Benghazi Facts are Stubborn Things

Opinion

Opinion by John Tutten:

I thought I had reached the limits of my disgust with this administration and the media. However, events this week in Washington have created new levels of revulsion for me to experience.

The House Select Committee on Benghazi released their long overdue report on the events that led up to the deaths of four brave men in the cesspool of despair that is today’s Libya. These were some of our finest with families and loved ones, who made the commitment to put themselves in the line of fire for us. They were lost because of the feckless, incompetent, and ideologically paralyzed hacks in this administration.

I’m not sure what disgusts me most – the actual events of September 11, 2012 or the administration’s spin and hackery in an attempt to dispel its culpability. They stoked their sycophantic media to proclaim there’s nothing new in the report while it clearly documents a lack of understanding and an unwillingness to act that borders on treason. Yet the media’s sole hyperventilating story line is that somehow Hillary is exonerated. Conservatives, please encourage your kids to become journalists!

While the report appears to be excellently done and thorough, I am disappointed in how Republican committee members presented their findings. During media interviews, they simply did not lay out the damning case against the administration that is screaming to be made. Trey Goudy seemed more concerned with being non-partisan and even-handed than shining the bright light of truth on an administration of roaches. Imploring citizens “to read the report”, an 800 page report, instead of making a clear indictment of this administration’s dereliction is just so typical now of our mainstream Republicans. They simply will not fight the battle as it needs to be fought.

However, there are two Republicans on the committee that did make the case for the American people dispelling much of the non-stop spin coming out of the White House. Jim Jordan and Mike Pompeo were so concerned that the facts and evidence be understood that they issued their own summary and views of the findings reached by the committee.

In forty-eight pages not eight hundred, they summarized the Benghazi debacle into five main conclusions, each a damning condemnation of the actions and dereliction of this administration.

First, the administration lied and misled us about what led up to the attack on the Benghazi compound and about their inactions during the attack. They attempted to tie the terrorists’ motivations to an obscure video that virtually no one had seen, all in an attempt to preserve the president’s reelection campaign. While they were proclaiming the video as cause of the attack, members of the administration (Shrillary for sure) were privately telling associates and other world leaders that they knew all along that it was a planned terrorist attack and the video had nothing to do with it.

Second, despite request after urgent request, the Secretary of State refused to put in place the level of security her own experts believed were required to protect the lives of our personnel. Whether through political correctness or a refusal to believe that her Libyan policy had been an abject failure, Shrillary left wonderfully dedicated public servants in the greatest jeopardy and it cost them their lives.

Third, once the attacks started, this administration did virtually nothing to rescue our personnel under siege. One of the spin points they offer is that they did not have forces in the area that could be deployed in time to provide protection and rescue. How did they know that? No one could know how long the siege would last. Yet, this administration did absolutely nothing for those it is sworn to aid and protect.

Fourth, the administration has done very little to fulfill its proclaimed commitment to bring the perpetrators of this attack to justice. They have found one token, low-level guy despite dozens being involved. And to further delegitimize their actions, they have even taken the death penalty off the table for him. What a joke.

Fifth and very telling about this administration is the fact that it stonewalled this committee throughout the entire truth seeking process. The Dems rail that it took two years and $7 million to finish the investigation (like Dems are concerned about spending tax payer money). That is directly because this administration did everything it could to prevent the committee from getting to the truth. If the administration’s spin could be believed and it had nothing to hide, would there not have been a free flow of information? Dam right there would have been. They did everything they could to keep the facts hidden because they are highly culpable for four deaths.

And there remains one big question that the House report could not answer. It’s a question that the media refuses to pursue and one that we the people must demand an answer. The question is, where was the president while these events were transpiring? We know he was briefed about 5 pm about what was going down. The next time we hear of his whereabouts is the next morning getting on Air Force 1 to travel to Las Vegas for a fundraiser. So where was he? What was he doing that was so important that justified being AWOL when Americans were dying?

Americans demand an answer.

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