Officers of Gabon’s elite Republican Guard announced they had ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba Wednesday morning, only hours after he won a highly disputed third term as president. The coup leaders annulled the result of Gabon’s recent election, suspended government operations, and closed the borders. Former President Bongo and his family are now in custody, and the de facto ruler is General Brice Oligui Nguema, commander of the Republican Guard, the elite unit charged with protecting President Bongo.
Gabon is an oil-exporting country and the world’s fourth-largest producer of manganese. It was a French colony until 1960. It has been ruled by the Bongo family (I swear, I’m not making that up) since 1967 and is officially a one-party state, just like California.
A group of military officers said they had seized power in the oil-rich Central African nation of Gabon early on Wednesday, overturning the results of a disputed election that returned the incumbent, President Ali Bongo Ondimba, for a third term in office.
Even though Gabon achieved independence in 1960, it is effectively a French colony. French companies dominate oil and mineral extraction, and a French battalion is stationed in the capital of Libreville. The French-owned mining company Eramet has suspended operations.
France condemned the ongoing coup, Olivier Véran, the French government spokesman, told reporters on Wednesday morning. The French government “reaffirms its wish that the outcome of the election, once known, be respected,” he said.
Part of this may be a concern about legalisms and good government, but some seems to be raw politics.
Mr. Bongo’s relationship with France has wavered in recent years. He banned exports of raw wood, a move that eliminated jobs in France, and last year brought Gabon into the British Commonwealth, a pivot that Mr. Bongo heralded as “a new chapter” for his country.
I think the message we’re seeing is that there are limits on the ability of liberal (small “l”) democratic governments to survive in the poor soil of Africa, and the natural form of government there is some sort of despotism. That’s something we should keep in mind before our next bacchanalia of nation-building.
We are beginning to wake up from a nightmare to a country we no longer recognize, and from a coup we never knew.
Did someone or something seize control of the United States?
What happened to the U.S. border? Where did it go? Who erased it? Why and how did 5 million people enter our country illegally? Did Congress secretly repeal our immigration laws? Did Joe Biden issue an executive order allowing foreign nationals to walk across the border and reside in the United States as they pleased?
Since when did money not have to be paid back? Who insisted that the more dollars the federal government printed, the more prosperity would follow? When did America embrace zero interest? Why do we believe $30 trillion in debt is no big deal?
When did clean-burning, cheap, and abundant natural gas become the equivalent to dirty coal? How did prized natural gas that had granted America’s wishes of energy self-sufficiency, reduced pollution, and inexpensive electricity become almost overnight a pariah fuel whose extraction was a war against nature? Which lawmakers, which laws, which votes of the people declared natural gas development and pipelines near criminal?
Was it not against federal law to swarm the homes of Supreme Court justices, to picket and to intimidate their households in efforts to affect their rulings? How then with impunity did bullies surround the homes of Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas—furious over a court decision on abortion? How could these mobs so easily throng our justices’ homes, with placards declaring “Off with their d—s”?
Since when did Americans create a government Ministry of Truth? And on whose orders did the FBI contract private news organizations to censor stories it did not like and writers whom it feared?
How did we wake up one morning to new customs of impeaching a president over a phone call? Of the speaker of the House tearing up the State of the Union address on national television? Of barring congressional members from serving on their assigned congressional committees?
When did we assume the FBI had the right to subvert the campaign of a candidate it disliked? Was it legal suddenly for one presidential candidate to hire a foreign ex-spy to subvert the campaign of her rival?
Was some state or federal law passed that allowed biological males to compete in female sports? Did Congress enact such a law? Did the Supreme Court guarantee that biological male students could shower in gym locker rooms with biological women? Were women ever asked to redefine the very sports they had championed?
When did the government pass a law depriving Americans of their freedom during a pandemic? In America can health officials simply cancel rental contracts or declare loan payments in suspension? How could it become illegal for mom-and-pop stores to sell flowers or shoes during a quarantine but not so for Walmart or Target?
