President Obama is very lucky the attack on our consulate in Benghazi on September 11 happened when it did. The more and more we find out about it, the worse the President looks. Obviously, the Administration’s first statements, that it was the result of protests against some internet movie, were just silly. The Administration is now trying to say is that they didn’t really know and that that was their best guess at the time. Well, if they didn’t know, why didn’t they say that, instead of giving us an answer that almost seemed to blame the First Amendment for not allowing us to ban internet movies that disrespect Islam?
There are now reports seeming to indicate that we knew about the attack while it was going on, but we did not try to do something to help the people in Benghazi. The response was that we didn’t know for sure what was going on (which I understand), so we couldn’t do anything (which I don’t understand).
The fact we didn’t know for sure what was going on, doesn’t mean we didn’t know our people in Benghazi were under attack. And it doesn’t mean that we couldn’t do something. If our diplomats are under attack, and if we have forces in the area (which in this case we did), we should send them in. They’ll figure out what to do. They’re smart.
The thing that I find the most amazing is that, apparently, after the attack on the consulate was over, and after the terrorists had left the consulate, Ambassador Stevens was found, by other Libyans, alive but unconscious. He was taken to a hospital, but the doctors could not save him.
Is what I just said clear? Ambassador Stevens was found alive, though unconscious. I understand the Libyans couldn’t save him, but what if we had sent forces, with medics, in at the beginning? Could we have found Ambassador Stevens earlier? Could our medics have done something more to save him? We don’t know – because we didn’t try.
President Obama was right to go in after Osama Bin Laden. And he deserves credit for making that decision. (Though it might be a little more impressive if he didn’t brag about it so much.)
President Obama deserves absolutely no credit for what we didn’t do in Benghazi. A quick decision was needed. It wasn’t made. And we’ll never know if it would have helped.
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