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	<title>SwamplandCategory: Foreign Policy &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>SwamplandCategory: Foreign Policy &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com</link>
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		<title>The Shadow War Behind Syria’s Rebellion: Foreign Backers Jockey for Influence in Turkey</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/24/the-shadow-war-behind-syrias-rebellion-foreign-backers-jockey-for-influence-in-turkey/#ixzz2UERT678z</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/24/the-shadow-war-behind-syrias-rebellion-foreign-backers-jockey-for-influence-in-turkey/#ixzz2UERT678z#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 17:27:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rania Abouzeid/ Istanbul</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=96450</guid>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/syria-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/20130522_sha_d99_190.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Syrian Rebels Battle For Aleppo</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Peeping Sergeant 1st Class (First Class, Indeed)</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/23/peeping-sergeant-1st-class-first-class-indeed/?iid=sl-main-mostpop2</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/23/peeping-sergeant-1st-class-first-class-indeed/?iid=sl-main-mostpop2#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 17:21:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=96383</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=96383&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Battleland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/battleland-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/army-mil-47462-2009-08-07-140844.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">cadets march at West Point</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Kerry: US, Allies, Ready to Step Up Aid Rebels</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/22/kerry-us-allies-ready-to-step-up-aid-rebels/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/22/kerry-us-allies-ready-to-step-up-aid-rebels/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 15:08:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Bradley Klapper</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=96279</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(AMMAN, Jordan) — The United States and its Arab and European allies will step up their support for Syria&#8217;s opposition to help them &#8220;fight for the freedom of their country&#8221; if President Bashar Assad&#8217;s regime doesn&#8217;t engage in peace talks in good faith, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry vowed Wednesday. Kerry allowed that President Barack Obama won&#8217;t send American troops to Syria. But he made clear that more aid to the rebels would be coming if the effort fails. &#8220;In the event that we can&#8217;t find that way forward, in the event that the Assad regime is unwilling to negotiate Geneva in good faith, we will also talk about our continued support, growing support for opposition in order to permit them to continue to fight for the freedom of their country,&#8221; Kerry said, speaking to reporters ahead of a June conference in Jordan dedicated to finding strategies to end Syria&#8217;s two-year civil war based on a framework that would install a transitional government. Obama &#8220;has also made it clear that he intends to support the broad-based opposition, and he has taken no options off table with respect to how that support may be provided, or what kind of support that might be,&#8221; the secretary told reporters at news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. Kerry also warned Iran and the militant Hezbollah movement to stop providing assistance to Assad, saying such activity &#8220;perpetuates the regime&#8217;s campaign of terror against its own people.&#8221; &#8220;We have to hope that Bashar Assad and his regime will understand the meaning of that and the Iranians and others will understand the meaning of that,&#8221; Kerry said. &#8220;The president will keep those options available to him short of American forces on ground.&#8221; (MORE: Syria&#8217;s War Descends Into Depravity) To that end, an administration official in Washington said the White House would soon notify Congress about an expanded package of non-lethal assistance to the Syrian rebels. Details of the aid package are still being finalized, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=96279&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/syria-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>FBI ID&#8217;s Benghazi Suspects, But No Arrests Yet</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/21/fbi-ids-benghazi-suspects-but-no-arrests-yet/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/21/fbi-ids-benghazi-suspects-but-no-arrests-yet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 21 May 2013 23:18:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Kimberly Dozier</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Department]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=96207</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. has identified five men who might be responsible for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year, and has enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists, officials say. But there isn&#8217;t enough proof to try them in a U.S. civilian court as the Obama administration prefers. The men remain at large while the FBI gathers evidence. But the investigation has been slowed by the reduced U.S. intelligence presence in the region since the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks, and by the limited ability to assist by Libya&#8217;s post-revolutionary law enforcement and intelligence agencies, which are still in their infancy since the overthrow of dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi. (MORE: Timeline: The Benghazi E-Mails) The decision not to seize the men militarily underscores the White House aim to move away from hunting terrorists as enemy combatants and holding them at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The preference is toward a process in which most are apprehended and tried by the countries where they are living or arrested by the U.S. with the host country&#8217;s cooperation and tried in the U.S. criminal justice system. Using military force to detain the men might also harm fledgling relations with Libya and other post-Arab-Spring governments with whom the U.S. is trying to build partnerships to hunt al-Qaida as the organization expands throughout the region. A senior administration official said the FBI has identified a number of individuals