I am no fan of David Gregory. Sen. John McCain has accused the Obama administration of covering-up what happened during the attack on the Benghazi consulate. Gregory asks McCain a fair question about what the Senator thinks the administration is concealing from the public. McCain goes on a tirade and questions whether Gregory cares about the Americans killed at Benghazi. McCain never gets around to answering the question.
McCain: Do you care....do you care, David....do you care, David....do you care....I'm asking you, do you care....I'm asking you, do you care whether four Americans died?There are actually legitimate questions about why Christopher Stevens requests for extra security were ignored. Unfortunately, we have a Republican Congress that is incapable of governing and congressional Democrats that do not want to make President Obama look bad. It appears we will never get those answers. John McCain doesn't even know what the questions are.
Gregory: You said there's a cover-up. A cover-up of what? A cover-up of what?
There are actually legitimate questions about why Christopher Stevens requests for extra security were ignored.
ReplyDeleteConversely, there should be legitimate questions about why Christopher Stevens thought he was safe enough at the consulate office in Benghazi to separate himself from his bodyguards, a move that, unfortunately, helped lead to his death.
What I haven't seen anyone -- journalist or politician -- do is take a broad view of the Benghazi security situation. If the American Embassy in Libya asked for more security in Benghazi, was it an urgent request or just one of those requests that all embassies in all countries make, and therefore just a standard request? No one has asked that question, a most basic of queries. One would figure that, in light of Hilary Clinton's Senate testimony where she admitted that the State Department receives around a million cables a year from embassies and consulate offices, one might ask that question. Except, of course, everyone in DC is a dickwad with their own agenda.
Another question is how did the terrorists know where Stevens was going to be. The consulate is walled off. The terrorists fired a rocket and killed Stevens. No one examined if the their was a security breached from the inside. Everyone is obsessed with the talking points that David Petraeus admitted came from the CIA. But we must not be critical of a General that was leaking, that the annex of the consulate had two detainees, to his mistress.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been easy for anyone on the street to know that somebody important is going to the consulate office. Americans, Europeans and any Arab from the Gulf Region is going to be driving/driven around in much much nicer vehicles than most of the residents of a country that was recently torn apart by a civil war. Given the pre-existing levels of poverty in northern African countries, this would be true sans a civil war. So if nice cars are arriving to the Bengahzi consulate office, then it's certain that an important American will be in the building. As for the rocket, I believe it was small/shoulder-fired. In a country that just went through a civil war and still, well, wasn't safe, setting up and launching a shoulder fired rocket isn't a complicated matter. All the planning needed for this attack could have taken place over 30 minutes to 2 hours -- a timeframe that hardly any intelligence service could react to unless they are very, very lucky.
ReplyDeleteSo, I mean, very, very basic questions and scenarios -- that would make a lot of sense if true -- are not being explored. Everyone is jumping to conclusions, and no one in the political realm or in the media is providing serving a balancing role here, providing a check to conspiracy theories. Maybe Benghazi needs to be explored further, but before I can determine an opinion on that, the very, very basic queries I've outlined need to be addressed. If a Senate inquiry can't find the time to do that (preferably, before there's an inquiry), then I can't be bothered to take them seriously.
I don't take Senators such as McCain and Graham seriously. These people aren't serious. McCain was asked by David Gregory what the administration was hiding. McCain started attacking Gregory.
ReplyDeleteMcCain's main problem was the talking points. David Petraeus, who Republicans love, admitted that the CIA briefed Susan Rice. Yet, McCain still blames the administration for the talking points. The damaged David Petreaus is off limits but Susan Rice isn't. Pure bullshit. This is coming from someone that didn't think Rice was a good choice for Sec. of State.