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  • State Department

    Scandal Du Jour at the State Department

    Another day, another State Department scandal. This time, allegations of sexual misconduct have surfaced against U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman. On top of that, high-level officials in the State Department, which at the time was headed by Hillary Clinton, are accused of shutting down a probe by State’s inspector … More

    U.S. Embassy in Beirut Still a Security Risk

    A new report by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) on the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, indicates that security at even the most exposed embassies of the United States is still inadequate. The OIG report states that 32 of 34 recommendations from a security review of the … More

    Secretary Kerry Fumbles at the African Union

    Boko Haram, the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria, was called a terrorist organization by Secretary of State John Kerry last week. At the 50th anniversary Summit for the African Union celebrations, Secretary Kerry referred to Boko Haram not as a “terrorist group” in typical State Department–approved terms but as an outright … More

    Benghazi Investigation Still Very Much Ongoing

    Benghazi is back in the headlines with a vengeance as investigations continue on several congressional fronts: Representative Darrell Issa (R–CA) subpoenaed the State Department to deliver more email threads on the Benghazi talking points; The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee threatened to subpoena Ambassador Thomas Pickering regarding the Accountability … More

    Obama Administration Refuses to Label London Attack as Terrorism

    Yesterday’s appalling attack on a London street in the middle of the day, which left a British solider dead, was a barbaric act of terrorism perpetrated by Islamist fundamentalists. British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged the motivations behind yesterday’s cowardly act by saying: This country will be absolutely resolute in … More

    Honey, I Shrunk the Benghazi Talking Points

    The White House release of the e-mail chain regarding the Benghazi talking points on Wednesday has opened up a slew of new questions. Covering only two days—Friday, September 14 and Saturday, September 15—and focused only on the production of the hapless talking points, they raise the question: What communication took … More

    Obama Dismisses Benghazi Investigations as “Side Show”

    President Obama yesterday dismissed the House investigations into the Benghazi debacle as a political “side show.” In a news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, the President complained testily that nothing new had been uncovered in last week’s hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “The whole … More

    Who is Saeed Abedini?

    Pastor Saeed Abedini is a United States citizen from Boise, Idaho, who has been imprisoned for 223 days in Iran for “crimes against the Islamic Republic,” meaning sharing his Christian faith. Despite internal bleeding and other untreated injuries caused by months of beatings and torture, he is refused medical care … More

    The State Department’s Revolving Door of Public Diplomacy

    The State Department is about to lose yet another Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. As reported last week, Tara Sonenshine, who has been in the post for 14 months, is planning to leave the job on July 1. Sonenshine came to the job with an impressive media, … More

    Morning Bell: Ghosts of Benghazi

    The White House might have wanted to mute its response to the terrorist attack in Benghazi for fear of inflaming Anti-American sentiment. Perhaps the President did not want to acknowledge a successful attack by an al-Qaeda affiliate on the anniversary of 9/11—right before a national election. Maybe it was just … More