Right-wing hysteria over Benghazi feeds upon itself
Fox New anchors, right-wing websites and talk-radio hosts around the country are ginning up a wave of mass hysteria about the decision by the Obama administration not to attempt a military rescue of Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya. (Glenn Beck is even telling listeners that the treason is more widespread, and that Stevens was acting as a gunrunner for al Qaida in Libya and Syria. I kid you not.)
Obama’s crime is said to be so heinous that mere impeachment for refusing to intervene would be insufficient. If you Google the words “Benghazi” and “traitor,” you get some 518,000 hits, almost all of which cast President Obama as that traitor. The criticism extends as well to the mainstream media, which as my email informs me, is being accused of covering up a scandal of such dimensions that it would supposedly dwarf Watergate.
But I have a question.
According to NBC News, Mitt Romney hasn’t mentioned Libya in his campaign appearances around the country since Oct. 12, which is more than two weeks ago. Now why do you think that is?
Option one: Mitt has joined the mainstream media as part of the pro-Obama conspiracy of silence to protect the president.
Option two. Romney’s military and foreign affairs advisers have told him that not even a minimally responsible case can be made that Obama should have intervened militarily at Benghazi, and that Romney would deeply embarrass himself by suggesting such a step.
Let’s be clear: There is no indication — none — that U.S military officials advised the president or anyone in the administration that a rescue operation was possible, and that the administration ignored that offer. The evidence is entirely to the contrary.
As Defense Secretary Leon Panetta explained, “(The) basic principle is that you don’t deploy forces into harm’s way without knowing what’s going on; without having some real-time information about what’s taking place. And as a result of not having that kind of information, the commander who was on the ground in that area, Gen. Ham, Gen. Dempsey and I felt very strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation.”
That would be Gen. Carter Ham, the head of U.S. Africa Command, and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They are men of training and experience; they know where our military assets are located; they know their capabilities, and they know the difficulties involved in inserting and extracting an armed force into an uncertain situation in another country.
It is of course frustrating and heartbreaking to learn that CIA officers stationed near the Benghazi consulate had asked three times for military assistance and that those requests had been denied. But that is real life. This is not a Hollywood movie.
Here’s how Fox News reported the news above:
The most provocative piece of that report is the claim that a Special Forces team stationed at an air base in Signonella, Italy, two hours from Benghazi, was ready to intervene but orders were never given. But here’s how such mass hysteria gets fed by partial information, in both senses of the word “partial”. As it turned out, the Special Forces team in question was not based in Sigonella but had to be assembled and transported there from elsewhere in Europe.
“U.S. officials say (the team) did not arrive in Sicily until after the attack was over,” CBS reports. “Even if the team had been ready in time, confusion about what was happening on the ground in Benghazi — and State Department concerns about violating Libyan sovereignty — made a military rescue mission impractical, the officials say.”
Arguing against mass and willful hysteria using facts, logic and expert professional opinion is a losing battle, of course. It doesn’t matter that our top military people believed a rescue effort would be impractical and would probably end in the loss of even more American lives. What matters is that talk-show hosts and others can stir up millions of Americans raised on Rambo movies to believe that their leaders could have helped to rescue a well-respected U.S. diplomat and his team, but simply decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Because the president is a traitor.
That makes no sense. It is such a ridiculous notion that in most eras it would never even be broached in public debate. But this is an era in which many are predisposed to believe the most ridiculous things if it justifies their hatred of Obama, and a time in which when emotions are heightened by a hard-fought presidential campaign. So nonsense reigns.
– Jay Bookman
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,207 comments Add your comment
clem
October 30th, 2012
10:03 am
hey donovan, why don’t you lead the charge…..i hear they are open at the recruiting station.
we don’t need to be fighting dumb wars in countries without civilized societies. those people have been fighting for thousands of years and will until the world ends. and main reason is religion
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
October 30th, 2012
10:03 am
Where’s Jay this morning ? Sandy blow him away ?
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
October 30th, 2012
10:03 am
“So, he just wanted to joy ride around on Air force One? ”
OMFG
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
October 30th, 2012
10:03 am
GALLUP: “Romney Up 52-45% Among Early Voters”
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
October 30th, 2012
10:04 am
“The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit,” (NJ Gov Chris)Christie said. “I’ve been on the phone with him, like I said, yesterday, personally, three times. He gave me his number at the White House, told me to call him if I needed anything, and he absolutely means it. It’s been very good working with the president, and he and his administration have been coordinating with us great. It’s been wonderful.”