that it believes have information or may have been involved, and is considering options to bring those responsible to justice. But taking action in remote eastern Libya would be difficult. America&#8217;s relationship with Libya would be weighed as part of those options, the official said, speaking only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the effort publicly. The Libyan Embassy did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Waiting to prosecute suspects instead of grabbing them now could add to the political weight the Benghazi case already carries. The attack on the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=96207&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Department</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/state-department-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Burma’s Thein Sein Visits Washington</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/20/burmas-thein-sein-visits-washington/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/20/burmas-thein-sein-visits-washington/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 19:49:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jay Newton-Small</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=96076</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[*This story was updated May 21, 2013 Barack Obama hasn’t had a lot of good news of late on the foreign policy front. His nonplan for Syria is under fire from all sides. His nonstrategy for the Arab Spring — from Benghazi and Cairo to Iran and Bahrain — has drawn near daily criticism. Chinese hacking is getting worse. The war in Afghanistan drones on. And so it must have been with some sense of relief that the President turned his attention Monday to the one small foreign policy victory his first term can claim: normalization of relations with Burma. Obama welcomed Burmese general turned President Thein Sein to the White House, the first Burmese leader to visit in nearly 47 years. Despite outrage from human-rights activists — dozens of whom protested at the White House gates on Pennsylvania Avenue — the meeting was hailed as a landmark one. It follows Obama’s November trip to Rangoon, where he was the first sitting U.S. President to visit Burma. In honor of Thein Sein’s visit, the White House put out a statement calling Burma for the first time &#8220;Myanmar,&#8221; the preferred name of the military junta. Thein Sein updated Obama on his progress in making the political and economic reforms the two discussed in November and asked for further U.S. support in capacity building, reforming the rule of law, increased trade and military-to-military training, according to Ernie Bower, a Burma expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies who met with Thein Sein in Washington on Sunday. “This visit is overwhelmingly important. American engagement in Myanmar is one of the more significant geostrategic developments in our overall Asia strategy in last couple of years,” Bower says. The reopening of Burma to the Western world is a blow to Chinese influence in Southeast Asia. For much of the past 20 years China was one of the big investors in Burma. But decades of what local authorities came to view as abuse by Chinese companies exploiting Burma’s bountiful natural resources helped create an opening<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=96076&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Foreign Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/rtxzub7.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Myanmar&#039;s President Thein Sein arrives at the West Wing of the White House for a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">jnewtonsmall</media:title>
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		<title>How Syria’s Rebels Aren’t Winning the War: The Anatomy of a Battle</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/20/how-syrias-rebels-arent-winning-the-war-the-anatomy-of-a-battle/#ixzz2TrK4QXZT</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/20/how-syrias-rebels-arent-winning-the-war-the-anatomy-of-a-battle/#ixzz2TrK4QXZT#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 18:34:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rania Abouzeid</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=96068</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=96068&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/syria-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/int_syria_gallery_0515.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">TOPSHOTS-SYRIA-CONFLICT</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Kerry to Mideast to Advance Struggling Syria Plan</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/20/kerry-to-mideast-to-advance-struggling-syria-plan/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/20/kerry-to-mideast-to-advance-struggling-syria-plan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 17:26:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Bradley Klapper</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=96057</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State John Kerry headed back to the Middle East on Monday to press his case for peace talks between Syrian rebels and President Bashar Assad&#8217;s regime amid increasing signs the new U.S. strategy to halt the war is being undermined by Russia. Kerry will first have discussions with the sultan of Oman. He then goes to Jordan to gather with 10 of America&#8217;s closest European and Arab partners to discuss how to advance a political transition and end more than two years of bloodshed in Syria, before traveling on to Israel. For the Syria negotiations to succeed, the Obama administration is banking on Russia&#8217;s help. (PHOTOS: Chaos and Killing in Syria: Photos of a Slow-Motion Civil War) The U.S. and Russia have wrangled repeatedly while more than 70,000 Syrians have died, but they now say they&#8217;re working together to start direct talks between Syria&#8217;s government and the opposition in Geneva next month. Washington demands Assad&#8217;s ouster, while Russia continues to provide the Syrian leader with military aid and diplomatic cover, but President Barack Obama this week said the meeting &#8220;may yield results.&#8221; The optimism echoes the message of Kerry, who during his Moscow visit earlier this month declared that the old Cold War foes, by rejuvenating Syrian peace hopes, were demonstrating how they &#8220;can accomplish great things together when the world needs it.&#8221; For all the heady talk of cooperation, however, Russia has continued to rebuff American demands that it cut off military support for Assad. Moscow is preparing to give Syria state-of-the-art ground-to-air missile systems, Israeli officials say. It is beefing up its naval presence near its base in northwestern Syria, reports suggest. And, in the latest revelation, U.S. officials say Russia has provided the Assad regime with anti-ship cruise missiles. