While watching the Walking Dead last night, I happened to take a peak at my G+ feed and saw the buzz of activity over a 60 Minutes report on Benghazi that includes more than a year of investigative reporting. There was a sense that this was going to be a 'gotcha' angle to the story. I was expecting a new memo being discovered, a shadowed person speaking through a voice changer that makes them sound like the villain from Saw, they would tell the public about the origin of the stand down order before being flown to a second world countries consulate. I hoped for something that would make this story really gain the legs it's so rightfully deserved.
But the report does little more then tell us what we've known since those terrible attacks over a year ago. The big reveal was an interview with a British security officer who used a pseudonym of Morgan Jones who revealed an interesting fact in that he noticed the black flags of al Qaeda flying openly in the streets of Benghazi. 60 Minutes was able to confirm this in a later cable from Chris Stevens: "the al Qaeda flag has been spotted several times flying over government buildings."
Beyond that this story didn't add a whole lot to what we already know, lots of online chatter, open threats, numerous opportunities once again missed to foresee these attacks and nothing done either prior or during the attack in order to save American lives. No real new information about where President Obama or then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were the night of these attacks and any indication as to whether they heard earlier warnings but ignored them. And how the entire narrative of blaming an anti-Islamic YouTube video ever got started.
Now many of us are left debating if CBS was just feeding us what we wanted in a ratings grab, or if the totality of the lies coming out of the administration finally dawned on members of the media, maybe it was intentionally lacking any new revelation to allow Press Secretary Jay Crney the line of "We've already discussed this in great detail", or perhaps they are now joining the President in not learning about items until the media reports on them, and since 60 Minutes is part of the media, they got lodged in some horrible math paradox of which came first, the report or the knowledge that there was a report. Either way after a year long investigation many of us are still left unsatisfied in accounting for the mistakes that cost lives.
Morgan Jones from The Walking Dead
Wait a minute, Morgan Jones? But I was just watching the Walking Dead, this sh*t just got weird....
“So there was a clear indication there that everyone who had something to say was welcome to provide information to the accountability review board. But, again, with regards to these stories, to our knowledge we’re not aware of any agency that has blocked an employee who would like to appear before Congress." Jay Carney, May 1st, 2013
“I was instructed not to allow the RSO [Regional Security Officer], the acting deputy chief of mission and myself to be personally interviewed by Congressman [Jason] Chaffetz [of Utah],” Gregory Hicks, May 8th, 2013 in reference to a contact made by top Hillary Clinton adviser Cheryl Mills.
“What happened in Benghazi was in fact initially a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in Cairo, almost a copycat of the demonstrations against our facility in Cairo, prompted by the video,” Ambassador Susan Rice, Sept. 16th, 2012
"The YouTube video was a non-event in Libya.” Gregory Hicks, May 8th, 2013
"The White House didn't deny any requests for assistance. Period. Moreover, what the entire government did – the White House, State Department, Intelligence Community, Department of Defense included – was to work to mobilize all available assets and move them into the region as quickly as possible. That’s what the President ordered the Secretary of Defense and Chairman to do the first time he was briefed about these issues." National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor, Nov. 11th, 2012
"As a result of not having (real time) information, the commander who was on the ground in that area, Gen. Ham, Gen. Dempsey and I felt very strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation." Secretary of Defense Leon Penetta, Oct. 26th, 2012
And for some reason raising questions about this whole this is just being a Right Winged Conspiracy Theorist. "Bin Laden is Dead..." was the first half of the newly minted campaign slogan Joe Biden used just weeks before. Is it such a stretch that this president needed the war on terror to be behind him. That escalations in the region caused by Al-Qaeda linked groups would put a huge dent in his campaign at a time that the race was tightening up?
"..and General Motors is alive." was the other corner stone of the Obama campaign going into September, but hiring was slowing down and the economic picture was still pretty bleak. In a white house that had a campaign staffer at every corner, is it so hard to see this scenario play out that Obama needed to maintain the perception that he had vanquished our enemies for good.
Incompetency? Denial? Lies? There has to be an explanation Until someone comes out and answers these questions, conspiracy theories and speculation is all we have.