TaxPayer
October 30th, 2012
10:06 am
How else do you go from the Illionis State House to The White House in a couple of years?
Well you cons gave it your best shot. I mean who else would have been able to put up a better fight than McCain/Palin.
Lee
October 30th, 2012
10:06 am
USinUK….That is great. The president should be there to assist the states. Doesnt matter if you are repub or dem. So why are you making it a big deal that Obama called Chris Christie?
DannyX
October 30th, 2012
10:06 am
“Nobody’s saying Obama isn’t a skilled politician.”
No doubt. In fact NJ Governor Chris Christie has nothing but praise for the way Obama has handled the storm so far. Brilliant move.
Aquagirl
October 30th, 2012
10:06 am
Why is Jeep outsourcing production when they could provide jobs for Americans?
We should tell Chrysler where to build their plants for political reasons instead of where the customers are? OMG SOSHALIZM
DownInAlbany
October 30th, 2012
10:07 am
17 hours of back and forth…not one mind changed…just saying…
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
October 30th, 2012
10:07 am
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am…
October 30th, 2012
9:55 am
GRANNY
Deflecting with allegations about my leanings…that seems to be a popular retort for many here who have no meaningful response to my posts.
The GOP certainly took that stance after being left at the “new bi-partisan, bring parties together alter of BO as promised in 2008…Good thing the Left would never take the position that they are focused on getting a GOP guy out..
.
.
.
.
What? Deflecting with your what?
Nonsense.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
October 30th, 2012
10:08 am
Lee – “The president should be there to assist the states. Doesnt matter if you are repub or dem. So why are you making it a big deal that Obama called Chris Christie?”
awwwww … diddums … do you not understand that Chris Christie is a Republican?
Jm
October 30th, 2012
10:08 am
Scout
Jay went in hiding, or is making phone calls on behalf of Obama for America
How gullible are liberals? They think the drone prez is worried about sovereignty in this case.
A country without a real government. Then again, one could say that about the US these days too.
Union
October 30th, 2012
10:08 am
anyone else use IE to browse this site? had to switch over to chrome.. all the ads on the front page were giving me errors..
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
October 30th, 2012
10:08 am
“OMG SOSHALIZM”
Liberal Nightmare
October 30th, 2012
10:09 am
Do any of you Lib-turds actually have jobs? Same posters on here day in and day out. Let me guess you sit behind a computer all day pretending to work whilst stealing from your employer.
Tundra Dude
October 30th, 2012
10:09 am
Robroka:
Did you miss the post yesterday?
Romney on disaster relief: ‘We can’t afford to do those things’
If, for example, your mother’s home in NJ was destroyed, you know what president Romney would tell her……
tuff titty.
Erwin's cat
October 30th, 2012
10:09 am
sagegirl – you do know the difference between revenue and profit don’t you?
stands for decibels
October 30th, 2012
10:11 am
“Romney Up 52-45% Among Early Voters”
…who have rotary-dial phones.
Seriously, if you want to see this STUNNING FACTOID, you have to drill really deep into the story, which reads like a tacit admission by Gallup that their Ohio statewide polling is pretty crappy.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/158420/registered-voters-already-cast-ballots.aspx
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
October 30th, 2012
10:11 am
“anyone else use IE to browse this site?”
firefox, babbee
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
October 30th, 2012
10:12 am
Liberal Nightmare
October 30th, 2012
10:09 am
Do any of you Lib-turds actually have jobs? Same posters on here day in and day out. Let me guess you sit behind a computer all day pretending to work whilst stealing from your employer.
.
.
.
.
and the con-turds?
if you are gonna spread some….stuff….spread it equally
Mr. Silly Jodphurs!
Doggone/GA
October 30th, 2012
10:12 am
“anyone else use IE to browse this site?”
I do, and I’m not having any problems with it. Try clearing your cache
bulls_3y3
October 30th, 2012
10:12 am
Jay, How many articles are you going to write on this matter? Just last week you blamed the Ambassador; In Benghazi, Stevens fatally misjudged risk, reward. 9:28 am October 22, 2012, by Jay. Lets not forget, Romney outlines “tough” foreign policy approach. 11:31 am October 8, 2012, by Jay. Why do you continue to bash Romney? An Ambassador dies along with three others because of Obama actions or lack of actions and you just ignore it.
