By Toby Harnden. President Barack Obama, during an interview shown on Comedy Central, has responded to a question about his administration’s confused communication after the Benghazi attack, by saying: ‘If four Americans get killed, it’s not optimal.’
Obama was speaking to Jon Stewart of The Daily Show for a programme that was broadcast last night. Stewart, a liberal whose young audience is full of potential voters prized by the Obama campaign, asked the president about his handling of the aftermath of the Benghazi attack.
But Obama’s response sparked outrage among Republican commentators including the website Breitbart and prompted a vicious backlash from the Twitter community.
Ambassador Chris Stevens, diplomat Sean Smith and security men and former U.S. Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were killed by terrorists on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 – an attack that the White House initially blamed on a spontaneous protest about an anti-Islam movie made in California.
Stewart asked: ‘Is part of the investigation helping the communication between these divisions? ‘Not just what happened in Benghazi, but what happened within.’ Read more from this story HERE.
Here’s the Comedy Central Video with Obama’s unfortunate remarks:
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2012-10-19 03:16:272016-04-11 11:28:04Video: Obama Callously States on Comedy Central, “If Four Americans Get Killed, It’s not OPTIMAL”
CNN correspondent and second presidential debate moderator Candy Crowley disgraced herself tonight, repeatedly intervening to save a floundering President Obama and showing why many Americans were rightfully suspicious of her ability to moderate a presidential debate fairly.
Her most outrageous act tonight was her incorrect seconding of Obama’s statement that he declared the Libya terrorist attacks to be “terror.” While Obama did indeed use the word, this is not what he meant by it. Instead, he was simply referring to “acts of terror.” There was no mention of Al Qaeda or any of its affiliates with respect to the actual attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi.
Crowley bungled the facts in attempting to save Obama from his administration’s dreadful bungling of the Libya situation. She owes the American people an apology for inserting herself into the debate in such an inappropriate and embarrassing fashion.
Obama deliberately quoted himself out of context and Crowley not only allowed him to do so, she validated his intentionally narrow reading of the facts even before he pleaded for her to come to his rescue.
Here is the full Obama statement in reference to “terror” in Libya. As you can see, this was purely a generic discussion of violence:
“No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2012-10-17 01:23:162016-04-11 11:28:12Video: CNN’s Candy Crowley’s Outrageous Tagteam Hit on Romney Over Libya
The White House has put special operations strike forces on standby and moved drones into the skies above Africa, ready to strike militant targets from Libya to Mali — if investigators can find the Al Qaeda-linked group responsible for the death of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya.
But officials say the administration, with weeks until the presidential election, is weighing whether the short-term payoff of exacting retribution on Al Qaeda is worth the risk that such strikes could elevate the group’s profile in the region, alienate governments the U.S. needs to fight it in the future and do little to slow the growing terror threat in North Africa.
Details on the administration’s position and on its search for a possible target were provided by three current and one former administration official, as well as an analyst who was approached by the White House for help. All four spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the high-level debates publicly.
The dilemma shows the tension of the White House’s need to demonstrate it is responding forcefully to Al Qaeda, balanced against its long-term plans to develop relationships and trust with local governments and build a permanent U.S. counterterrorist network in the region.
Vice President Joe Biden pledged in his debate last week with Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan to find those responsible for the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2012-10-16 02:28:162016-04-11 11:28:14October Surprise May Be Underway: White House Prepares Strike Team to Hit Libyan Terrorists
Senator Lindsey Graham alleges on “Face the Nation” yesterday that the Obama Administration knew within twenty-four hours that the Benghazi attack was terrorism.
He went on to say that the Administration deliberately misled the United States people or is “incredibly incompetent.”
Graham also talks about the myriad of leaks from the Administration on other foreign policy issues, solely to make Obama look good. He contends this is evidence of Obama’s politicization of foreign policy. He believes the handling of Benghazi has been not different.
