Benghazi.
Issue:
Among the big three "scandals" that confronted the Obama Administration in the spring of 2013 was the attack on the United States Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi, Libya by presumed Islamist militants. Our Ambassador and three other U.S. citizens were killed in the attack.
Deception:
A large contingent of Republican lawmakers have turned this issue into a major play to discredit, embarrass and indict the Obama Administration and now the presidential candidacy of Hilary Clinton, claiming that they have deceived the public and Congress as to the true events of the Benghazi attack. This is deception.
Reality:
The U.S. military and State Department regularly use deception and lies to further their goals. This is how they operate under all administrations and it should come as no surprise to anyone in Congress because they authorize this behavior in the supposed interests of military expediency and security. In this respect the Obama Administration engaged in business as usual regarding the Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi. Does it excuse any deception on the part of Secretary Clinton or President Obama? No, it just illustrates hypocrisy of the Republicans who are holding them to a higher standard than the one to which they hold their own.
As for possible State Department and Pentagon negligence in defending the diplomatic mission: instead of raising hell over the unfortunate deaths of four U.S. citizens, Congress should be examining its own ongoing complicity in the deaths of thousands of citizens and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians abroad in the disastrous wars they authorize and support.
Did the Obama Administration fail to provide the Diplomatic Mission with adequate protection and response, lie about the events or engage in a cover-up? Perhaps, maybe even undoubtably. But the distinction between this issue and the truly serious issues of government secrecy and coverup is that the same Congress and media who are alarmed over Benghazi generally accepted and supported the following:
Resolution:
We should welcome a fair investigation into the Benghazi affair but frankly, it needs to happen in the context of a much wider investigation into our nation's interventions in foreign lands. Benghazi is a routine diplomatic and military blunder that is being condemned and investigated for purely political gain. The outrage over Benghazi has nothing to do with protecting U.S. citizens or our democracy or the deaths of four U.S. citizens. If that were the case, Congress would never have supported the brutal dictator Muammar Gaddafi with money, expertise and weapons, only to enter the country militarily and put U.S. soldiers and diplomats at risk when it was clear his U.S.-sponsored rule was no longer tenable. That is the crime from which all other U.S. troubles in Libya flow.
Among the big three "scandals" that confronted the Obama Administration in the spring of 2013 was the attack on the United States Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi, Libya by presumed Islamist militants. Our Ambassador and three other U.S. citizens were killed in the attack.
Deception:
A large contingent of Republican lawmakers have turned this issue into a major play to discredit, embarrass and indict the Obama Administration and now the presidential candidacy of Hilary Clinton, claiming that they have deceived the public and Congress as to the true events of the Benghazi attack. This is deception.
Reality:
The U.S. military and State Department regularly use deception and lies to further their goals. This is how they operate under all administrations and it should come as no surprise to anyone in Congress because they authorize this behavior in the supposed interests of military expediency and security. In this respect the Obama Administration engaged in business as usual regarding the Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi. Does it excuse any deception on the part of Secretary Clinton or President Obama? No, it just illustrates hypocrisy of the Republicans who are holding them to a higher standard than the one to which they hold their own.
As for possible State Department and Pentagon negligence in defending the diplomatic mission: instead of raising hell over the unfortunate deaths of four U.S. citizens, Congress should be examining its own ongoing complicity in the deaths of thousands of citizens and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians abroad in the disastrous wars they authorize and support.
Did the Obama Administration fail to provide the Diplomatic Mission with adequate protection and response, lie about the events or engage in a cover-up? Perhaps, maybe even undoubtably. But the distinction between this issue and the truly serious issues of government secrecy and coverup is that the same Congress and media who are alarmed over Benghazi generally accepted and supported the following:
- The Bush Administration's lies regarding the invasion of Iraq - which, for those who still maintain were completely justifiable at the time, were refuted by various media and organizations even before the infamous U.N. vote authorizing the invasion and have since been refuted even by complicit members of the Bush Administration.
- The Bush Administration's assault on civil liberties with the passage of the 2001 Patriot Act, subsequent amendments to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and various other draconian acts of legislation and Executive power.
- The Obama Administration's current assault on privacy and dissent at home and its use of drones to assassinate people, including innocents, in other countries.
Resolution:
We should welcome a fair investigation into the Benghazi affair but frankly, it needs to happen in the context of a much wider investigation into our nation's interventions in foreign lands. Benghazi is a routine diplomatic and military blunder that is being condemned and investigated for purely political gain. The outrage over Benghazi has nothing to do with protecting U.S. citizens or our democracy or the deaths of four U.S. citizens. If that were the case, Congress would never have supported the brutal dictator Muammar Gaddafi with money, expertise and weapons, only to enter the country militarily and put U.S. soldiers and diplomats at risk when it was clear his U.S.-sponsored rule was no longer tenable. That is the crime from which all other U.S. troubles in Libya flow.