You’re a homer Jay not a reporter. Just another blind, out of touch mouth piece for Obama. YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!!!
Rightwing Troll
October 30th, 2012
10:12 am
“Why is Jeep outsourcing production when they could provide jobs for Americans?”
There’s a simple and effective way for us to deal with this and it doesn’t involve government… everybody needs to stop buying jeeps and jeep products…
DannyX
October 30th, 2012
10:13 am
“Do any of you Lib-turds actually have jobs? Same posters on here day in and day out.”
How about it? 0311, Jm, Stevie Ray, RB, USMC, DownInAlbany, any of you Libturds have a job?
TaxPayer
October 30th, 2012
10:14 am
I hear the cons are preparing legislation making it illegal for weather forecasters to use computer models for storm predictions. Virginia, for one, does not want to take any chances on this happening again.
St Simons
October 30th, 2012
10:14 am
“Staples Sign Kills Ontario Woman Superstorm” – CP
Now let’s use Fox/wingnut/con logic here –
If Rmoney wasn’t such a capitalist thug and bought cheap signs
As a leader, he should have known that storm wuz comin
what did he know & when did he know it?
Romney – the murderer!
stands for decibels
October 30th, 2012
10:14 am
Georgia Gooper SHEETZ
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
October 30th, 2012
10:14 am
“The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit,” (NJ Gov Chris)Christie said. “I’ve been on the phone with him, like I said, yesterday, personally, three times. He gave me his number at the White House, told me to call him if I needed anything, and he absolutely means it. It’s been very good working with the president, and he and his administration have been coordinating with us great. It’s been wonderful.”
AS ANY PRESIDENT WOULD/SHOULD.
RB from Gwinnett
October 30th, 2012
10:14 am
DannyX, “Why is just about every single foreign car company producing vehicles here? Answer the question. Do they hate their own country’s workers?”
One more time, Danny, we aren’t talking about anybody but Jeep. You libs can’t sit here claiming its ok for Jeep to make decisions that benefit Jeep financially, but its not ok for Bain Capital and every other company to do the EXACT SAME DAMN THING.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
October 30th, 2012
10:15 am
“Same posters on here day in and day out”
so, Scout is a liberal? and JM? and RB???
barking frog
October 30th, 2012
10:15 am
Jay’s absence is easily explained,
He’s a middleaged Republican
that drinks.
DannyX
October 30th, 2012
10:15 am
“AS ANY PRESIDENT WOULD/SHOULD.”
You’re doing a heck of a job Bushie!
TaxPayer
October 30th, 2012
10:16 am
Profit is what you have left over after Bain Capital takes all the revenue to cover their fees that they charge to advise their takeover target to borrow as much money as it takes to cover their fees.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
October 30th, 2012
10:16 am
“You libs can’t sit here claiming its ok for Jeep to make decisions that benefit Jeep financially, but its not ok for Bain Capital and every other company to do the EXACT SAME DAMN THING.”
um. no, it isn’t.
Jeep isn’t FIRING anyone to move their job overseas …
they’re adding people in the US AND building in China.
nice try, though.
DannyX
October 30th, 2012
10:18 am
“…but its not ok for Bain Capital and every other company to do the EXACT SAME DAMN THING.”
RB, it is not the exact same damn thing. Jeeps will still be made here, in fact they are hiring.
Erwin's cat
October 30th, 2012
10:18 am
RB…so an Italian company is being unAmerican?
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
October 30th, 2012
10:19 am
for those of you keeping score at home … if the President does a good job, it doesn’t count.
if he doesn’t – it’s the WORST. THING. IN. THE. WORLD. EVAH.
Union
October 30th, 2012
10:20 am
@ dog and us n uk.. thank you
did both.. seems to be better now.. it was a kroger ad that kept giving me a stack overflow.. ugh..
Lee
October 30th, 2012
10:20 am
USin….Yes I KNOW he is a repub. SO? He is the govenor of a state that is getting hammered right now. Any president would have reached out to him. It is not a big deal.
willie lynch
October 30th, 2012
10:20 am
This “Chrysler is shipping jobs to China” stuff has already been shot down yet those on the right are trying to beat the drum like the what did he know and when Bengazi argument. Majoring in the minors.
