Findings & Forecasts 11/01/2012
The Benghazi Affair: Trilateral Policy Failure Or Success?
Many people, including this writer, have been following the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The White House is tight-lipped and the major media refuses to investigate or report new findings. Congress is demanding emails, documents and videos.
There is little doubt that the 7-hour attack was carefully monitored by State Department personnel, the President and his National Security Advisers in the Situation Room, and that someone issued an order to nearby military commands to “stand down” during the heat of the attack. The rest of the story is a miss-mash of conflicting accounts.
One prominent question in my mind is whether or not Benghazi was an orchestrated effort to throw Obama under the bus and thereby kill his chances at reelection. A second possibility is that the Benghazi operation could not come to the light of day because it was a black-ops arms-running center between Libyan and Syrian rebels. A third possibility is that National Security personnel were so incredibly inept that they froze under crisis circumstances and were somehow unable to act. And of course, there could be a mixture of motives and means.
According to ABC News,
“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.”
My particular interest here is Tom Donilon, member of the Trilateral Commission and Obama’s point man for all national security issues.
Option 1: Trilateral Commission Influence
When Obama first took office, the three people who conducted daily intelligence and security briefings with the President were all members of the Trilateral Commission. In particular, the National Security Adviser (NSA) was Gen. James L. Jones, who later resigned in 2010. The original Deputy National Security Adviser was Trilateral member Thomas Donilon, who Obama subsequently appointed to replace Jones.
One of Donilon’s key staff is Michael Froman, Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economic Affairs. Froman is also a member of the Trilateral Commission. Essentially, nothing gets to the President’s ears or eyes except through the fingers of the NSA or his immediate Deputies.
Thus, it was Donilon who was sitting at Obama’s side, offering his real-time assessment and advice, during the Benghazi attack. In fact, it was Donilon who first informed the President of the attack.
Donilon’s roots into Obama’s political career can be traced back to Harvard, where the two were classmates in law school. They also worked on the Harvard Law Review and had what others have called a “strong friendship.”
During Obama’s senatorial campaign, it was Donilon who originally introduced him to Trilateral Robert Rubin, who soon became a central adviser to Obama during all of his subsequent campaigns. Donilon’s relationship with Rubin date back to when Rubin was Secretary of the Treasury – Donilon was his Chief of Staff!
When Obama was elected in 2008, Donilon served on his transition advisory board, and was first in position to suggest other members of the Trilateral Commission for prominent positions. Other Trilaterals who were brought on board in 2009 included,
- Secretary of Treasury, Tim Geithner
- Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice
- National Security Adviser, Gen. James L. Jones
- Chairman, Economic Recovery Committee, Paul Volker
- Director of National Intelligence, Admiral Dennis C. Blair
- Assistant Secretary of State, Asia & Pacific, Kurt M. Campbell
- Deputy Secretary of State, James Steinberg
- State Department, Special Envoy, Richard Haass
- State Department, Special Envoy, Dennis Ross
- State Department, Special Envoy, Richard Holbrooke
However, Donilon’s cozy relationship with Obama goes even deeper… his brother, Mike Donilon, is Joe Biden’s lawyer! According to the Providence Journal’s 11/26/2008 story, Obama, Biden relying on the Donilons of Providence,
The Donilons of Providence are shaping up as a well-placed brotherhood in the Obama-Biden White House.
Providence native Mike Donilon — a lawyer and political consultant whose clients have included Jack Reed and Sen. John F. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee — has been named counselor to President-elect Joe Biden.
“Mike Donilon has been one of my closest advisers for more than 25 years, and is one of the most astute counselors in national affairs I have ever met,” Biden, the former senator from Delaware, said in a press release. Donilon was a key member of the team that prepared Biden for his debate with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice-presidential nominee.
