"I take full responsibility." President Obama responds to news that two American hostages being held by al Qaeda were killed during counter terrorism operations.

Courtesy of ABC News: 

President Obama said today that he takes "full responsibility" for a U.S. government counterterrorism operation that killed two innocent hostages held by al Qaeda. 

Dr. Warren Weinstein, an American held by the terror group since 2011, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian national who had been an al Qaeda hostage since 2012, were "accidentally" killed in a U.S. operation in January, the president acknowledged. 

"I want to express our grief and condolences for the families of two hostages," Obama said from the White House briefing room, noting that at the time, the U.S. believed no civilians were present at the operation site. 

"Since 9/11, our counterterrorism efforts have prevented terrorism attacks and saved innocent lives, both here in America and around the world, and that determination to protect innocent life only makes the loss of these two men especially painful for all of us," he added. "It is a cruel and bitter truth that in the fog of war generally and our fight terrorists specifically, mistakes, sometimes deadly mistakes, can occur. But one of the things that sets America apart from many other nations, one of the things that makes us exceptional is our willingness to confront squarely our imperfections and to learn from our mistakes." 

Though the administration asserted in a statement that the operation was “lawful and conducted consistent with our counter-terrorism policies,” President Obama promised a thorough independent review, saying he declassified the mission "because the Weinstein and Lo Porto families deserve to know the truth."

Here is the video of the President's remarks.

I thought the President looked emotionally drained during this press conference, and it seems clear that this news has hit him hard.

I commend the President for taking full responsibility for the deaths and declassifying the mission so that there can be an investigation.

Hardest job on the planet, bar none.

Former senior adviser to President Obama, John Podesta, says that the one thing he regrets the most is not securing the disclosure of the UFO files. I'm sorry, what?

1. Finally, my biggest failure of 2014: Once again not securing the #disclosure of the UFO files. #thetruthisstilloutthere cc: @NYTimesDowd
— John Podesta (@Podesta44) February 13, 2015

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

Podesta’s longtime fascination with UFOs is well-documented, as his brief political hiatus following four years as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff freed him up to pursue his otherworldly passion. 

At a 2002 press conference organized by the Coalition for Freedom of Information, Podesta spoke on the importance of disclosing government UFO investigations to the public. 

“It’s time to find out what the truth really is that’s out there,” he said. “We ought to do it, really, because it’s right. We ought to do it, quite frankly, because the American people can handle the truth. And we ought to do it because it’s the law.”

As some of you may, or may not be aware, the Air Force recently declassified 130,000 pages of UFO records.

However before anybody gets TOO excited you should know that conclusion by the Air Force is that they have not seen any evidence suggesting the sightings "represent technological developments or principles beyond the range of present-day scientific knowledge."

I know. That would have broken 13 year old me's heart completely.  But these days I am more of a realist.

As you all know I kind of have a reputation for skepticism and  that holds true in my private life as well.

I remember somebody once asked me if I believed in UFO's, and I answered "Yes, absolutely."

After that person finished running around the room telling everybody that I was a big phony and that I was just as gullible as the next guy, he came back to me to rub my nose in my "superstition."

At that time I calmly pointed out that the term "UFO" does NOT refer to a flying saucer from another planet, but rather an unidentified flying object, and reason dictated that there must have been thousands of those that nobody ever gathered enough data to completely explain.

I then went on to say that if he was asking me if I found the possibility that there was life on other planets, and that those lifeforms might have developed the ability to travel in space, then yes I did indeed think that possibility might exist.

As for having visitors here on earth I remain a hopeful agnostic.

Like I said the 13 year old that lives inside of me would be incredibly excited to learn that we had been visited by aliens, however the grownup in charge of this body today needs more than what has been offered so far to be convinced that such is the case.

So if John Podesta is correct, and there IS evidence to support the fact that we have had visitors from space, than I think the information should be declassified and the people of this planet should get the chance to examine and discuss it.

13 year old me awaits the information with bated breath.

Correspondence between George W. Bush and Tony Blair during run up to Iraq war may be declassified.

Courtesy of RT:  

Tony Blair and George Bush exchanged voluminous correspondence prior to the start of military operations in Iraq. Now, the UK is moving to declassify details of the talks for an inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the conflict, British media reported. 

The release, set for the upcoming year, is expected to include more than 100 documents, described as a collection of notes, records of 200 minutes of ministerial level talks, telephone conversations and private meetings between the British prime minister and American president, The Independent reported. 

This will give the green light for the Chilcot Iraq Inquiry to publish an account of the conflict, where much attention will be given to decisions made by then Prime Minister Tony Blair. Indeed, the files could play a major part in determining Blair’s historical legacy, which critics say has been stained by the Iraq War. 

Blair has been criticized for failing to challenge then-US President George W. Bush on Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction, specifically chemical and biological weapons, which a Joint Intelligence Committee report said in September 2002 “could be ready for firing in 45 minutes.” 

The former Labour leader said he worked to restrain the Bush administration’s seeming determination for military involvement in Iraq, even as UN weapons inspectors on the ground failed to discover any chemical or biological stockpiles. 

A senior government official predicted the results of the inquiry will not do Blair any favors: "In the new year it seems the Chilcot inquiry is going to be published. Everyone will be assuming: bad hair day for Tony Blair and Jack Straw." Straw served as Blair’s secretary of state.

All I can say is, if they do NOT redact the most damaging portions,  this would be a great gift to those of us who know that the administration lied about the reasons for the war, and bullied Blair into following them into the abyss.

It might also give the Right Wing an opportunity to see what REAL treason looks like so that they can see the damn difference from now on!