Since when did the people decide that 70 percent of voters would not cast their ballots on Election Day? Was this revolutionary change the subject of a national debate, a heated congressional session, or the votes of dozens of state legislatures?
What happened to Election Night returns? Did the fact that Americans created more electronic ballots and computerized tallies make it take so much longer to tabulate the votes?
When did the nation abruptly decide that theft is not a crime, assault not a felony? How can thieves walk out with bags of stolen goods, without the wrath of angry shoppers, much less fear of the law?
Was there ever a national debate about the terrified flight from Afghanistan? Who planned it and why?
What happened to the once trusted FBI? Why almost overnight did its directors decide to mislead Congress, to deceive judges with concocted tales from fake dossiers and with doctored writs? Did Congress pass a law that our federal leaders in the FBI or CIA could lie with impunity under oath?
Who redefined our military and with whose consent? Who proclaimed that our chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff could call his Chinese Communist counterpart to warn him that America’s president was supposedly unstable? Was it always true that retired generals routinely libeled their commander-in-chief as a near Nazi, a Mussolini, an adherent of the tools of Auschwitz?
Were Americans ever asked whether their universities could discriminate against their sons and daughters based on their race? How did it become physically dangerous to speak the truth on a campus? Whose idea was it to reboot racial segregation and bias as “theme houses,” “safe spaces,” and “diversity”? How did that happen in America?
How did a virus cancel the Constitution? Did the lockdowns rob of us of our sanity? Or was it the woke hysteria that ignited our collective madness?
We are beginning to wake up from a nightmare to a country we no longer recognize, and from a coup we never knew.
Spies who lie: 51 ‘intelligence’ experts refuse to apologize for discrediting true Hunter Biden story From the New York Post Editorial Board
They are the supposed nonpartisan group of top spies looking out for the best interest of the nation.
But the 51 former “intelligence” officials who cast doubt on The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop stories in a public letter really were just desperate to get Joe Biden elected president. And more than a year later, even after their Deep State sabotage has been shown again and again to be a lie, they refuse to own up to how they undermined an election.
The officials, including CNN pundit and professional fabricator James Clapper — a man who was nearly charged for perjury for lying to Congress — signed a letter saying that the laptop “has the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
Former National Intelligence Director James Clapper claimed The Post’s Hunter Biden exposé was a “a Russian information operation.”
What proof did they have? By their own admission, none. “We do not know if the emails . . . are genuine or not,” the letter said. They’re just “suspicious.” Why? Because they hurt Biden’s campaign, that’s evidence enough.
Keep in mind this was written Oct. 19, 2020, five days after The Post published its first story. Neither Joe Biden nor Hunter Biden had denied the story, they simply deflected questions. Didn’t these security experts think that if this was disinformation, the Biden campaign would have yelled to the heavens that the story was false?
51 former “intelligence” officials attempted to cover up The Post’s Hunter Biden exposé along with Big Tech.
Meanwhile, though the letter was advertised as being signed by people who worked “for presidents of both political parties,” a majority of the officials were Democrats.
Politico picked up the letter and ran the false headline “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.” That headline is still online today, even though the letter clearly says they don’t know if it’s Russian disinformation.
That headline was tweeted out by legions of Democrats, including current White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, as proof that it was all a con. That tweet also is still up despite being proven false.
Thus pure speculation by a group of biased officials became gospel among the media. This was “fake news,” and could be safely ignored.
Keep in mind that Twitter already had banned The New York Post a few days before. The rationale was that this was “hacked materials,” even though it wasn’t — and Twitter had no evidence to think it was. A Facebook official, meanwhile, said it wasn’t going to allow the sharing of The Post’s story until it was “fact checked” by a third party — a check that never happened.
Thus, Big Tech, former government officials, and the media conspiredtogether to bury a story.
