.S. State Department Official: Iranian Soldiers Fighting In Syria

My Comment: Iran and Hezbollah cannot hide their involvement in Syria anymore. They had to intervene a few weeks ago when it became clear that the Syrian regime's momentum had shifted to the rebels, and that Shiite holy sites were being desecrated by Syria's rebels.

EU Preparing To List Hezbollah As A Terrorist Organization

Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters take part in a military parade. (File Photo: Reuters)

EU Poised To Put Hezbollah’s Military Wing ‘On Terror List’ -- Al Arabiya/AFP

The European Union stands poised to put the military wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations after a formal request to blacklist the group was filed by a member state Monday, diplomats said.

The request from Britain formally launches a process to blacklist the group, a move that has long been requested by Israel and which will be discussed in early June, several EU diplomats told AFP news agency.

"We hope to have an agreement by the end of June," one of the diplomats said, adding that EU experts would meet in a special committee to discuss the request early June.

Both Israel and the United States have pressured the 27-member bloc to follow their example and designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group but the issue remained sensitive and divisive, with Britain openly in favor while France and Italy were believed reluctant.

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More News On The EU Preparing To Label Hezbollah's Military Wing As A Terrorist Organization

EU set to brand Lebanon's Hezbollah as 'terrorists' -- The Australian/AFP
European Union poised to add Hezbollah to terror list -- Washington Times
EU set to blacklist military wing of Hezbollah -- Jerusalem Post
Sources: EU putting Hezbollah on terror list -- YNet News
UK asks EU to put Hezbollah military wing on terror list: diplomat -- Reuters
France confirms EU procedure underway to list Hezbollah as "terrorist" body -- KUNA
Germany Moves Closer to Listing Hezbollah a Terrorist Organization -- Heritage Foundation
Hezbollah has already been blacklisted in several countries -- The Daily Star
EU set to add Hezbollah "military wing" to terror list -- The Commentator

My Comment: Hezbollah has little if any support in Europe. Now that they are using their military wing to prop up the Assad regime in Syria .... the EU is going to act.