Today (Friday, November 16, 2012) former General Patraeus did what he apparently could not do when he was director of the CIA, let the world know the Obama administration was lying about Benghazi. What was clear from the start, that Benghazi was a terrorist attack, was denied by the White House for purely political reasons. The CIA was used as cover for the cover up with both the President and Vice President stating that intelligence from the CIA showed it was not clear that Benghazi was terrorism until nearly two weeks later. If that was so the President should have called for a major shakeup at the renowned intelligence agency. Thanks to some welcome if not belated candor from Patraeus we now know the truth.
General Patraeus stated under oath and out from the administrations control that the Agency knew from the start it was a terrorist attack and had said so in writing to the President. He also stated that that report was rewritten before it was circulated to omit this critical piece of information. Like Nixon’s secretary “accidently” erasing critical parts of meetings, this stinks of attempted cover up.
It appears Obama from the beginning did not want the world and most importantly the electorate to know Al Qaeda was not down and out. Maybe he thought he needed to be able to continue to spike the Osama killing to get reelected or wanted to keep national security off the election day burner. Whatever the logic behind the move, it was a sloppy and amateurish stunt that involved lying on a grand scale. Not to be lost is the incident itself that saw people die due to the negligence of their superiors. Even today the words of a DS agent involved in the investigation still ring in this author’s ears. When asked what happened he simply said “it should never have happened.”
The fact is Benghazi and what happened before and after do matter. The ignoring of pleas for more security and the lies that tried to cover up what really happened both show something very troubling. They show an administration bent on emphasizing style and perceptions over substance and reality. They also reveal a lack of character that seems to go to its very core. A White House like Nixon’s before that cannot be trusted, whose every word has to be held suspect.
The Benghazi episode is tragedy for the nation. Like in all tragedies it has had its supporting cast:
· Mrs. Clinton who at times ignored her own State Department to support the administrations lies.
· Ambassador Susan Rice who repeatedly lied at the direction of the President to the American people
· Those in the media who pushed the story to the back page or did not report on it nearly at all and whose actions enabled the farce to continue as long as it did
· General Patraeus who waited until after the election to come clean about his own failings and for supporting the lies while in the Presidents employ
· And of course the Vice President, the President’s cabinet and the rest of the administration who explicitly or implicitly supported the White House’s official line
In the coming days the Democrats will likely circle the wagons around the President and the Democrat talking heads in the media will decry it all as nothing; people that long ago sold their souls to the liberal agenda and would sell their mothers down the river if it would help their cause. Unfortunately for them the truth is like an ink stain, no matter how much you paint it over it has a tendency to show through.
It is likely that Patraeaus’s revelations will not be the last. Who edited the CIA assessments as well as who ordered it done is still unknown as well as other facts still waiting to see the light of day.
No matter what the coming days reveal Benghazi is a story of incompetence, betrayal and lies. It is a story that hits at the very heart of the presidency and undermines its credibility. The truth is Benghazi matters.
The Conservative Mind
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The Conservative Mind 
Listening to both sides talking about todays hearing, Democrats and Republicans who sat on the committee, it is hard to believe that anything will come from all of the hearings.They both have a completely different take on what was said, and on what is worth exploring. The democrats have already started to explain how this whole incident was as normal as the sun rising in the East, and has put the blame for any controversy on republicans, trying to make something out of nothing, just to make the President look bad.
This means that 50% or more of the country, will believe republicans are just looking for something that is not there. Throw in the words, “National Security” and Susan Rice gets to pass for lying to the world about Benghazi.
The explaining away is to be expected, just part of circling the wagons around Obama. If the testimony continues to show a lot of smoke but no fire it will be just be a haze over Obama that many will choose to ignore. There is a lot of facts still to come out though, facts that could signal a fire the Democrats and friends can not explain away. We do know someone changed an intelligence report to fit a scenario the administration was touting and all knew was false. It is also true that General Ham who ordered the drones to fly over Benghazi was relieved of his command by Obama for no stated reason. Then there is Rice who Obama has all but admitted he was the one who told her to lie. All that is needed is a direct provable claim that Obama is the one behind an order to lie to the American people to make it all fall apart. If that last piece is does not appear than you will in all likelihood be right.
What happened that night in Benghazi brought back every emotion I felt 11 years before. But the feelings of why this happened, when it could have been so easily prevented, haunts me. Why we weren’t ready and able to respond with quick and decisive action, is unforgivable. Being lied to as an American on that day by my own Government , is just unconscionable.
As a teenager I hung out in a vacant lot and watched the New York skyline change before my eyes. By 9/11/01 that lot was now a bank and a deli. I stood in that same spot and watched it change all over again. I expected more from my Government that day. Overtime it became reasonable to except that maybe nothing could have been done to change what happened. But 11 years later to leave Americans exposed on that day is not acceptable,not on that day or any other day. To be lied to about what happened and how it happened is beyond unacceptable and actually, disgusting.
This is more than I should have said. I just hope that I am wrong about this. I hope that last piece falls into place, because as Americans, we deserve better than this.