The Innocence of the Obama White House and State Department

Loading

What did they know and when did they know it?

ABC News yesterday:

Panetta today said that the attack that killed four Americans on the anniversary of 9/11 was not only carried out by terrorists — it was pre-meditated.

“As we determined the details of what took place there and how that attack took place,” Panetta told reporters, “it became clear that there were terrorists who had planned that attack.”

Duh:

For nine days, the Obama administration made a case that virtually everyone understood was untrue: that the killing of our ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, was a random, spontaneous act of individuals upset about an online video—an unpredictable attack on a well-protected compound that had nothing do to with the eleventh anniversary of 9/11.

These claims were wrong. Every one of them. But the White House pushed them hard.

~~~

Intelligence officials understood immediately that the attacks took place on 9/11 for a reason. The ambassador, in a country that faces a growing al Qaeda threat, had virtually no security. The two contractors killed in the attacks were not part of the ambassador’s security detail, and there were not, in fact, “many other colleagues” working security with them.

The nature of the attack itself, a four-hour battle that took place in two waves, indicated some level of planning. “The idea that this criminal and cowardly act was a spontaneous protest that just spun out of control is completely unfounded and preposterous,” Libyan president Mohammad el-Megarif told National Public Radio. When a reporter asked Senator Carl Levin, one of the most partisan Democrats in the upper chamber, if the attack was planned, Levin said it was. “I think there’s evidence of that. There’s been evidence of that,” he responded, adding: “The attack looked like it was planned and premeditated, sure.” Levin made his comments after a briefing from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.

Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, agreed. “This was not just a mob that got out of hand. Mobs don’t come in and attack, guns blazing. I think that there is a growing consensus it was preplanned.” And according to CNN, Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy “has said that the attack appeared to be planned because it was so extensive and because of the ‘proliferation’ of small and medium weapons at the scene.” Not only was the attack planned, it appears there was no protest at all. Citing eyewitnesses, CBS News reported late last week: “There was never an anti-American protest outside the consulate.”

So we are left with this: Four Americans were killed in a premeditated terrorist attack on the eleventh anniversary of 9/11, and for more than a week the Obama administration misled the country about what happened.

ABC News:

The White House first suggested the attack was spontaneous — the result of an anti-Muslim video that incited mobs throughout the region.

“Let’s be clear, these protests were in reaction to a video that had spread to the region,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said on September 14.

When ABC News pressed Carney on whether that included the Benghazi attack, in which U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American men were killed, Carney said, “we certainly don’t know. We don’t know otherwise. We have no information to suggest that it was a preplanned attack.”

On THIS WEEK on September 16, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said, “our current best assessment, based on the information that we have at present, is that, in fact, what this began as, it was a spontaneous – not a premeditated – response to what had transpired in Cairo. In Cairo, as you know, a few hours earlier, there was a violent protest that was undertaken in reaction to this very offensive video that was disseminated. We believe that folks in Benghazi, a small number of people came to the embassy to – or to the consulate, rather, to replicate the sort of challenge that was posed in Cairo. And then as that unfolded, it seems to have been hijacked, let us say, by some individual clusters of extremists who came with heavier weapons… And it then evolved from there.”

White House officials acknowledge that assessments have changed over time as intelligence has been confirmed, but they insist that no information was given in bad faith and there was no attempt to downplay the attack.

Yet that seems to be exactly what took place. If they didn’t have enough information to comment, then they should have simply said so. Instead, they misled the public into the “blame-video” belief that the Benghazi attack was not an act of terrorism on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, but a spontaneous, angry reaction to the YouTube video, “The Innocence of Muslims”, by the Perpetually Outraged. Those who planned the attack which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens, former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, and Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, are said to have taken opportunistic advantage of the video flare-up; but this isn’t really known. What does appear to be the case, however, is the Obama Administration seizing political opportunism to blame the consulate attack on the video protest and divert attention.

But sources told ABC News that intelligence officials on the ground immediately suspected the attack was not tied to the movie at all. The attackers knew Ambassador Stevens had been trying to flee — to a so-called safe house half a mile away. That building was hit with insurgent mortars — suggesting the terrorists knew what they were doing.

