OPERATION ZERO FOOTPRINT

Qatar, Benghazi and The Real Motive For The Recent Arrest of Ahmed Abu Khattala . . .

This past week the Obama administration announced the arrest of Benghazi al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Abu Khattala. Many in the media, including Fox’s James Rosen asked the question: “Why now?" The terrorist leader had been living openly in Benghazi and had actually conducted press interviews.

As unbelievable as this might sound, the most likely answer is within the Bergdahl deal, the release of the GITMO-5 to Qatar.

Ahmed Abu Khattala is directly connected to the covert transfer of US arms from Qatar to Libya in the initial 2011 decision to arm the Libyan rebels.

It was recently discovered that Qatar gave some of the aforementioned arms, specifically Stinger missiles, to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Khattala suddenly became a risk of exposure to the Whitehouse. The man needed to be rolled up and shut up.

This is complex so bear with me.

Reuters News Agency reported on 30 March 2011 that President Obama had already signed a secret order authorizing the CIA to provide covert support to the Libyan opposition, an operation that would become known as “Zero Footprint”:

U.S. officials also have said that Saudi Arabia and Qatar, whose leaders despise Gaddafi, have indicated a willingness to supply Libyan rebels with weapons.

Ultimately a joint decision between the State Department (Hillary Clinton) and CIA (General David Petraeus) was reached to use friendly nations as cover for direct shipment of U.S. arms into Libya as part of Operation Zero Footprint.

In the event a covert operation is deemed necessary, the President is required by Federal law to advise the leadership in the House and Senate, as well as the chairman and ranking members of the Intelligence Committees in both chambers.

In the intelligence community, this group is referred to as “the Gang of 8″ - John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Mike Rogers, Ruppersberger, Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, Diane Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss. This group includes leaders from both parties.

The Gang of 8 should have known about Operation Zero Footprint. Consider for a moment all the political people who have stalled any investigation into the Benghazi attack, over the past two years.

John McCain is seen here in Benghazi with Ambassador Chris Stevens around the time Operation Zero Footprint was being executed.


It is significant to point out that our involvement in the Libyan conflict excluded AFRICOM, under General Carter Ham. The mission was handed over to NATO. Nothing moved in and out of Libya without the approval of NATO. Admiral Stavridis, NATO commander, had to authorize any of the armed shipments that came in there.

Chris Stevens was embedded in Benghazi to help coordinate those arms shipments. At the instructions of State and the CIA, Stavridis (via NATO) used the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the financier of the weapons.

Qatar was the go-between for all the logistics and shipping of the weapons in and out of Libya.

Ahmed Abu Khattala in his position as the insurgent commander within the Libyan Islamic Fighting group, and as leader of Ansar al-Sharia (which is the Muslim Brotherhood link in Libya), was the recipient of all those arms flowing into Libya.

Khattala was the commander within the actual fighting force on the ground. Khattala was the leader of what Hillary called “the rebels”. A year after the attacks on the US COnsulate and the CIA compound in Benghazi – on December 31, 2013 - the State Department designated Ahmed Abu Khattalah a terrorist.

Khattalah was the senior leader of the group Ansar al-Sharia, known for its extreme hostility toward the West. Khattalah had spent most of his adult life imprisoned by the Qaddafi regime for his Islamist views, fueling his hatred for the dictator.

Because of the unique construction of the entire Libyan operation, the Department of Defense and the FBI had no knowledge of Operation Zero Footprint, which is completely consistent with the US Senate Select Committee’s finding after the Benghazi attack.

In addition - as has previously been reported - AFRICOM Commander General Carter Ham was not aware a CIA Annex even existed in Benghazi at the time of the attacks.

As the Senate Select Committee pointed out:

We are puzzled as to how the military leadership (General Ham) expected to effectively respond and rescue Americans in the event of an emergency when it did not even know of the existence of one of the US facilities.

Details of the covert weapons operation Zero Footprint were tightly guarded among select members of Congress (the Gang of Eight), the CIA (Petraeus), the State Department (Clinton) and the White House (Donilon), who were all trying to manage a covert operation that would expose a US policy decision to arm al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist militias. A decision that would ultimately lead to the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

When the Whitehouse made the political decision to use Bowe Bergdahl as a head feint to draw attention away from the growing VA scandal, the backlash against the release of the terrorists for a deserter (and possible traitor) caught the Obama Administration totally unawares. The entire decision became a political hot-potato, and the release of the GITMO-5 brought Qatar back into the picture.

The White House did not anticipate Qatar re-emerging into focus, and Qatar’s previous less-than-honorable follow-through with the Libyan missiles; some of which ended up in the hands of the Taliban and were used against US forces in Afghanistan.

Suddenly Ahmed Khattala was a risk that needed to be under control. At the same time ISIS, the Syrian al-Qaeda insurgency, was in the news all over Northern Iraq holding the same - albeit a different batch - Stinger missiles previously ID’d to the Taliban.

So last Sunday they threw a bag over him.

Now take some time to watch this video you’ll see how it all comes together:



Pay close attention at the 23:00 minute mark.

STORMBRINGER SENDS