Free Republic

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has released a video coinciding with the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, confirming for the first time the death of his deputy, US monitors said. The 42-minute video is Zawahiri's first release in three months, and confirms that Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan's Waziristan tribal area on June 4, according to SITE and IntelCenter. **SNIP** Zawahiri does single out US President Barack Obama for being a "liar" who was elected to "trick" Muslims around the world, but who nevertheless is "being defeated in Afghanistan". He also mentions Warren Weinstein,...

Senior State Department, defense and intelligence officials were well aware that Benghazi and its surrounding area harbored al Qaeda-linked extremists long before the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in the eastern Libyan city. Benghazi became famous last year as the birthplace of the revolution that swept Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi from power. But in recent interviews with The Washington Times, several former high-level officials explained that eastern Libya was notorious in Washington’s counterterrorism community for more than a decade as a hub for jihadists leaving for or returning from insurgencies abroad. The agencies’ long-standing knowledge about Islamic...