By Michael O'Hanlon, Special to CNN
Editor’s note: Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at Brookings (where he was a colleague of Rice’s for several years), teaches at Princeton and Columbia and Johns Hopkins and is a member of the CIA External Advisory Board. The views expressed are his own.
Ambassador Susan Rice has been roundly criticized of late for her comments made on five Sunday morning talk shows the weekend after the Benghazi tragedy in which four Americans lost their lives to a terrorist attack. Because Rice stated her belief that the violence was the result of a mass demonstration gone bad, rather than the planned extremist attacks we now know them to be, some have even gone so far as to demand her resignation from her current cabinet position as United States ambassador to the United Nations.
This is way off the mark and extremely unfair to a dedicated official who has served the country tirelessly and remarkably over her four years in the Obama administration. Rice did not choose all her words perfectly that weekend, even based on what was known at the time, it is true. There should have been a bit more nuance and more acknowledgement of the uncertainty in some of them. But there is no basis for concluding that she sought to mislead, and no reason to think that harm came to the country's interests because of her comments. While there are issues worth debating in regards to Benghazi, to Libya, and to the state of the Arab awakenings more generally, the unkind focus on Rice badly misses the mark.
To begin, Rice’s initial hypothesis was widely shared and reasonably construed. There was strong circumstantial evidence at first to believe the attacks were largely a result of mob reactions to the terrible homemade video entitled The Innocence of Muslims, made by an amateur filmmaker in California. Similar incidents had caused similar outbursts in the broader Muslim world before. Be it the furor over the Danish cartoons of Mohammed several years ago, the mass demonstrations in Afghanistan when Korans were accidentally burned and the bodies of Taliban insurgents mistreated by U.S. troops in the war effort there, or the demonstration in Cairo on the very same September 11 date as the tragedy in Benghazi, there was a track record of such perceived slights against Islam leading to mass unrest and even violence in Muslim countries.
Clinton: Benghazi my responsibility
In the business of intelligence, and diplomacy, much information is circumstantial and many theories are initially conjectural. That is an unavoidable reality of the business. Given what was initially known about what happened in Benghazi, this hypothesis was far from unwarranted.
Second, for these reasons, many in the U.S. intelligence community who were tracking this event came to exactly those same hypotheses themselves in the opening days after the Benghazi tragedy. Indeed, their assessments provided the main basis for Rice's comments. I know that because I was in contact with a number of intelligence officials on September 12 and talked to some about it. To be sure, they generally also recognized that the initial information was incomplete and potentially unreliable. But it took several days for their assessments to be revised based on clearer data. In a distant city in a chaotic country where we have minimal presence and relatively few allies, that is unsurprising. Some would call it an intelligence failure, but we use that term far too loosely in this country. The world is not completely transparent to any of us, and nor will it ever be.
As such, Rice’s only mistake was not to caveat her initial conclusions adequately each and every time she voiced them. Taking her statements collectively, I did not detect any major problem in this regard, but individual pieces of several statements could have been phrased slightly more precisely, it is true.
That brings us to the final point, going beyond Rice to the Obama administration more generally. Benghazi was indeed a terrible tragedy, and in principle perhaps preventable. Secretary of State Clinton has nobly accepted responsibility as the nation’s top diplomat for not responding to requests for additional security there adequately. But such mistakes will inevitably sometimes happen in a dangerous world where Americans in and out of uniform serve bravely and with full awareness of the dangers before them. We must not turn them into political tempests. To go to a zero-defect and zero-mistake mentality where we only place diplomats within huge fortified compounds, or only deploy them to the field when accompanied by large contingents of armed guards, is against the credo that most of those diplomats themselves espouse. And it would not serve American interests.
We do not criticize a general each and every time he makes a tactical decision that tragically and perhaps preventably leads to the loss of some of his troops. We must not do so with our appointed officials, or our top civilian leaders in this country either.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
As a romney supporter, i agree with the above assessment. I believe the media is 90% at fault - and instigated public cynicism. clearly not the scandal of nixonian watergate proportion. if there is strong evidence to jsutify the contrary, let congress do its job. meanwhile, romney can spend the remainder of the time preparing to present real foreign policy issues of vital interest and concern to all americans - and there are enough issues without obama setting romney up to look like a fool grasping at foreign straws. the main issue facing our nation is the economy and jobs, which seem to be showing signs of waning just before election. romney and ryan will address and clarifying stance on abortion as allegedly of top importance among women. all romney has to do during the next debate is let obama dig his own hole before a world-wide audience as he final hoorah. i wish everyone the best on election night.
This commentary is not from Fareed. Like a lot of liberals, he got caught cheating and is on disiplinary leave of absence..... Kool-aid drinkers – this one's for you!
Indeed Redfirestorm, both sides should lay off the Benghazi issue and move on. The reality on the ground in Libya is quite different from what they see. The US has to do a thorough cost/benefit analysis before taking any action in Libya. The authorities are either reluctant or unable to bring the perpetrators to justice. There's nothing Washington can do. The US still has a chance to get back at the Ahmed Abu Khattala, the leader of the gang, responsible for the deaths of Chris Stevens and three other servicemen.
Fareed's been back for months. Are you Rip van Winkle? Leaving off the quote marks isn't 'cheating,' it's sloppy editing. THAT'S what you've got, old news and 'koolade' jokes?
I just have a few comments to make. I really battle to understand how any thinking, intelligent, educated person can vote for Romney. You would need to be really narrow minded, background thinking person to not be able to see the kind of person he is and the type of president he would make. At least democrats geniunely care about their fellow man, all republicans care about are themselves and furthering their own ends, its disgraceful. Sure Pres Obama's not perfect, but his heart is in the right place and considering the awful mess he came into from your greedy party, I think he has done amazingly well. The thing is you guys are mostly just racist RWNJ!! I cant wait for Pres Obama to win again....
Oh yes, carol, they "care" so much – by adding $6 TRILLION in new debt for our children and grandchildren to pay off, all so Obama's friends and cronies at Solyndra and A123 can bilk the US taxpayer for billions of dollars in federal subsidies. And every time I fill my gas tank (over $60 the last night), I'm reminded of how much Democrats "care."
It isamazing to me howmany people keep here head in the sand. Or don't hear what is being said
How about "Mission Accomplished". We may be the mightiest nation in the world but we do not have the power to know by the second what is happening everywhere. The officials are so stressed by our media, that thrives on scandals, the they feel the need to go public before all the facts are known. Romney, who desires to be the President, must feel that his administration will not face anything like this. If he thinks that way, he sure is not ready to answer that 3:00 AM call becaue in real world Etch-a-Sketch does not work.
I'm with you Carol. I want Obama back in office so he can finish what he started. Obama will spend another $4 trillion dollars we don't have so we can all go "Forward" into a depression. Voting in Romney would only prolong the obvious.....the crash of the USA. I saw bring it on, it's time for all of us to suffer equally!
Ambassador Rice was correct: "the violence was the result of a mass demonstration gone bad." What is the evidence for any other explanation? These conspiracy theories about terrorist attacks are groundless.
The proof is on the video provided by security cameras at the embassy and they show that there never was a demonstration. The proof is in the testimony of people who survived the attack. You must take your head out of the sand and realize that this was an act of terror on U.S. soil on the anniversary of the 911 terrorist and four more Americans were murdered. The administration knew that fact within 24 hours of the attack and for almost two more weeks called it a mob action spurred by reaction to a hate video that no one has ever seen. If the administration were uncertain then why did they tell the same lie over and over again? Susan Rice is hired to serve the American people. She has lied to the American people and serves her master, President Obama, as do some many more in this administration. For so long I just thought this administration was just naive and incompetent, now we know they will actually risk American lives and follow it up with lies.
Dude what are you smoking please ? Wow, Must be a bad acid trip, man it’s like 1979... Jimmy cater 2.0 back in the white house or what? you need to shop around for a rehab and leave those drugs alone for your mind to heal....
Joaquin – What are you talking about? This was a planned attack on the US consulate, that isn't a conspiracy theory. It was an 8 hour siege designed to over take and kill the ambassador. Since when do random protesters bring heavy weapons, RPG's and a sophisticated plan to penetrate a fortified bunker? You are clearly not that bright or choose not to believe facts.
Excellent, Joaquin. Apparently I'm the only one reading who's a Jonathan Swift wannabe.
All of this could have been avoided, if Obama had chosen to give the country an update, in the proper setting – instead of crumbs of information tossed here and there. The View, Letterman, etc are all examples. It is the president's duty, no matter how much else is going on aka criss crossing country to and fro for fund raisers, to lead by example. And I fear that is why there was such chaos in the "house". AND the media, all of them, should have been asking more pointed questions a lot sooner. If they had, this would probably have been less the BUMP. 4 people died. Move on, everyone! Nothing to see here. Time limit over for such discussion. Is that really what we are supposed to believe? GIve me a freaken break!
Disgusting article! The WH and Susan Rice should not have ever said ANYTHING other than "We are investigating this matter" It's not clear! BUT they decided to "Mislead" America!! Trying to gain a political avantage by bringing up a video!!!!! HOW DISGUSTING OF THE U.S.A. President to bring up the video two weeks post the terrorist attacks!! OK, don't say it was a terrorist attack the day after, BUT don't say it was a VIDEO or a spontaneous mob reaction either!!!! WHY MISLEAD with either story!!!!
So the 2 attacks on the consulate previous to the 911 anniversary attack were due to the video? I don't think so. Why do you think those attacks were executed? The terrorists wanted to see our response. The red cross was run out, the UK Ambassador fled after almost being killed in an attack, the US Ambassador was next on the list, and he stated that in his diary he was a target. He asked for more security the day of the attack. That video had nothing to do with this attack.
All requests to help the Ambassador or the CIA ops were denied. The President didn't want the gun running operation to come to light, if it's not that then it must be far worse.
Couplla questions? Where were the Marines? Don't they guard embassy's any more? If so, Why not? Who would have ordered them to stand-down?
Don't blame the Ambassador for saying what she was told to say; she has no information gathering machine at her disposal. She is by deffination the "mouth-piece" for the US government. Blame her boss instead....
They do guard embassies, but this was not an embassy; it's a consulate, which is a much smaller and less important office than an embassy. Here's a good explanation:
http://ask.yahoo.com/20000824.html
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-813452
The Marines weren't to be seen. The president wants a friendly, more cordial, less threatening look for the USA now... Yah, how do you think that's working out for us? Let's not have those buildings looking so protected. Gotta fit right in... uhuh! Like a sitting duck, they were left to a game of chance. And they lost – all 4 brave souls.
More info on your question, "Who would have ordered them to stand down?" It's Foxnews, so it will be dismissed at first and spun if it grows legs.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/26/cia-operators-were-denied-request-for-help-during-benghazi-attack-sources-say/
Although I agree with some of your comments about not politicizing the Benghazi tragedy, as far as your comment regarding the economy or foreign policy goes, I believe President Obama has been digging us out of the hole GWB and the GOP put us into. And as far as foreign policy is concerned, what kind of commander -in chief you think Romney would be when he said "its not worth moving heaven and earth to find Bin laden, the mastermind of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil? And as far as the economic growth is concerned, during the last debate, Romney said he knows how to fix teh economy because he balanced the budget in Massachusetts. Well, Sarah palin did so in Alaska. Furthermore, Massachusetts is just one state and you can't equate balancing a state budget with the United States budget. Secondly, Massachusetts didn't inherit an economic crisis and two wars or had to deal with a divided congress that said their main objective was to see the President and the country fail. Third, Massachusetts was 47th in job growth when Romney was governor and if he couldn't grow jobs in one state, I don't see how he'd grow jobs in 50 states.
the last two years of GWB the democrats control both the house and senate and control both house the first two years of Obama..Please help yourself and get the facts....Obama triple the dept...
