Simply Disgraceful

Remember when you’re mother, father or some wise elder told you that if you tell the truth then you don’t have to remember anything?  Mark Twain might have said it first, but it’s been a popular teaching tool for over 150 years.

Apparently President Obama didn’t hear that from his grandmother, Mark Twain or anyone else.  What we learned on Friday is simply disgusting.

Members of a team at a CIA annex with the ability to help Ambassador Chris Stevens and the U.S. embassy under attack in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11 were told to 'stand down' three times.  Tyrone Woods, a former Navy SEAL and at least two others ignored the order to ‘stand down’ and went to help any ways.

Woods was joined later by fellow former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty.  Both men were killed defending other Americans.

What was Obama doing?  That’s hard to say.  CBS news learned last Wednesday that emails from the state department to various government and intelligence agencies were sent, and they advised of the situation at the embassy as it was happening.

Some of those agencies include the Executive Office of the President and the White House situation room.  In addition, there was a drone in the area that was rerouted to the embassy.

In fact two drones were sent, apparently a second was sent when the first was getting low on fuel.  From the drones the White House situation room had the ability to see, in real time, exactly what was happening on the ground in Libya.

And we did nothing?!?  Oh wait, we did do something, we called it a response to a video critical of Islam for almost two weeks.

Obama sent out U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to five Sunday morning talk shows days later, and the message was that it was a protest of the video.  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said “let’s be clear, these protests were in reaction to a video that had spread to the region.”

At his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Obama referred to the video six or seven times.  During a forum with Univision, the president said that the 'natural protests' that arose from the video were taken advantage of by terrorists.

Eventually the administration did call it a terrorist attack.  But what was the hold up?

Actually at this point we should give President Obama credit for calling it a terrorist attack.  He did so the next day in an interview with CBS for 60 Minutes.

But CBS never aired that part of the interview and failed to make it public until Oct. 19, more than a month later.  Are we really surprised that the liberal media at CBS failed to do their job?  

That still doesn’t explain why Obama and White House officials blamed it on the video for two weeks after the attack happened.  Richard Nixon had to resign the presidency because he sent some guys in to spy on the Democrats.  

President Obama watched people die and did nothing.  How are we not calling for an immediate impeachment or at least, an investigation from an outside source?  

No one died in Watergate.  But Obama gets a free pass simply because the investigation is ‘ongoing’( and he’s a Democrat in an environment where the media wants to get him reelected)?  There is blood on more hands than just his.

But back to the topic at hand.

If emails were coming in as the situation happened and live video of the situation was being seen, where was the confusion on what was going on?  There was never a protest, it was an attack right from the beginning.

Now that all of the facts are out, we have to wonder about Obama’s competence to lead America as commander-in-chief.  If he was there in the situation room watching this happen then he let people die.  If he wasn’t in the situation room, then why wasn’t he?

The attack lasted more than seven hours.  That’s more than enough time to send jets from bases in Europe, Special Operations troops from the area or someone, something, anything to help those at the embassy under attack.

Reports indicate that Stevens and computer expert Sean Smith were killed before Woods and Doherty arrived.  Help probably wouldn’t have saved Stevens and Smith.

But heroes put their lives on the line.  How many others were saved because Woods, Doherty and others disobeyed orders, showed up and laid down fire?

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said on Thursday there is a “basic principle” that you don’t send forces into harms’ way without knowing what’s going on, without having real time information of what’s taking place.  When the information about the drones and Tyrone Woods and his mates being denied came out the next day, that argument no longer held any weight.

Woods and Doherty were killed by a mortar blast in the last moments of the attack.  Doherty had arrived on scene from Tripoli, roughly two hours away.

A second force that specializes in counterterrorism rescues was also two hours away in Sigonella, Italy.  Part of that force includes Spectre gunships, used to provide close air support.

According to reports, one of those that responded to the attack, and disobeyed orders, was on the roof of the embassy with visual contact and a laser pointing at the terrorists firing mortars for gunships to engage.