Writing at Instapundit, Elizabeth Price Foley says she’s never seen anything quite like this blistering editorial. I have to agree. It’s astounding.
Based on documents released by the committee, on the day of the attack the Pentagon dispatched a drone with a video camera so everyone in Washington could see what was happening in real time. The drone documented no crowds protesting any video. But around 4 p.m. Washington received an email from the Benghazi mission saying it was under a military-style attack. The White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and the CIA were able to watch the live video feed. An email sent later that day reported “Ansar al-Sharia claims responsibility for Benghazi attack.”
Not only did the White House do nothing, there are now reports that a counterterrorism team ready to launch a rescue mission was ordered to stand down.
The official explanation for the inadequate security? This administration didn’t want to “offend the sensibilities” of the new radical Islamic regime which American and British arms had so recently helped install in Libya.
The official explanation for why Obama administration officials watched the attack unfold for seven hours, refusing repeated requests to send the air support and relief forces that sat less than two hours away in Italy? Silence.
There’s more.
An open discussion of these issues, of course, would lead to difficult questions about the wisdom of underwriting and celebrating the so-called Arab Spring revolts in the first place. While the removal of tyrants can be laudable, the results show a disturbing pattern of merely installing new tyrannies – theocracies of medieval mullahs who immediately start savaging the rights of women (including the basic right to education) and who are openly hostile to American interests.
Who could’ve seen that coming? Well, other than me and just about anyone else who’s paid attention over the past decade.
This administration is an embarrassment on foreign policy and incompetent at best on the economy – though a more careful analysis shows what can only be a perverse and willful attempt to destroy our prosperity. Back in January 2008, Barack Obama told the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle that under his cap-and-trade plan, “If somebody wants to build a coal-fired power plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them.” He added, “Under my plan … electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” It was also in 2008 that Mr. Obama’s future Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, famously said it would be necessary to “figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe” – $9 a gallon.
Yet the president now claims he’s in favor of oil development and pipelines, taking credit for increased oil production on private lands where he’s powerless to block it, after he halted the Keystone XL Pipeline and oversaw a 50 percent reduction in oil leases on public lands.
These behaviors go far beyond “spin.” They amount to a pack of lies. To return to office a narcissistic amateur who seeks to ride this nation’s economy and international esteem to oblivion, like Slim Pickens riding the nuclear bomb to its target at the end of the movie “Dr. Strangelove,” would be disastrous.
And, they’re not quite done yet. The only response that I can muster to the Las Vegas Review-Journal is “Thank you.” May more in the media awaken from their sleep and realize that the man currently occupying the American presidency was never qualified for it and has remained incompetent at best, and malevolent at worst.
– God, voters, make him go!!
The 2012 Presidential election is an expensive distraction from the central issue facing Americans today. Do we want a.) or . . . b.) ?
a.) A Return to Constitutional government:
_ The Declaration of Independence: http://tinyurl.com/5yr32
_ The US Constitution: http://tinyurl.com/yqm97q and
_ The US Bill of Rights: http://tinyurl.com/dugh9
or
b.) Continue to form a one-world government under the
_ UN’s “Core Agenda 21″: http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/
We know the answer. That’s why we will not be allowed to vote on this.
- Oliver K. Manuel
Former NASA Principal
Investigator for Apollo
http://omanuel.wordpress.com/about/#comment-1673
Another reason Obama’s keen on early voting- It prevents the impact of late-breaking events like this. =’[.]‘=
i mean, what does it take?
this guy came in the door bragging about having some documentation that was obvioulsy suspect at best. honest good Americans have a right to see the truth. the donald with his $5mil offer proved the kenyan is a fraud. and notice how no ‘children’s’ groups are questioning why he didn’t get that $5mil for the children? sounds like the emphasis really isn’t about the children, huh? all dummy had to do was show some documents the government is already supposed to have in his file, if he is a gov. employee. especially if he had to have a security clearance. duh? these clowns still laugh and call people bad names when they want to see this fools credentials.
then he goes from one horrible screwup to the next. gulf oil a.w.o.l.? glad he could finally get time to come down. probably heard about the robert trent golf courses in alabama. shutting down real energy production nation-wide, and lying about it.
selling guns to mexican bad guys w/o tracking devices? then destroy most of the evidence when Americans die? promote and hide gov. ee’s, tell them not to testify, and when issa gets too close claim executive privilege?
and now benghazi. could incompetent find a better home? yep. its good to be c.i.c., well, at least riding around in the cool private aircraft part anyway. vegas anyone?
A refreshing dose of reality from the media. Accurate and very well put. And incredibly damning. Couldn’t have described him better myself. Maybe I should subscribe to this paper.
I’d like to add that speculating that considerations of the impact of a “Desert One”-type failure on the election might have influenced decision making, consciously or not, is not beyond the pale.
Especially if decisionmakers themselves had become fooled in the heart that it was about the video, even if the head should have known it was not. They may have thought “we have it coming”.
If President Obama is reelected, we can say goodby to constitutional governance. The Constitution is already being shredded — attacks on the First Amendment flowing from attempts to defuse the Benghazi kerfuffle by blaming a poorly made and rarely viewed video, as well as ObamaCare rejections of religious freedom via birth control and abortifacient mandates applicable to religious organizations the doctrines of which will have to be contravened to obey, gun control efforts aimed at diminishing the Second Amendment, intrusions on States’ rights diminishing the Tenth Amendment, and more. With another four years in office, President Obama will create a perhaps irreparable mess.
Neither Governor Romney nor anyone else can reverse the process quickly, but at least he has a decent chance of starting the process, particularly with the help of conservatives in the Congress.
Exsqueeze me, but when a mere recitation of the facts is considered “brutal”, we’ve got trouble.
Good column in a swing state. Hopefully the mainstream media containment of this disgusting performance by the Administration is about to break open.
It will be regional papers like this that salvage what is left of the media’s reputation. Since they don’t have the safety net of writers and editors at the national papers they seem to be more attune to reality.
Given the malice with with he’s treated the economy, the constitution, our interests abroad, etc. We should be glad he’s so incompetent. If he’d spent all his time playing golf instead of just most of it, we’d probably be in a better position right now. Sadly the one thing he’s good at is campaigning, which is unfortunately the only skill he needs.
If the rest of the media did their job laying out the facts like this paper did the race would be 10 points or more Romney.
I’ve lived in Las Vegas since 1966. For the first time in my.
adult.
life.
I’m proud of the Review Journal.
Alas, this should have been written a month ago and Obamee hounded out of office.
Too litle, too late, LAMEstream media.
A great editorial, written with courage and accuracy, and published in the best tradition of the print media.
Well, at least a good editorial, but late in the day. If this defines ‘courage’ and ‘best tradition’ then we really are in trouble.
REMEMBER BENGHAZI!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnF1I_gRYRs