St Simons
October 30th, 2012
10:22 am
Erwins Weasel – grow up & stop the childish excuse making….but but…”
says the pompous “wah-wah Timmeh did it too” troll
OWN it con. OWN something. Jeez this is why no one lets
you around sharp silverware or levers of power..
DannyX
October 30th, 2012
10:22 am
“Any president would have reached out to him. It is not a big deal.”
You’re doing a heck of a job Bushie!
willie lynch
October 30th, 2012
10:23 am
NEWSFLASH…..Bigfoot said to have pictures of the elusive Romney policy position…
Adam
October 30th, 2012
10:24 am
My response to this, is this:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/420540/october-24-2012/nonstop-libya-gate-questions
Sagegirl
October 30th, 2012
10:25 am
Erwin’s cat
October 30th, 2012
10:09 am
Yes, I do. Do you?
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
October 30th, 2012
10:25 am
“You’re doing a heck of a job Bushie!”
Yep ……… too bad the people in New Orleans didn’t have enough sense to evacuate.
I had to personally go down there and help them do that ………. only it was a little too late.
TiredOfIt
October 30th, 2012
10:28 am
Romney caught Photoshopping the size of his crowd! More lies from “lying-man”. Next is votes.
Lee
October 30th, 2012
10:29 am
Tired…YEP and he is ahead in the polls!!! Great job Romney.
Tom
October 30th, 2012
10:30 am
Pravda has spoken. Our Dear Leader is, as always, without fault. And, none of your complaints can be anything except racism.
Williebkind
October 30th, 2012
10:31 am
““Why is Jeep outsourcing production when they could provide jobs for Americans?”
Would Jeep outsource if we had a lower corporate tax rate–say 20%?
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
October 30th, 2012
10:31 am
Lee:
And then there’s this !
“Gallup: Obama’s Early Vote Advantage Collapses 22-Points Over 2008″
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
October 30th, 2012
10:32 am
Lee:
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like VICTORY !”
TiredOfIt
October 30th, 2012
10:33 am
Lee
October 30th, 2012
10:29 am
Tired…YEP and he is ahead in the polls!!! Great job Romney.
++
And you assume people are telling those that take the polls the truth?
Lee
October 30th, 2012
10:34 am
Tired….SO now you are saying the Democrats are lying in the polls? hahaha This is too easy.
Williebkind
October 30th, 2012
10:35 am
I have been thinking and yes it is painful. How are the 50 million liberals going to vote along the NE?
Williebkind
October 30th, 2012
10:36 am
If New York city residents cant vote the conservatives might take NY
Williebkind
October 30th, 2012
10:38 am
““The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit,”
He is worried about the voting turn out! He has no real feelings.
Robert of Texas
October 30th, 2012
10:39 am
General Ham, who you name from Panetta’s response, has denied that assertion and in fact, has been removed by the President, along with the Admiral commanding the Stennis Carrier Fleet. They were preparing to act in defiance of the President.
Just check it out — 4 Star General Head of Africom has been replaced. You are a journalist, right?
Oh, yeah I forgot. The aftermath of Watergate was the destruction of the public’s faith in government. You treasonous scums in the media are about to be pitched into the trash heap of history.
Coward.
ByeByeObama
October 30th, 2012
10:49 am
Not a right-wing conspiracy just common sense. Two brave seals disobeyed orders three times to rescue people from the embassy. Former commanders from Africom report that a flashtraffic message would have been sent directly to Africom and White House Situation Room. An Ambassador gets the same protection as a four-star general. Ambassador missing goes higher on the chain and President would have been immediately notified.
Seals and operators retreated to CIA Annex and painted mortar encampment targeting them. Again, former military say the only reason to paint a target is if assets were in the air (Drone or C130 Specter). They would not give away their position if their was not the capability in the area.
It is fairly simple. The leaders did not make a decision to protect U.S. citizens and hoped that the media would provide enough coverage for the issue to go away.
Voters will not leave their common sense at the voting machines. The vote will be for the Operators and heroes who disobeyed orders to circumvent a paralyzed leadership afraid of risks.
Wayne
October 30th, 2012
10:52 am
I have a question relevant to this article –
Q – How many left wing journalist does it take to change a light bulb?
A – None, they prefer that we walk in the dark.
Wayne
October 30th, 2012
10:56 am
How many jobs has Barack Obama / Barry Soetoro ever created? Net jobs = ZERO! FACT!
