The Obama Doctrine: American Lives Are Expendable

Karin McQuillan @ The American Thinker:

The Obama White House, the Clinton State Department, and Panetta’s Department of Defense have guiding principles in Afghanistan that, if applied to Benghazi, explain the administration’s decision to deny air support to the Americans fighting for their lives on 9/11/12.

The denial of air support to our troops in battle is normal operating procedure for this commander in chief.  He doesn’t have to give special orders to do it.  It is the Obama Doctrine on the War on Terror: do not kill Muslim civilians.  Let American soldiers die instead.  That is how Obama thinks he will win the hearts and minds of the Islamic world.

In Afghanistan, the military is required to deny air support, even in the midst of battle, if it could possibly result in civilian casualties.  Under Obama, it is required that the military sacrifice the lives of our soldiers when jihadis are firing from population areas.  The Benghazi safe house where Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith, and the others were defending themselves against al-Qaeda was in a neighborhood.  Therefore, if the Afghanistan rules of engagement were applied, no air support and no reinforcements would be sent.

Following the same mindset, the Clinton State Department’s main diplomatic principle is to show how much we respect Muslim sensibilities.  Ambassador Stevens’ repeated requests to not withdraw his U.S. Marine security detail were denied by the State Department on those grounds.  Just a few weeks before 9/11, Stevens was reduced to relying on local Libyan militia for his safety and the safety of his staff.  He was scared for his life, and on 9/11, he gave his life.  He was sacrificed to the Obama administration’s diplomatic doctrine.

Testimony from Eric Allan Nordstrom, Regional Security Officer, Tripoli, at Congressman Issa’s hearings into Benghazi:

Our long term security plan in Libya was to recruit and deploy an armed, locally hired Libyan bodyguard unit. However, because of Libyan political sensitivities, armed private security companies were not allowed to operate in Libya. Therefore, our existing, uniformed static local guard force, both in Tripoli and Benghazi were unarmed … armed security in Libya was still a new and sensitive concept to the Libyan Government. Abuses of Qaddafi foreign mercenaries were still fresh in the minds of the Libya people.

Under the Obama administration, the lives and safety of American diplomats and military personnel come third after respecting Muslim lives and sensibilities.  This is the Obama idea of how to win what his predecessor called the War on Terror.

Benghazi, September 11, 2012: The White House is alerted at 1:00 in the afternoon that the consulate is under hostile surveillance, and at 4:00 p.m. that the consulate is under attack.  According to FBI and National Counterterrorism Center briefings to Congress, our intelligence services intercept real-time e-mails from Al Qaeda fighters celebrating their attack.

Our military is instructed to send an unarmed drone to monitor the battle raging in Benghazi.

From all reports, it seems that President Obama chose not to go to the Situation Room in the White House to monitor the battle as it was streamed on live video from two sources: the consulate building and the drone.  He didn’t follow the radioed messages for help as they arrived in real time.

This is how Obama described his actions on 9/11, during the second presidential debate:

I know these folks, and I know their families. So nobody’s more concerned about their safety and security than I am.  So as soon as we found out that the Benghazi consulate was being overrun, I was on the phone with my national security team, and I gave them three instructions. Number one, beef up our security and – and – and procedures not just in Libya but every embassy and consulate in the region.

Obama here says he immediately made a phone call to “beef up our security and procedures [at] every embassy in the [Middle East].”  The president does not say he gave orders to send reinforcements during the battle in Benghazi.

At 5:00 p.m., reports say the president held a previously scheduled meeting in the Oval Office with his political hack and “national security advisor” Tom Donilon, Secretary of Defense Panetta, and Vice President Biden.

That is all we hear of Obama’s involvement.  Obama had to be up in the morning for a Las Vegas fundraiser.  He tells us he was not involved at 4:00 a.m., when Tyrone Woods last radioed for help that never came, and was killed by mortar fire.

Jim Hoft at thegatewaypundit explains the import of Woods painting the jihadi target with a laser:

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