Obama. The election is OVER, Time to answer questions about Benghazi

I am pretty sure it does, but it's all good, I am having the best couple of months in years and I am loving my life and what is going on in it and now.

Now, the country can move on to 2014, while the President and Congress continue to point fingers and as long as they battle, they won't get any thing done. What better group bunch to not get anything done.
 
No one gives a shit about Benghazi except FoxNews.

Even Condi Rice said it was a non issue.

Poor Republicans. They really don't get it.
 
And for Gods sake TELL THE TRUTH. The 4 men's family deserves this !!

Your grasp on reality is so poor, I'm not sure if you would know the "TRUTH" if it bit your scrotum but here it is anyway, if you can manage to overcome the brainwashing you've been subjected to enough to actually look at the evidence and facts.

Romney, with the help of FauxNews and the rightwingnut media echo chamber, tried to made the administrations response to the attack in Libya a centerpiece of his campaign. Romney and his campaign and their media allies alleged that the Obama administration “covered-up” the facts about the attacks for their political benefit. In their fantasy version of events, Obama didn't call the attack an act of terror for weeks because he was trying to pretend that it was spontaneous mob action but "we" supposedly now know that the attack had nothing to do with the mob violence erupting across the Mideast at the time over the movie that Muslims found offensive.

This whole business began on Sept 11th with a sort of a mob attack on the US Embassy compound in Cairo and then, hours later, another much fiercer attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of four Americans. In the days following, there were more attacks on American installations across the region. US official immediately identified the attack in Benghazi as an organized attack by a radical militant Muslim group in Benghazi.

Here’s an excerpt outlining Romney's spin on those events from Romney’s major foreign policy address on October 8:

The attack on our Consulate in Benghazi on September 11th, 2012 was likely the work of forces affiliated with those that attacked our homeland on September 11th, 2001. This latest assault cannot be blamed on a reprehensible video insulting Islam, despite the Administration’s attempts to convince us of that for so long.

This morning the LA Times reported some facts that cast serious doubt on Romney’s claims. Of course, a whole lot of other facts had already done that but this really helps nail it to the wall. Romoney is a proven liar and he was cynically trying to use this tragic attack on an American Embassy and the even more tragic death of four good Americans for political gain. His attacks on Obama were just pure spin and baseless slander to begin with and now it's all being revealed. Even the hard core rightwingnuts might have a hard time continuing to believe the fairy tale they've been sold concerning that attack and the Administration's responses. Of course the really, really hard core dupes will probably claim, as seems usual for them these days, that all of these facts about what actually happened that are coming out now must just amount to a big conspiracy to make Romoney look bad, with everyone in on it, even the CIA now.

No evidence found of Al Qaeda role in Libya attack
U.S. intelligence agencies and witnesses paint a picture of an assault carried out with little planning at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

The Los Angeles Times
By Ken Dilanian and Shashank Bengali
October 19, 2012
(excerpts)
WASHINGTON — The assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi last month appears to have been an opportunistic attack rather than a long-planned operation, and intelligence agencies have found no evidence that it was ordered by Al Qaeda, according to U.S. officials and witnesses interviewed in Libya. ...after five weeks of investigation, U.S. intelligence agencies say they have found no evidence of Al Qaeda participation. The attack was "carried out following a minimum amount of planning," said a U.S. intelligence official, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter still under investigation. "The attackers exhibited a high degree of disorganization. Some joined the attack in progress, some did not have weapons and others just seemed interested in looting." A second U.S. official added, "There isn't any intelligence that the attackers pre-planned their assault days or weeks in advance." Most of the evidence so far suggests that "the attackers launched their assault opportunistically after they learned about the violence at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo" earlier that day, the official said. ...in Benghazi, witnesses said members of the group that raided the U.S. mission specifically mentioned the video, which denigrated the prophet Muhammad.

And in the Washington post on the same day:

CIA documents supported Susan Rice’s description of Benghazi attacks
Washington Post
By David Ignatius
Published: October 19, 2012
(excerpts)
The Romney campaign may have misfired with its suggestion that statements by President Obama and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice about the Benghazi attack last month weren’t supported by intelligence, according to documents provided by a senior U.S. intelligence official. “Talking points” prepared by the CIA on Sept. 15, the same day that Rice taped three television appearances, support her description of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate as a reaction to Arab anger about an anti-Muslim video prepared in the United States. According to the CIA account, “The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the U.S. Consulate and subsequently its annex. There are indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations.” The senior intelligence official said the analysts’ judgment was based in part on monitoring of some of the Benghazi attackers, which showed they had been watching the Cairo protests live on television and talking about them before they assaulted the consulate. “We believe the timing of the attack was influenced by events in Cairo,” the senior official said, reaffirming the Cairo-Benghazi link. He said that judgment is repeated in a new report prepared this week for the House intelligence committee.