Lee
October 30th, 2012
11:03 am
Wayne…..AMEN!
Wayne
October 30th, 2012
11:03 am
Bias opinion from a ignorant blogger who aspires to someday be, yet another cowardly left wing…….ahem…..journalist.
ROTFLMFAO
October 30th, 2012
11:14 am
The reason Mitt has NOT joined the mainstream media as part of the pro-Obama conspiracy of silence to protect the President is because he was pilloried by the left-wing media for challenging the President’s Rose Garden speech on the day following the attack on Benghazi, even though what he said was accurate. The President made a generic reference to terrorism, but never stated that the attack that killed the Ambassador was, in fact, an attack by terrorists.
There is also no indication that U.S military officials DID NOT advise the President that a rescue operation WAS possible. The reason that what the president was advised is that his Administration is covering up the advice given to hide the President’s failure to act to save the Ambassador, while action was possible
Melli
October 30th, 2012
11:21 am
In March 2011 Stevens became the official U.S. liason to the al-Qaeda-linked Libyan opposition working directly with Abedelhakim Blehadj of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group – a group that has now disbanded, with some fighters reportedly participating in the attack that took Steven’s life. Do you still assume there isn’t more to this story?
dmartin72266
October 30th, 2012
11:24 am
You forgot to say “Bush” and “racism.”
HystericalRightWinger
October 30th, 2012
11:31 am
Jay, you just ignored most of the facts surrounding the whole scandal, disregarded about a month of lies from the Pres and VP, refused to use basic logic, and inadvertently excused the media’s failure to ask the president for his “expert professional” opinion on what the hell happened. You sound like a smug liberal drone, Jay! I hope you hide in a hole and cry yourself to sleep on election night!
Jay
October 30th, 2012
11:31 am
“name one black person who ever won a state wide election in Georgia?
Michael Thurmond. Al Scott. Thurbert Baker.
Dan Weaver
October 30th, 2012
11:50 am
Jay, you forgot to mention Gen. Ham has been relieved of his command and forced to retire. Why? Because he is on record for saying he was not asked to help during the Benghazi attack!!! Only the POTUS can order the military to action, and he did not. Sickening.
robroka
October 30th, 2012
12:00 pm
Tundra Dude,
I guess that’s the difference between our ideologies. Do you think we should have a federal government that picks up the pieces for everything that ever goes wrong for every citizen? Or, do you believe citizens should be responsible and plan ahead for when something inevitably goes wrong in their lives?
She has insurance: homeowners, flood, auto, liability, and health. She is NOT wealthy. She only has a high school education. She chose not to spend every dollar she ever earned on the contemporary equivalent of iPhones, xBoxes, 3D TVs, all the rest of the meaningless crap our entitlement society has convinced us we must have, and without which we are being somehow mistreated. She doesn’t need, nor want, Obama or Romeny or any other politician to come take care of her life for her.
The truth is that we can’t afford to have government take care of everything that ever goes wrong in everyone’s life. There are something like 350 million people in this country and things go wrong all the time. Sometimes it’s because of bad decisions, sometimes it’s because of bad luck, sometimes it’s the result of poor planning. You’d need 50 to 100 million government employees staffing the new Ministry of Citzen Well Being to shoulder that kind of burden. There are only 170 million working Americans. It’s simply an impossible collectivist dream. Maybe that’s why collectivism has worked so well in the past.
GIVEMEFREEDOM
October 30th, 2012
12:01 pm
he watched them DIE . . . . then he LIED!
Hey- Dan. The Benghazi story is bull!
October 30th, 2012
12:06 pm
“The speculation that General Carter Ham is departing Africa Command (AFRICOM) due to events in Benghazi, Libya on 11 September 2012 is absolutely false. General Ham’s departure is part of routine succession planning that has been on going since July. He continues to serve in AFRICOM with my complete confidence.”
General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff
Dempsey is probably lying…… right Dan?
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
October 30th, 2012
12:11 pm
Heard this:
“Obama has been “photo-oped” in the White House Situation Room assisting in sending out utiliity trucks re: “Sandy”. Too bad he couldn’t have been there for Benghazi.”
The Nate Silver Poll / Math that works.