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the transfer of the advanced anti-ship missiles is &#8220;an unfortunate decision that will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering.&#8221; On the diplomatic front, the situation isn&#8217;t much better. There, Russia has repeatedly<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=96057&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/syria-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Hagel Orders Review of Sex-Abuse Prevention</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/hagel-orders-review-of-sex-abuse-prevention/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/hagel-orders-review-of-sex-abuse-prevention/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 20:12:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Lolita Baldour and Robert Burns</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Pentagon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95984</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday ordered the military to recertify every person involved in programs designed to prevent and respond to sexual assault, an acknowledgement that assaults have escalated beyond the Pentagon&#8217;s control. He said this step is one among many that will be taken to fix the problem of sexual abuse and sexual harassment within every branch of the military. At a news conference with Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hagel said he believes alcohol use is &#8220;a very big factor&#8221; in many sexual assault and sexual harassment cases, but there are many pieces to the problem. Hagel said it has become clear to him since taking office in February that holding people accountable for their actions is important, but simply firing people is not a solution. &#8220;Who are you going to fire?&#8221; he asked. A catalyst for congressional outrage has been the disclosure in recent days of at least two cases in which a military member with responsibility for sexual assault prevention programs has himself been accused of sexual misconduct. Earlier Friday, the Air Force&#8217;s top general said that sexual assaults in his branch of the military typically involve alcohol use and can be traced to a lack of respect for women. &#8220;We have a problem with respect for women that leads to many of the situations that result in sexual assault in our Air Force,&#8221; Gen. Mark Welsh told reporters in a lengthy interview in his Pentagon offices. He spoke one day after he and other military leaders were summoned to the White House to discuss the sexual assault problem with President Barack Obama, who has expressed impatience with the Pentagon&#8217;s failure to solve it. Welsh said combatting the problem, which he characterized as a crisis, is his No. 1 priority as the Air Force chief of staff. He said he reviews every reported case of sexual assault; last year there were 792 in the Air Force. (MORE: A Female Soldier Tells Her Tragic Tale of Abuse) Welsh addressed criticism<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95984&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/17/hagel-orders-review-of-sex-abuse-prevention/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Pentagon</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/pentagon-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/military-sexual-assau_yang.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Chuck Hagel</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Turkey’s Erdogan Visits the US: 4 Problems That Won’t Be Solved</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/16/turkeys-erdogan-visits-the-u-s-four-problems-that-wont-be-solved/#ixzz2TZ1VzKvm</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/16/turkeys-erdogan-visits-the-u-s-four-problems-that-wont-be-solved/#ixzz2TZ1VzKvm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 15:27:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ishaan Tharoor</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95968</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95968&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://world.time.com/2013/05/16/turkeys-erdogan-visits-the-u-s-four-problems-that-wont-be-solved/#ixzz2TZ1VzKvm/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Foreign Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/bk-obama-20130516-0090.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">President Obama hosts Turkish Prime Minister at the White House</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>The Roots of Sexual Abuse in the Military</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/17/the-roots-of-sexual-abuse-in-the-military/#ixzz2TYgDWkXv</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/17/the-roots-of-sexual-abuse-in-the-military/#ixzz2TYgDWkXv#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 14:02:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95957</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95957&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/17/the-roots-of-sexual-abuse-in-the-military/#ixzz2TYgDWkXv/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Battleland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/battleland-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168897983.jpeg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Obama Meets With Hagel, Dempsey, Military Leaders At White House</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Turkish PM Talks Syria With Obama at White House</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/turkish-pm-talks-syria-with-obama-at-white-house/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/turkish-pm-talks-syria-with-obama-at-white-house/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 18:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Desmond Butler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95871</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — President Barack Obama said Thursday that the U.S. and Turkey will keep ramping up pressure to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, but there&#8217;s &#8220;no magic formula&#8221; to stop his violence. At a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the White House Rose Garden, Obama says the only way to resolve the crisis is for Assad to hand over power to a transitional government. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to keep increasing the pressure on the Assad regime and working with the Syrian opposition,&#8221; Obama said. &#8220;We both agree that Assad needs to go.