You stated that you cant compare the budget to one state to the whole country...Well aint that what obama did with health care?
@issac
First and foremost, your right wing argument that President Obama has increased the deficit has no basis whatsoever because the two stimulus bills passed by this administration were passed out of NECESSITY to stabilize and grow the economy. Secondly, common sense would suggest that if there was no economic crisis to begin with, there woud not have been any stimulus bills to begin with. Secondly, part of the Massachusetts healthcare law is modeled in the ACA but not the entire law. During the 2008 campaign, candidate Obama bet with families all across the country who said their love ones were discriminated against and denied life saving operations because of pre-existing conditions. Then he met with families who said they were struggling to keep a roof over their love ones' heads and food on the table while having to deal with sky rocketing healthcare costs and they urge candidate Obama to promise them that CHANGE if elected and I'm glad our President had the willpower to follow through on his promises.
@issac
And yes, the Democrats controlled the House and Senate during GWB 's last two years in office. But when the Dems took over the House and Senate in January, 2007 the economy started to unravel four months later simply because all GWB and the GOP's economic policies fron the course of 8 years were still in effect, including the budget for fiscal year 2008. And by the way, do you know what the 110th Congress were busy doing from 2007 to 2008? They were busy passing legislation to look after our Iraq and Afghan war veterans returning home from war. including passing legislation to ensure that their families were taken care of. The 110th Congress was also busy passing legislation to ensure that the tens of thousands of our returning veterans had jobs to retun to and all the medical care they needed for PTSS and that amputees and those severely injured had the care and therapy they needed. And when the 110th Congress wasn't busy looking after our war veterans., they were busy strenghtening Home Land Security and making sure that our major cities and ports and law enforcement agencies had all the funding and resources necessary to safeguard against another terrorist attack. Hey, I can go on and on and on all day long.
Suggested reading: The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report: Final Report of the National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States. I happen to subscribe to the dissent - supported by four of the ten commissioners - because it agrees well with my own conclusions after a lot of research. Haven't yet been able to determine the political persasion of the commissioners, but I'd almost be surprised to find that it wasn't six Democrats and four Republicans. . . . Confirmed: six Democrats & four Republicans.
---------------------–
Romney was right in what he said back in 2007, something you'll rarely if ever see the mainstream press report in context: "[Osama bin Laden is] one of many, many people who are involved in this global Jihadist effort. He's by no means the only leader. . . . It's not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person. It is worth fashioning and executing an effective strategy to defeat global, violent Jihad and I have a plan for that."
A few days later, Romney elaborated: "We’ll move everything to get him. But I don’t want to buy into the Democratic pitch that this is all about one person - Osama bin Laden - because after we get him, there’s going to be another and another. This is about Shia and Sunni. This is about Hezbollah and Hamas and al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood. This is a worldwide jihadist effort to try and cause the collapse of all moderate Islamic governments and replace them with a caliphate."
Romney rightly recognizes that al Qaeda is a franchisor and that there are many variations of franchisees who utilize a name with cachet to gain followers.
The Housing bubble was a direct result of the Barney and Friends thinking that everyone in the country should be able to buy a house. Regardless of wether they could afford to or not. Freddy and Fanny were encouraged to do as many risking loans as possible to put even those who weren't credit worthy in a house.
Can the Lib's do anything but blame someone else???????
Well, I'd rather have someone who balanced budgets, ran a large business, worked with democrats and republicans, multi tasked, etc., than a man whose only claim to fame was voting present, giving lectures, and perfecting the art of giving flowery speeches. I'll take a governor's experience over that tingly leg I hear so much about, any old day!
I do agree, that the media is really at fault 90% of the time, They just never let anything go. Report a story with facts and stop beating a dead horse.
The key problem is the propagation of misinformation. Have we heard Rice admit the error, admit that her statements were (in the end) lies? Rice had no basis to make the claim and yet the claim was made: the Benghazi attack was the result of indignation over a film. That such claim was made and made without clear and convincing knowledge on the part of Rice, is reason enough to oust her. If Rice can unequivocally source the words she spoke (such as by being directed by the President to utter same) then that fact must be reported by Rice; it is the only justification upon which she should retain her appointment.
There is no justification for Rice's deceit; she plain and simple lied to the American people.
Rice is an apparatchik of Obama, and nothing more.
You're not a Romney supporter.
Yeah, let's just forget about these mere, "bumps in the road".
fast "FORWARD" to Marxism!
2012 Romney/Ryan/America vs. Obama/Biden
Yea and we should have just forgot about Watergate as well, All that was, Was a little break and entering, Nixon got impeached over it. We have a dead Ambassador who is on record asking repeatedly for more security and being refused by this Administration, Hes dead now and The CNN says we should just forget about it. Ahh CNN you Bias flag is flying high now
I find it interesting that Faux News rests on its laurels and waits at least 24 hours (sometimes) to try and truly assess the facts behind and event. However, in this case, their is no slack given to the Administration's attempts to determine what did happen on the groud in Benghazi. Truly remarkable that "white man speaks with forked tongue". That is, when it suits your purpose, violate you're own principles...sound famliar - certain;y - Mittsy practices that credo every day. This is a none issue except to say that someone did f-up and shold be held accountable. But the rest of it - "who's on first" bashing, is not news but rather political rancor. Gee, Fuax News, I thought you were against a biased Media? Ooops, another principle violated (and exploited).
There is a reason nobody is waiting.... THE ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN CAUGHT UNPREPARED AND IN THE MIDDLE OF A LIE.
Wake up please
Only a fool wouldn't expect attacks on Sept 11. The history of requests for additional security are clear, the avoidance by State and the WH to provide the same is disgraceful. That certain people close to the WH were called back to Washington for Sept 11 and others were not is almost 2nd degree murder. If it wasn't for the power and viciousness of Bill Clinton, there would be an outcry for the immediate dismissal of SOS H. Clinton as well as the propaganda chief Rice who facts show was clearly lying, which I believe came from Obama and/or those in his inner circle such as Axelrod who is trying very hard to blame this policy failure on ... Romney and Ryan? What a disgrace Axlerod is to America. The fact that the security was not provided as requested multiple times, that the security was not allowed to carry weapons and shoot to defend themselves, that Stevens was not re-called to Washington during Sept 11 as others were, that the the WH and State have been trying to spin this as "bumps in the road" and then for Obama to lie about his response on national TV during a Presidential debate are reasons enough to clean house and remove these incompetent buffoons from public office. The heck with being pro-Romney, how about just "anyone but Obama". America and the world will be better off.
What you overlook is the fact that Susan Rice made no attempt whatsoever to defend or even explain the American value of freedom of speech. In fact, she made it clear that if it were up to her, Americans would not be allowed to make videos - of any kind - without explicit permission from the Ummah. She is unfit to represent the US. She should not resign, she should be fired.
This opinion piece is merely attempted political cover up. Four people died because the executive branch of the United States did not do an competent job of heeding the warnings of an expected attack on the 9/11. All embassies and consulates should have been on high alert, personnel removed, protection bolstered, etc. That is an average expectation.
What went wrong, and why? We owe that to the people who served and died. This is all the more so when the initial response from the executive branch was so wrong and repeated for days. The journalistic community should demand an investigation of who knew what and when. How are we served by sweeping it under the rug? The absurd straw man comments made in this piece "We do not criticize a general each and every time..." are complete baloney that have nothing to do with this incident. One can hardly make the case that the media has criticized every misstep of this administration. It is unfortunate that this occurs so close to an election, however everyone knows that Sept. 11 is just two months before Nov. 6. What were they thinking?
Ambassador Rice consulted with Obama campaign members. I never before thought the US Ambassador to the UN was a political possition. Silly me. Everything with the Obama Admin is smoke and mirrors to make Obama look good. Terror, no terror, it's all about getting re-elected.
Is anyone aware that this piece is not from Fareed? That is because he has been put on a disiplinary leave of absence for stealing someone else's work..... Michael O'Hanlon is apparently just like him..... I hope he has more integrity than Fareed...
Old news, Fareed-hater. He's been back for months. Go fact-check yourself.
Your must be less than 10 or live in a jar–Every position appointed by the Pres is a political position. You don't remember Bolton being appointed Amb to UN. and you forget his position as vote counter for Bush in Fla hanging chads debate?
I don't think the mistake of having inadequate security was nearly as bad as trying to convince the American people the attack was in response to a youtube video. If Americans knew it was a terrorist attack they would want a response immediately- not an apology.
He wanted it to be an American's fault. I think Obama believed for a long time that other nations had good reason to hate America, but hopefully he is realizing they hate without reason.
IIs everyone aware that this piece is not from Fareed? That is because he has been put on a disiplinary leave of absence for stealing someone else's work..... Michael O'Hanlon is apparently just like him..... I hope he has more integrity than Fareed...
Leave it alone. Is it your business? Or wait you are just like all the repubs ready to pounce on others mistakes. He who has not sinned cast the first stone.
The video is a side story to all of this - now that we know much more about it. However, that does not discount how irrepsonsible the filmaker was in producign teh video in the 1st place. People sue for slander int his country. If the Muslims could get their heads out of their collective jihad a$$-s, then they my try and sue the producer for slander - I think they would have a case.
Nonsense! Slander is for telling a lie that causes financial harm. Freedom of speech comes before others being upset. If "I'm-A-Nutjob" from Iran can say what he does about the Jews, then certainly a couple of Egyptian's can tell the truth about Islam without Obama arresting them.
Or as bad as spending 70,000 to promote the lie and attempt to cause more unrest in Pakistan
Four Americans were killed that day and husein obama "shoot and then aimmed" (obama words against Romney)
Funny thing, though. Romney had it right from day one and Obama didn't.
EXACTLY!
Yip, Romney was right on the money, and I knew he was right from day one, and the worst part, I don't even like him, but Obama MAJOR FAIL.
Wrong...do some reading!
Romneys' made a lucrative living on guesses.
That doesn't make any sense. Learn English.
And yet, during the Bush administration, when there were no fewer than SEVEN attacks on US embassies and consulates, how outraged were you? And many more people died.
I don't think Bush made up a story about a movie and arrested the director of the movie to convince the voting public nothing was wrong and save his political ass. Keep your eye on the ball Karen and by ball I mean the scandal that is going to seal the fate of the phony we have in office right now
Romney had a 50-50 chance to be correct. He was suffering in the polls at the time, so he took a chance. But he muffed it when he said Obama waited 14 days to call it a terrorist attack - another attempted lie by Mittsy - and proven wrong on national TV. He also suffered criticism for politicizing the event so soon after it happened - making it a story about the Administration instead of supporting America in a crisis situation. If this is any example of how he would conduct foreign policy, we're is a world of hurt if Mittsy is elected president.
The transcript and video show obama making a generic statement. By no stretch of the imagination was he saying the Benghazi attack was a singular act of terror. I'm not sure he's ever 'fessed up, admitting that it was a terrorist attack instead of an outgrowth of a spontaneous demonstration. To do so would be at odds with his claim that al Qaeda is ready for the dustbin of history now that Osama bin Laden is dead.
Obama favorability in foreign policy plummeting because of Libya. Just in time for the debates. I wonder if the independent voters he needs so badly to win are the ones that are changing their view. mean I didn't need this screw up to know we had an imbecile in the White House
Seriously? The editorial note 'The views expressed are his own' may best describe this editorial.
Is anyone aware that this piece is not from Fareed? That is because he has been put on a disiplinary leave of absence for stealing someone else's work..... Michael O'Hanlon is apparently just like him..... I hope he has more integrity than Fareed...