October 30th, 2012
12:21 pm
Mitt Romney
243.4
-3.8 since Oct. 22
Barack Obama
294.6
+3.8 since Oct. 22
Electoral
vote
270 to win
The accuracy of his November 2008 presidential election predictions—he correctly predicted the winner of 49 of the 50 states—won Silver further attention and commendation. The only state he missed was Indiana, which went for Barack Obama by 1%. He also correctly predicted the winner of all 35 Senate races that year.
0331 USMC
October 30th, 2012
12:22 pm
Once again we could have helped save AMERICAN lives,but you bleeding heart liberals stand in the way.Your going to lose this election and i can`t wait until the results come in.SEMPER FI
David Farrar
October 30th, 2012
12:30 pm
HELP!!!!!
Gen. Carter has been kidnapped. Is he in Washington or at his post?
Will we hear from Gen. Ham before the election on the Benghazi affair or only from others speaking for the general?
ex animo
davidfarrar
David Farrar
October 30th, 2012
12:33 pm
Correction:
HELP!!!!!
Gen. Carter Ham has been kidnapped. Is he in Washington or at his post?
Will we hear from Gen. Ham before the election on the Benghazi affair or only from others speaking for the general?
ex animo
davidfarrar
David Farrar
October 30th, 2012
12:43 pm
Is Gen. Ham retiring early?
From the Washington Times:
Read more at Washington Times
ex animo
davidfarrar
BeeJay
October 30th, 2012
12:58 pm
Option three: Mitt Romney knows it is not up to him to demand justice. It is up to Congress, and the fact that only the news media seems to care about Obama’s deliberate debacle and cover-up is more telling about Obama than Romney. THIS fact is what Jay Bookman and liberals don’t want to have to admit. Romney has done nothing wrong. Obama, however, let 4 Americans be murdered and now runs scared that his re-election bid may be harmed. His behavior during the past 6 weeks, and that of Joe Biden and the liberal crazy media, like MSNBC, is despicable. We have 4 dead Americans, people, FOUR, who were doing a job for the country. And Obama can’t even do his.
BenM
October 30th, 2012
1:57 pm
Well Jay you say that the reason for not going in is lack of real time footage, well Jay theyhad real time footage from a Predator drone in the area and gunships 30 minutes away. Shows to watch them die on live video in a couple gunships couldn’t usually scattered mortar fire if motors are ground to ground and gunships are air to ground. If Obama had acted it would have shown that he didn’t stop terrorism like he claims, so what are couple of Amer aican Life pickup cover his wife
BenM
October 30th, 2012
1:58 pm
Well Jay you say that the reason for not going in is lack of real time footage, well Jay theyhad real time footage from a Predator drone in the area and gunships 30 minutes away. Shows to watch them die on live video in a couple gunships couldn’t usually scattered mortar fire if motors are ground to ground and gunships are air to ground. If Obama had acted it would have shown that he didn’t stop terrorism like he claims, so what are couple of American life
BenM
October 30th, 2012
1:59 pm
Well Jay you say that the reason for not going in is lack of real time footage, well Jay theyhad real time footage from a Predator drone in the area and gunships 30 minutes away. Shows to watch them die on live video in a couple gunships couldn’t usually scattered mortar fire if motors are ground to ground and gunships are air to ground. If Obama had acted it would have shown that he didn’t stop terrorism like he claims, so what are couple of Americans life to cover up his lies and failings
BenM
October 30th, 2012
2:04 pm
So you Realtor don’t care about dead Amaricans as long as it isn’t you do you think it is funny they were killed because when you state there was no real footage when THERE WAS REAL TIME FOOTAGE makes me think you do. You saying there wasn’t is both offenceive and insulting to anyone whom has served or had a relativie that served
BigHittas
October 30th, 2012
2:28 pm
a couple questions usually get left out in all the finger pointing:
WTH are we doing there to start with?
What’s the role of an ambassador? and was this ambassador fulfilling that role?
FIRE THEM ALL!!
October 30th, 2012
2:29 pm
TO: Granny Godzilla – Union Thugette
Now we all know you have “LOST YOUR MIND”…..You have the audacity to suggest that because I am not a blubbering idiot and know OBAMA/HILLARY failed our Americans dreadfully and then yes – tried to cover it up that “i am putting my own desire to hurt the President above security of this nation???” First of all, get this – I VOTED FOR Obama – it will not happen again….”fool me once shame on you – fool me twice shame on me” I don’t care to “hurt the President” – your words…..and certainly if he is not re-elected the “so called security of this nation shall not be at risk!” I simply want them all fired as THEY ALL FAILED THESE PRECIOUS MEN WHO DIED……..THEN WENT ON AND CARED MORE ABOUT THEIR “POLITICAL FUND RAISING” IN VEGAS AND ON TOP OF THAT THEN HAD THE UNMITIGATED GALL TO LIE TO US AMERICANS!!!