"Well, we weren't told they wanted more security there. We did not know they wanted more security again. And by the way, at the time we were told exactly — we said exactly what the intelligence community told us that they knew. That was the assessment. And as the intelligence community changed their view, we made it clear they changed their view." -Joe Biden 10/11/2012
One can make statements that are analyzed by experts and nit picked apart. I have 6 reports that say this, well, I have 3 reports that say differently. You promised this, No! I just proposed a plan that said it would happen. This is in many regards the core of what politics is about, proposing your side of an argument and make it sound like fact. However, what Joe Biden said last night on prime time television make me throw up my arms are scream "LIAR!"
I know, I know, Paul Ryan lies and misrepresents too. He says "The President said unemployment won't go over 8%..." which he never actually said he just put a report on the table that said it and said "Here is my plan". Joe Biden says "Your tax plan will cost $5 Trillion..." again, Mitt never said anything of the sort, but the Tax Policy Center had a report that said Here is Mitt Romney's Plan. We can chase our tails on these half truths and reports and who is calling what a Fact and who is calling what a Liar, odds are the other side has something to point to that contradicts the other and makes their side cheer and scream "Atta Boy!"
Even the moderator Mrs. Radditz said right before Joe's comment "And they wanted more security there.". I have found transcripts here, here, here, here, and none of them have a '?' after that statement. Watch the video, it was a statement by the moderator, NOT A QUESTION.
Why was this not a question, because just two days prior, under oath, before congress;
“We felt great frustration that those requests were ignored or just never met,” Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, a Utah National Guardsman who was leading a security team in Libya until August.
AND
“In those conversations, I was specifically told [by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Charlene Lamb] ‘You cannot request an SST extension.’ I determined I was told that because there would be too much political cost. We went ahead and requested it anyway.” The top regional security officer in Libya over the summer, Eric Nordstrom, testified.
Common sense, there are dozens of events that took place in Benghazi this summer that you think would make most people go "Hmmm... maybe we shouldn't pull our military forces out a month before 9/11."
Deep Breaths...
Ok, Fine, so Joe doesn't work at the State Department, these e-mails and requests don't need his signature to be enacted. Obama must have been so engrossed in those PDB's that Joe could never snag them away from him. They probably don;t bother putting things like online threats, Car jackings, IED's being left at our embassies front door, and our allies getting rocketed and them leaving the area in those things anyway, it's probably loaded up with Fantasy Football numbers and Golf Course weather reports instead. I guess that means that our new foreign policy reads a little something like this;
In the event of an attack on US citizens or our interests abroad, someone should probably tell somebody. If in the event that somebody doesn't get back to them, someone else should really be held accountable, should that person be at that time indisposed, then let it be determined that, in the best interest of the United States, the Commander in Chief shall take it upon himself to fly out to Vegas, and let it ride on lucky 17.
“The entire reason that this has become the political topic it is, is because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan” — Obama Deputy Campaign Director Stephanie Cutter 10/11/12.
"I have seen that report, and the story is absolutely wrong. We were not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent. That report is false." Press Secretary Jay Carney 9/14/12.
"I have a sense that the liberal community is going to be very satisfied with what Joe Biden delivered tonight. He was detailed, he was passionate, he made people believe that he cares about the country and had confidence in which way this administration wants to take the country." MSNBC News Commentator Ed Shultz 10/11/12.
"The men and women who risk their lives in the service of our country are heroes. I know and served with many of our security professionals in Libya and around the world. They are my friends and colleagues. And I trust them with my life." Under Secretary of State for Management Pat Kennedy 10/10/2012.
On October 12th, 2000, at 11:15 a.m., as the Cole was preparing to get under way, a fiberglass fishing boat approached its massive prey. Some of the sailors were standing watch, but many were below decks or waiting in the chow line. Two men brought the tiny skiff to a half amidships, smiled and waved, then stood at attention. The symbolism and the asymmetry of this moment were exactly what bin Laden had dreamed of. "The destroyer represented the capital of the West," he said, "and the small boat represented Mohammed."
USS Cole, October 12th, 2000
Within Hours of the attack, Barry Mawn, head of FBI's New York office, called headquarters and demanded that the New York Office gain control of the investigation . "It's al-Qaeda," he told FBI deputy director Tom Pickard. He wanted O'Neill, the chief of the FBI's counter terrorism section, to be the on scene commander.