Here’s how the senior official described the jumble of events in Benghazi that day: “The attackers were disorganized; some seemed more interested in looting. Some who claimed to have participated joined the attack as it began or after it was under way. There is no evidence of rehearsals, they never got into the safe room . . . never took any hostages, didn’t bring explosives to blow the safe room door, and didn’t use a car bomb to blow the gates.” “It was a flash mob with weapons,” is how the senior official described the attackers. The mob included members of the Ansar al-Sharia militia, about four members of al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, and members of the Egypt-based Muhammad Jamal network, along with other unarmed looters. The official said the only major change he would make now in the CIA’s Sept. 15 talking points would be to drop the word “spontaneous” and substitute “opportunistic.” He explained that there apparently was “some pre-coordination but minimal planning.” The Benghazi attack produced a swirl of intelligence reporting, some of it contradictory. The Associated Press reported Friday that within 24 hours of the assault, the CIA station chief in Libya cabled headquarters that eyewitnesses said the attack had been carried out by militants. But the analysts evidently didn’t feel [at that time] that they had any single report that allowed them to make a definitive determination about the nature of the attack. The analysts seem confident that al-Qaeda’s new leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, played no direct role in the Benghazi events.



On Sept 11th, after the attack on the Cairo Embassy (that was very clearly motivated by Muslim outrage over the offensive movie) but before the attack in Benghazi, the Embassy staff in Cairo, in an effort to distance the United States from the anti-Islamic movie, published a statement online saying in part:
"The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions."​

Romoney immediately, on the evening of Sept 11th, before having any time to find out the facts, released a statement attacking Obama over the Embassy statement for supposedly personally sympathizing with the Embassy attackers and apologizing to them:
“It's disgraceful that the Obama administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”​

Around the same time as Romoney's statement, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton strongly denounced the killing of an unnamed at that time embassy official. She said that the United States is committed to religious tolerance.
"But let me be clear," she said in the statement. "There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind."​

The Obama campaign responded early on Wednesday to Romoney's shameful attack the night before, criticizing Romoney for trying to score political points off of a national tragedy. Ben LaBolt, an Obama campaign spokesman, said in a statement:
“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Gov. Romney would choose to launch a political attack."​

This criticism of Romoney's immediate use of the attack and deaths as political fodder was also widely echoed by many prominent Republicans.
* On Sept 12th, the Washington Post editorial board, usually a close ally of the Republicans, especially on foreign policy, sharply criticized Romoney's claim that Obama sympathized with the attacks on Americans in Libya and Egypt and said that his attack "is a discredit to his campaign".
* Former Bush administration Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said: “I don’t think President Obama sympathizes with those who attacked us. I don’t think any American does”.
* The former chief of staff and top campaign aide to Sen. John McCain, Mark Salter said: “In the wake of this violence, the rush by Republicans — including Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and scores of other conservative critics — to condemn him for policies they claim helped precipitate the attacks is as tortured in its reasoning as it is unseemly in its timing.”

On Wednesday Sept 12th, perhaps realizing that he had stepped in it but unwilling to back down or apologize, Romoney choose instead to double down on his earlier attack by giving a press conference to clarify his initial press release accusing Obama of sympathizing with the attackers.:
"...the administration was wrong to standby a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt instead of condemning their actions. its never too early for the united states government to condemn attacks on americans and to defend our values. the white house distanced itself last night from the statement saying it wasn’t cleared by Washington. that reflects the mixed signals they are sending to the world."​
The full transcript of the event shows that he never used the words “terror”, “terrorism”, or “al-Qaeda”."[/i]