YOU SEE I WANT SOMEONE WHO IS SAAVY, SMART, WHO CAN FIGURE THINGS OUT…..LIKE IT WAS THE ANNIVERSAY OF 9/11, THE AMBASSADOR WROTE AND SAID THEY NEEDED MORE SECURITY, BRITAIN PULLED OUT DUE TO THE “RISKS” TO THEIR PEOPLE IN BENGHAZI, WE HELPED OVERTURN THAT COUNTRY, ….GOLLY IT DOESN’T TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO FIGURE OUT THAT THEY WERE ALL IN HARMS WAY AND NEEDED FURTHER SUPPORT!!!!! THEY WERE BEING SLAUGHTERED AND OUR PRES AND HILLARY FAILED THEM…NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTS…..IT IS WHAT IT IS……I WISH OBAMA AND HIS FAMILY THE VERY BEST – HE JUST DOES NOT NEED TO CONTINUE TO BE OUR PRESIDENT…..I DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE COULD POSSIBLY FURTHER EDUCATE YOU!!!!
JT Money
October 30th, 2012
3:03 pm
“Dempsey is probably lying…… right Dan?”
Don’t you know? Anybody who contradicts the right-wing spin on this manufactured scandal with facts is obviously lying, including top military commanders. But unsubstantiated rumors and wild speculations are all true. The crazier they are, the more truthful.
JT Money
October 30th, 2012
3:16 pm
All of the stupid right-wing claims that we could/should sent in a team to rescue the ambassador can be shot down with one simple well-documented reason:
We didn’t know where the ambassador was. The people guarding him lost him in the chaos.
But somehow Obama sitting thousands of miles away, possibly (I’m being generous going along with the unsubstantiated rumor here) watching a limited black/white grainy drone feed is suppose to have enough information to locate him, violate Libyan airspace, and send in a rescue force.
Real life is not an Xbox video game kids.
sam
October 30th, 2012
3:36 pm
enough with this Benghazi and who is to blame. the blame is squarely on the terrorists that attacked the embassy. If there were 5 more US Security Personnel there all we’d have is a few more dead Americans. the fact is this could happen pretty much anywhere at any time. there are people in these countries that dont want us there, in any capacity. these people will do whatever they can to kill or injure Anmericans, anything for some attention. we cant see everything coming. if we had sent in planes and/or marines without knowing any ‘real’ facts in would’ve been a disaster and the Americans would still be dead. it is a tragedy that happened, learn from it and move on. they all knew the danger they placed themselves in every day and they did it any way. congratulate them on that and stop using this as a way to beat up Obama.
David Farrar
October 30th, 2012
3:44 pm
Jay is right: it is about time we take Obama at his word: as far as he knew, it was a local mob of angry Muslims protesting over a video, who apparently spooked him into falsely believing they were being controlled by other nation/states, just hiding in waiting for the marines to come to the rescue, and for that Ambassador Stevens and four other Americans paid the ultimate price.
ex animo
davidfarrar
Jay
October 30th, 2012
3:48 pm
find that birth certificate yet, David?
Mark
October 30th, 2012
4:12 pm
You are indeed an idiot. Yes, the failure to take reasonable action is horrible. Answer this: why would a CIA operative be laser targeting strike objectives and exposing himself to danger with no offesive assets in the area? The answer is he would not.
But the big issue is the cover up. By all means forget what the state department reported, what Obama himself said, what Hillary said. That is where impeachment comes in. There was no purpose to the lie other than to cover their sorry backsides. Grow a pair and throw off your liberal blinders will you?
David Farrar
October 30th, 2012
4:56 pm
@ Jay
No, I haven’t, and neither has anybody else. But you will be glade to hear I have given my attorney instructions to try one more time to give Candidate Obama an opportunity to remove this question of his birthplace from the minds of over 23% of the independent vote.
In addition, I have also suggested Obama could exchange his Hawaiian natal history for Romney’s FBAR reports for the last ten years. Since 73% of Romney’s base also question of Obama’s birthplace. Sure, Romney can refuse, but not without a cost to his base. Not a bad outcome in a close race for simply offering to reveal the truth.