As he had during the embassy bombings investigation, Pickard declined, saying that there was no proof that al-Qaeda was involved. He intended to send the Washington Field Office instead. Mawn went over his head, appelaing the decision to FBI director Louis Freeh, who immediately agreed that it was a New York's case. But the question of sending O'Neill was controversial.
-From The Looming Tower, by Lawrence Wright
These three paragraphs tell a lot, the first describe how a simple attack on a single target can represent so much to a cause hell bent on defeating a culture and nation in the name of their religion. The second can show the capacity our country has to leap into action and start finding answers, and the third demonstrates the reluctance that is inherent in individuals to consider the worst explanations.
There are many similarities that can be drawn between the assault on the USS Cole and the Benghazi embassy, it appears to be a concise targeted attack against an object that was meant to represent the greater United States, carried out by a common lackey used to call people to there cause. I believe in the months to come as more details are unearthed the intent behind both these attacks may turn out to be very correlated. In the first weeks though, one thing has become brazenly apparent, that this administrations response, when compared to the response from October 12th, 2000, has been found wanting. Consider this following transcript from CNN with about 8 hours of the attack happening;
The president (Clinton) met with his top national security team for a little more than an hour here at the White House security room -- the Situation Room -- receiving updates from agencies around the government and around the world on developments today. When the president came into the Rose Garden to speak to the American people today, he concerned himself first with that suspected terrorist attack on the U.S. Naval vessel on a refueling stop in Yemen -- Mr. Clinton voicing prayers for those killed, injured, and those still missing.
And he promised an aggressive investigation was already under way.
Sound familiar? It shouldn't. Obama did not use the word terror, he pinned responsibility for the attacks on a Youtube video all the way to the UN, he waited weeks before dispatching the FBI, and once his early morning speech in the Rose Garden was completed, he hopped on a plane to Las Vegas.
Nothing like a re election campaign as an excuse to skirt out of a lot of meetings about investigating, and diplomacy, those things are so boring...
Members of the State Department testify to Congress
Though the timeline of events outlined on the call was similar to the last official account of the incident, which was given on Sept. 12, some stark differences and new details were revealed.
The biggest difference was a clear statement that there were no protests before the attack. Also it was revealed that former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods died from a mortar attack and that officials still do not know how Stevens, who was suffering from severe smoke inhalation, made it from the compound to the hospital.
...Though some administration officials had initially said that the attack grew out of protests over an anti-Muslim film, the senior State Department official told reporters today that "nothing was out of the ordinary" on the night of the attack.
Yes, there are many correlations that you could draw from these two terrorist attacks. No, there are very few that you can draw from the way that our country has responded to them. Tomorrow will be the one month mark since these deadly attacks, and we are still feuding over verbiage and getting stalled as we try and point the finger and anything except the smoldering pile of ash that seems so clearly labeled to so many, and nothing but a bump in the road to some greater goal for others.
Do you ever have that feeling like you are screaming at a wall? Let's take a closer look at what is happening here. After the events of September 11th, the anniversary of a historic terrorist attack, a confusing narrative was started between the white house and the state department. The White House and the intelligence department, and the White House and the American People.
When did the U.S. know this was a terrorist attack?
On September 14th, White House press secretary Jay Carney, while tearing into Romney's apparent lack of fact based statements replied to a question as to if any warning had been given that the embassies may be attacked, Carney replied " I have seen that report, and the story is absolutely wrong. We were not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent. That report is false."
He noted, however, that the administration did not hesitate to establish a narrative based on what he referred to as their “hunch” that an anti-Islam YouTube video was responsible.
On September 19th, a week later the director of the National Counter terrorism Center, Mathew Olson, told Congress the attack was the work of terrorists. Jay Carney soon had to reverse course a well, saying it was “self-evident“ that ”what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack,” despite denying that very claim a week before. Funny how such big tough sounding words come back to bite you, eh?
However, less then one day later, Obama was being interviewed at a UniVision forum, he said “Well, we’re still doing an investigation, and there are going to be different circumstances in different countries,” Obama said. “And so I don’t want to speak to something until we have all the information. What we do know is that the natural protests that arose because of the outrage over the video were used as an excuse by extremists to see if they can also directly harm U.S. interests.”
Sure, continue with an ongoing investigation, but natural protests? That's like calling a mugging a friendly game of checkers. Looks like someone missed his morning meeting again. How is it that the Director of Counter Terrorism, who may know a thing or two about identifying acts of terror, is calling the kettle black, but this president still gets the words stuck in his throat?
