Although sickening and heartbreaking, the tragedy of the Sept. 11 raid on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, wasn’t just the murder of four good men, but that those losses were easily preventable.
Unclassified documents released by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform include cables from Ambassador Chris Stevens and his staff indicating safety concerns at Benghazi. Their repeated requests for beefed-up security were ignored again and again.
The cables described specific incidents of violence in the region, including attacks by mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices directed at Western targets.
In one June 25 document titled, “Libya’s Fragile Security Deteriorates as Tribal Rivalries, Power Plays and Extremism Intensify,” Stevens wrote, “From April to June, Libya also witnesses an increase in attacks targeting international organizations and foreign interests.” He went on to describe attacks on U.N. officials, International Red Cross buildings and a rocket-propelled-grenade attack on a British diplomatic convoy.
After reading the cables, even the most amateur of laymen would have to conclude that the situation in Libya was critical and required increased security at a bare minimum, if not outright withdrawal from the region.
On Friday, President Barack Obama said in a radio interview that he did not know any such requests had been made.
“I was not personally aware of any request,” he told MSNBC political analyst Michael Smerconish. ”We have an infrastructure set up to manage requests like that, but we’re going to find out what happened. Ultimately, though, any time there is a death of an American overseas, I want to find out what happened because my most important job as president is to keep the American people safe.”
The conclusion that the American people are supposed to draw from this, I can only imagine, is that the president should be absolved of any guilt in the matter. If he didn’t know, he can’t be blamed.
Of course, such a conclusion ignores a statement Obama made early in his term, in what I expect was an attempt to sound Truman-esque: “The buck stops here.”
We haven’t heard that statement repeated by the president — certainly not since Benghazi. We did, however, hear it from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Although I don’t profess to be a huge Hillary fan, her falling on the sword was noble, and given the circumstances, someone had to do it. By that time, it was clear the president wasn’t about to do it himself. He, after all, had a re-election campaign to run.
I believe there is plenty of blame to go around: Stevens’ immediate superiors, possibly, for not directing his pleas up the chain of command; Clinton, possibly, for not taking the warnings seriously enough to act on them; and the president, definitely, for both his hubris and his naiveté that words and negotiations with terrorists will solve everything.
In short, we can cast blame on pretty much everyone in positions of power, anyone except those four brave Americans we sent into harm’s way and who paid the ultimate price.
However, no matter where the responsibility finally falls, and no matter how the story gets spun, one thing is certain — it wasn’t Bush’s fault.
About Michael Dorstewitz
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Yes, I agree that Hilary was no more to blame than Obama. they all dropped the ball then lied and tried to cover it up…
I hope every time they close their eyes , they see those people laying in their on blood. As a mother, I would not be able to
forgive them..also everything is not Bush’s fault..
One angry independent American voter…
Hillary may not have been the one to say “stand down” or refused more security for the Consulate, BUT she went along with the cover up, so she should be held as an accomplice.
Just one look on Hilarys face in the posted photo tells you a whole lot….she has tried to distance herself from him for over a year.
now I know why he can’t say what happened. There is no one to blame so blamed a video.they can’t talk back.
Hillary sees her future as a potential presidential candidate is as important both to her and to slick-Willie as BHOII’s run for a 2nd term. Choices, choices, choices always have consequences, consequences, consequences.
It`s impossible to understand why there are still people in the USA that will support Obama. If they have not heard of this fiasco, they have been living under a rock. Anybody that votes for obama can not be brain worthy to vote period. Freebies,
food stamps, cell phones or whatever is not worth it. If they really do deserve Government Aid, they will be granted such by
Romney. I dont know about the free phones though.
I am so sick and tired of having a President who does what my father and myself use to punish my kids for. it is not telling the truth. Where and how did Obama get to be a public servent with such low morals or no morals. You guessed. They chose the one place where it fits right in. Chicago!. Americans deserve way way better and right now that person is Mitt Romney. I admit as many have. Mitt Romney wasn’t at the top of my list. I am ashamed to say that now. Getting to know Mitt Romney has been an uplifting event. The opposite has been true for Obama. As a Christian the feelings he wakes up are not acceptable in my faith but are still very real. He has disrespected the very office I served under in the United States Air Force. The Commander and Chief should be some one who as a soldier you know he has your back. Those in the Libya American embassy must have felt very betreyed before they died. If you can still say that Obama deserves any Americans vote Then you haven’t watched the news or read online the incompetence of Obama`. Even if by some great injustice Obama wins he will lose. All involved in the Libya cover up will either resign or be impeached.
I COULD NOT AGREE MORE WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE. I HAVE TO WONDER WHAT BRAIN CELLS A PERSON WOULD BE USING TO VOTE FOR OBAMA. HE IS A DISGRACE TO THIS COUNTRY AND ANYBODY THAT VOTES FOR HIM IS A DISGRACE. I AM SO TIRED OF HIM BLAMING BUSH. THE PRICE OF GAS, GROCERIES AND YOU NAME IT HAS INCREASED OVER THE PAST 4 YEARS ALONG WITH ALL THE LIES. AS FAR AS HILLARY IS CONCERNED SHE IS JUST AS BAD. SHE MADE A CHOICE AND CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES. IF YOU WON’T STAND FOR SOMETHING YOU WILL FALL FOR ANYTHING! THE LEADERS NEED TO GET A BACKBONE AND STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT!!! GET OUT AND VOTE FOR MR. ROMNEY, PLEASE!!! IF WE KEEP OBAMA THE OLD SAYING GOES IF YOU DO WHAT YOU DID YOU GET WHAT YOU GOT AND WE CERTAINLY DON’T WANT ANYMORE OF THE LITTLE WE GOT FROM OBAMA!!
Obama: LIED, to the public and could have avoided the murders, by TERRORISTS, of 4 courages men. However obama and the vice president could have called on at least 20 operatives that were standing down and waiting for orders. We were told by obama that it was not terrorist, when indeed it was.