As of Thursday afternoon, officials from the Obama administration were not even 100 percent certain that the protest of the anti-Muslim film in Benghazi occurred outside the U.S. diplomatic post.

In a closed-door briefing with top officials, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described the mortar attack on the safe house as suggesting that the terrorist attack was one of opportunity, not pre-meditation, since the mortars were not used to attack the consulate earlier in the day.

Campaigning in Virginia Beach today, President Obama seemed eager to paint the terrorist threat as waning. “Al Qaeda’s on the path to defeat,” he said. “Bin Laden is dead.”

Oh, I see: Bin Laden dead, we win. They lose. The days of Islamic terror and al Qaeda were buried at sea with bin Laden’s body.

The war we find ourselves in, from the very beginning, has always been more than about one terror network carrying the name brand, “al Qaeda”. It’s not just al Qaeda, but the al Qaeda network and affiliates. A global jihad movement that is larger than simply Osama bin Laden.

But did you know that President Obama got bin Laden?

Regarding those “on the path to defeat”:

But the Daily Beast’s Eli Lake on Wednesday reported that intelligence officials said “the early information was enough to show that the attack was planned and the work of al Qaeda affiliates operating in Eastern Libya.” “There was very good information on this in the first 24 hours,” one of the officials told Lake. “These guys have a return address. There are camps of people and a wide variety of things we could do.”

It’s certainly possible that intelligence officials wouldn’t want the terrorists to know that the U.S. knew about them, but that does beg the question as to why White House officials seemed to strongly suggest the attack was merely the work of an unruly mob.

Were they afraid a successful post-9/11 terror attack on America would harm them politically?

Especially with reports about possible advanced warning? Ambassador Stevens’ journal expressing concerns that he feared he was on an al Qaeda hit list?

It certainly counters the narrative that President Obama has been strong on foreign policy.

More from Jack Tapper:

President Obama has repeatedly said the investigation is on to find the killers and bring them to justice. But as first reported by CNN, ABC news has learned that the FBI — which has been dispatched to Libya to take the lead in the investigation — has not even reached Benghazi yet.

This is largely due to safety concerns. Indeed, as of Thursday, senior State Department officials said that the diplomatic presence in Libya – which was already down to emergency-level staffing – would be further reduced.

A spokeswoman for Ambassador Rice, Erin Pelton, issued a statement to ABC News regarding her appearances on THIS WEEK and other Sunday shows on September 16, saying Ambassador Rice’s comments in those interviews “were prefaced at every turn with a clear statement that an FBI investigation was underway that would provide the definitive accounting of the events that took place in Benghazi. At every turn Ambassador Rice provided — and said she was providing — the best information and the best assessment that the Administration had at the time, based on what was provided to Ambassador Rice and other senior U.S. officials by the U.S. intelligence community.”

More like the best possible spin.

Giuliani:

I think there’s no question that the administration was covering up from day one,” Giuliani told Fox News Channel’s Fox and Friends. “I mean putting out a totally phony story to try and block the political criticism that the president took his eye off the ball. The President in his haste made himself a tremendous hero over getting Bin Laden. He deserves credit, but my God he wanted to make himself into a superhero.”

“It’s also a president who’s been euphemistic about Islamic extremist terrorism from the very beginning,” he said. “This is the man who said, ‘We’re not going to say War on Terror anymore,’ except he forget to tell them they’re at war with us. So, we end up getting caught by surprise.

“This is a major scandal,” Giuliani continued. “The only reason it isn’t played as a major scandal is because the president has about three quarters of the media in the tank. I mean it’s a disgrace. It should be a scandal for The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, CBS News, why the hell aren’t they covering it?”

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
16 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

And even today on one of the national news reports (I think it was an ABC report) on the radio here in Vegas, they are still putting forth the narrative of everything including the Libya assault being as a result of “the video” From the President to his propaganda industry the MSM, the aim is to tell the lie over and over until the mind dead electorate accepts it. The President, his lackeys and the MSM have and continue to openly LIE to the American public and all to help re-elect a man who I for one consider a traitor to his country as to his policies and stances including his open disdain for the laws of our land and ideals!

Obama:

“Al Qaeda’s on the path to defeat. Bin Laden is dead.”

How many on the Left want to lap up that fairytale?

Oh, I see: Bin Laden dead, we win. They lose. The days of Islamic terror and al Qaeda were buried at sea with bin Laden’s body.