Did our Embassy call for help beforehand?
On September 18th, Secretary Carney was asked, "On September 10th, you put out a press release saying that the President had a meeting with senior officials to figure out the security posture around the 9/11 anniversary... So in retrospect, given the tragedy, did the administration drop the ball on what you promised on September 10th that you had improved security at these installations?
Secretary Carney responded "They were numerous steps taken, as there have been every year on the anniversary of 9/11, and as there have been at different times on the calendar when it is judged by the experts that taking additional steps, security steps, is the right thing to do. As for specific measures taken at specific facilities, diplomatic facilities, I would refer you to the State Department."
October 3rd, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the chair of the subcommittee on national security, homeland defense, and foreign operations, wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asserting that “multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the Committee that, prior to the September 11 (2012) attack, the U.S. mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi. The mission in Libya, however, was denied these requests by officials in Washington.” A probe is being conducted and Secretary of State Clinton has committed to assisting with the probe.
I guess delegation has it's place, so either the State Department didn't really care that the President said to beef up security or the President has an odd interpretation of what beefed up security means. Either way, there is a mountain of evidence piling up that the State Department and the White house knew that there was a threat, and it was ignored.
How is the Investigation Going?
One of many CNN photos taken just days after
Not Good, not good at all. It took weeks to even acknowledge that this was not just some Occupy Wall Street protest gone bad, then, when the FBI was finally sent to investigate over a week after the accident, they have not made much headway, namely because it is deemed unsafe to conduct an investigation. It's funny because declaring Benghazi unsafe didn't stop a CNN news team from taking some pretty horrifying pictures from inside the compound, or finding Ambassador Steven's journal that is already revealing some harsh truths;
A source familiar with Stevens' thinking told CNN earlier on that, in the months leading up to his death, the late ambassador worried about what he called the security threats in Benghazi and a rise in Islamic extremism.
How in the heck can CNN get photographs and items from a building within 48 hours and still not get anyone in there to conduct a proper investigation? How will the President deal his promised justice?
What does all this mean?
Well, for starters, it makes it a little too easy for the narrative of a cover up to be pressed. Even The Daily Show is laughing at this administration for it's inability for the right hand to know what the left is doing. Joe Biden once said that this President was going to be tested, and when that happened we would find out that he had steel in his spine. The only problem is, it appears he is firm and hard against any criticism from his own countrymen then against those who would do one of it's citizens harm. It appears that it's little more then hoping that this story would just go away and not be a campaign issue. That a proper response of beefing up security at other embassies and sending in a real investigative team would be viewed poorly by our new middle eastern friends. All I know is, I am very disappointed.
I had to log several hours of piecing this together,
but here is a timeline of the events, hopefully this can be referenced for
conversations pertaining to timing of events and making a bit of sense of what
happened.
Benghazi Aftermath
5:11 a.m. CDT, 9/11/12. A statement is published online from the U.S. Embassy
in Cairo, Egypt. The header reads; "US Embassy condemns religious
incitement" The post since appears to have taken down from here. The statement has
since been re-posted in
about a zillion sites.
Late Morning, CDT 9/11/12. Or around 5 p.m. local time in Cairo, demonstrators
began to assemble outside of the U.S. Embassy. Reasoning behind this gathering
appear to be the subject of some investigations, still, a Salafist leader
and president of Egypt's Hekma television channel, Wesam Abdel-Wareth, was one
such voice that called for Muslim's to protest the very low budget movie
'Muhammad's Trial', a US-made film which, critics say, insults the Islamist
Prophet Mohammed.
3:47 p.m. CDT, 9/11/12. The Cairo Embassy, via twitter, states: "As
Spokesperson Nuland said, protesters breached our wall and took down flag.
Thanks for your concern and kind wishes." There is little indication of
outright violence, but a crowd with estimations of roughly 2,000 demonstrators
are loud and angry at this time.
Ambassador Christopher Stevens
5:00 p.m. CDT, 9/11/12. Additional tweets from the Embssy in
Cairo "Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.", "Of course we
condemn breaches of our compound, we're the ones actually living through
this.", "Sorry, but neither breaches of our compound or angry messages
will dissuade us from defending freedom of speech AND criticizing
bigotry."
