Bloody Handprints in Benghazi

Images of a failed presidency? Perhaps.

The true sequence of events during the attack that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, remains unclear. One version says he succumbed to smoke inhalation and died at a nearby hospital. Whether he died there or was brought there post mortem is unclear. Another suggests he went missing and may have been raped by his killers. There is even some debate as to what we see in the photo of Stevens being dragged, or carried, by people who were either parading his body as a trophy or trying to help him to safety. Our experience in Somalia in 1993 suggests the darker interpretation is the safest bet. We may never know what really happened, as the most reliable sources — not the Libyan security who allowed the attack and later claim to have fought to regain the consulate — are dead.

The consulate building had no meaningful security. No bulletproof windows. No Marine guards. Obviously the foreign service under Secretary of State Clinton failed to protect four brave Americans under her charge, when there was adequate warning that an attack could come, and the date made the day a dangerous one.

What is clear is that the Arab Spring revolution Barack Obama championed has not ushered in a time of peace. It is clear that President Obama’s Cairo speech has failed to convert our Islamist enemies into friends. They hate us just as much today as they did then, only now they see weakness and indecisiveness. The people attacking our embassies in a handful of countries today should fear America’s wrath, but clearly they don’t.