Is everyone aware of how to use copy/paste? dc apparently has it mastered.
...and if you believe that the Faux News anchors do not orchestrate their story lines, I have a bridge I would liek to sell yuo - I think Rick Santorum can help you with that.
You are getting distracted. I am not sure what your problem with Fox News is but all major media outlets are now reporting on a flaming scandal involving a cover-up in the White House. Don't go down with the sinking ship, you will look very foolish for supporting this cover-up
HAHAHA! opinion puff piece essentially begging everyone to pretend nothing is wrong. Maybe the 30 percent of kool-aid drinking liberals don't have a problem burying their heads in the sand, but I am a big fan of the truth
Blaming Hilary isn't working. I guess it's a pivot to blaming the intel community
The assumptions we make show what we hope for. Obama and the media either missed a lot of facts because they didn't want to see them, or were hoping they could paint a different picture by withholding facts from the American people.
@ GoldenGirl – right on! Mistakes happen and we can forgive when the truth is told immediately. Cover ups are no good.
I dis-agree (Michael)
The people in charge of intelligence gathering in this country should be a little bit smarter than that, and in she cannot get her opinion into some of the decision making then there goes the "gut feeling" we all have mostly lived our lives by.
She earns enough money in her business to be professional and not let the "vulture media" trick her into saying something she probably shouldn't have commented on at that time.
Sorry but my job comes with responsibility,why cannot hers.
Cnn thanks million times for this: I was so stupid believing your bunch of lies, but I did awake up and switch to be a republican voter for the rest of my life Thank you again.
"We do not criticize a general each and every time he makes a tactical decision that tragically and perhaps preventably leads to the loss of some of his troops."
True, we don't criticize generals and admirals. We just ask for their resignation or assign them to a position that ends their careers, if they haven't done so by the time the analysis of the situation is completed.
Hillary Clinton should resign immediately or be fired by President Barack Obama. That's what all good leaders do. Allow the individual to leave gracefully or fire them. When Secretary Clinton leaves, the entire matter will go away politically.
Here, here.
Did anyone notice that this piece is not from Fareed? That is because he has been put on a disiplinary leave of absence for stealing someone else's work..... Michael O'Hanlon is apparently just like him..... I hope he has more integrity than Fareed...
Oh, please. Did you call for either Condaleeza Rice's or Colin Powell's resignation? Because during the eight years that Bush was in office, 47 Americans were killed during embassy attacks (seven in all), and hundreds more injured.
It's about the cover-up.
The pathetic media sensationalized the Libyan travesty to boost ratings. Shame on CNN and everybody else. Please stop showing the bloody toilets. If there are serious questions left then let the political powers that be ask them. CNN can report the results to us afterwards. Find something else newsworthy or get off the air.
CNN is only reporting information and opinion. You should be very thankful for this information and opinion, because it came with an unbelievable price tag.
Like binders?
Shame on Faux News for feeding into all of this as well - with abent on prostelyzing votes based on histeria, sensationalism and patently and overt biased reporting.
I believe the AP news is now running with the latest breaking info on this scandal. Stay tuned because this story is only getting started. Just keep peeling off 1 layer at a time. You will not like what you find in the end
Rice's hypothesis that the attack was in response to a youtube video because of previous violent responses to free speech?
Maybe she should have considered: #1: the video was several months old #2: the attack occured on Sept 11.
If she took those things into consideration she may have come up with a different hypothesis, like it was a terrorist attack because they hate America.
Rice intentionally misled the American people. When Bush said he believed Iraq possessed WMDs based upon his intelligence, nobody believed him and they continue to blast him for being disingenuous. Rice and Obama are being disingenuous on this issue. They deserve some of their own medicine. She should resign and he should start getting honest.
AMEN!
What? "Nobody believed him?" Bet you did. But where were they?
Nice revisionist history there, pal.
They were moved to Syria. Assad is a bathist just like Saddam was.
Don't be revisionist Karen. During a previous State of the Union speech Bill Clinton stated that Iraq had WMD. The US policy towards Iraq, under Clinton, was removal of Saddam, who by the way was funding attacks on Israel and terrorizing his own people. Plus Congress voted to invade Iraq under Bush, twice, and the UN supported the invasion and removal of Saddam. None of which was true of the overthrow of Quadafi which the WH did to assist the Islamification of that country. Get your facts straight and you might be able to see what is truly going on around you in the world.
SUGGESTION FOR CNN: If you really want to help the voting american public, why not begin to post articles on your website between now and the last debate that: (1) clearly outline and explain what the current foreign issues are, (2) when did they become issues for obama and our nation, (3) where are all those problems occuring, (4) how has obama been able to resolve them, (5) how did obama make them worse. Keep your viewers informed of things real from now on - not false albeit tragic political hype.
IF THE BENGHAZI ISSUE IS ASKED DURING THE UPCOMING FOREIGN POLICY DEBATE, AND I WERE ROMNEY, THEN I WOULD PROBABLY LOOM OBAMA DEAD IN THE EYE AND SIMPLY YET EMPHATICALLY STATE: "CLEARLY IT WAS A HORRIFIC TRAGEDY. THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS YET TO BE ANSWERED REGARDING WHO, WHAT, WHEN AND WHY. ASKING SUCH QUESTIONS HERE - TO YOU MR. PRESIDENT - AT THIS TIME - WOULD SURELY BE VIEWED AS PREMATURE TO THE WORLD AS WELL AS TO MYSELF. BUT LET ME ASSURE YOU, AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, I WILL LEND MY FULL AND UTMOST SUPPORT TO CONGRESS TO BRING ALL TO JUSTICE - NO MATTER WHO IS FOUND RESPONSIBLE - INCLUDING YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA."
We know who was responsible:
President Obama – for not sending a clear signal to spend ANY AMOUNT necessary to protect HIS REPRESENTATIVES in Libya. Also for going along with the "video caused it" excuse for so long.
Dep. Sec. of State Lamb – for refusing to extend/fund additional REQUESTED/RECOMMENDED SECURITY.
Sec. of State Clinton – she says she is responsible....then she should resign. Who did she hand off the Libya situation to? It was not stable. It was unsafe. It obviously was mismanaged.
US Amb. to UN Rice – for being very slow to be realistic about the nature of the attack and for being so willing to poo pah the attack.
And...how long did it tke to sort out the who, what and where of the Twin Towers catastrophe? Was that verified over night, or did we suffer days and months of visions of the collapse of the towers, as well as national introspection on how this could ever happen. In that case, it was cross agency arrogance that got int eh way of national security (was that the President's fault at the time?). It was a process issue and communcaitions issue. What are we going to find out in the ensuing weeks and months on the Benghaz issue as well? Only time will tell. Anything short of that is at best opinion, but more likely seflish, self promoting behavior - whether by the press or for political gain.
I think after a couple of weeks Tora Bora was being bombarded. Why just yesterday I heard the suspect in this was publicly bragging. Your phony leader has no interest in catching or killing those responsible because it still shines light on the fact that he somehow let us get attacked on 9/11
Great article, this hype over this issue is political to give Ronmeny an advantage. Its a pure example of why after Congress, the media has very ratings in terms of trust. Rice, Clinton, Obama are 3 of the best Civil Servants in the last 50 years. FOX , CNN would love to bring them down, because they represent the people and are not controlled by the forces that control FOX and CNN. (rich people who don't want to pay taxes)
Either you can't see the truth, or your nose is growing. Obama spread the story of everything being a response to the video, because he had been trying to convince the voters that the AQ problem had been solved. Shame on Obama for not only using national security as a political tool, but also accusing Romney of doiing just that. This is NOT a non-issue! – it's about honesty and integrity, of which our president has neither.
tea party nonsense from a blind Republican...Obama 2012.
Wow! there truly is no hope for you. I find that sad for some reason.
At the last debate someone finally asked President Obama the questions reporters should have been asking all along. The mainstream media should hire Mitt Romney on the spot.
To Michael, OMG!!! How you don't give the sheeple any credit!!! First off, Within hours President Morsai stated that it had been a terrorist attack which was his statement mentioned in the foreign press and a note was even made about how it took place on 9/11. There were heavy weapons used in the assalt. So in case you have no brain, I ask since when have you seen demonstators go around carrying RPG's? Yes, our news media was saying it was demonstrators over that film. Brain check... There is worse on YouTube that the Islamic world should be upset over but they are not. So in thinking about Susan Rices timing and seemingly disengaged world view what do I think? It's a cover-up...,over what? for the fact that a private security company called Blue Mountain was government contracted to patrol with night sticks (no Joke) in a militarized zone. Our poor Ambassador saw these young security guards carrying night sticks and realized the danger. We all know about the failure of the adminstrations providing the security as they probably saw in their files they had a private company doing it without realizing that company had inadequate staffing along with poor training. A 29 year old security guard who got shot in his legs told his story. So I think for now the 'cover-up' covers over a major embarrasment to the administration so a fib will need to be told because lives were lost. It's can't be the truth because it shows incompentency in an election year. So nice try trying to iron out the wrinkles Michael.
TO CNN MANAGEMENT: please consider doing the following two things for your loyal viewers: (1) FOR OBAMA SUPPORTERS: present an outline of President Obama's foreign policy successes, and (2) FOR ROMNEY SUPPORTERS: presnt an outline of President Obama's UNDENIABLE failures. Please give us the REAL DEAL this time - and allow the american public to be well informed enough to make the right and just choice come election day. Can you do that for us now CNN? Can you really?
THE BENGHAZI TRAGEDY HYPE = 90% MEDIA + 10% POLARIZED ELECTORATE SALVATING LIKE WILD WOLVES AT FRESH MEAT
This unfortunate story would be dropped by now if it weren't for the COVER-UP. The reason for the cover up was politically motivated to hide any perception of incompetence. Finding incompetence demands change or you get the same result in the future.
"Rice did not choose all her words perfectly that weekend, even based on what was known at the time, it is true. There should have been a bit more nuance and more acknowledgement of the uncertainty in some of them."
This is EXACTLY why she should be fired and EXACTLY why there should be a firestorm on this issue. Not only Rice, but Hillary, Carney, and even Pres Obama in front of the UN continued to blame the youtube video when it was OBVIOUS to all that wasn't the case. So, if ALL the facts weren't in, then why were they all talking as if the facts were all in???
Talk about a "War On Women"! Rosen, Rise, Hillary...ALL women taking the fall for Pres Obama!
Wow, how convenient. Let's lay off the single most important issue that proves Obumblers administration lied about these events, considering we are having a foreign policy debate on Monday. I wonder how the families of the men killed in Benghazi feel about this article, Michael O'Hanlon, you insolent low watt bulb of a journalist!
O'Hanlon isn't a journalist and never has been. He's a would-be defense and foreign policy expert. He's inept as a wonk, but has made a bit of a name for himself in certain circles. Not quite a jerk, unless I'm giving him more than his due.
TO CNN MANAGEMENT: This is one of the most important elections of our time and like the healthcare bill the media talks about whose winning and whose losing (strategies) instead of substance. Every time I turned on CNN Erin, Piers, or Anderson repeated the same details every night for two weeks on the what has become just lazy journalism feeding an already polarized electorate. Why not try some investigative journalism, " Suspect in Libya Attack, in Plain Sight, Scoffs at U.S" Why not talk to the American people, not Republicans or Democrats, but sincere and investigative journalism regarding the real issues of today. I was a loyal viewer of CNN, but you too are starting to dumb-down.
Nice - we need an unbiased CNN strong and powerful enough to support us through these turbulent times - we need a CNN that is brave enough to protect us from political deceit - we need a CNN that can prove more competent than all the other very biased news organizations as no doubt the founder Ted Turner envisioned.
