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Our coverage of Libya

Qaddafi and Hillary: the Five-Year Anniversary of Her Proud Moment, His Death

Five years ago today, Muammar Qaddafi was killed. At the time, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her delight. On television, she told an interviewer, “We came, we saw, he died.” She literally laughed as she said this. Her smile was enormous.

 

Yet today, that delight has surely been replaced by consternation, as Libya has descended into seemingly permanent chaos and violence, a home to extreme elements of all kinds and, in most respects, a disaster for the region, America, and the world.

 

Why in the world was it so important to unseat Qaddafi?

 

We were told it was for “humanitarian” View article …

AFRICOM’s War on Libya

WhoWhatWhy is pleased to welcome yet two more stars to our orbit. Eric Nadler and Bob Coen are longtime journalists and documentarians who will be producing mini-docs for us on topics of interest to our readers. Let the reel deal roll!

 

For more information about Eric Nadler and Bob Coen, please check View article …

Oliver North, Eugene Hasenfus, Ronald Reagan, Adolfo Calero

Dark Shadows: Iran-Contra, Secret Wars & Covert Operations, Part 1

INTRODUCTION:

 

Dear Reader: As journalism chases the perceived diminishing attention span by making everything shorter and shorter, we’re going to head in the opposite direction on occasion – go really deep and thorough on something historical and still of interest. Here’s one such case: a remarkable look at Iran-Contra, a still somewhat-mysterious big scandal of 30 years ago that tells us much about the Deep State, the Military-Industrial complex and America’s will to empire that provides context to so much happening today.

 

This is the first of a five-part series exploring the Iran-Contra Affair and its consequences. Part 1 describes the View article …

Demonstrators, Munich, sexual violence

When an Accusation of Disinformation Is Disinformation: Russia’s Tangled Web

Hello, friends. Here’s the latest installment of my new Substack newsletter. I hope you like it. You can subscribe here.

 

As a subscriber, you’ll enjoy early access to my work before it’s posted at WhoWhatWhy.

 

Want to see a trick? Watch carefully. But be patient. This is actually a trick within a trick. And it’s all part of the world of espionage and disinformation with its layers and layers of reports, true and false. And some ventriloquism.

Part I

October 14, 2022. View article …

The Saudi Arab Spring Nobody Noticed

Hear the one about the Arab Spring in Saudi Arabia that nobody noticed?

No, this is not a joke. It is a real situation—and a cautionary example of what happens when Western governments and their media are more favorable to some “revolutions” than others.

With the Syrian regime, long out of favor with the West, we heard about the uprising from the beginning. The drumbeat has grown dramatically, along with Western condemnations and moves to isolate the regime for its crackdown on dissent.

In the case of Libya, run by the fiercely View article …

The Post-Election Project: The Establishment Pillories Susan Rice

NEWS FLASH, December 13: Susan Rice withdraws name from consideration—this article provides relevant background.

 

As Barack Obama prepares to reshuffle his cabinet deck, a lot of attention has been focused on a person reportedly under consideration to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State: Susan Rice. Currently ambassador to the United Nations, Rice is a brilliant, blunt career diplomat.

Obama likes Rice, but she is very unpopular with the establishment. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, seemingly tasked with taking the lead on deflating Rice’s chances, quickly attacked View article …

War, Syrian Style? Has Assad Ordered Mass Rapes?

A growing refrain out of Syria is that widespread rape is taking place—and sanctioned by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

But when WhoWhatWhy examined the allegations, it found that well-intentioned women’s groups trying to document and prevent such abuses may be falling victim to a deliberate disinformation campaign intent on rallying public support for toppling Assad.

If so, this would not be the first time false or exaggerated allegations involving women or children were used to generate public anger and build support for military action. This is a particularly View article …

Domenico Lucano, Mayor, Riace

Why Italy Arrested and Banished a Famous ‘Pro-Refugee’ Mayor

Italy’s most famous small-town mayor, Domenico Lucano, has been forced out of Riace — the town where he has welcomed migrants and refugees for 20 years — over charges he arranged a sham marriage.

 

His supporters say the mayor’s real “crime” is being Italy’s most celebrated “do-gooder” for refugees in a time of anti-immigrant hysteria. Both the Pope and Fortune magazine have praised his town as a model for integrating displaced people from the Mideast and Africa.

 

There was no obvious reason for Italy’s judiciary to launch an intensive sting View article …

Barack Obama, Full cabinet

Benghazi: Cover-up By Both Parties?

The continued finger-pointing between the GOP and the Obama Administration over “what really happened in Benghazi” may be obscuring a much more disturbing narrative — a story in neither party’s interest.

WhoWhatWhy’s discussion of that new possibility comes below, but first, here’s the background:

On September 11, 2012, a heavily armed group of more than 100 gunmen destroyed the US consulate compound and a nearby CIA facility in the Eastern Libyan city; ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died. The attack has been characterized as “the most significant attack on United States property … since Sept. 11, 2001.”

Shortly after the View article …

Connecting the dots on Syria: Fooling Enough of the People Enough of the Time…

There once was a country where the leaders enjoyed playing tricks on the public, and could always count on its friends in the “media” to play along. The joke was to tell the public the same old lie again and again, and see if anyone ever stood up to protest. The government knew that the public would put up with almost anything unless it involved pulling away the plate in front of them or shutting off their television.

Short of that, they would tolerate anything—while ignoring warnings that they were View article …

Take the Quiz: Qaddafi & Immelt–Good or Bad?

Here’s a quiz:

Embattled Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi: Good or bad? How about GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt?

Here are your answers, straight from the top: Qaddafi, way bad. And Immelt? Good guy, business and civic leader. Should be a key adviser to the president.

On Qaddafi, we already knew he was a bad guy. But now we find out what he’s been up to that really distresses business leaders. The very same business leaders who profoundly influence the American political View article …