Three Months Later: No Justice, Unanswered Questions on Benghazi - Guy Benson
Jay Carney may not be able to think of a single question on Benghazi that hasn't been sufficiently addressed, but I certainly can. Here are a dozen relevant and important inquiries, just off the top of my head:
(1) Who, specifically, denied repeated requests for increased security resources and personnel from American officials on the ground in Libya? Why were these requests shot down?
(2) A senior State Department official testified that the US had the "correct" number of security assets in Benghazi. Amb. Susan Rice stated that our security presence at the Benghazi mission was "substantial." Does the president stand by those assessments? If not, why were they made in the first place?
(3) Why were US security personnel pulled out of Libya, even as Amb. Stevens warned of heightened risks?
(4) Why was the Benghazi consulate operating below the bare minimum standards for a US diplomatic compound, especially after our government learned that at least ten known Islamist militias were operating in the city?
(5) Why wasn't security beefed up after a series of attacks on western targets in Benghazi, including previous attempted bombings at the American consulate itself?
(6) Where was the president during the raid itself? How closely did he follow what was happening, and for how long?
(7) Was the president made aware of the numerous desperate pleas for help from two former SEALs, who battled the terrorists for seven hours before being killed? If not, why not? If so, what was his response?
(8) Which government officials, specifically, watched the attack unfold in real time -- hour after excruciating hour -- via footage from an American drone? Was that drone armed?
(9) Why were American forces and resources not deployed to help defeat the enemy, particularly while several Americans were alive and urgently seeking reinforcements? Why was a key counterterrorism task force not convened during the attack?
(10) Who, specifically, changed Susan Rice's public talking points by excising references to Al Qaeda, and why? If there was a national security concern, what was it? Where did the inaccurate "spontaneous protest" narrative originate? Why was that story deemed more fit for publication than the accurate terrorism evidence? And if Rice had little direct knowledge of the facts on the ground in Benghazi, why was she selected as the administration's spokesperson on the subject?
(11) Why was the president still publicly hedging on the terrorism question several weeks after the attack, especially if a terrorist link had been established "almost immediately."
(12) Why did it take the FBI weeks to arrive at the unsecured, bombed-out consulate after the attack? Why were sensitive documents left in the rubble, even after they'd left? Without jeopardizing any leads, what -- if any -- progress has been made in identifying, capturing, or killing those responsible for the assault?
Three months later, the American people and the families of the fallen still deserve answers.
Jay Carney may not be able to think of a single question on Benghazi that hasn't been sufficiently addressed, but I certainly can. Here are a dozen relevant and important inquiries, just off the top of my head:
(1) Who, specifically, denied repeated requests for increased security resources and personnel from American officials on the ground in Libya? Why were these requests shot down?
(2) A senior State Department official testified that the US had the "correct" number of security assets in Benghazi. Amb. Susan Rice stated that our security presence at the Benghazi mission was "substantial." Does the president stand by those assessments? If not, why were they made in the first place?
(3) Why were US security personnel pulled out of Libya, even as Amb. Stevens warned of heightened risks?
(4) Why was the Benghazi consulate operating below the bare minimum standards for a US diplomatic compound, especially after our government learned that at least ten known Islamist militias were operating in the city?
(5) Why wasn't security beefed up after a series of attacks on western targets in Benghazi, including previous attempted bombings at the American consulate itself?
(6) Where was the president during the raid itself? How closely did he follow what was happening, and for how long?
(7) Was the president made aware of the numerous desperate pleas for help from two former SEALs, who battled the terrorists for seven hours before being killed? If not, why not? If so, what was his response?
(8) Which government officials, specifically, watched the attack unfold in real time -- hour after excruciating hour -- via footage from an American drone? Was that drone armed?
(9) Why were American forces and resources not deployed to help defeat the enemy, particularly while several Americans were alive and urgently seeking reinforcements? Why was a key counterterrorism task force not convened during the attack?
(10) Who, specifically, changed Susan Rice's public talking points by excising references to Al Qaeda, and why? If there was a national security concern, what was it? Where did the inaccurate "spontaneous protest" narrative originate? Why was that story deemed more fit for publication than the accurate terrorism evidence? And if Rice had little direct knowledge of the facts on the ground in Benghazi, why was she selected as the administration's spokesperson on the subject?
(11) Why was the president still publicly hedging on the terrorism question several weeks after the attack, especially if a terrorist link had been established "almost immediately."
(12) Why did it take the FBI weeks to arrive at the unsecured, bombed-out consulate after the attack? Why were sensitive documents left in the rubble, even after they'd left? Without jeopardizing any leads, what -- if any -- progress has been made in identifying, capturing, or killing those responsible for the assault?
Three months later, the American people and the families of the fallen still deserve answers.