REDSTORM: I like your thinking and I agree Ted Turner visioned someting bigger and better than how CNN is covering Benghazi. I have been so disappointed and even angry when I have turned on CNN lately, and heard the same thing over and over, night after night. Our issues are so much bigger than this as a country, I wish we would spend as much time considering what we are doing in the Middle East, and what have our actions really accomplished.
She will lose her post in a few weeks and be out by January 20th anyway.
Kind of like her boss.
DEAR ANDERSON COOPER: I am not a "TROLL" - most of the commentators who visit this site are NOT "TROLLS" - CNN is the one who created this vehicle of voice from the ANONYMOUS DARK - we are the concerned citizens who cherish this privilege to connect with you and CNN editorial staff. We know our comments are well monitored and gleaned for your consideration. CNN takes our views, thoughts, feelings and reactions to what you present to us into consideration. Perhaps you find only 5% of what you recieve as valis and useful, but al least you are getting valuable feedback inportant and vital to all of us here. So please except it for what it was intended - and thank you again CNN for developing this avenue of voice between you and your readers. We are enjoying the anonymous relationship - we only hope that all your staff appreciate equally as well.
This issue illustrates where reason and patriotism should reign. It is visibly absent. Why? Because Romney and his campaign have decided it to use as a wedge issue. The armwrestling match that has persisted has mainly been what to call it and when the nature of the act should have been known. This is pure BS. Why? Because calling it an act of terrorism or act of terror is foolishly ridiculous to argue as a point of winning political points. People are dead, they are not less dead or more dead because of what happen. For Romney to be so off the mark with regard to deciding to use this to highlight what he believes are qualities to illustrate leadership and or foreign policy credentials, shows that he in fact has zero. We gather information to make sense out of events like to this to be able to provide a clear assessment. Romney has used this process to show not only how misinformed he is on all aspects of this process. To be a President you need to have qualities such as diplomacy and statesmenship. Romney wouldn't know what statesmanship is if it hit in the head with a blinking radioactive baseball
Words have meaning, Mariner V. Choosing not to call the attack on the consulate the outright terrorism it was had a political advantage for obama. That's why it's not time to put the issue to bed.
Mariner V you just said..."People are dead, they are not less dead or more dead because of what happen.(sic)" Common sense tells me that 4 people are dead because of what happened.
They were forewarned of a probable attack on 9/11 commonsense says take precautions on that day. For 5 days after the attack they blamed a stupid little video because it was politically advantageous. That is what the outrage is about. It is about the political decision from the executive branch to COVER UP the real cause. The journalists should try to find where the acountability truly rests and see what the administration will do differently in the future.
Nixon fell because of his cover-up. In this one 4 people died.
Obama dodged the question in the second debate "Who refused the requests for additional security and why". He simply stepped around the question and went into a discourse about foreign diplomats worked for him. In an Islamic country as unstable as Libya, it makes no sense to deny a request by the ambassador for additional security on 9/11 , now a holy day for muslims. And the lame attempt to cover up the facts is almost as disturbing.
Lay off Benghazi issue, why does it show how much of an idiot our current president is?
What is the big fuss about, whether our diplomats are killed in a planned attack or mob protest. They chose to serve the country in a very dangerous part of world and they knew the risk. Shall we also fire the president who put our solders at risk in foreign countries. If so, Bush would be fired thousand times.
Yeah lay off this and let's get back to important stuff like "Binders of Women" or the 47% comments. Let's see how the mainstream media acts once Romney becomes president. Out of nowhere they'll come back and learn to criticize the POTUS.
this is a tragic event. the administration has made it dishonorable as well by misleading the American people and trying to convince the world that this was the result of a Youtube video. it was not and the administration knew it.
i can accept the security mistakes, but i cannot accept the obfuscation of facts regarding this event. if the President, Rice, and Clinton were Cadets at any US military academy they would be required to resign their positions for this behavior. if they were serving in the field they would be subject to a Court Marshall.
it isn't the crime, it's the cover-up.
CNN should start reporting facts and spend less time trying to create political opinion; the people are skeptical of the press because the press has shown an inability to present facts.
Ha, of course CNN wants everyone to "lay off the Benghazi issue" because it exposes Obama as incompetent, deceptive and a liar. Let's "lay off" the economy, deficit and unemployment rate, too – right CNN? Let's just talk about binders!
I guess "Blame it on the intel" only works for Democrats. You could make the same argument for Iraq's "Weapons of Mass destruction." "Bush Lied and people Died!" I bet you never you never wrote a similar piece defending Bush, did you?
TRANSLATION: Guys, this has made the Obama administration look really bad, so please stop talking about it. Let's focus on the real issues, like Big Bird and "binders of women."
When the President and his top representatives intentionally lie to the American people, then the issue should not be dumped – until the liars adit their wrongdoing. These same people, but mostly the President, should be ashamed of their continued deceptions and lies. To say that the opposition should lay off this subject is to demonstrate a deep misunderstanding of democracy, transparency and politics.
Why layoff? Because it makes the worst president since Jimmy Carter look bad?
Exactly. If this had happened during a Republican presidency, it would be headline news for a week on CNN.
I simply don't understand why people are having their underwear in a wad over this. Terrorist attack based on film or terrorist attack for terrorist sack. Still a terrorist attack reguardless of when they deicided which one it was–big deal only to those wanting something to work with.
I don't know you, but when someone lies to me its a big deal. When the government lies to me its evan a bigger deal. Knowing that they listened to the attack as it was happening,makes me think you are trying to insult my, as well as everyone else's intelligence. I know you guys want this to go away, but it is one of the biggest reasons the truth needs to come out. Obama may be offended, but don't you think we might be a little offended as well? People were killed that should have had better protection to begin with. But to cover it up for political gain shows more than just lies being told.
Lay off the Benghazi issue? WHY? Rice highlights the incompetence of the Obama administration. Oh, of course! That's why we need to lay off the issue – it makes Obama look incompetent! We can't have the media's darling president looking like the fool he is.
I can't read past the first paragraph of this trash. Susan Rice was expressing "her belief"? Come on guys. If that was the case they might have well grabbed a homeless person of the street for their opinion. Why won't we let go of this issue? Because it sums up the whole mess that makes up this White House.
Lay off ? I bet he wouldn't be saying this if his son was one of the ones killed!! The American public deserves to know the truth, being these elected officials "work for us"!! Sept 11, and Obama and his minions want America to believe it had nothing to do with the Islamic hatred of the West on their "Anniversary day of anti-America".
The Benghazi issue is hurting Obama. The left leaning liberal CNN says it's time to lay off. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
That's good for an early Friday morning laugh!
Off course Zacariah wants Rice and others to be found inocent, he himself was forgiving by CNN for plagiarism, than in any other place he would be fired, CNN and it employees defend Democrats and Liberals no matter what, but to many Americans and specially the families of the men murdered is not a matter to forget, we armed and still do, given money to turn the Middle East and Muslim Countries into Sharia loving killing grounds. Instead of defending the dead ,there were TV adds in this countries "apologizing" for allowing freedom of expression in the USA.
Yes get off obama's back on Libya but be sure to keep harping on Mitt's 14% tax rate and he is the best outsourcer of jobs. just please make sure you dont focus on what a failure obama has been.
Sorry that accountability for actions and inactions is being demanded. Another apologist for the radical Islamists.
The attack happened first.......there was never a protest.....all was calm....then explosions and gunfire.
The attack occured on 9/11......HOW COINCIDENTAL!......Anyone with half a brain would assume that on 9/11, ALL US PERSONNEL should be on ULTRA HIGH ALERT on or around 9/11/
The US Ambassador to Libya was driving around a post-revolution, Middle East country with no central government, with Al Qaeda on the loose..... WITH TWO GUARDS!
The attack was actually MULTIPLE attacks. The consulate was the first target.....the survivors were AMBUSHED on the way to the Annex..The Annex was attacked ....besides AK47s and RPGs, the attackers struck the Annex with 3 direct MORTAR HITS (which killed the two ex-SEALs).
From the first minutes of the attack, BOTH the State Department and the White House KNEW....K N E W ..there was no protest proceeding and of the multiple attacks.
This is a VERY POLITICAL ISSUE since it calls into question the Adminstration's COMPETENCE at both providing enough security BEFORE THE ATTACK and their POST-ATTACK EXPLANATIONS.......plural......inaccurate......misleading...and probably POLITICALLY MOTIVATED.
Politically motivated?
Whatever you think about President Obama as a president, he is not an entirely incompetent campaigner. Being wrong on intelligence is not a good political move (just look how it has been playing out in the campaign). Even if he could have pulled off the claim, a spontaneous terrorist attack from a demonstration would indicate Libya is much less stable than it actually is. Politically, being the victim of a planned terrorist attack is better.
Your conspiracy theory is pretty stupid.
I think it's clear that your head is so far up your rectum that you can smell your own bad breath...
Barney Frank is the one who calls everyone he disagrees with "stupid."
There is a pattern of this President and his Administration being unwilling in some key instances to label terrorism "terrorism."
Benghazigate is all about the President, the State Department, the Adminstration, not being agressive enough in GRASPING REALITY and RECOGNIZING THREATS. It is INSANE to now look at the level of security for the US AMBASSADOR in Libya.....What were they thinking?
Once it was clear that our consulate, which was all but undefended, was overrun and burning, with 4 Americans dead, it was clear that close to the election, the President would suffer TREMENDOUS FALLOUT....and the campaign and Adminstration went into mega spin mode.
So, then what your saying is it really wasn't Bush's fault, it was bad intelligence?
Ok so the US puts an embassy in Libya and expects not to be attacked…Im surprised the US is not attacked more often in all the other embassies around the region.
Non-issue…now let's move on.
How stupid and cold can one remark be. What it it was your dad or brother that was killed? Covering for Obama isn't worth one life. Sorry but your true colors are showing
It's all Republicans have got.
HEAR HEAR !!!!!!! TIme to GROW UP GOP! , we the American people are sick of your spin spin spin cycle!
Al we got? You must not watch the debates much, huh? Why republicans have made budgets, plans, and resolves all we get out of Obama is attacks on those plans. Why some might ask? How many plans, budgets resolves has the Obama Administration come up with? He only wrote a budget once, and it was so far off not one person in his own party would vote for it. Whats Obama's plan on the economy.........attack Romney, raise taxes. Whats his plan on jobs? Attack Romney, raise taxes. What is his plan on green energy evan. Give millions of tax payer money to dem buddies that then file bankruptcy, and take the fifth, attack Romney, raise taxes. His solution on healthcare cost? A plan that already has cost us $2500, and adding another 2500 when completly inprovised, attack Romney, and raise taxes. Why else would you build a plan that we don't know the total cost for ten years? That was so he could get another term and do more damage before the people knew what it actually cost them.Oh, I almost forgot, attack Romney, and raise taxes. Who would have ever thought that the resolve to all our problems was going to be attack Romney, raise taxes. The saddest part is if he gets re-elected it will just be raise taxes. What is his plans for a second term? You should know, its all we heard for four years.........raise taxes...........what a pioneer in the solution business, he is a genius
O'Hanlon's article is tripe. Rice didn't go on 5 talk shows to express her 'opinion'. She was given talking points and told to push them by the WH. This garbage about the video is nonsense, completely made up. It came out in July, few people saw it and this is the cause of the attack?!? Bull. I've seen the video. It is a joke and no one could take it seriously. The fact that Rice, Carney, Biden, Hills and Obama tried to sell this so hard is all about them ducking for cover after a major blunder on not realizing terrorism is resurgent and they screwed up on not protecting US citizens on the anniversary of 9-11 a few months after killing Bin Laden. These people are amateurs.