&#8221; Erdogan says the U.S. and Turkey have overlapping goals when it comes to Syria. Neither leader mentioned that the U.S. and Turkey remain far apart on just how to handle Syria&#8217;s bloody civil war. Erdogan did not directly answer a question about what he asked from Obama on Syria. Obama said the United States can&#8217;t act alone to bring peace to Syria and needs the cooperation of international partners. &#8220;There&#8217;s no magic formula for dealing with an extraordinarily violent and difficult situation like Syria,&#8221; Obama said. (MORE: Savage Online Videos Fuel Syria’s Descent Into Madness) Erdogan is visiting Washington just days after two car bombs in Turkey killed dozens in the deadliest terrorist attack there in years. Turkish authorities have blamed Syrian intelligence, and Erdogan has been calling for more aggressive steps to topple Assad&#8217;s government. Obama extended condolences for what he called the &#8220;outrageous bombings&#8221; and said the United States stands with Turkey in fighting terror threats. But the Obama administration remains reluctant to take the kind of action Turkey would like to see, including establishing a no-fly zone in Syria. The disagreement was unlikely to spoil a day of pomp for Erdogan, who arrived at the White House under the flags of a U.S. military honor guard lining the north driveway. He met withObama in the Oval Office for three hours focusing largely on Mideast security issues, but Obama said they also agreed to create &#8220;a new high level committee&#8221; to focus on increasing trade and investment between the two countries. Erdogan also was being treated to a formal<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95871&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Syria</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/syria-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Petraeus Email Objected to Benghazi Talking Points</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/15/white-house-releases-trove-of-benghazi-documents/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/15/white-house-releases-trove-of-benghazi-documents/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2013 22:31:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Nedra Pickler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Libya]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95759</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Then CIA-Director David Petraeus objected to the final talking points the Obama administration used after the deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, because he wanted to see more details revealed to the public, according to emails released Wednesday by the White House. Under pressure in the investigation that continues eight months after the attacks, the White House on Wednesday released 99 pages of emails and a single page of hand-written notes made by Petraeus&#8217; deputy, Mike Morell, after a meeting at the White House on Saturday, Sept. 15. On that page, Morell scratched out from the CIA&#8217;s early drafts of talking points mentions of al-Qaida, the experience of fighters in Libya, Islamic extremists and a warning to the Cairo embassy on the eve of the attacks of calls for a demonstration and break-in by jihadists. Petraeus apparently was displeased by the removal of so much of the material his analysts initially had proposed for release. The talking points were sent to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to prepare her for an appearance on news shows on Sunday, Sept. 16, and also to members of the House Intelligence Committee. &#8220;No mention of the cable to Cairo, either?&#8221; Petraeus wrote after receiving Morell&#8217;s edited version, developed after an intense back-and-forth among Obama administration officials. &#8220;Frankly, I&#8217;d just as soon not use this, then.&#8221; (MORE: The Lingering Questions About the Benghazi Controversy) Petreaus&#8217; email comes at the end of extensive back-and-forth between officials at the CIA, White House, State Department and other agencies weighing in on a public explanation for the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans The emails were partially blacked out, including removal of names of senders and recipients who are career employees at the CIA and elsewhere. The emails show only minor edits were requested by the White House, and most of the objections came from the State Department. &#8220;The White House cleared quickly, but State has major concerns,&#8221; read an email that a CIA official sent to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95759&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Libya</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/libya-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/obama-irs_subr.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Barack Obama</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Yet Another Sexual-Assault Investigation Likely to Spur Congressional Action</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/15/yet-another-sexual-assault-investigation-likely-to-spur-congressional-action/#ixzz2TNEn98GT</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/15/yet-another-sexual-assault-investigation-likely-to-spur-congressional-action/#ixzz2TNEn98GT#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2013 15:07:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95692</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95692&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Battleland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/battleland-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/110122-a-cw513-036.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Zack and Jim&#039;s 18th Annual Blowout at Fort Hood</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Senate Panel Approves U.S. Ambassador to Libya</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/14/senate-panel-approves-u-s-ambassador-to-libya/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/14/senate-panel-approves-u-s-ambassador-to-libya/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 20:57:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Donna Cassata</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreign Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Libya]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95635</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday approved President Barack Obama&#8217;s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Libya, a post that has been vacant since insurgents attacked the diplomatic mission in Benghazi last September, killing Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. With little discussion, the panel on a voice vote approved Deborah Kay Jones, a career diplomat who has served in Kuwait, Argentina, Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., chairman of the committee, praised Jones and spoke of the imperative of filling the job amid increasing lawlessness in Libya. On Monday, a deadly car bomb exploded near a hospital in Benghazi and officials gave conflicting numbers on the death toll. (MORE: House Republicans Go After the Obama Administration over Benghazi Attack) &#8220;There is simply no substitute for having a confirmed U.S. ambassador on the ground, reaching outside the wire to the Libyan people as they shape a safer, more productive and inclusive future,&#8221; Menendez said. At her confirmation hearing earlier this month, Jones promised to work to ensure sufficient security at U.S. facilities, saying the ambassador was the principle security officer and vowing to simply pick up the phone and call Washington if she felt security was lax. If confirmed by the full Senate, Jones would take over an ambassadorship that has been vacant for nearly eight months. The Obama administration&#8217;s response to the attacks has been the subject of a long-running and bitter dispute with congressional Republicans. The GOP has accused the administration of trying to cover up details of the assault and its aftermath. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., ratcheted up the political criticism on Tuesday, saying the GOP was hyperventilating about the Benghazi attack. &#8220;It&#8217;s about smear politics and nothing else,&#8221; Reid told reporters. He highlighted the Republican budget cuts, including the $300 million from the Obama administration&#8217;s request of $2.6 billion for diplomatic and embassy security last year. &#8220;Again and again Republicans have blocked, opposed or reduced embassy security funding &#8230;. so again, where is the outrage on this. The real fact<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95635&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/14/senate-panel-approves-u-s-ambassador-to-libya/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Libya</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/libya-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Obama-Friendly Think Tank Ponders a Nuclear-Armed Iran</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/14/obama-friendly-think-tank-ponders-a-nuclear-armed-iran/</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/14/obama-friendly-think-tank-ponders-a-nuclear-armed-iran/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 16:05:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Battleland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95622</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95622&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/14/obama-friendly-think-tank-ponders-a-nuclear-armed-iran/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Battleland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/battleland-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/rtr1z9px.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visits the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron Visits U.S., but the Real Action Is Across the Pond</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/13/u-k-prime-minister-david-cameron-visits-u-s-but-the-real-action-is-across-the-pond/#ixzz2TGgqe5Tb</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/13/u-k-prime-minister-david-cameron-visits-u-s-but-the-real-action-is-across-the-pond/#ixzz2TGgqe5Tb#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 12:15:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Catherine Mayer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[U.K.]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95588</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95588&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>U.K.</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/u-k/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/u-k-prime-minister-david-cameron-visits-u-s-but-the-real-action-is-across-the-pond.jpeg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/u-k-prime-minister-david-cameron-visits-u-s-but-the-real-action-is-across-the-pond.jpeg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/u-k-prime-minister-david-cameron-visits-u-s-but-the-real-action-is-across-the-pond.jpeg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Prime Minister Cameron Meets With Majority Leader Reid</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
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		<title>Still More Benghazi</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/11/still-more-benghazi/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/11/still-more-benghazi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 May 2013 13:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe Klein</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[In the Arena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Libya]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95399</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Seems to me that Andrew Sullivan has nailed the import of the latest email revelations. But there is one point to note for future reference. I&#8217;m not so sure that Nuland&#8217;s reference to her &#8220;buildings (sic) leadership&#8221; means Hillary Clinton. There is a cloud of highly defensive&#8211;sometimes to the point of weirdly paranoid&#8211;advisers who have always surrounded Clinton. (Think Sid Blumenthal, back in the day). It&#8217;s part of the DNA of Hillaryland. In my experience, this over-protectiveness often works to Clinton&#8217;s disadvantage. And it will be a real detriment to her presidential campaign, should she choose to launch one. I&#8217;m not sure that Clinton herself forced the talking points massage; but &#8220;Hillary Clinton&#8221;&#8211;the bubble that surrounded the Secretary&#8211;may well have. One other point: the amount of time spent on these talking points was obscene, and not at all unusual in the current Administration, or others in the recent past. The amount of time our leaders spend in spinning rather than governing or leading drives me absolutely nuts.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95399&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/11/still-more-benghazi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Libya</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/libya-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">jklein1271</media:title>
