The Republican Party, supported by some of the wing-nut fringe on the left, have accused Barack Obama of a coverup regarding the terrorist attack on the Benghazi Consulate that took place on September 11. To be sure, I don’t have enough information to completely satisfy me that there was no coverup, but I think I have enough to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. Furthermore, the Republican hypocrisy on this issue is beyond blatant.
There are many unanswered questions about the vicious assault in Benghazi last month that killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. And Congress has a responsibility to raise them. But Republican lawmakers leading the charge on Capitol Hill seem more interested in attacking President Obama than in formulating an effective response.
It doesn’t take a partisan to draw that conclusion. The ugly truth is that the same people who are accusing the administration of not providing sufficient security for the American consulate in Benghazi have voted to cut the State Department budget, which includes financing for diplomatic security. The most self-righteous critics don’t seem to get the hypocrisy, or maybe they do and figure that if they hurl enough doubts and complaints at the administration, they will deflect attention from their own poor judgments on the State Department’s needs.
At a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last Wednesday, Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California and the committee’s chairman, talked of “examining security failures that led to the Benghazi tragedy.” He said lawmakers had an obligation to protect federal workers overseas. On Sunday, he said more should be spent on diplomatic security.
But as part of the Republican majority that has controlled the House the last two years, Mr. Issa joined in cutting nearly a half-billion dollars from the State Department’s two main security accounts. One covers things like security staffing, including local guards, armored vehicles and security technology; the other, embassy construction and upgrades… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
Photo Credit: Facebook
It is true that the Obama administration first reported the terrorist attack as arising out of a demonstration over a hate video. At the time, the intelligence community was dealing with such demonstrations at US diplomatic facilities in several Muslim countries, including a partial occupation of the Cairo Embassy. It is not surprising that intelligence officials conflated these events, early on. The Obama administration continued to denounce the hate video, not because of Libya, but because it was putting dozens of US facilities at risk. It it true that there had been a request for additional security forces. However, there were literally hundreds of of requests for more embassy security on Sept. 11. It is true that junior State Department employees did testify that they knew of the requests from Libya. However, especially since the US is popular in Libya, it’s highly unlikely that the request had percolated through many layers of the State Department bureaucracy to the White House, let alone the President’s desk. It is more likely that the request would have been honored had funding for embassy security not been cut. Furthermore, the request was for more security at the Embassy in Tripoli, not for a small Consulate far away from the capitol. It is true that Ambassador Stevens had no security with him at all that day. However, Stevens was one of those wonderful diplomats that does not like a security detail interfering with his closeness with local people. He often left his security detail behind. He could have taken a security detail with him, but he opted not to do so.
Melissa Harris-Perry covered the Libyan controversy with a panel.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Note how the Republican lied by calling Benghazi the "embassy site".
In short, given the information available, there is insufficient justification to conclude that there has been a coverup, while there is more than sufficient evidence supporting a Republican witch hunt with the most extreme hypocrisy!
14 Responses to “Republican Witch Hunt on Libya”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
In short, given the information available, there is insufficient justification to conclude that there has been a coverup, while there is more than sufficient evidence supporting a Republican witch hunt with the most extreme hypocrisy!
Lots of evidence regarding Repug witch hunts- only accusations re: The President
Of course.
Ironic that this story is on the site now… My conservative buddy who lives in Chicago Ill. just called me to give me a hard time about this very subject above….
I give President Obama the benefit of the doubt.
I hope that some of the info was helpful. I anticipated the Republican surge of accusation.
It seems to me that they should be investigating their own complicity in allowing the attacks to take place because of their refusal to fund additional security forces. Issa is an ass-hat.
Riiiiiiiight!!
Darrell Issa has been actively involved with investigations of criminal activity concerning Suspected Arson, Car Theft, Weapons Charges and more …
Unfortunately for Darrell (and American citizens) they have ALL BEEN ABOUT HIM!
Some handy background checks on his past arrests in bullet-format from Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/research/2011/01/11/report-media-ignore-rep-issas-alleged-criminal/174997
… And in detail in a narrative format from "The New Yorker":
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/24/110124fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all
Excellent links, Nameless. Crime is perfectly acceptable to them, when they do it.
Issa is one of those I dislike most on the conservative side. He is a top "dirty" politician – with lots of competition.
Issa has announced he will investigate the "jobs" numbers, which he calls fixed, and bogus.
Issa did not allow the Democrats to see documents, a violation of House rules.