About 30 minutes later in the WH Rose Garden, at a press conference that had already been scheduled for the President to talk about the attacks on the various American Embassies and Consulates in the Mideast the day before and to announce the deaths of the Libyan Ambassador and three other Embassy personnel, President Obama said:
"...And then last night, we learned the news of this attack in Benghazi. As Americans, let us never, ever forget that our freedom is only sustained because there are people who are willing to fight for it, to stand up for it, and in some cases, lay down their lives for it. Our country is only as strong as the character of our people and the service of those both civilian and military who represent us around the globe. No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done."​
The next day, Sept 13th, President Obama spoke in Golden, Colorado, and said this:
"Let me say at the outset that obviously our hearts are heavy this week -- we had a tough day a couple of days ago, for four Americans were killed in an attack on our diplomatic post in Libya. ...So what I want all of you to know is that we are going to bring those who killed our fellow Americans to justice. I want people around the world to hear me: To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished. It will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. No act of violence shakes the resolve of the United States of America."​
Later that same day, Sept 13th, speaking at a campaign event in Las Vegas, Nevada, President Obama reiterated the message:
"So I wanted to begin tonight by just saying a few words about a tough day that we had today. We lost four Americans last night, who were killed when they were attacked at a diplomatic post in Libya. And they were serving overseas on our behalf, despite the dangers, despite the risks, to help one of the world’s youngest democracies get on its feet. They were working to advance the interests and the values that we hold dear as Americans. And as Americans, we stand united -– all of us -– in gratitude for their service, and we are mindful of their sacrifice, and we want to send out heartfelt prayers to their loved ones who grieve today. It’s a reminder that the freedoms we enjoy -– sometimes even the freedoms we take for granted -– they’re only sustained because there are people like those who were killed, who are willing to stand up for those freedoms; who are willing to fight for those freedoms; in some cases, to lay down their lives for those freedoms. So tonight, let’s think of them and thank them. As for the ones we lost last night: I want to assure you, we will bring their killers to justice. And we want to send a message all around the world -- anybody who would do us harm: No act of terror will dim the light of the values that we proudly shine on the rest of the world, and no act of violence will shake the resolve of the United States of America."​

Meanwhile, the first time the Romney campaign made an unmistakeable reference to terrorism in relation to the Benghazi attack came on September 20, after US top counterterrorism officials had already publicly described the attacks as terrorism. Romoney's first statement clearly linking the Benghazi attack to 'terrorism' was on September 25, two weeks after the attack, when he said on Fox News that the Benghazi attack was:
“an act of terror. … But the White House doesn’t want to admit it.”​

The Romoney campaign's insistence that Obama administration officials wanted to call the attack a result of a spontaneous riot over the movie and not an organized assault by a terrorist group is also false and a deliberate lie. Administration officials were telling reporters as soon as Sept 12th, the day after the attack, and in the days following, that either of two groups of radical Islamic militants were probably involved in the attack. Here are some of the internationally published news reports from the time.

Libya attack: Obama vows justice for killed US envoy.
BBC
12 September 2012
(excerpts)
President Barack Obama has vowed to bring to justice those who carried out the attack that killed the US ambassador to Libya. Ambassador J Christopher Stevens died after gunmen stormed the consulate amid protests over an anti-Islamic film. US officials said Washington was investigating whether the attack was organised in advance, rather than a spontaneous assault sparked by demonstrations over the film. Officials told Reuters there were suspicions that a militia known as the Ansar al-Sharia brigade was involved in the attack. The group has denied the claim. They also cited reports suggesting al-Qaeda's north Africa-based affiliate, known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, may have been involved, the news agency reports. The protests followed rallies in Cairo, where demonstrators angry at the film, called Innocence of Muslims, breached the walls of the US embassy and tore down the flag.


Libya attack: US to investigate Benghazi assault
BBC
13 September 2012
(excerpts)
The US is investigating whether the attack in Libya that killed the US ambassador and several other people was planned in advance, officials say. The assault had earlier been thought to have been a spontaneous reaction to protests over an anti-Islamic film. Armed men stormed the consulate in the city of Benghazi on Tuesday night. Officials have now said the attack was complex and professional, and reports suggest the perpetrators may have had links to jihadist groups. A senior US official quoted by AFP news agency said the Benghazi attackers appeared to have used the demonstrations as a pretext to staging an assault. "This was a complex attack," he told the news agency. "They seemed to have used this [protest] as an opportunity." US officials told Reuters news agency there were suspicions that a militia known as the Ansar al-Sharia brigade was responsible, although the group has denied the claim. They said there were also reports that al-Qaeda's north Africa-based affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, may have been involved, the news agency reports.