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		<title>State Dep&#8217;t Sought to Change Libya Talking Points</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/10/state-dept-sought-to-change-libya-talking-points/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/10/state-dept-sought-to-change-libya-talking-points/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 May 2013 01:25:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Donna Cassata and Julie Pace</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Department]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95397</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Political considerations influenced the talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used five days after the deadly Sept. 11 assault in Benghazi, Libya, with State Department and other senior administration officials asking that references to terror groups and prior warnings be deleted, according to department emails. The latest disclosures Friday raised new questions about whether the Obama administration tried to play down any terrorist factor in the attack on a diplomatic compound just weeks before the November presidential election. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed when insurgents struck the U.S. mission in two nighttime attacks. The White House has insisted that it made only a &#8220;stylistic&#8221; change to the intelligence agency talking points from which Rice suggested on five Sunday talk shows that demonstrations over an anti-Islamic video devolved into the Benghazi attack. (MORE: Campaign Insider Book Argues Mitt Romney Lost Because Of Benghazi) Numerous agencies had engaged in an email discussion about the talking points that would be provided to members of Congress and to Rice for their public comments. In one email, then-State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland worried about the effect of openly discussing earlier warnings about the dangers of Islamic extremists in Benghazi. Nuland&#8217;s email said such revelations &#8220;could be abused by members of Congress to beat the State Department for not paying attention to (central intelligence) agency warnings,&#8221; according to a congressional official who reviewed the 100 pages of emails. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the emails that still have not been released. The final talking points that weekend reflected the work of several government agencies — CIA, FBI, State Department, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — apparently determined to cast themselves in the best light as the investigation was just getting underway. A scathing independent report in December found that &#8220;systematic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels&#8221; of the State Department meant that security was &#8220;inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95397&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Department</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/state-department-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
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		<title>Michael Crowley on the Politics of Benghazi</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/10/crowley-on-benghazi/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/10/crowley-on-benghazi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 May 2013 15:13:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Libya]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95340</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TIME&#8217;s Michael Crowley joined Morning Joe to talk about the attack last September that continues to dominate conversation in Washington D.C.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95340&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Libya</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/libya-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/h_50678343.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 23, 2013.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
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		<title>Terror, Security, and Hillary 2016: Making Sense of the Benghazi Hearings</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/08/death-security-and-hillary-2016-making-sense-of-the-benghazi-hearings/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/08/death-security-and-hillary-2016-making-sense-of-the-benghazi-hearings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2013 20:40:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Crowley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Libya]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95165</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[To Republicans, the deadly September 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, was a huge, conscience-shocking security scandal, one that Democrats are shamelessly trying to cover up. To Democrats, the attack was the sort of tragedy that inevitably comes from practicing diplomacy in a dangerous world, one that Republicans are shamelessly exploiting for political gain. Those two views came no closer to agreement during a Wednesday House hearing on the subject. The hearing by the Republican-led House Government Oversight &#38; Reform Committee was not the first on the events surrounding the death of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans. Hillary Clinton, who was running the State Department at the time of the attack, testified for hours back in January. But the story was given fresh dramatic life and new narrative details through the testimony of two self-described whistle blowers who had not previously spoken in public: Mark Thompson, acting deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism; Gregory Hicks, the former deputy of mission in Libya. Joining them was Eric Nordstrom, a former regional security officer in Libya, who had previously testified on the issue. Virtually no one disputes the basic facts of that violent night, in which a group of militants stormed the compound and battled the Americans for hours. But the sharply different interpretations of why the attacks happened, and how the Obama administration responded, have left many people understandably confused. So has the way &#8220;Benghazi&#8221; has come to describe several different arguments related to the incident. Here&#8217;s a breakdown by TIME&#8217;s Washington staff of the key plot lines, and what we know about them: Could the U.S. military have done more to help? Not according to the Pentagon – and the hearing’s key witness. Aircraft that might have buzzed the compound where the second pair of Americans died – and scared the militants away &#8212; were 900 miles north in Italy. &#8220;Time and distance are a tyranny of their own,&#8221; Admiral James Stavridis, who responded to the attacks as the NATO commander,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95165&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Libya</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/foreign-policy-2/libya-foreign-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/benghazi1.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">From left: Mark Thompson, Gregory Hicks, and  Eric Nordstrom are sworn in before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., on May 8, 2013.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">crowley100</media:title>
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