Here are Liz Cheney’s comments where she called it the worst cover-up in the “history of the Republic”:
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2012-10-15 02:15:332016-04-11 11:28:19Videos: Benghazi Cover-up Now Alleged by Senator Lindsey Graham; Liz Cheney Calls it “the Worst in History”
When terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 of this year and killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, there were no U.S. Marines deployed in Libya to defend U.S. diplomats, diplomatic facilities and classified information and equipment.
However, says the State Department, a Marine Security Detachment was deployed on that day to carry out those duties at the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados.
“U.S. Marine Security Guards serve at the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, and at other diplomatic missions around the world, to protect and safeguard American diplomacy,” Rebecca Ross, the U.S. Embassy to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Counselor for Public Affairs, said in a statement to CNSNews.com.
“On September 11, 2012, our U.S. Marine Security Detachment carried out its regular duties which include providing internal security, preventing the compromise of classified information and equipment, and providing protection for U.S. citizens and property located within official U.S. facilities,” Ross said.
On August 16, less than a month before the terrorists struck the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the U.S. Marine Security Guard Force in Barbados led a physical fitness test for young athletes.
By Alex Pappas. With tensions between President Obama and the Clintons at a new high, former President Bill Clinton is moving fast to develop a contingency plan for how his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, should react if Obama attempts to tie the Benghazi fiasco around her neck, according to author Ed Klein.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller, Klein said sources close to the Clintons tell him that Bill Clinton has assembled an informal legal team to discuss how the Secretary of State should deal with the issue of being blamed for not preventing the Benghazi terrorist attack last month.
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters during a press conference Friday that responsibility for the consulate in Libya fell on the State Department, not the White House.
If blame for the security failures falls to Hillary Clinton, Klein said, it’s possible that she would even consider resigning over the issue.
“Bill is working on a number of strategies about what Hillary ought to do. He’s even gone so far as to play with various doomsday scenarios including up to the idea that Hillary would consider resigning over the issue if the Obama team tries to use her as a scapegoat,” Klein told TheDC in an interview. Read more from this story HERE.
Klein: Clinton-Obama rift intensifies after Libya, Obama’s debate performance
By Edward Klein. [S]ince the convention, Clinton and Obama have had a serious falling-out over two issues: the president’s preparation and lamentable performance in his debate with Mitt Romney, and the question of who should be assigned blame — Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — for the intelligence and security screw-up in Benghazi, Libya.
This new rift, which the Clintons and Obamas have managed to keep secret from the media, has poisoned their relations to such an extent that it could conceivably have an impact on the outcome of the presidential election.
The latest quarrel began when Clinton heard that Obama was behaving so cocky about his first debate against Mitt Romney that he wasn’t taking his debate prep seriously. Out of concern, Clinton had an aide call the White House and say that the former president would be more than happy to give the current president some pointers and advice on how to get the best of Romney.
Clinton waited several days for a response, but none was forthcoming. According to my sources, the former president was dumbfounded that Obama had ignored his offer, and his hurt feelings quickly boiled over into anger.
“Bill thought that he and Obama were on friendly terms after the convention,” one source told me. “He couldn’t believe that the White House didn’t even extend him the courtesy of a return phone call. He concluded that Obama’s arrogance knows no bounds.” Read more from this story HERE.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2012-10-13 06:10:492016-04-11 11:28:25Clintons May Torpedo Obama Presidency over Benghazi Blame
In an outrageous statement yesterday, Obama surrogate Representative Donna Edwards stated that US voters may not care about Benghazi, but they certainly care about bin Laden.
The other members of the CNN panel reacted incredulously to her comment.
The comments online were ruthless.
One person wrote, “The Democrats are banking on Americans’ stupidity.”
Another, “The week before, he skipped his intelligence briefings. When he did receive notice of the coming embassy attack, Obama did nothing. No warnings, no alerts, no lock-down, no protection, no US Marines. NOTHING. Four Americans dead, classified documents stolen, safe houses compromised, yet Obama still campaigned. As the ambassador’s body was dragged through the streets, Obama partied then had a good night’s sleep. There is no doubt: Barack Obama has blood on his hands.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2012-10-13 05:37:482016-04-11 11:28:25Video: Obama Surrogate – Voters Probably Won’t Care About Benghazi, But They Do About Bin Laden
In the following interview between CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Pat Smith, the mother of State Department employee, veteran Sean Smith, claims she talked to Clinton, Obama, and Biden about the murder of her son.