Another longtime Biden associate, Donilon’s older brother Tom, is leading Obama’s State Department transition team and may be headed for the National Security Council. The Washington Post has reported that Donilon, once chief of staff to Secretary of State Warren Christopher [also a Trilateral Commission member],is a top candidate to be deputy national security adviser.
That’s not the end of the Biden-Donilon family network. The newly named chief of staff to Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, is Cathy Russell, who is married to Tom Donilon.
So, let’s unravel this web of relationships: Tom is married to Cathy who is chief of staff to Biden’s wife Jill. Cathy’s brother-in-law Mike is Jill’s husband’s lawyer and a close adviser for over 25 years. Meanwhile, Tom is principal adviser to the President on everything related to national security. Got that?
Back to Benghazi. There have been signs over the past few months that the global elite were done with Obama and were pulling their support in favor of Romney.
A similar scenario was seen with one-term President Jimmy Carter. Carter executed many “shock-and-awe” policies that accomplished certain Trilateral goals, but the right was too fired up against Carter to permit a second term like the first. Thus, after dumping Trilateral Carter for Reagan and Trilateral George H.W. Bush, they continued on with their globalist plans with little scrutiny or resistance.
Is Obama being expelled like Jimmy Carter? If so, could Donilon be playing the part of Shakespeare’s Brutus in the assassination of Julius Caesar? Well, Donilon was largely responsible for promoting Obama to the Trilaterals in the first place, so who better to remove him when he has outlived his usefulness?
The Senate committee that will ultimately investigate the Administration’s role in the Benghazi attacks would be well advised to carefully scrutinize Donilon and his incestuous relationship with his Trilateral cronies.
Option 2: Covering up a potentially scandalous gun-running operation
The following news interview is plausible enough that nothing more needs to be said.
Option 3: Gross incompetence
When Gen. Jones stepped down as National Security Adviser in 2010, articles appeared that panned Tom Donilon as his replacement. The Huffington Post wrote,
Outgoing National Security Adviser Jim Jones once disparaged his replacement and current deputy, Thomas Donilon, for his lack of overseas experience, telling him that as a result: “You have no credibility with the military,” according to Bob Woodward’s “Obama’s Wars.”
In addition, Donilon, who previously worked as a vice president for floundering mortgage giant Fannie Mae and was known for his strong views and opinions, once offending Defense Secretary Robert Gates so much during a meeting that the Pentagon chief almost walked out, according to Woodward.
Gates asserted that Donilon would be a “disaster” as National Security Adviser, the book alleges.
Jones called Donilon into his office late last year to discuss Jones’s plans to step down from the post, writes Woodward. After praising his deputy for his “substantive and organizational skills” which made him indispensable to the president, he also reprimanded Donilon for three major mistakes:
- First, he had never gone to Afghanistan or Iraq, or really left the office for a serious field trip. As a result, he said, you have no direct understanding of these places. “You have no credibility with the military.” You should go overseas. The White House, Situation Room, interagency byplay, as important as they are, are not everything.
- Second, Jones continued, you frequently pop off with absolute declarations about places you’ve never been, leaders you’ve never met, or colleagues you work with. Gates had mentioned this to Jones, saying that Donilon’s sound-offs and strong spur-of-the-moment opinions, especially about one general, had offended him so much at an Oval Office meeting that he nearly walked out.
- Third, Jones said that Donilon was not good in his dealings with his staff at the National Security Council, displaying “too little feel for the people who work day and night….”
Thus, one could easily argue that gross incompetence spoiled the party, and that fact in itself is worth covering up.
One factor remaining in Obama’s favor for reelection is that the Consumer Confidence Index has just hit a five-year high rising to 72.2 in October from 68.4 in September. By contrast, Business Sentiment has been falling. It is people who cast votes however, not businesses. There are no fundamental reasons why consumer sentiment should be rising at this point, but people vote (and spend) on feelings, not facts.
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August Forecast and Review, Wood is an expert on international economics, globalization and finance. He is co-author of Trilaterals Over Washington with the late Antony C. Sutton.
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