5:01 p.m. CDT 9/11/12. A Footnote, but this is the point where Stand
Up America Now begins a livestream of Jones' anti-Muslim presentation
online. Though I question how many people in Egypt follow this website, it has
been presented by many media outlets as a channel that added fuel to the fire
of anger.
5:30 p.m. CDT, 9/11/12. Cairo Embassy Tweets: "This morning's condemnation
(issued before protests began) still stands. As does condemnation of
unjustified breach of the Embassy."
6:51 p.m. CDT, 9/11/12. First
reports of an American staff member of the U.S. consulate in the
Libyan city of Benghazi has died following an outbreak of
violence. Investigations
continue as to the level of protests here compared to the reports of a
small team of well equipped militants intent on doing harm.
9:09 p.m. CDT, 9/11/12. Romney submits
a statement to the Media. It was supposed to be held until Midnight in
respect out of keeping foreign policy discourse off of the anniversary of 9/11.
The campaign allowed it to be released within an hour of submission.
9:10 p.m. CDT 9/11/12 News breaks that the statement issued from Cairo was not
cleared by Washington and that it does not reflect the views of the
United States government.
9:38 p.m. CDT, 9/11/12. An statement from the State Department, specifically
Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, stating, "I condemn in the strongest terms
the attack on our mission in Benghazi today... We have confirmed one State Dept
officer was killed in Libya. We are heartbroken by this terrible loss."
Full statement here.
10:51 p.m. CDT, 9/11/12. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo deletes its earlier tweets,
statements eventually removed from website.
11:01 p.m. CDT, 9/11/12.: Other policical figures begin to
weigh in now that (per New York Time) the embargo on foreign affairs has ended,
led off with RNC chairman Priebus stating "Obama sympathizes with
attackers in Egypt.Sad and pathetic."
11:09 p.m. CDT, 9/11/12. Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt issues a response to
Romney's statement: "We are shocked that, at a time when the United States
of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in
Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack."
8:57 a.m. CDT, 9/12/12. Clinton hosts a press conference
condemning violence in Syria. (Video)
9:16 a.m. CDT, 9/12/12. Gov. Mitt Romney holds a press
conference while in Jacksonville, FL. (Video)
9:43 a.m. CDT, 9/12/12. President Barrack Obama holds a
press conference with Hillary Clinton in the Rose Garden. (Video)
Now begins the narrative of if Mitt's comments
where appropriately timed or not, or it the Presidents' response was
adequate. But, you don't check in here for a simple list of facts and links,
did you? Well, ok, maybe you did, but here is my two cents;
What Mitt Romney said last night was spot on, all though I'm on
the fence as far as not waiting for 9/11 to be over before making such an
aggressive statement. I don't see an issue with challenging the
foreign policy of a President who doesn't seem to have a well established set
of principals during the election cycle. When people are storming the gates of
your embassy, you can not sit idly by with a 'wait and see' approach such as
this President seems to be doing. Then when some of the first things that are said
are just to correct and contradict what was said by someone else. Right now
there is a serious issue that no one understands one thing, what America is planning in a time like this. It was appropriate for the White House
to condemn these actions and make a call for justice against those
individuals who killed our delegates.
This is a big deal. It's a clear indication that things in
Egypt, Syria, and several other Arab Spring countries are not going as
swimmingly as perhaps we had hoped, and with the way our President appears to
prioritize both waiting until a half dozen other people from the Embassy, the
State Department, his opponent, and the media all get hours of play time before
making a pretty Mad Libs type reply. Then a couple hours later he was in the
air on his way to campaign in Colorado, only to return in time for the Hispanic
Caucus Anniversary Gala.
Are we going to withdrawl other embassy staff? Are we going
to offer military or intelligence support to hunt these murderers down? Will we
withhold our financial support for some of these young, new governments? It's a
huge difference when a country is rioting against their own government and
when those riots appear on our front door and U.S. citizens are being harmed. It
demands something of a response, be it supportive of the local government in
keeping the peace, or throwing down the gauntlet and militarizing our
embassies. My vote would be to withdraw our consulate staff and
families from these countries and suspend any payments of aide until peace is
restored. Offer any assistance for peacekeeping or in tracking down
these militants that appear to have stormed us in Benghazi. Our
President seems more interested in campaigning in swing states and getting
ready to appear on Letterman and meeting up with Beyonce.