What a bunch of bull. No, we should not drop this. This issues continues to show how weak this administration is on security. Rice was lying from the beginning. Yes, I said lying, the same President Obama is doing. Why is everyone afraid to call it what it is. You better believe if this had benn Bush – the media would not be able to get enough coverage on it. I am supprised this guy did not try to blame Bush.
The Benghazi situation and subsequent coverup is summary of the entire Obama Administration. It is time to fire the entire incompetent bunch and reduce the government payroll back to 2007 levels as a start. Congress can investigate the mess after the elections and where we can watch these characters squirm during their testimonies seated next to their lawyers. State, Justice and the Pentagon needs to be purged of all Obama appointees as soon as Romney is elected. On second thought, the exodus will be hilarious to watch as the rats abandon ship. BTW, Rice is typical of the drones who work in this administration. She is as bad as Carney and they are all as bad their boss.
Rice is a political appointee. She represents the president, the American people and to some degree herself. She knew what she was saying, she knew what was correct and true, she spoke for the president and the administration. What she said was not correct and was known not to be true. All the wiggling in the world will not get her off the hook.
This guy is a senior fellow at Brookings? "We do not criticize a general each and every time he makes a tactical decision that tragically and perhaps preventably leads to the loss of some of his troops." – correct – only because politicians force him to retire – not criticize. I disagree with the mentalility that if Ms. Rice would have had a caveate on all her comments that it would have made it better. Everything is political regardless of which administration is in office, but that is part of the bigger problem in our country.
people died and Obama Clinton and Rice lied......
CNN continues to prove it has no credibility
Apparently naive people don't understand that when hundreds of voices are saying something, the president has no need to officially confirm or deny. Diplomacy between nations is not something you children should try to meddle in or even understand. We knew that outrage against the film had been used to cover a commando raid, and the longer it took for the terrorists to learn we knew, the better chance we had of getting intel. How about you Sunday soldiers put a sock in it like the man said and quit tugging the prez's elbow while he kills your terrorists and fixes your economy?
Translation: the Benghazi "issue" is hurting barry so badly we need to stop talking about it.
this is a constant pattern in the WH narrative about muslim radicalism....
fort hood shooter- "domestic workplace violence".
suicide bombers are "man made disasters"....
islamic radicaslim is not to be discussed...
detroit underwear bomber- he didnt get through, remember? lol....times quare bomber ...he was just a lone wolf nut...remember? lol...
Don't forget the burying of the Islamic radical caught attempting blow up the federal reserve. They do everything they can to pretend as if it did not even happen because Al Qaeda is on the run right?... Right?
I don't think we should forget about the situation that caused the death of our fellow countrymen who served our nation. Something went wrong and there are still no clear answers or assurance this won't happen again. Get over the politics and get to the bottom of this. We deserve to know and most importantly, the families of those who died deserve better.
Layoff? Are you kidding? The Benghazi attacks symbolize the failure of the Obama Middle East policies and it symbolizes the incompetence of both Obama and Secretary Clinton.
The Benghazi attacks and the lack of jobs in the U.S. are the big issues of this Presidential campaign!
We now need to focus on India. The American invasion of Afghanistan brought to the forefront the irrelevance of India as a nation. With a population of over 1.2 billion people there was no value that this nation could bring to the table. Their soldiers (ragtag) 1.2 million continue hiding in the trenches scared from Talibans. A few teenage Talibans invaded the country and held it hostage for days on end showing how useless India is. It was embarrasing for the world to observe this humiliation of a nation that was being touted as a regional power.
Gee, who could have seen that coming...
CNN wants to kill a story which shows what an incompetent boob their Obama and his administration really is?
Look, CNN, Barry Barack Hussein Soetoro Obama is TOAST and this debacle is just one more reason for the ousting of this disaster of a Presidency. So killing the story isn't going to protect your little man, Obama is history.
So CNN has not covered this story anyway, and now one of CNN's writers wants to take away the freedom of press?
CNN posting an opinion piece that everybody should not be critical of all the liars from the Obama administration who have been (and still are) trying to dupe the American public concerning the terrorist attack?
Nobody circles the wagons around Obama's blunders like CNN! Well maybe MSNBC too. And also NBC, CBS, ABC, the vast majority of newspapers & magazines, the HoPuff, Daily Kos, Media Matters....well, you get the idea.
But it was so obvious to anyone what had happened, and here are the reasons why.
1) The attack happened on September 11.
2) The movie had been around for a while – its first screening was in June. Why wait until September to riot?
2) The Libyans themselves were telling us that it was a terror attack.
3) There had been indications before the attack that it was being planned.
I remember thinking in the days after the attack when the video story was being pushed so hard. "I know they are lying to me, I just don't know why."
The best I can figure is that the Obama administration was desperate to demonstrate that their way of dealing with the Muslim world was effective. That they had reversed the hatred that resulted from Bush's policies, and replaced it with good feelings toward America. A protest against a video could be blamed on an individual person. A terrorist attack, on the other hand, demonstrates a deeper hatred towards America and its policies. The attack showed that in spite of Obama's efforts they still hate us and want to destroy us.
"Shut up," he explained.
Lay off of the issue? The President has said that we are still investigating what happen. Why would you lay off before all the facts are in? The real issue of Benghazi is that the President was not paying attention to his job because of his need to appear on TV shows and raise money. After he dropped the ball, he lied to the American people and is trying to cover up his incompetence. I am not surprised that the WH controlled media want to drop the issue. They have never wanted to report it in the first place.
This story has barely begun and of course CNN would like to kill it. Rice can end her piece of this tomorrow very easily... Who told her what to say (an actual person, not generic) and when did she learn it was a planned terrorist act? Two questions, her part is done. The "State Department" watched it unfold for 8 hours. The "State Department" knew they wanted more security. The "State Department" went on 5 talk shows and told a story that was patently false, and we have yet to hear anyone apologize to the US about misleading them even if it was not intentional. Every single person in the world except that bubble in the White House knew this was terrorism, and on the anniversary of 9/11 to boot, and if it took the administration 2 weeks to figure it out they should just go back to private life now. Embarrassing.
Really? The US government removed armed detail in August when the Ambassador was requesting more. Then it took them two weeks to figure out it was a terrorist attack. Are we supposed to sweep it under the rug? Four Americans died and they shouldn't have died. Sorry it happened right before the election but that doesn't excuse the administration from not doing the job right. That does not mean I think Rice should have to resign. I remember someone saying the buck stops with him. Time to pony up.
I also believe this president has an Arthur Fonzarelli thing about not being able to say the words "Islamic Terrorist". Please prove me wrong.
In this country, when acts of violence are committed, civilian police routinely refuse to comment on details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing and before the suspects have been apprehended. There is good reason for that. For all we know, it may have served a good purpose for embassy officials to initially imply that the attack arose spontaneously from a demonstration against the video if they knew otherwise. Reasonable people of good will understand that every crime is a complicated story and the facts are rarely clear at the beginning. How much more complicated is the situation in an unstable foreign country full of friends and enemies of all kinds, with a barely functioning new government. Only people who hate President Obama and see an opportunity to defeat him in this election would be making such a big deal over the handling of this tragic event on foreign soil. That they are making President Obama and his administration "the enemy" instead of the terrorists who murdered four of our representatives in Libya is, to me, close to treason.
Here is a fact for you scholar, we listened to it play out in command bunkers. We knew it while it was happening. While I'll give you the part on the police, that has no bearing on Libya at this point. How did they know where the safe house was? There was no demonstration at the embassy. All of these have been proven. How is it that the media can get to the site, find the ambassador's diary and we can't get the FBI or at least military personnell in there for over three weeks? This isn't evan math and I can see this doesn't add up. We had warnings of an attack before it happened, days before. So don't be dismayed when people don't buy what your trying to sale.
I feel like everyone is concentrating on the wrong issue. Yes, it looks like the administration misled in the weeks following the incident. The real issue is leading up to the incident. At one point I read a report that there was only 1 armed guard at the consulate. Is this true? This seems like a much larger problem then who said what. Why, on the ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11, was there only 1 armed guard with the US ambassador to a newly formed and not yet stable country with known active militant groups? Everyone seems to glide past this fact to the aftermath. Who cares about the aftermath? Intelligence is used for foresight, and clearly it was ignored in this case along with the common sense of protecting your missions abroad.
That is an issue, but somebody must be held accountable for running the ad in Pakistan that resulted in more loss of lives after knowing that it was a lie. We paid for an ad that inflamed more people and led to more riots just to protect this fraud in office.
This is more than just the Benghazi attack. This goes to the heart of the Obama foreign policy. Americans need to know how this administration works. I admit I have formed an opinion based on the last 3 1/2 years of Obama and 60 years of other foreign policies.
I see three errors made.
1. Why was Benghazi left unprotected??? This was not an unconcious decision but was premeditated. My thought is that if we don't show an aggresive stance, we will show we are nice guys and will cause no harm. This time it's different.
2. Why did we leave Benghazi unprotected after the attack??? Sorry, this one baffles me.
3. Why did the Administration mis lead the public rather than talking about the reality of the attack??? It's not whether you're right or wrong, as long as you don't look bad. "This time it's different"
After every major conflict, we back off and quit protecting ourselves and say "This time it's different" It's never different. I don't want another American to die because some bleeding heart says "This time it's different"
We only have 3 weeks to decide
Point #2......RIGHT ON!
It was embarassing and baffling at how CNN could rummage around the compound (and find Amb. Stevens diary) yet the FBI couldn't get in there for THREE WEEKS!!!??? We'er the freaking USA...we shoudl have been there with troops protecting the compound before the fires were out!!!!
This guy should resign too, along with Rice. Well-connected talk radio hosts knew it was terrorism from day one.
How does a liberal journalist hae communications within the intl community? He here's want he wants.
The author of this article clearly either has not done their homework or has chosen to ignore facts. Rice contued to spew that the attack was the result of reaction over the video long after it was know to not be true. The Libyan Government said it was a terrost attack immediately, and it followed a string of other such attacks on US interests as well as those of several other countries. There were facebook threats of a 9/11 anniversary attack in Libya. Our intelligence services knew withinn a day it was a terrorist attack. The weapons used were not indicative of a random mob, but of a pre-planned attack. The fact that the supposedly sectret 'safe house' was also attacked was further proof of an organized terrorist event. Rivce did not 'mispeak'. She lied for 2 weeks.Shje presented a narrative which fit the Administrations twisted view of what Mideast policy should be. To admit to a terrorist attack would be to admit that our policy in Libya and the Mideast as a whole is a failure. Appeasement never works.
Kimberly Dozier from the AP reported (it is the headline on Comcast.net) that "Libya reported to Washington within 24 hours of last month's deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate that there was evidence it was carried out by militants, not a spontaneous mob upset about an American-made video ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad, U.S. officials have told The Associated Press." This opinion comes from someone who is reported to be on the external review committee of the CIA but he does not appear to know this. Clearly he is a supporter of Rice. The buck stops with the president. How can anyone think that the killing of 4 Americans in Libya on sept 11 is not something that should be discussed. Look at the news that CNN is pushing on its headlines. Rover sees shiny object on Mars, Romney and Obama have one liners at a charity dinner. Are these issues more important that the killing of our ambassador and three other Americans. The security or lack thereof at our embassy or consulette. We will see if CNN passes on this news from the AP
She wasn't stating her belief, she was stating the government's position. The entire premiss is wrong. This makes the entire article meaningless crap.
Never let facts get in the way of a good story. The "buck" stops with the President, misinformation was fed to the U.S. citizenry, indeed, the World, and it took two weeks for the "truth" to reach Pennsylvania Ave.? The greatest ramification of all this is that it's just another "brick in the wall" that Obama has been building for himself since he took office. Watch carefully as major newspapers start endorsing Romney, because they don't want to be held accountable for supporting a candidate who cannot, or will not, tell the truth. Ambassador Stevens died because of a movie that had been on the internet for, by most accounts, six months? It's hard, nay impossible, to swallow that "pill".