With Issa's past, his constituents truly elected a crook.
Amen, Steve!
I noticed, like everyone else I'm sure, that the Republican/Teabaggers are trying to take political advantage of the Benghazi incident. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Face the Nation I believe, accused Mr Obama of a coverup.
And Rudy Giuilani admitted to Soledad O'Brien "So what they're really trying to do is run out the clock. They're going to have this investigation, the investigation will be after the debate, after the election is over. What they are trying to do is cover up this scandal as much as possible."
From Think Progress http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/15/1010951/top-romney-surrogate-admits-gop-is-exploiting-libya-incident-for-political-gain/ :
According to ABC News, Romney said: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/romney-obama-hasnt-wanted-to-level-over-benghazi-attack/
This is a rather rich statement from Romney when you consider that he won't show more than the 2 most recent tax returns, and both he and the boy wonder, Lyin' Ryan, refuse to get into details about their tax reform, health care or economic policies, or anything else for that matter. About the only thing that I have heard Romney talk about that has any detail to it is his plan to add 100,000 troops to the rolls and 15 new ships to the navy, 3 of which are nuclear subs. But I don't call that detail. How's that for transparency?!?
From the NY Times . . .
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/10/985191/chaffetz-absolutely-funding-embassy-security/
And if these Republican/Teabagger actions aren't enough, how about this from Think Progress.
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/12/1003451/florida-gop-ambassadors-body-in-ad/
To me, there is NO DOUBT that the Republican/Teabaggers are using this tragic incident as a launching pad for political gain. Of course that kind of chicanery is their forté and a request from the family will never stop the Republican/Teabaggers because they will do ANYTHING, illegal, immoral, doesn't matter, just to win the election. And this is evidence of leadership abilities? I think it is evidence of depravity!
Has Romney done anything as the leader HE says he is to stop any of this bull shit? Not one thing! By remaining silent, he is condoning all these actions. But then he hasn't remained silent has he, as evidence by this statement on ABC News .“We expect candor from the President and transparency, and he continues to refuse what is said by the other members of his administration."
Chris Stevens' father has lambasted the Romney campaign for using his son and his death for political purposes.
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/14/1010311/stevens-father-abhorrent-campaign-issue/
Jan Stevens, the 77-year-old father of Christopher Stevens, said Sunday that his son’s death should not a political talking point.
And again from Think Progress http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/14/1010311/stevens-father-abhorrent-campaign-issue/
This is their 'raison d'être'? An opportunity to attack the POTUS on foreign policy? I am sickened by the Republican/Teabagger miscreants.
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/10/986301/romney-navy-seal-mother-libya/
All of this action by the Republican/Teabaggers severely tests the limits of credibility. Is this who Americans want for their government — people lacking all compassion, opportunists, liars, cheats, greedy power mongers, miscreants?
This on the day before the memorial service in San Francisco for J Christopher Stevens, son, brother, friend, diplomat, American patriot.
Now THAT is a very comprehensive overview! Thanks for all your work and links!
Thanks Nameless! and YVW!
I kept running into little things that egged me on until I had this! I responded to another thread about the Libya situation and comparing it to the War in Iraq. The Republica/Teabagger perfidy is just so … so …
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/14/obama-libya-attacks-george-bush_n_1965027.html?ref=topbar
Oh those Republican/Teabaggers just love to mix apples and oranges!
Both events involve the loss of life — Iraq – 4487 US soldiers; Libya 4 US citizens. All lives are cherished family members, not numbers, but real people who loved and were loved.
The Iraq war lasted 10 years and how many billions of dollars in costs.
The Libya incident last 1 day with further follow up but no fighting.
Both events involved erroneous intelligence information.
But the biggest difference in these events is the reaction to the events by the political administration. Where Baby Bush and Cheney jumped in guns blazing and cost the US 10 years of war and heartbreak, Mr Obama has taken the measured approach to investigate. With this, I hardly see these events as equal as the Republican/Teabaggers would insist. Would Issa dare to do an investigation of Baby Bush's faulty intelligence like he has ordered for the Libyan incident? Probably not. Or maybe an investigation was done and I'm not aware of it. But interesting that Issa has jumped on it with an election mere weeks away. Funny how that works isn't it. Not to mention the Republican/Teabaggers politicising the deaths of 4 Americans during their campaign.
Excellent Lynn. The worse Democratic National Security lapse of this century happened on 9/11 cost 4 loves. The worst Republican lapse happened on 9/11 and cost over 3,000.