No, not just bury — create a false narrative that flipped the script to make Joe Biden the victim of a conspiracy.
51 former “intelligence” officials, Big Tech and the liberal media are all guilty of attempting to silence The Post’s Hunter Biden story.
In short, they peddled online disinformation to sway an election.
No one actually proved The Post’s reporting was wrong. Media outlets showed up at the doorstep of the computer repairman who had gotten the laptop, and he confirmed it. People who exchanged e-mails with Hunter Biden attested to their accuracy in the days and weeks that followed.
Only after the election was safely over did Hunter tacitly admit the laptop was his. Last year, a Politico reporter confirmed that the laptop’s materials were real. And now, the coup de grace: The Times said it’s “authenticated” material from the laptop.
There have been no consequences. Twitter and Facebook still censor information based on political bias, and Congress takes no action. Many of the letter signers continue to be used as “experts” by the media. Clapper, for instance, spent years on CNN calling Donald Trump a “Russian asset,” a lie invented and fed by political operatives of Hillary Clinton. He’s still there. Guess accuracy is not a condition of employment.
The Post’s Hunter Biden story was long verified before the New York Times “authenticated” the scoop.
Do the officials who tried to flip the 2020 election feel any regret for their actions? The Post reached out to those who signed the letter. Most would not answer the question. A few doubled-down, including Clapper. No remorse. No shame. And no apologies:
Mike Hayden, former CIA director, now analyst for CNN: Didn’t respond.
Jim Clapper, former director of national intelligence, now CNN pundit: “Yes, I stand by the statement made AT THE TIME, and would call attention to its 5th paragraph. I think sounding such a cautionary note AT THE TIME was appropriate.”
Leon Panetta, former CIA director and defense secretary, now runs a public policy institute at California State University: Declined comment.
John Brennan, former CIA director, now analyst for NBC and MSNBC: Didn’t respond.
Thomas Fingar, former National Intelligence Council chair, now teaches at Stanford University: Didn’t respond.
Rick Ledgett, former National Security Agency deputy director, now a director at M&T Bank: Didn’t respond.
John McLaughlin, former CIA acting director, now teaches at Johns Hopkins University: Didn’t respond.
Former CIA director John Brennan has not commented on The Post’s Hunter Biden story.
Michael Morell, former CIA acting director, now at George Mason University: Didn’t respond.
Mike Vickers, former defense undersecretary for intelligence, now on board of BAE Systems: Didn’t respond.
Doug Wise, former Defense Intelligence Agency deputy director, teaches at University of New Mexico: Didn’t respond.
Nick Rasmussen, former National Counterterrorism Center director, now executive director, Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism:Didn’t respond.
Hunter Biden has reaped millions from Russian and Chinese business, all while Joe Biden was Vice President.
Russ Travers, former National Counterterrorism Center acting director: “The letter explicitly stated that we didn’t know if the emails were genuine, but that we were concerned about Russian disinformation efforts. I spent 25 years as a Soviet/Russian analyst. Given the context of what the Russians were doing at the time (and continue to do — Ukraine being just the latest example), I considered the cautionary warning to be prudent.”
Andy Liepman, former National Counterterrorism Center deputy director: “As far as I know I do [stand by the statement] but I’m kind of busy right now.”
John Moseman, former CIA chief of staff: Didn’t respond.
Larry Pfeiffer, former CIA chief of staff, now senior advisor to The Chertoff Group: Didn’t respond.
Jeremy Bash, former CIA chief of staff, now analyst for NBC and MSNBC: Didn’t respond.
Rodney Snyder, former CIA chief of staff: Didn’t respond.
Glenn Gerstell, former National Security Agency general counsel: Didn’t respond.
David Priess, former CIA analyst and manager: “Thank you for reaching out. I have no further comment at this time.”
Pam Purcilly, former CIA deputy director of analysis: Didn’t respond.
Marc Polymeropoulos, former CIA senior operations officer: Didn’t respond.
Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta declined to discuss the revelations of The Post’s Hunter Biden story.
Chris Savos, former CIA senior operations officer: Didn’t respond.
John Tullius, former CIA senior intelligence officer: Didn’t respond.
David A. Vanell, former CIA senior operations officer: Didn’t respond.
Kristin Wood, former CIA senior intelligence officer, now non-resident fellow, Harvard: Didn’t respond.
David Buckley, former CIA inspector general: Didn’t respond.
Nada Bakos, former CIA analyst and targeting officer, now senior fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute: Didn’t respond.
Patty Brandmaier, former CIA senior intelligence officer: Didn’t respond.
James B. Bruce, former CIA senior intelligence office: Didn’t respond.
David Cariens, former CIA intelligence analyst: Didn’t respond.
Janice Cariens, former CIA operational support officer: Didn’t respond.
Paul Kolbe, former CIA senior operations officer: Didn’t respond.
Peter Corsell, former CIA analyst: Didn’t respond.
Brett Davis, former CIA senior intelligence officer: Didn’t respond.
Roger Zane George, former national intelligence officer: Didn’t respond.
Steven L. Hall, former CIA senior intelligence officer: Didn’t respond.
Kent Harrington, former national intelligence officer: Didn’t respond.
Don Hepburn, former national security executive, now president of Boanerges Solutions LLC: “My position has not changed any. I believe the Russians made a huge effort to alter the course of the election . . . The Russians are masters of blending truth and fiction and making something feel incredibly real when it’s not. Nothing I have seen really changes my opinion. I can’t tell you what part is real and what part is fake, but the thesis still stands for me, that it was a media influence hit job.”
Timothy D. Kilbourn, former dean of CIA’s Kent School of Intelligence Analysis: Didn’t respond.
Ron Marks, former CIA officer: Didn’t respond.
Jonna Hiestand Mendez, former CIA technical operations officer, now on board of the International Spy Museum: “I don’t have any comment. I would need a little more information.”
Emile Nakhleh, former director of CIA’s Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program, now at University of New Mexico: “I have not seen any information since then that would alter the decision behind signing the letter. That’s all I can go into. The whole issue was highly politicized and I don’t want to deal with that. I still stand by that letter.”
Gerald A. O’Shea, former CIA senior operations officer: Didn’t respond.
Nick Shapiro, former CIA deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to the director: Didn’t respond.
John Sipher, former CIA senior operations officer: Declined to comment.
Stephen Slick, former National Security Council senior director for intelligence programs: Didn’t respond.
Cynthia Strand, former CIA deputy assistant director for global issues: Didn’t respond.
Greg Tarbell, former CIA deputy executive director: Didn’t respond.
David Terry, former National Intelligence Collection Board chairman: Couldn’t be reached.
Greg Treverton, former National Intelligence Council chair, now senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies:“I’ll pass. I haven’t followed the case recently.”
Winston Wiley, former CIA director of analysis: Couldn’t be reached.
Since the election, there have been issues raised. One that received minimal coverage has now been revealed as a coup…by the press.
Coup By Censorship
Then Sohrab Ahmari (10/14/20): “This is a Big Tech information coup. This is digital civil war. I, an editor at The New York Post, one of the nation’s largest papers by circulation, can’t post one of our own stories that details corruption by a major-party presidential candidate, Biden.”
They Knew Kyle Becker: “So, the NY Slimes admit the ‘laptop from hell’ is real, even though the Democrat-owned media’s refusal to acknowledge the NY Post’s reporting as a legitimate news story led to Big Tech censorship of the story, swaying the results of the 2020 election. *THAT* is election rigging.”
Mollie Hemingway: “Everything Media Claimed About Biden Family Business Was A Lie”
NY Post: “Opinion: How Dem officials, the media and Big Tech worked in concert to bury the Hunter Biden story”
Batya Ungar-Sargon: “No admission that they got it wrong. No analysis of why. No discussion of how they demonized and silenced people who turned out to be right. Just gaslighting and distraction and a new topic for everyone to dance in lockstep to.”