People that are trying to SPIN this to NO END all for political gain are offensive obnoxious skumbags!
Someone's father, husband and / or brother is NOT coming home for xmas and all people want to do is play the balme game! REALLY?! GROW UP! sounds like the same m0r0Ns that want to play the blame game for all kinds happenings here in the states rgarding others pointing the finger at BUSH JR. . Hey, if it happened it HAPPENED! Let's move forward and undo the mess and also learn from the Benghazi attacks to prevent future loss of life instead of playing THE BLAME GAME! GROW UP!
In other words, he is saying its Bush's fault.The Administration has lied about libya for a month now. The biggest part of fixing the situation is to get rid of the people whos neglegence let it happen, does it not? The families deserve answers. Our people deserve the truth. What may be the saddest thing about it all, is the cover-up was done for political reasons. But to hide the truth behind the excuse that finding it is just for political reasons from the other side, is trying to hide the truth from coming out. Yes, this could hurt Obama, and from what I've seen so far.......it should............
All of this waste of energy is what really ticks me off about my fellow citizens. I am willing to bet there is some truth to what Ms. Rice had to say, as well as there is some truth as to what the Romney campaign is trying to establish.
These acts were on a consulate and not an embassy, but more importantly these terrorist attacks can't always be dealt with in the manner the republicans demand. - They are going to separate themselves from the errors of the bush administration. (WMD's comes to mind.) At the same time they are not going to respect the fact that the President and the country has to respond properly. They are accusing Obama of being weak, when he is comfortable killing even US citizens who are classified as terrorists, without any due process. Something that I understand, but do have concerns with as a precedent that can be abused.
The world is not a safe place as my privacy law professor once so deftly stated to me. Attacks are going to happen, and to think that you can stop them all is irrational. - Did they mislead the American people? Not even close to what the Bush administration got away with all in the name of nationalism. Obama's "misleading" is not in full context yet and to say otherwise, when issues may be sensitive, is irresponsible.
What about the video lies?
First, I agree that the level of critisism is extremely unfair to a dedicated official who has served the country tirelessly and remarkably over her four years in the Obama administration". Secondly, i am puzzled with the news that as the incident was taking place in Bengazhi, it was watched live by the state department officials. So the question now is , how a respected official like Susan can go on air 5 days after and link it to the video? Don't we expect our officials to rise above politics even in an election year? She is the only one that can explain this.
They will not allow her to speak before the election. A decision that will cost Obama countless votes due to disintegration of trust amongst the voting population
Areyou serious in publishing this guy, from Brookings, the liberal think tank? This is the same guy who supported Iraq, then saw a political opportunity to come out against it, supported the failed Afghanistan strategy.
CNN contines to publish extremists as mainstream and continues to lose people reading and watching them.
If the 9/11/12 Benghazi attack was "senseless violence", as Obama stated the next day, then it was not an "act of terror," which he also claimed in the same Rose Garden address to the nation; and if it was an "act of terror," then it was not "senseless violence"!
Context is everything! Look at Obama's deceptive use of the term, "senseless violence." In the fourth paragraph of his Rose Garden speech on 9/12, Obama characterizes the murder of our ambassador and three other Americans as a "type of senseless violence."
John Wilkes Booth's assassination of President Lincoln was not "senseless violence," was it? Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination of President Kennedy was not "senseless violence," was it?
Look up the word "senseless" and you will find the definition, "without discernible meaning or purpose" along with these synonyms: pointless, futile, useless, needless, unavailing, in vain, purposeless, meaningless, unprofitable; absurd, foolish, insane, stupid, idiotic, ridiculous, ludicrous, mindless, illogical.
People stampeding Best Buy on Black Friday is "senseless violence." The premeditated and sustained and coordinated attack on the Libyan Consulate and the deliberate murder of these Americans by members of an Al Qaeda-linked group on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 was ANYTHING BUT "senseless violence"! It was carried out by terrorists whose act of terrorism had a point, purpose, meaning, etc. This was not the result of a mindless mob mentality that got out of control because religious sensitivities were offended by a YouTube video clip, which was the deceptive narrative of the Obama Administration from day one.
I call BS on BO for trying to have it both ways: If it was "senseless violence", then it was not an "act of terror," and if it was an "act of terror," then it was not "senseless violence"!
The author is correct but his words will have no effect on the Obama-haters. They do not care about the four Americans killed by terrorists in Benghazi. If they did, they would be demanding swifter action to apprehend and punish them. That would be their only concern. They would be condemning the Libyan government or demanding that we close our embassies in all Middle East countries in righteous protest. No, it's America they hate. The America that elected Barack Obama to be our president. So they will rant about anything until he is defeated. If not Benghazi, then the price of gasoline or the president's wife or the toothpaste he uses. Fanatics full of hate can't help themselves.
Nothing to see here move along, move along.
The administration had proof within 24 hours and all evidence form the beginning indicated no protest and a planed al-Qaeda attack. But lets not try to find out why every body in this administration and the media propitiated fabricated lies.
Nothing to see here move along, move along.
Everyone please focus on something other than this Obama failure. It only makes him look like the weak child he is. REPEAT, do not focus on this Obama failure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why is this one sided piece of pro-obama yellow journalism on the front page? Oh wait, I just answered my own question.
Lay off???? Four dead Americans. What on Earth are you nut-jobs talking about??? Yeah, sorry, but the grown-ups who are not too busy smoing dope in our parents' basements and dreaming of an Obama turnaround ARE going to continue pursuing this until we know WHAT THE PRESIDENT KNEW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT. Anyone with EYES knew there was NO DEMONSTRATION the same day of the attack. Now we are suggesting the attackers WERE the supposed crowd???? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!
Blame, blame, blame. blame your mother for having you. blame your father siring you. Blame your teachers for not learning for you. blame the President for being contemplative and wise. for being aware of the sick and needy among you. for believing that challenge is a catalyst for change. but do not blame him for your need to be instantly gratified. or for your inability to think critically about issues that impact your daily life. Nothing in life is an absolute certainty.
Oh please, Blame Bush for everything and give Obama a pass? I'll tell you what I blame Obama for ,and you tell me where I'm wrong. I blame him for his failed policies. I blame him for ignoring the jobs situation and not meeting with his Jobs committee for over 200 days. I blame him for doubling the deficit when promising to cut it in half. I blame him for not putting his energy into fixing the economy or anything else during his first two years when he had a super majority in both house and senate. With our economy tanked he pushed partisan healthcare reform ahead of anything else. I blame him for giving taxpayer money to his croonies in green energy, who ultimately go bankrupt, and take the fifth on questions in front of Congress. I blame him for saying he knew nothing about Fast and Furious, then proclaiming executive priveledge, after saying he knew nothing of it. I blame him for leaking information for political gain that could cost American lives and interest. I have never seen the man open his mouth that I haven't heard a lie before he shut it again. I blame him for trying to appease people we have no business trying to appease in the first place. I blame him for his actions and responses to attacks by extremist be cause he refuses to believe what he sees with his own eyes and hears with his own ears. Especially when it comes to Libya, it has cover-up all over it and it all leads straight back to the white House. So Obama got offended,but what is important is four Americans lost their lives............
@ rexdogcanadien
Make all the excuses for him you want. You are void of independent thought. Your offensive remarks in the face of the questioning a mere man who obviously puts politics before integrity, the man you idolize and will not see for what he really is.. This refusal of yours to look at facts and let them take you to logical conclusions emphasizes your own lack of integrity. We do not blame. We just are open to the facts. We want the truth. You refuse to see the truth if it implicates your idol. He is just a man... an extremely unethical and focused man who is willing to see out the American people to get what he wants. Your allegiance without clarity is dangerous in any society. We should all be willing to see our leaders actions with independent thought and challenge them when the facts do not support their rhetoric. This is what makes us Americans.. free thinking Americans. We will not sit by and stomach a can of lies.
Since when are the murders of Americans, at the hands of Al Qaeda terrorist swept under the rug? Over 4 weeks later, and after the initial explanation of the lies, no real answers. It is actually n the administrations best interest to come clean because the rumors in Washington of a botched October surprise have gone viral, and seem to be the only story that connects the dots.
http://www.westernjournalism.com/benghazi-attack-was-botched-kidnapping-to-trade-blind-sheik/?fb_action_ids=4801879925979&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
Michael O'Hanlon's opinion article is partisan bull!
1. We DO criticize generals who make mistakes that unnecessarily cost the lives of our soldiers! They're replaced with more competent generals. Our military leaders are constantly evaluated by their superiors and peers, and they're forced out when found incompetent.
2. Ambassador Susan Rice was representing the U.S. in front of the UN and expressing opinions in public that were not supported by the rest of the U.S. government.
3. This administration's officials couldn't tell a consistent story even 5 days after the attack!
4. The U.S. government has historically stood by the right to say anything that doesn't directly call for violence against others. We may hate what someone else is saying, but we defend their right to say it. Anyone who blamed the video for the deaths of 4 Americans was fundamentally justifying an attack on American freedom of speech within our own borders!
The media and Democrats have continuously criticized President Bush for taking the intelligence community's assessment of WMD in Iraq to Congress to approve the war in Iraq! He took a report of the government's majority and vetted concensus (right or wrong) to Congress, regardless of what any one individual shouted.
O'Hanlon is a very legit guy (unlike Zakaria, who has no real on the ground experience and is purely academic) but he is misguided here, probably because of his friendship with Rice.
The problem isn't just Rice's mishandling - and as all of the contemporaneous evidence shows, there was no basis for her referring to a "mob" that - literally - never existed. The much larger problem is the way this incident was woven into the larger Obama policy of appeasement and apology. Remember - his speech at the UN contained over a half dozen references to a movie trailer - and that allowed him to apologize yet again for something for which American should never apologize.
Pandering to Arab mobs is wrong. Feed the bear and the bear wants more. Arabs, on a daily basis, utter vile, vicious, hateful anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Jewish statements that are appalling. Why don't we demand an apology from them?
The Rice incident, compounded by Obama's apologies based on what he had to know was false information - that is the issue coming out of Bengazi. And there was a motive to lie - there has never been a 9/11 attack since 2001, and Obama had a motive to fudge the facts to conceal his security failure.
As for Clinton taking "responsiiblity" this celebrity secretary of state has had a strong of disasters in foreign policy - our relations in Russia, China, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the Koreas - are worse than four years ago. So when someone as legit as O'Hanlon makes excuses, you know that in the confrontation between reality and wishful thinking, the latter has won.
It would be one thing to say that the attack was part of a mob protest gone awry and then come back and say that no, the two events were not connected. The problem is that one of the events never occurred at all. There was no protest over this video. Someone along the line made up an event that never occurred. I find it very hard to believe that after five days the State Dept. could not have known that the protest never occurred–when there was a video of what happened in Benghazi showing exactly that!! I'm supposed to believe that no one watched the video until after Susan Rice was trotted out to tout this made-up story? All fingers point to a cover-up. Not a single shred of evidence backs up what the administration has said. But everyone just needs to drop it. Oh, OK. Nevermind.
It's Libya, who cares what happened over there? Now the young Ms Rice is another issue. I've seen her polarizing talk and it's effect on our US-Russia relations and think she should be canned for that alone.