I know these are your words, not Obama’s or his official mouthpieces’ words, but they well reflect his expressed view.
This is Obama’s message.
“Take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation- building right here at home,” Obama said.
And Obama added in his weekly video address, money saved from winding down the war in Afghanistan should be used, in part, to “strengthen the middle class.”
If you are broke, like the USA is, you cannot take ”money” from the yacht you were GOING to buy and spend it elsewhere.
That is the same funny-money game Obama is playing with the ”war money.”

The war we find ourselves in, from the very beginning, has always been more than about one terror network carrying the name brand, “al Qaeda”. It’s not just al Qaeda, but the al Qaeda network and affiliates. A global jihad movement that is larger than simply Osama bin Laden.

Yes. Obama might want to hastily generalize that Osama’s death equals the death of all anti-US jihadi terror, but anyone who swallows that lie is woefully ill-informed about how jihad/terror works.

Osama was a rhetorical master at inspiring men to answer the call for jihad, it is true.
But the call for jihad is part and parcel of the obligations of Islam.
There are two types of obligations in Islam, Fard Ayn and Fard Kafiya.
One is just like our Golden Rule, it applies to each and every one as part of worship.
The other is weird.
It is more akin to ”The Hunger Games.”
A few get called up (or ”volunteer”) and represent all the Muslims in his community.

That obligation continues whether Osama breathes or not.
And individual Muslims are answering that call all over the planet.
Some of them join ”the base.” (al Qaeda)
Others of them join Ansar al-Sharia. (supporters of Islamic law)
Depending on where they are born, some may join smaller groups.
Boko Haram (Western Education is sinful)
Al-Shabab (the youth)
Abu Nidal
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade
Jemaah Islamiya
Salafist Group for Call and Combat
Mujahedin-e Khalq
Hizb ul-Mujahedin
and so on.

What I still struggle to understand logically here is if 0-blama and his administration did NOT know what the nature of the attack in Libia was, then why oh why did they blame an unknown video vs. say they didn’t know. I also now struggle to understand how CNN can get in to the facility and yet the FBI has not been in to investigate.

Lying is not the second nature of this regime.

Good point Common Sense, I’m no expert on crime scene investigation, but waiting over two weeks for the locals to pick through debris for anything of value, hardly seems like a serious investigation. If there was no need for security before the raid, why are they so cautious now?

Are they afraid what might be found or what the investigation might uncover. It doesn’t look good, nor does it pass the stink test.

I agree it was pre planned and not exclusively brought on by the film’s distribution. But consider that Ansar al Shariah was having anti-film protests in front of the Tibesty Hotel in Benghazi. Not at the attack sites, but at the hotel.

How can anyone preclude that the protests were not staged as part of a cover as to what would be going on at the Consulate and safe house? In other words, why can it not be both as part of the plan?

I find this either/or stuff baffling. Then again, what may be even more baffling is anyone who is surprised that this admin doesn’t tell the truth about anything as it relates to foreign policy. LOL

I Don’t find this baffling at all!
Don’t forget, this is a Marxist and Marxists don’t care about human life as long as they are on point to accomplish their objectives. The objective in this case is to reduce the influence of the US in 3rd world nations, install a Calliphate across the Mideast and use the military budget to fund giveaways to his base.

@Commonsense#3 –
You say: I also now struggle to understand how CNN can get in to the facility and yet the FBI has not been in to investigate.

I was going to say the very same thing here!….How DID CNN get in and the FBI “hasn’t” because an Administration Spokes person… said “it is still very dangerous” over there and we haven’t had the chance to go in there…

This is exactly how this Administration is NOT Honest….this Administration [constantly] spews Lies – spins and constantly shifts blame onto something/someone else…
then they create a story line to try to ‘fit’ the lies and the blame….and they leave us people [people who are paying attention] with even more questions….than answers…

Yes, it is quite obvious this Administration…is trying to Cover their Asses…just like fast and furious…

Look it is a FACT Obumbles hasn’t attended 50% of Security Briefings… this is what happens when you are so arrogant…and you think you know better then anyone else…people die for no reason…Obumbles and this administration does have blood on their hands…

Who saw a CNN guy in the building?
CNN probably sent in a stringer, a local who they PAID.
The FBI, much as I despise what Holder has done with them, cannot send in stringers.

And as if we needed anymore proof of the absolute disaster that is the Obama Middle East policy (see Egypt) comes this news item dump on a Friday afternoon as is SOP with the Obama administration:

Panetta admits that the U.S. has lost track of chemical weapons in Syria:

The U.S. has lost track of some of Syria’s chemical weapons, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday, and does notknow if any potentially lethal chemicals have fallen into the hands of Syrian rebels or Iranian forces inside the country.

