PRESS RELEASE
A Question for John Brennan
Feb. 7, 2013 (EIRNS)—Lyndon LaRouche PAC circulated this question, proposing that it be asked at the Hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier today.
After you and President Obama decided to kill core al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi, a native of Libya, in a drone attack in Pakistan in June 2012, what measures did you and the President take to prevent retaliation in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012?
After You and Obama Killed Abu al-Libi,
How Did You Protect U.S. Representatives?
Feb. 6, 2013 (EIRNS)—This release was issued today by the Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee (LPAC).
In June 2012, President Obama, with your assistance in selecting the target, ordered the killing of Abu Yahya al-Libi in a drone attack in Pakistan. Abu Yahya al-Libi, a.k.a. Hassan Qayid, is a Libyan member of al-Qaeda who is a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). Abu Yahya al-Libi was captured in Pakistan in 2002 after having fled Tora Bora. He later escaped from prison on July 10, 2005. He subsequently ascended to a senior position within core al-Qaeda, becoming a member of its Sharia committee.
Senior members of the LIFG who were imprisoned in Tripoli's Abu Salem prison after having plotted to kill Qaddafi from 1995-1998, entered into a dialogue with the Qaddafi regime. In order to be released from prison, they apologized to Qaddafi for trying to kill him. In August 2007, Abu Yahya al-Libi said that the apology issued by the senior members of the LIFG was authored under coercive measures and should not be taken seriously. Senior members of the LIFG were released in March 2010, only to then participate in the overthrow and killing of Qaddafi.
Abu Yahya al-Libi's elder brother is Abd al-Wahab al Qayid, a founding member of the LIFG. Abd al-Wahab al Qayid is one of the co-authors of the "apology" issued during negotiations with Saif Qaddafi in order to be released from prison in March 2010. Today Abd al-Wahab al Qayid is an official in the Libyan Interior Ministry in charge of border control. Prior to Sept. 11, 2012, the head of core al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called for retaliation for the death of his younger brother, Abu Yahya al-Libi.
In this light, as Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and as directly involved in the killing of Abu Yahya al-Libi, what measures did you advise the President to take, and what measures, if any, were taken to protect Ambassador Chris Stevens during his trip to Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, the anniversary of the original Sept. 11, 2001?
Given that the LIFG was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department, the UN Security Council, and the U.K. Home Office, and that the LIFG formally merged with al-Qaeda in 2007, did you advise the President against allying with leaders of the LIFG to overthrow Qaddafi? Did you warn the President against supplying weapons through Qatar to the forces of Abdel Hakim Belhajd, the emir of the LIFG, who became the commander of the Tripoli Military Council? Did you warn NATO officials against meeting with Belhadj and Ismael al-Sallabi in Qatar in August of 2011?
Did you advise the President that the security provided to the U.S. mission in Benghazi was controlled by the same LIFG? Did you tell him that the February 17 Brigade, which provided security for the mission, was formed by Belhadj and led by Ismael al-Sallabi, leading members of the LIFG? Did you inform him that the deputy minister of interior for eastern Libya, Wanis al-Sharif, was a senior member of the LIFG and controlled the Supreme Security Committee in Benghazi? Did you advise him that Wisam bin Hamid, the head of Libya Shield, was identified by the Library of Congress as the possible head of al-Qaeda in Libya, and hosted a demonstration in Sirte in March 2012 attended by the leader of AQIM, Mokhtar bel Mokhtar, the leader of the recent Algerian hostage-taking, who was his honored guest? Did you advise him that the head of Ansar al-Sharia, Bin Qumu, was also a member of the LIFG and al-Qaeda?
Don't you think that as the chief of counterterrorism, you had a responsibility to inform the President that the killing of Abu Yahya al-Libi could result in retaliation from the LIFG leadership which the President allied with to overthrow Qaddafi? Were you aware that Ayman al-Zawahiri called for revenge?
Since you clearly failed to advise the President against allying with the al-Qaeda-allied LIFG in the overthrow of Qaddafi, and failed to take adequate preemptive measures to protect the Ambassador, don't you think that you and the President share responsibility for the consequences?