It seems some of you need to catch up on the facts a little. First and foremost, there was no demonstration. Nothing was going on at the embassy before the attack. They knew nothing of the video until President Obama and Secretary Clinton put out the commercial condemning the video. Another thing was that we had other embassys attacked as well. One big point i want to make is it happened on 9/11. The ambassador had tried to get more security forces, or at least keep what they had but was told no, and lost some they already had. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that our embassys in the Far East should have had better protection.How the President words thing isn't the problem here for most people. Its the fact that it was avoidable, and caused by negligence either by Clinton, or Obama. I feel like Clinton is going to be the scapegoat for the Obama Administration before all is said and done. My reasoning is just this. We had people in command bunkers that listened to the whole thing play out. Now come on, who really thinks that Obama didn't know the facts for two weeks? It was a cover-up, plain and simple, for two reasons. One is it was close to the election. The other is because the Obama Administration wanted people to believe the war on terror was over. With all the cover-ups and executive priveledge being used in Fast and Furious when the President said he knew nothing of Fast and Furious shows there is something they don't want us to see. Solyndra, and I believe A123 company was given 750 million dollars of tax payer money and took the fifth. With yet another solar panel company securing close to 300 million evan after the facts I just laid out.Evan if I forgot the broken promises,failed policies, and Obama's contempt for our laws that was on the book before he was elected make me question his abilities as Commander and Chief. Not evan mentioning the intel leaks that put Americans in harms way, I couldn't help re-elect this man if he was the only one running.
There is something very obessive about your thinking, as if focused on this one event, makes you right about politics.
You are part of the problem for all Americans, who would like to move from this polarized thinking 24/7.
How about thinking about why we are even in the Middle East, do you think our involvement will really change this part of the world? Please tell me how this is contribuing to the lives of Americans and our real challenging situations here on our homeland.
Reading these comments, clearly indicates that most responders want to continue to politicize this issue and wont let go till after the election. Common sense says that yes there were issues with the level of embassy security much like there were issues with the level of airline security prior to 9/11, and we all now know that the iniitial information provided by Obama and the state Dept. was not correct. But given all that and looking at this thru the eyes of one who is truely independent (I dont like Obama or Romney), I can clearly see that energy wasted on this topic is purely political. We all know that our goverment will hunt these criminals down (regardless if its Obama or Romeny) and that someday in the months or years to come, those terrorist will wake up to hells fire raining down on them, courtesy of the USA. So like this article is trying to say in simple terms, arguing over how the information was initially presented to us is really a non issue in the grand scheme of things and that 20/20 hindsight clearly indicates we should have better security in a known hot zone like Benghazi, and most definately will , going forward.
Obama politized this when he sent Rice out to lie about it. He should have told the truth. Comparing Libya to 9/11 maybe athought of as a smart tactic to ypou. But at the time we had no reason to thinks we would be attacked the wau that we was.Plus being in Libya where they have ran out all other countries, evan the red cross, should have been enough information to know we have to protect our people best we can if we send them into harms way. We did not do this. We sent these people to be slaughtered because we didn't try to protect them like we should have. My point is Obama politized this the moment he tried to cover it up. That is nobody;s fault but his own. Soooo, yeah, we want answers, not for the election but to get rid of the people responsible for letting it happen so easily. If that sinks Obama, again, he has only hisself to blame. I guess maybe he should have been securing our interest instead of playing with Hollywoods elite,begging for money.
CStraight, I wish there were more of your breed in your politics today. It is easy to see how the Thunderbolts of this world focused on issues that don't really affect million of Americans, he has to be right. He is so obessed over Benghazi but can't really tell us what we are really doing over the Middle East. There is a feeling that the Middle East will bring us into WWIII and then what? This is so wrong-we did to pull together as Americans, someone needs to stop this destructive-negative conversation. We need people like you CStraight.
Well the obvious problem with this assessment is what the author conveniently leaves out. It was not only the statements of Rice that are so troubling here though troubling they are. What is much worse is her words were backed up by several in the administration as if they were trying to push a certain agenda. Clinton said on the day the bodies returned that it was about the video that we had nothing to do with, and Carney and others kept pushing the video excuse. Why? Why not just say we don't know the full story yet and as more information comes in we will have a better idea of exactly what happened. This is not what they said; they deliberately tried to mislead the public with statements like Carneys that there is no intelligence to say it was anything other than the video that created this spontaneous reaction from everyone in the middle east. And, now we know that the state department had evidence one day after that lead them to believe it was an organized terrorist attack. B.S. here folks.
No it isn't!! The White House still hasn't come clean on what they knew, when they knew it, and why they paraded a "video" story in front of the American people for 2 weeks after they knew full well it had nothing to do with a video. This cover-up scandal is just getting started.
You people at CNN are idiots. You have no clue as to the muslim threat to western civilaztion. These people are worse than the Nazis and you want to give their acts a pass! Stop writing this drivel and read some books on how Mohamed converted the Middle East to his fake religion.
The news reporter today , 11 am, 10/19-2012, was very bias in her reporting on the Bengazi, issue, she was corrected several times by the reporter and the former ambassador, she look very incompetent. She personally accused the president, what has the office of the president become, let's get some civility people.
My thoughts exactly Steve. This is not a story of incompetence which it was with the lack of security in Benghazi nor is it a story of poor intelligence. The reason why this story should continue is the obvious cover-up by this administration. Why push the story of a video, one that was produced many months before with nary a word from the press? The only reason was to distract the public from the truth which was another terrorist attack on this country and worse on the anniversary of 9-11. This is the only obvious reason to push this story about a video causing a spontaneous reaction in the middle east to cover up the truth of a terrorist attack on the 11th 9-11 anniversary. This is corruption at the highest level and only occurred because we are in a Presidential election. Corruption not only by this Administration but also of our Media in this country. Imagine for just one second if this were a Republican administration. I want the truth....
f u o' hanlon . too bad your family was not killed in Benghazi, spineless coward bag
Nice try.
We acknowledge that Hillary Clinton is responsible for the lack of security in Bengali and ignoring the desperate please for help form the ambassador, but who is responsible for the lies about the film being the cause? Rice took point that Sunday in spreading it. Why shouldn't she get the credit? We would love to have someone else a little higher in the food chain to blame.
The administration had proof within 24 hours and all evidence form the beginning indicated no protest and a planed al-Qaeda attack.
If Obama admitted the facts it would have put the redistribution of almost a Billion $ to the Islamists in Turkey at risk, as it has now. The deaths were a "bump in the road" for Obama. The coverup was so he and Clinton could redistribute US debt to China, to his supporters in the Middle East without Congress stopping them.
MacinBlack says we should not look for blame, but learn from our mistakes and move on. Proverb "A wise man will learn from his mistakes, but a fool will learn no other way"
My friends husband was on the Lockerbie Flight 103. What have we learned?
My brother's best friend was the pilot on the United flight in the World Trade Center. What have we learned??
The Embassy in Yemen was attacked in 2008. 19 dead. What have we learned?
US Embassy in Kabul, 2011 7 dead. What have we learned?
US Embassy in Beirut 1983. 63 dead. What have we learned?
There are groups of people in the hot spots of the world that want those people representing the US dead and it is the responsibility of the administration to protect them.
"This time it's different. We're showing them we are not agressors therefore they won't attack us" Damn it, IT'S NEVER DIFFERENT.
I'm not looking for blame. I know who to blame. I'm looking for someone who understands that it's never different. My first choice may not have been Romney. Personally, I think Condoleezza Rice would be first. Except that I don't think she would deserve the crusifiction she would come under. But I can tell you who my last choice is from 3 1/2 years of his record
The Benghazi Affair brings to mind a 1967 movie: A Guide for the Married Man - "A man gives his co-worker a series of lessons on how to cheat on one's wife without being caught." I think the key line in the film was, "Lie, lie, lie." Fact: Easier said than done.
Lay off this issue! Don't criticize the "leaders"!
Nothing to see here.. We sure as hell don't want everyone knowing about the Benghazi / Turkey / Syria weapons pipeline!
Susan Rice if off-Broadway, but she shouldn't be off-limits. Someone else controlled by obama told her what to say on those five Sunday shows - five days after a rather obvious terrorist attack on the Benghazi consulate on 9/11. The American public deserves to know who told her what to say, as well as when and why.
Does this sound familiar? There is a batte going on , on whether to release the tapes we have gotten. I wonder if what they listened to in the bunkers will be released as well. I would bet that Obama will find a way to keep this information suppressed, just like Fast and Furious. If your not evan a little suspect of whats happened you truely do have your head in the sand..................or something worse.
Thunderbolt – you are sounding like a paid political operative...are you?
I think he sounds like an American Patriot. You sound like a head-in-the-sand political operative though.
Totally disagree.
The embassy was inadequately protected, after 2 previous attacks, and that was because of Obama's political gyrations in Libya. Americans died. The administration LIED about those events to protect Obama in this election process.
That is not only unacceptable, it is reprehensible, and NO, a resounding NO, this should NOT be swept under the rug, AT ALL!
So what is your resolution? What do you want done? What do you want in the Middle East? Do you think this constant criticsm will make us a stronger people? Is our politics even working for Americans, a two party system divided that can not accomplish the simpliest things for the good of our country! Lobbyists and Plutocrats, Socialists and Communism? And we the people, are left in the dust with a country divided, who are becoming?
Stop. Think. Somebody please tell me our purpose in the Middle East-Republican or Democrat?
FTA:
"Because Rice stated her belief that the violence was the result of a mass demonstration gone bad, rather than the planned extremist attacks we now know them to be, some have even gone so far as to demand her resignation from her current cabinet position as United States ambassador to the United Nations."
This statement is a big a lie as the one Susan Rice told. Susan Rice did not ask to go on the Sunday shows. She was sent there by the Administration. Furthermore, she was told what to say. Does anyone seriously believe that the UN Ambassador simply strolled into FIVE morning news shows by accident? Does anyone seriously believe that after doing so she repeated the same lie by accident?
Someone told Susan Rice what to say and she said it. I want to know the name of that person. If she will not tell us, by name, who that was, she should be subpoenaed, given immunity, and forced to testify in front of congress and reveal the name of the person who told her to lie. If she will not do that then she should resign immediately.
Over and over for two weeks...you can't stop. Your REALLY can't think of any issues. Again, what is American's purpose in the Middle East? Oil or another war?
What is your point? What would make you happy? For RICE to resign. Okay she resigns. NOW tell me how you think we are doing in the Middle East? Do you want WAR? We have been having war for 10 years in the middle east and we have destroyed our own economy. How is this helping the citizens of the United States?
CNN MANAGEMENT: Do you like us dumb-down on one issue?
So supporting the cover-up is a better solution? The purpose of support and intervention before this administration was to support peace, democracy and human rights issues in the ME. This admin has chosen a different path which has failed. The "problem" is this admin's failure of policy, not the US and the world being involved in the ME. It is now time to change Admin before they do any more harm. The next Admin may also fail, but they may not. The fact is that this Admin's policy will not suceed as proven by the events of the past 31/2 years.
I would expect nothing less from CNN or Mr. O'Hanlon than an inaccurate "cover your butt" article such as this is, given the deplorable behavior of Candy Crowley as debate moderator the other night, and Mr. O'Hanlon's very liberal credentials. I smell a political and media cover-up of the highest order, plain and simple. The Obama administration knew within 24 hours that the attack at Benghazi was a "terror attack", but the matter didn't play into the administration campaign talking points. For weeks prior to the attack, on stump speeches and at the Demoratic National Convention, all we heard from Obama, Joe Biden, and the liberal media was that "Osama Bin Laden is dead, and Al-qaeda is defeated, on the run". Remember? How could you not remember given the daily and repeated propoganda????
So, an American Ambassador and three other Americans are attacked and killed on the anniversary of 9-11. Immediate intelligence points to a terror attack and al-qaeda in particular. That's the end of the campaign talking points regarding the decimation of al-qaeda, hence the ensuing lies and cover-up by the Obama administration and an all too willing and cooperative media. In fact, in the past two days since the second debate, Obama has stopped saying that Al-qaeda has been defeated in his stump speeches.