“There has been intelligence that there have been some moves that have taken place. Where exactly that’s taken place, we don’t know.” Panetta said.

http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com

Add to that this dump:

The Obama administration moved Friday to rally Syria’s opposition with pledges of $45 million in new non-lethal and humanitarian assistance as the administration and other world leaders lamented the failure of diplomatic efforts to push Syrian President Bashar Assad from powoer.

The additional non-lethal support bring the total U.S. contribution in that area to nearly $40 miullion since the crisis began and includes 1,100 sets of communications equipment, including satellite-linked computers, telephones and cameras and training for more than 1,000 activists, students and independent journalists.

This brings our total aid to Syrian rebels to the tune of $130 million of your taxpayer dollars.

But who are these activists? According to an article in The Guardian three weeks ago, these are Al Qaeda supporters.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/30/al-qaida-rebels-battle-syria

And where did Syria gain its WMDs? According to a captured Iraqi document, Document Number ISGQ-2005-00022470, those chemical weapons were moved from Iraq via trucks in two trips to Syria. Anyone remember the ten Al Qaida terrorists who were captured in Jordan in 2005 moving WMDs from Syria to attempt a massive terrorist attack against Jordan? Remember seeing much on it in our lame stream press?

So we have lost track of some of Syria’s chemical weapons; we don’t know for sure exactly who the rebels are, much like we didn’t know that information in Egypt, and we are giving them equipment that they can use to bring Assad down. Can anyone say with confirmation that this is the most inept administration this nation has ever seen?

@Noovuss#7 – Obumbles wants to pull out of Afghastan and use that money to pay down our debt, he ALSO wants to cut our Military….

Think about this…our economy is in the tank, Obumbles wants our military in the tank [funding], our GDP is in the tank…we are making ‘fake’ money….

How easy is it for Islamic Supremacists to ‘take over’ a weak country???

@retire05:
Retir05, remember this?
OBAMA:

We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is [if] we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus.

(The calculus of whether we would intervene.)
Well, today Assad moved around a whole bunch of chemical weapons.
And apparently Obama can’t really do calculus.

@Nan G:

Anyone who is not scared sh!tless of this administration is just plain nuts.

Remember the Google Guy who the American press credited with the protests in Egypt? Even he now admits that Egypt “is worse off than it was before Revolution 2.0.” There were those who warned the Obama administration that the Muslim Brotherhood would take over, but he did not listen, and with a complicit American press in his pocket, Obama continued touting what is now known as the Egyptian scam.

There were also those who were shouting to the roof tops that Saddam’s WMDs had been transferred to Syria, but the American press ignored those stories because the press wanted desparately to claim that Bush was wrong and that there was no reason for us to go to war in Iraq.

Now those chemical weapons, whether produced by Assad or gained from Saddam in the days before we invaded Iraq, are missing and Leon Panetta, and our Intel have no clue where they are. Also, it is never mentioned the large part that Al Qaeda is playing in Syria, a nation that borders Israel.

Jimmy Carter gave us a radical Iran. I fear Obama is about to saddle the U.S. with a radical entire Middle East.

FAITH7 says:11
I agree 100%.
I guess voting has consequences, I wonder who will be knocked off of Dancing with the Stars next.
My firm belief is that things are not bad enough yet in America to catch the attention of the average voter, but we are headed in the right direction. Right direction, meaning things are going to really get bad here in the next several months.

Notice a pattern?
Muslims riot, loot then burn other people’s property on the basis of a rumor or allegation.
There is no LAW in Sharia ”law.”
It is MOB RULE.
A more recent than Egypt, Libya action happened TODAY in Bangladesh.
Muslims took to the streets in the area late on Saturday to protest against what they said was a photograph posted on Facebook that insulted Islam.
These Muslims burned at least four Buddhist temples and 15 homes of Buddhists on Sunday over the ”alleged photograph.”
Un-reported was the LOOTING of these homes and temples first.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/30/us-bangladesh-temples-idUSBRE88T03I20120930

@Nan G:

Anyone who has studied, or done their homework, understands that madness, mayhem and murder is the hall marks of the Islamic world.

Tribes used to stand on a hill and wave their weapons, shouting down at their enemies to show how powerful they were and to strike fear in their enemies. Muslims now take to the streets, rioting and burning, to show us (the Western world) how powerful they are. The reason is the same as with ancient tribes.

But what do they get in return? Do they get a clear message that the West will not be intimidated by their threats and protests? No, they get apologies and lectures to the Western world about “tolerance.” And that is considered a weakness in the minds of Islamists and only encourages them to continue and even up the anti.

I have been telling all my friends; invest in two things; guns and groceries because this 1,300 year old war is coming to our shores faster than they could ever imagine.