Here’s part of the transcript of the interview (the video is below) where Ms. Smith states that she pleaded with Obama, Clinton and Biden to tell her what happened to her son:
SMITH: [I told them,] “Please, tell me what happened. Just, just tell me what happened. Please, don’t give me any baloney. I don’t want political stuff. Just tell me the truth. What happened…” I look at TV and I see bloody hand prints on walls thinking, my G-d, is that my son’s? I don’t know if he was shot, I don’t know, I don’t know. They haven’t told me anything. They’re still studying it. And the things that they are telling me are outright lies. That Susan Rice, she talked to me personally and she said, she said, “This is the way it was, it was because of this film that came out.”
CNN: So she told you personally that she thought it was a result of the video of the protest.
SMITH: Oh, absolutely. In fact, all of them did. All of them did. Leon Panetta actually took my face in his hands like this and he said, “Trust me. I will tell you what happened.” And, so far, he’s told me nothing. Nothing at all. And I want to know.
CNN: It’s important for you to know all of the details no matter how horrible …
SMITH: Yes.
CNN: … no matter how tough they are to hear.
SMITH: Exactly. I told them if it’s such a secret thing fine, take me in another room, whisper in my ear what happened so that I know and we’ll go from there. But no … At first i was so proud because they were treating me so nice when I went to that reception … I cried on Obama’s shoulder, and then he kind of looked off into the distance, so that was worthless to me. I want to know, for G-d’s sakes. Or for Allah’s sake, or for whoever’s sake is there.
CNN: You deserve answers.
SMITH: I think so. I believe I do. I believe it. It is my son. I had him — I told Obama personally, I said look, I had him for his first 17 years and then he went into the service, then you got him. And, I won’t say it the way I said it. But I said, “You screwed up, you didn’t do a good job, I lost my son.” And they said, “We’ll get back to you. I promise, I promise you, I will get back to you…” They would at least acknowledge that I have a right to know something, something other than, “Oh, we are checking up on it.” Or, “Trust me,” I like that one the best of all: “Trust me, I will let you know.” Well, I don’t trust you anymore. I don’t trust you anymore…
Ms. Smith’s concerns about the Obama Administration’s lies were echoed by Representative Trey Gowdy who angrily asked at congressional hearings yesterday, “I want to know why we were lied to.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2012-10-11 03:45:472016-04-11 11:28:32Videos: Mother of Slain State Department Worker Blows Whistle on Obama Administration for Telling “Outright Lies” About Benghazi Killings
Although much of her narrative is suspect, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs Charlene Lamb admitted that the Ambassador was protected by only one guard at the time of his death.
Watching this video should leave you convinced of the incompetency of the Obama administration:
And here’s an article about how Ambassador Stevens himself had requested more security.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2012-10-11 03:31:182016-04-11 11:28:32Video: State Department Admits that Only One Person Was Guarding Ambassador at Time of Attack
In trying to blame the Libyan security fiasco on the GOP, Chris Matthews asked Rep. Elijah Cummings today, “What about this fact, apparently, that the Republicans in the House were the ones who cut effectively a half a billion dollars in security costs. . .” Congressman Cummings responded, “That’s exactly right, that’s exactly right”:
Unfortunately for Cummings and Matthews, the decision to reduce security in Benghazi had absolutely nothing to do with GOP budget cuts.
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher later asked the State Department official responsible for denying the additional security directly whether budget restraints had anything to do with the inadequate security. She answered, “No”:
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2012-10-11 00:25:552016-04-11 11:28:34Videos: Chris Matthews & Congressman Cummings Caught Lying About GOP Cuts as the Cause of Inadequate Security in Benghazi