Greenwald: “Not one media outlet that published and ratified the CIA lie that the Biden archive was ‘Russian disinformation’ has retracted it or even acknowledged the mountain of proof proving its authenticity. As much as they’re already distrusted, it’s not enough”
Stephen Miller: “Not a single journalist spoke up for the NY Post when the story was blocked. They were told to just delete the tweet and story. You all stood by and let it happen. You don’t get credit now.”
Whatever It Took Greenwald: “There was ample evidence the archive was real from the start. Many of us were screaming from the rooftops about it. The US corporate media lied on purpose because they were desperate to defeat Trump. Big Tech censored it using the CIA lie for the same reason. That’s the truth.”
Kyle Becker: “The Hunter Biden story proves the media doesn’t care about compromising American national security, so long as the Democrats’ preferred candidate gets into office and keeps the corrupt gravy train running on time.”
Robert George: “Never forget this. Never. Remember the names. All of them. Every single one. It’s a classic case of ‘the ends justify the means’ fallacious moral reasoning.”
Crying ‘Disinformation’ While Practicing It Oilfield Rando: “What this means is that the media, tech industry, and dozens of apparatchiks from the intel community used misinformation to sway an election. They’re everything they say they’re fighting.”
Miranda Devine: “Column’s up: Dems and the deep state have been crying wolf about ‘Russian disinformation’ for years while conducting their own successful disinformation campaign about Hunter Biden’s laptop”
Sen. Cotton: “The (repeated) validation of the Hunter Biden laptop story is a reminder that ‘disinformation’ usually means true facts that make Democrats look bad.”
Jon Levine: “The conspiracy to suppress this information by mainstream media, big tech companies and the Democratic Party is the single greatest act of disinformation ever perpetrated in the social media era”
Even More Concerning NY Post: “Spies who lie: 51 ‘intelligence’ experts refuse to apologize for discrediting true Hunter Biden story.”
Charles C.W. Cooke: “Sure Seems Joe Biden Knowingly Lied about the Hunter Biden Laptop Story”
Why Now? Post Millenial: “Glenn Greenwald tells Tucker Carlson why he thinks the New York Times has finally admitted that the Hunter Biden laptop story is real.”
NY Post: “Lawyer for mother of Hunter Biden’s child says he expects president’s son to be indicted”
Jordanian authorities raided the palace of the kingdom’s former crown prince on Saturday and arrested two senior aides after uncovering what intelligence officials believe was an attempted coup against the ruling monarch, King Abdullah. The former chief of the royal court Bassem Awadallah, Prince Hamza’s chief of staff Yasser Majali and former Jordanian envoy to Saudi Arabia Hassan Bin Zayed are among those in custody related to the coup attempt.
The army added that Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, and Bassem Awadallah, who was director of King Abdullah's office in 2006, have been arrested following "comprehensive investigations undertaken by security agencies" #Jordanhttps://t.co/vOg6LZtoug
— suddaf chaudry صدف شودري (@suddafchaudry) April 3, 2021
Former Jordanian Crown Prince Hamzah bin Hussein has reportedly been placed under house arrest, although Jordanian officials deny he’s under arrest.
Military chief Yusef Ahmed al-Hunait said in a statement that he had been “asked to stop movements and activities that were used to target the security and stability of Jordan”.
Abdullah, who has ruled the kingdom since the death of his father, King Hussein, in 1999, had not been thought to have faced serious organised opposition throughout his two-decade reign. The kingdom had widely been viewed as a bastion of stability in an otherwise turbulent region.
Jordan has been a close and reliable US ally under the reign of King Abdullah. “We are closely following the reports and in touch with Jordanian officials,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “King Abdullah is a key partner of the United States, and he has our full support.”
