This just in from a favorite editorialist and cartoonist: Michael Ramirez - Political Cartoonist As you might have read last week, The Obama administration has determined that no one should be held accountable for the deaths of four brave Americans in Benghazi. Sure, it might have been the first time in 33 years that an American Ambassador has been killed but according to the Obama administration, this is a “phony” scandal after all. Secretary of State John Kerry decided that the mid-level staffers suspended for the lax security surrounding the Benghazi compound were now cleared to resume their jobs. Apparently, eight months paid leave is enough punishment. You might recall that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wanted these same employees fired but claimed State Department employment policy did not allow it. That was then and this is now. The Obama administration also quietly withdrew the special team assigned to identify and track Benghazi suspects, and train Libyan forces to combat al-Qaida. The administration just brought charges against the Benghazi attackers a few weeks ago, eleven months after the attacks. Isn’t charging them enough? You don’t expect them to actually pursue them too? Now, just because… • Someone made a conscious decision to decrease security even though two ambassadors had begged for increased security because of the growing threat in the region... • Someone made a conscious decision that the 9/11 anniversary did not warrant special precautions in an area where al-Qaida operatives and operations were intensifying and attacks against western facilities and staff was increasing, and the compound had been previously attacked over 20 times… • Someone made a conscious decision to reduce security and withdraw a 16 member Special Forces team assigned to security one month before 9/11... • Someone made a conscious decision to put politics over the safety of the Benghazi staffers so the administration could sell the story that Libya was stable, secure and a foreign policy success story during the presidential election… • Someone made a conscious decision not to send a rescue team when the consular post was attacked and a U.S. Ambassador was missing… • Someone made a conscious decision to revise the Benghazi talking points at least twelve times and scrubbed any references to terror attacks… • Someone made the conscious decision to deceive the American public and cover it all up… According to this administration, none of this means anyone did anything wrong and now, apparently no one should be held accountable for these fundamentally flawed decisions. Besides, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton already took full responsibility. Well, sort of…. In an interview with CNN in October of last year, Secretary Clinton initially took full responsibility for what happened on 9/11 and said the “buck” stops with her. But when questioned Jan 23, 2013 by Senator Ron Johnson on the obvious nature of the terrorist attack, the dubious nature of blaming a video and how easily the facts could have been ascertained, former Secretary Clinton evaded the question, equivocated and testily replied, “with all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided that they’d they go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again.” Deputy Chief of Mission in Benghazi, Gregory Hicks testified before a Senate committee on May 8th that he personally informed the Secretary of State at 2 am while the attacks were underway. Hillary Clinton knew there were no protests affiliated with the video. The State Department was monitoring Twitter feeds that night and they even knew Anshar al-Sharia controlled the hospital Ambassador Stevens was taken to. Yet on September 12th, the day after the terrorist attacks, Secretary Clinton characterized the attack as “a response to inflammatory material on the internet.” And two days later at the transfer of remains ceremony, she repeated that narrative stating, “This has been a difficult week for the State Department and for our country. We’ve seen the heavy assault on our post in Benghazi that took the lives of those brave men. We’ve seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful internet video that we had nothing to do with. It is hard for the American people to make sense of that because it is senseless, and it is totally unacceptable.” What is totally unacceptable it a conscious effort to deceive the American people. But why were they deceiving the American people? Hicks testified that it was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who personally ordered Ambassador Stevens to convert Benghazi into a “permanent constituent post.” The security draw down was an effort to highlight a rare Obama foreign policy success for political consumption during a presidential election but it was in direct contradiction to the reality on the ground. The truth is, attacks had been increasing, the al-Qaida threat was growing and the stability of the region was questionable at best and rapidly deteriorating. Someone’s incompetence put those lives in jeopardy and a conscious effort was made to cover up the results of those bad decisions and conceal who made them. What difference at this point does it make? The difference is this incompetence might find its way into the next oval office unless this “phony” scandal is thoroughly investigated and accountability is brought to bear on those responsible. But it is apparent this administration does not want the buck to stop anywhere or with anyone. investors/editorial-cartoons/michael-ramirez/668382-the-buck-stops-with-hillary-not-for-benghazi?fromcampaign=1
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 22:50:52 +0000
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