The facts are clear, the lie is very obvious. The American people deserve much better than they are getting from not only their President, but from the so-called watch-dog media, who have become more like "lap dogs" for a very corrupt administration. If the CIA is relying on advice from Mr. O'Hanlon in his capacity as a member its External Advisory Board, then the agency is getting very bad advice from a person who, it turns out, is nothing more than a "political hack". I'm not impressed, and neither are the American people......have a good day!!! oh, here's a link:
http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_21810333/cia-station-chief-libya-linked-benghazi-attack-militants
WOW. The political machine is out. Over and over for two weeks...you can't stop. Your REALLY can't think of any issues. Again, what is American's purpose in the Middle East? Oil or another war?
What is your point? What would make you happy? For RICE to resign. Okay she resigns. NOW tell me how you think we are doing in the Middle East? Do you want WAR? We have been having war for 10 years in the middle east and we have destroyed our own economy. How is this helping the citizens of the United States?
CNN MANAGEMENT: Do you like us dumb-down on one issue?
TIME to do your job and actually cover Libya
"Time to lay off the Benghazi issue" – liberal code phrase for "oh sh**t, this thing could really hurt Obama's chances for re-election".
Didn't see it like that till you pointed it out! Wow so true!
New Hampshire now in the Romney column according to RCP average. Anybody notice the trend of states tumbling away from Obama? Who in here thinks he can stop this trend with his strong and truthful position on Libya in Monday's debate? Ha!
If I were Obama, I would simply skip the debate. He would probably be better off.
Of course its time to lay off the Benghazi issue. It is hurting Obama.
We know who you are CNN, and we know what you stand for. We aren't fooled by your crocodile tears.
LOL..Michael O'Hanlon is a pro-Obama hack who lacks any commonsense. It's stupid, political opinions like his on Benghazi that make one wonder about the worth of a college education from Princeton, Columbia and John Hopkins, at least in any subject other than the math and sciences..
The American voters have the right and need to know the truth before we decide whether or not to re-elect Obama as POTUS. Hanlon has the audacity of stupidity to close one's eyes and ears, trust Obama and vote???
The truth is that Obama knowingly lied and tried to cover-up the pro-Al Qaeda terrorists' attack on the US Embassy in Benghazi and the assassination of a US ambassador and 3 Americans. This 9/11 anniversary attack was a revenge killing in response to the drone killings. Obama knew within 24 hours there was no protests in response to the you-tube video, yet kept repeating the lie for weeks.
Why? To stall the truth from becoming public, cover-up his failed Middle East policies, and keep the power of POTUS
Yes, that is why we're outraged. It is about a COVER UP by the executive branch.
The re-direct that Mr. O'hanlon is providing fails to explain the "research" that would have been required to suggest it was a video. If someone knocked on Rice's office door and said "there was an attack in Libya and it was due to a video" that is a unique conclusion that is demonstrably false. So, pray tell who was the genius at the State Dept that created that story?
Unfortunately, the most logical conclusion is that the politicized appointee, Ms. Rice, developed a narrative that kept the president clean. But at the United Nations he offered the politically expedient video discussion instead of the terrorist attack and retaliation discussion.
We now know that the executive branch was forewarned (by the Libyan gov't) of a probable attack on 9/11 not related to any video. For 5 days after the attack the administration blamed a crummy little video, because it was politically advantageous. This is what the outrage is about. It is about the political decision from the executive branch to COVER UP the real cause. Journalists should try to find where the accountability truly lies, not tell us to stick our heads in the sand.
Nixon fell because of his cover-up of a political burglary. In this cover up 4 people died. I'm not suggesting impeachment, merely that uncovering the truth matters. People who have acted solely out of political interests and found to have lied to the public should resign or be forced out.
Nonsense! Rice did not "choose her words badly." She intentionally and repeatedly misled the public. As CNN's Soledad and Candy (also of the Obama campaign) would say: "check the transcript." The Benghazi treatment by Obama was undeniably a cover-up for political purposes and remains an enormous scandal. Only exceeded by Obama's **leaking classified info for political purposes**. Obama runs the admin like a corrupt big city mayor. Mayors often can get away w/ corruption because of lack of media scrutiny at their level. Obama has gotten away w/ it till now because the MSM has thrown its integrity out the window and has shamelessly covered for their puppet Obama. Unfortunately, for them they could NOT pull Obama's strings in the 1st debate. Obama will soon be gone. CNN, NYT and other liberal propaganda outlets w/ be out of business before Romney's 2nd term. Good riddance to them all!
Well, I think if John Wayne had never made the Green Berets movie, the Viet Cong and the NVA would not have been so offended and the American Embassy in Saigon would have been spared during the Tet offensive. At least the Ambassador wasn't killed and the offensive failed. Maybe if congress had continued funding the South Vietnamese North Vietnam would still be in existence and Uncle Ho T Shirts would be just a popular as those Che T shirts in Hollywood today? Some how I don't see the Hollywood left wearing Mohammed T shirts: there's no sense being a walking target on Rodeo Drive, or having skin in the game at Brookings.
This CNN article is so completely biased and does not repesent the vast majority of people who understand that the current Administration lied to the American people. Susan Rice was given orders to say what she said. It was well calculated in an effort to insure that the American people thought that no act of terrorism had been made on the American people. This was a political decision and she should be fired, so should Hillary Clinton and the President should lose the election over it. In the last debate, the president looked into the camera and lied to the American people. They knew within 24 hours from the CIA, if not sooner exactly what the situation was. This was a terrorist attack on Americans. For the President and his Administration, it is all just a means to their end.. Reelection. I am really disgusted that American lives were lost and they let these people fend for themselves, begging for help before the day the attack occured and on that day. How any American can look at the facts and not admit that the Administration lied is an example of how political we have become. This is not about politics. This is about the truth. We seem to accept lies as a society as long as the lie was told convincingly. We cannot even trust our own government, how can the rest of the world trust them?
I'm not a security or foreign policy expert, just a retired Army grunt, and as soon as I heard, from CNN no less, that the folks who murdered the Ambassador and the others had attacked two separate buildings simultaneously using indirect fire weapons (if I'm not mistaken it was reported that mortars had been used) I knew it wasn't a "spontaneous attack." Using mortars when assaulting a building can't be done spontaneously.
The ambassador is dead. Big bird lives. ONE AND DONE.
Time to move on to what? Romney's dog? Romney's highschool days?
I am sure that Romney's success in everything he is done so far in his life must prove he is unfit to be President to those who have not worked hard enough to become a success in their own life. Me, I like smart and successful people who put others before themselves. Not anything Obama has ever done. Romney doesn't have to hide his school records, avoid voting for anything, or refuse to take a stand on any position important to actual Americans.
What a silly, partisan, piece of pap. Your story seems more geared toward "covering" for the administration than anything that could reasonably be called journalism.
Rice's did not choose her words perfectly? That's both unfair to Rice and either intentionally disengenuous or reflects complete ignorance of politcal communication by the author.
I would think Fareed has been there long enough to understand any administration official, who conducts an interview on national media, is provided with a set of approved talking points. Their job is to stick to the talking points, period. On this subject, I would expect those talking points were discussed at the very highest levels (including the POTUS).
There are two appropriate questions. The first is, Did Rice stick to the talking points? I think she did. My evidence is the POTUS himself used almost identical language both before and after her appearances – and her statements were never walked back in any way (it's possible I missed the reporting of her walking back her statements).
The second appropriate question is was the information true? Here the answer is no. Maybe the administration, and Rice, thought they were true at the time – which is dubious but remotely possible. At best, it shows an administration incapable of absorbing important information that was fully available to them. At worst, it reflects an administration with no regard for the truth. Who created a spin they thought would work better for their election than the truth they were hiding. If the real story is the latter, shame on Zakaria for helping shield the administration from the criticism they deserve.
Mr. O'Hanlan -
You have been associated with the government, the intelligence community and the military for many years. With the knowledge you have gained through that association, your failure to recognize a coverup and the desire of this administration to obfuscate the facts in this incident and to minimize the effects of this attack are very hard to understand.
This is not good political or intel analysis. It is political pablum.
I remember operatives from the right wing payed off the Iranians to hold the hostages past the election. so there is some
pause to say that operatives were at work in the killing of ambassador Stevens.
The very fact our Ambassador was killed makes it a terrorist attack whether it was called such one second after it happened our 5 years. I don't give a rats ass about labels. Just find out who is responsible and torch them.
I think this article is an attempt to keep that from happening ... .
In 2008, obama ran on healing, bringing together, unfiying...
in 2012, he has divided american along every conceivable demograhic.
rich v poor
women v men
young v old
muslims v "intolerance"
black v white
legals v illegals
black harvard professor v white("racist") boston cop
trayvon("looks like he could be my son") v white justice
obamacare v throw grandma off the cliff
bogus alternative energy v rich bad oil companies
ground zero mosque v "intolerance"
I killed bin laden v "republicans love war"
in short, obama has DELIBERATELY chosen to divide americans along every line imaginable....he has chosen to make people agnry at one another....
you tell me, how is that "presidential"? How is that a unifier? a bridge builder? The TRUTH is, he has completely LIED about what he said he was going to be when he duped everyone in 2008.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Disgusting article!
The WH and Susan Rice should not have ever said ANYTHING other than "We are investigating this matter" It's not clear! BUT they decided to "Mislead" America!! Trying to gain a political avantage by bringing up a video!!!!! HOW DISGUSTING OF THE U.S.A. President to bring up the video two weeks post the terrorist attacks!! OK, don't say it was a terrorist attack the day after, BUT don't say it was a VIDEO or a spontaneous mob reaction either!!!! WHY MISLEAD with either story!!!!
I was born and raised in Mexico! I can't imagine any Mexican or latino voting for Obama! He doesn't follow our "values" I know many Mexican's who can't speak a lick of English and they are all voting Republican this year!!!! I don't know where the statistics of Latino's overwhelmingly voting Democrat come from!
The government is run like the union.Nobody gets fired.
Can you imagine if this happened under the Bush Administration? The liberal media would be calling for his and Condi's head. Note: CNN and the other liberal media don't even cover this story at all because it would make Obama and Dem's look bad..pure and simple.
It is NOT time to lay off this issue. As facts trickle out we know that the US warned of this attack, that it was terrorists, we had drones flying overhead, streaming video, we had people calling for help, an airbase an hour away. No help was sent, our men were left to die while the so-called commander in chief got a good night's sleep before going on Letterman. Then afterward, our command in chief lied about what really happened so as not to risk his chances at re-election. Obama lied for two weeks trying to cover up the attack and blame it on a silly video. In more intelligent times, people would be outraged and protesting this pathetic little man president.
Really you expect people to just sweep this under a rug because your outfit doesn't have the nerve to cover this! As soon as Obama offers public sympathy and informations on the truth! Then and only then should anyone even think about letting this go! All he needs to do is tell the people ( you know the ones he says he is just like!) the truth! He does owe us this much. What is so hard about him just saying hey I made a huge mistake and I am sorry! Why can't he do that! We all know people mess up, but ignoring it does nothing! If you do NOT want this to be political, then you yourself need to leave other politics out of it!
No, it's not time to lay off the Benghazi issue. Who gave the orders to stand down? Who came up with this fairy tale story? Why were US forces left to die without any help? The mortars were the biggest threat, they had laser points on them and air support minutes away, why was the request to take them out denied? This is by far the biggest cover up by a President in American history, Watergate pales in comparison to this. Woodward sees the story here, why don't you?