The White House should "come clean" (click here) and release all of its e-mails related to the crafting of former U.N. ambassador Susan Rice's message on the Benghazi attack, including ones redacted for supposed national security purposes, says the GOP.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a member of a House committee investigating the attack, made the demand a day after the release of an e-mail showing that White House aide Ben Rhodes (click here) wanted to blame the 2012 assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on a protest that never happened there.
Referring to Benghazi and Middle East unrest, he said that she should "underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy."
Chaffetz told USA TODAY that the White House has turned over e-mails with much of the content blocked out....
If Former Secretary Clinton runs for President she will have to put this mess to rest once and for all, but, the reviews at all levels and from a majority of sources state the cause was the video and not the consulate. There was no involvement of al Qaeda. A flag hanging off a building does not an enemy make. It could be said and it clearly states in the most recent government review of the deaths in Benghazi, the response was slow.
The US officers and the hired body guards were completely unprepared for what happened. It took nearly a half hour for the US outpost to arm itself sufficiently to respond. 30 minutes proved too long because Ambassador Stevens succumbed to smoke. He wasn't killed by anyone in particular, it was inhalation of the think black smoke that caused his death. Now, it can be called murder and the perpetrators secured to take to trial, if they are still alive. But, it happened very fast and the best of the best on the ground in Benghazi never anticipated it.
By Dugdale
A trailer for a film (click here) that depicts the prophet Muhammad as a philanderer is said to be the cause of the violent riots in Libya that claimed the lives of four embassy workers. J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, was at his country's consulate in the city of Benghazi when it was stormed by protesters firing guns and RPGs....
From the Daily Kos:
December 28, 2013
Months of investigation by The New York Times, (click here) centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam....
The Republicans and their right wing media are beating a dead horse. It is character assassination.
I don't want to cause Ben Rhodes any career problems and I am sure he believed he was advising the President with the information he had, but, he was simply wrong. At least National Security Adviser Rice had the validation by the CIA in her statements. One has to go with what the intelligent agencies are stating. The facts can't be disregarded simply because someone in the inner circle has a different opinion.
National Security Adviser Rice, then Ambassador, had her own obligations to obtain 'the best truth.' She had her own 'capacity of authority' and didn't need to be mentored by anyone. Evidently, she acted autonomously. It shows her expertise and commitment to the truth and the 'best facts' at the time. And those facts have held up over the test of time.
So, the Press Secretary wasn't as quick on his feet as he should have been. Fine.