Somehow, it seems, Romney was able to effectively threaten Obama into silence with his August 25, 2012 “joke” about his own birth certificate. Go figure!
ex animo
davidfarrar
*Including Obama’s Hawaiian natal hospital records
Sure, Romney can say no, but not
s who have questions about Obama place of birth.
Another Obama Apologist Against Right Wing “Hysteria”
October 30th, 2012
5:14 pm
[...] Bookman’s post yesterday at the AJC dismissed me -and hundreds of thousands of other Americans- as imbeciles and hysterics eager to be [...]
JT Money
October 30th, 2012
5:23 pm
@DownInAlbany – Very good job copying William Kristol’s 10 questions verbatim without attribution! Wouldn’t want people to think you’re capable of independent thoughts and came up with those on your own.
@Mark – Drop a bomb in the middle of a populated city among people we’re trying to befriend and violate Libyan airspace while doing so. Brilliant.
David Farrar
October 30th, 2012
6:48 pm
@JT Money
The US has plenty of legal grounds to go into another country’s air, sea and land space to defend Americans if the parent country can’t do the job, which is exactly the case with Libya. The real reason why this happen is because Ambassador Stevens was vulnerable to nothing larger than a local Aal-Qaeda militia seeking revenge for the death of their Libyan brother Atiyah al-Libi, and when Obama wet his pants over their rescue, Ambassador Stevens and four other Americans paid the price.
ex animo
davidfarrar
independent thinker
October 30th, 2012
10:48 pm
superDave: “”"”Jay Bookman is an idiot. He knows nothing. Never served in the military. Never served his country in any capacity. He is a joke and a weasel.”"”"”"”"”"”"
Kind like that rich guy running to be President? You know the one who protested for the war and the draft but when it was time to serve, he hid in a chateau in France claiming it was more important to recruit cult members.
Frank
October 31st, 2012
5:01 am
I posted on the 29th and just came back to see further responses to this article. Jay, I am more center–politically–than you think. But with a rich family history of military service I cannot comprehend the outcome of this situation.
There are conflicting reports from Gen.Ham and Panetta. Now Ham is retiring after sources say he was detained on 9-11 and relieved of duty.
Sounds fishy, just fishy. I want to know what happened because with each passing day f the initial story given to the American People by the White House, CIA or state department loses further credibility.
I fear that the white house response,”this has nothing to do with the election” will be the best we get for a while.
This is true. Tell us what happened, white house. The American people demand transparency.
Maybe when Gen. Carter Ham is retired, he will address the reported accounts conflicting the Panetta’s story.
Rebecca
October 31st, 2012
11:42 am
This has NOTHING to do with Politics! This is about dead Americans and how so many people failed them! Obama’s own words”I am ultamately responsible for what happened in Benghazi.” I am an American citizen before I am anything else! As an American citizen I am OUTRAGED! WHY IS IT EVERYONES ELSES FAULT? Obama IS the Commander in chief is he not? Are we not supposed to applaud him for “getting Osama bin laden but he is not to be blamed by these same people for what happened in Benghazi? Do you know what kind of message we are sending to our enemies? EVERY enemy of the U.S.A. is saying” we can attack the US because they won’t defend when it really matters” ! It makes me sick! IT SHOULD MAKE YOU SICK! regardless of if you are a Democrat or a Republican or Independant or whatever party YOU are an AMERICAN citizen first! I I am a mother of an US Army Afghanistan vet, I am a widow of an US Marine who fought in the Vietnam war,(he was 18 years older than me he died at age 39 in 1993) I am an American Citizen and I AM PISSED OFF!!!!!
Rock Riot
October 31st, 2012
3:49 pm
President Obama ids NOT a traitor, and he is NOT a coward. He IS a politician first, and he IS incompetent in his current job. If he did not know for weeks after the Benghazi attack that it was a terrorist attack, he is incompetent. If he did not know that his Department of State was inadequately protecting a consulate in a tumultuous region, he is incompetent. It is his job to know. And, to go before the world community at the United Nations sixteen days after the event and mis-characterize it as a mob reaction to a video, is embarrassingly incompetent. The alternative is to believe that he lied for political reasons about the deaths of four Americans bravely serving their country. I prefer to vote against him because he is incompetent rather than because he is a self-serving liar.