Libya's long-time dictator had just been usurped and the country was in a volatile state. The knowledge of Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations in country was common. BBC's Katy Kay stated on the program that there were several attacks on the Benghazi facility for the six months prior to Ambassador Stevens being killed. David Brooks said that this consulate revised to mission revision to facility was none of the above. It was a C.I.A. outpost, which explains was there would be so many attacks on it. This diplomatic facility, and Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) rightly asked why it was there in the first place, had no Marine guard, protected only by a Libyan militia that (surprise surprise) melted away at the first signs of the attacks. You can see the potential problems and additional questions given those facts.
Chairman of the Congressional Oversight Committee, Darrell Issa (R-CA) said that there were three questions which needed to be answered: why requests for additional security were denied; did we do all that we could to alleviate the situation during the 7 hours of attacks; and why all the changes in the talking points? The third would seem to be the most difficult to answer, but actually the explanation makes sense - different agencies couldn't agree on what to include and not to include, which would dictate how blame would be assigned. The question of the repeated requests for additional security being denied, we have a feeling that the answer can be attributed to budget cuts, which falls on Congress, some that David Gregory touched on in his questioning. As for doing all that we could at the time of the attack - If you look back into it, the closest Air Force base was in Aviano, Italy where fighters could have been scrambled in time, but would have required refueling planes which were unavailable nullifying that possibility.
We don't mean to be disrespectful, but what was Ambassador
Stevens doing in Benghazi in the first place? Given all that know, possibly, in his familiarity and
comfort with the country, he underestimated the threat and made a poor
decision. If the embassy staff
in Tripoli had been sending requests for more security before this
happened then where is the common sense to know that the farther you get
from the embassy the more risky the situation. That it was a 'diplomatic facility,' what ever that means, it was obvious that he didn't
have enough security to be that trip.
That's a hypothetical, but one that could apply to someone
walking down the street in any major U.S. city, which is also to say
that these things are unpredictable and impossible to anticipate in
every corner of the world.
But more on the text changes, it has come to light that Victoria Nuland, a twenty-plus year veteran of the State Department oversaw edits that removed mention that the attack involved an Al Qaeda affiliated group called Ansar Al-Sharia. The reasoning for the omission, it's said, was to not alert the group that the CIA and U.S. officials were on to them. This reason was outlined by then CIA Director General David Petraeus in a hearing last fall so it was something that Congress was already aware of. In such a rare occurrence - the killing of a U.S. Ambassador - where the details are murky and talking points are being tailored, why wouldn't top officials in the CIA, State, and the Administration have a firmer hand on all of this? That would be our question.
The different agencies were at odds with one another over the talking points because each didn't want to take the heat and look bad under Congressional scrutiny, and ironically... ultimately that's who you have to blame - Congress. The reason is because in this hyper-partisan climate that's been created all our legislators are interested in is who is to blame, and not focusing on fixes, prevention, or solutions. For example, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) stated that this is 'the most egregious coverup in American history.' That's so far being true it makes you wonder what good hearings would do at all if there is obviously no will to listen. We would agree with Senator Feinstein that ulterior motives (something sinister) don't exist, as it seems that Senator Inhofe desires. When Mr. Gregory asked Congressman Issa if he was reading into something that isn't there, his answer was no, but he and his Republican colleagues want it to be 'yes' (the nature of the opposition of course). He said that President Obama and former Secretary Clinton were not targets, but they clearly are.
Do we think the Administration orchestrated a cover-up? No. But, we do distinctly note Senator Feinstein's assessment of the Administration. The word she used was 'cautious,' which she explained that she appreciated for the most part, but in regard to Benghazi this approach didn't serve them well. Cautiousness is understandable on behalf of this Administration, given that the American people became very dissatisfied with the last administration because we felt it was too rash and not analytical enough.
After all this, you know who shouldn't be blamed? UN Ambassador Susan Rice, who was just following the talking points she was given in an 'audition' to potentially replace Mrs. Clinton as Secretary of State. Unfortunately for her, she was given talking points that were inaccurate to the actual events. But also, it turns out that General David Petraeus, for all the greatness thrust upon him, was incompetent as a CIA chief, who was caught up in his own scandal/cover-up.
And speaking of scandal, the panel discussed two that we feel are more significant than Benghazi, one being the 26,000 sexual assaults in the military last year and the other of course being these new revelations that the Internal Revenue Service deliberately targeted groups with 'Tea Party' and 'Patriot' in their names for scrutiny into their tax exempt status.
Wes Moore stated that the military is in most instances ahead of the curve when it comes to social mores, integration, et. al, but obviously not on this aspect of being transparent and direct in addressing this criminality. Twenty-six thousand sexual assaults are 26,000 felonies, and if the military can not police itself, as we've all heard one awful story or another, then we'll have to have an independent body oversee such complaints as Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) has proposed. However, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has already come out against that so we'll see where this all gets us.
And then there is our 'beloved' I.R.S. We'll truthfully put it this way. We believe that Super PACs in general will end up being devastatingly detrimental to our democracy and should not have tax-exempt status at all. Politicians always want full disclosure and transparency when it comes to say talking points with regard to an international tragedy, but not when advocacy groups spend millions of secret (undisclosed donors) money on their behalf to get reelected. You have to call B.S. on that. We will also truthfully say that, in particular, the Tea Party movement, has been one of the worst influences on our democracy, poisoning the well of compromise and crippling this country's ability to move forward. (We're not talking at all about Republicans in general.) With that said, we completely reject and are appalled by these actions of the I.R.S. specifically targeting these groups. If they operate under the law or apply for a status that they are entitled to apply for, regardless of whether you like them or not, they should be given equal opportunity and protections to do so. To have any other position is not American because next time it could be you... as the saying goes. The Obama Administration needs to make a forceful statement condemning these actions. Period. Hard Stop.
Round Table: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) who is a veteran of both Iraq and
Afghanistan; New York Times columnist David Brooks; the BBC’s Katty Kay;
and Afghanistan veteran and author Wes Moore; Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) stayed on from interview appearance.
Postscript: Isn't it telling to know that President Bush didn't write an e-mail in 8 years because of what he called potential 'Congressional Intrusions' into what would be his private papers?
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