Irresponsible

Date: 5/16/2013

Four Americans are dead, including two Navy seals and U.S. Ambassador to Libya, John Stevens. All were murdered in the September 11-12, 2012, attack on our embassy in Benghazi.

Senior military officers attempting to come to the aid during the seven-hour attack were told to stand down. Some have since been relieved from duty or reassigned. Seven months later we are not even close to getting basic answers from the Obama White House, due to political gamesmanship and a complicit media. The growing scandal surrounding the terrorist attack has left President Obama scrambling for a coherent explanation.

The media and Democrats in Congress are trying to spin the story saying this was a squabble between the CIA and the State Department over wording.

The Obama administration edited the CIA report twelve times, and removed the words "terrorist" and "Al Queda" from the talking points given to UN Ambassador Susan Rice to repeat on five Sunday Morning talk shows on Sept 16, "The best information was a spontaneous response similar to events that had transpired in Cairo as a direct result to a hateful and offensive video."

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both knew this was not true. General Petraeus said the words "terrorist" and "Al Qaeda" were removed the CIA report and talking points by the Obama administration. Susan Rice and General Petraeus careers were soon ended by scandal.

Obama and Clinton would not have gotten away with this during the presidential election if even a few journalists had the courage to ask a few tough questions, or if Mitt Romney had found the intestinal fortitude to press Obama on it in the debates. Instead it has taken seven months and the media is still covering up for this tragic event.

But the real cover up began, last fall when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton convened an Accountability Review Board to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11-12, 2012, attack.

The review board report is a blatant attempt by Clinton's State Department at political spin to whitewash the tragedy and cover up any culpability.

Does it seem strange to you, that the review board did not interview Gregory Hicks, Deputy Chief of Mission in Libya? After all, it was Hicks who spoke with Secretary Clinton at 2 a.m. during the attack. Hicks is now one of many whistleblowers testifying before Congress.

The attack in Benghazi went on for seven hours and yet no military assets were deployed. Prior requests for additional security went unanswered. What possible reason could this administration have for actually reducing security at the embassy prior to the attack?

This was a failure of duty and responsibility by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the State Department and Obama administration. During the 2008 Democrat primary for president, Hillary Clinton asked, "If it is 3 AM and the phone in the White House is ringing. Who do you want to take the call?"

Last Sept. 11 and 12, it was 2 a.m., and Hillary Clinton was on the phone with Deputy Chief Gregory Hicks during an attack on our Libyan embassy. President Obama, who knew of the attack, had already gone to bed.

Apparently the answer is, "What difference does it make?" This was the answer Hillary Clinton gave Congress in January 2013, when asked whether this a terrorist attack or a spontaneous event. Even though the CIA had reported this was a terrorist attack and linked it to Al Qaeda. The President of Libya had stated the video had no effect on Libyans. What possible motive could there be for this administration for editing out the terms, "terrorists" and Al Qaeda?

If it was your son who died defending the Libyan embassy in the hope America would soon be sending help, would the response, "What difference does it make?" be good enough for you?

The military industrial complex consumes over $600 billion dollars a year, and it is ludicrous for the State Department to blame resources as the reason for having virtually no security at the Libyan embassy during the upheaval following the fall of Muammar Qaddafi.

The actions and responses of President Obama and Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton are negligent, irresponsible and unacceptable. Their attempt to downplay and cover up their missteps and incompetence demonstrate both are unfit for office. No matter what time of day it is.

Dan Allie

Westfield