US Libyan consulate attack: Timeline of events
BBC
14 September 2012
(excerpts)
Investigators are trying to piece together exactly what happened during Tuesday's US consulate attack in the Libyan city of Benghazi. They are trying to establish whether the assault was planned or spontaneous. Libyan Deputy Interior Minister Wanis al-Sharif has told reporters he believes militants used an anti-US protest as cover for the attack, and may have had help from inside the country's security services.
 
No one gives a shit about Benghazi except FoxNews.

Even Condi Rice said it was a non issue.

Poor Republicans. They really don't get it.

The family cares about it. Every military man cares about it. Anyone that the president sends to these dangerous areas cares about it. I care about it as I feel American lives are worth something. I find it very difficult you don't care about it. You are aware that this is real and not just some war story on TV or some fairy tale?
 
No one gives a shit about Benghazi except FoxNews.

Even Condi Rice said it was a non issue.

Poor Republicans. They really don't get it.

The family cares about it. Every military man cares about it. Anyone that the president sends to these dangerous areas cares about it. I care about it as I feel American lives are worth something. I find it very difficult you don't care about it. You are aware that this is real and not just some war story on TV or some fairy tale?

You don't understand. We all care about the tragic deaths of our Ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi. Most of us understand what happened. What nobody cares about, except those who've been brainwashed by FauxNews, is the 'fairy tale' that was concocted by the Romney campaign, FauxNews and the rest of the rightwingnut media echo chamber to attack the Obama administration's response to the attack. An attack based on lies and fabrications and spin. I just posted the actual sequence of events.
 
No one gives a shit about Benghazi except FoxNews.

Even Condi Rice said it was a non issue.

Poor Republicans. They really don't get it.

The family cares about it. Every military man cares about it. Anyone that the president sends to these dangerous areas cares about it. I care about it as I feel American lives are worth something. I find it very difficult you don't care about it. You are aware that this is real and not just some war story on TV or some fairy tale?

You don't understand. We all care about the tragic deaths of our Ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi. Most of us understand what happened. What nobody cares about, except those who've been brainwashed by FauxNews, is the 'fairy tale' that was concocted by the Romney campaign, FauxNews and the rest of the rightwingnut media echo chamber to attack the Obama administration's response to the attack. An attack based on lies and fabrications and spin. I just posted the actual sequence of events.
You still believe it was about the video, don't you?
 
No one gives a shit about Benghazi except FoxNews.

Even Condi Rice said it was a non issue.

Poor Republicans. They really don't get it.

The family cares about it. Every military man cares about it. Anyone that the president sends to these dangerous areas cares about it. I care about it as I feel American lives are worth something. I find it very difficult you don't care about it. You are aware that this is real and not just some war story on TV or some fairy tale?

You don't understand. We all care about the tragic deaths of our Ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi. Most of us understand what happened. What nobody cares about, except those who've been brainwashed by FauxNews, is the 'fairy tale' that was concocted by the Romney campaign, FauxNews and the rest of the rightwingnut media echo chamber to attack the Obama administration's response to the attack. An attack based on lies and fabrications and spin. I just posted the actual sequence of events.

I watched most of the hearing on CSPAN. If you have not watched the hearings on CSPAN or Fox news you do not know much about it or at least not enough about it to discuss with someone that did. You will discover there is much more about it. I am not as concerned about the lies told by this administration after the killings as I am about the allowing the men to die.
 
No one gives a shit about Benghazi except FoxNews.

Even Condi Rice said it was a non issue.

Poor Republicans. They really don't get it.

The family cares about it. Every military man cares about it. Anyone that the president sends to these dangerous areas cares about it. I care about it as I feel American lives are worth something. I find it very difficult you don't care about it. You are aware that this is real and not just some war story on TV or some fairy tale?

Okay.

Then you support an investigation into the run up to the Iraq war..right?

Lots of American lives were lost.

How about Katrina?

Lots of American lives were lost.

I mean..how come no republican or conservative calls for inquiries?
 
The GOP in Congress need to bring Holder, Hillary and Obamination up on charges of treason, etc for Fast & Furious and Libya.

Someone will speak eventually....
 
No one gives a shit about Benghazi except FoxNews.

Even Condi Rice said it was a non issue.

Poor Republicans. They really don't get it.

The family cares about it. Every military man cares about it. Anyone that the president sends to these dangerous areas cares about it. I care about it as I feel American lives are worth something. I find it very difficult you don't care about it. You are aware that this is real and not just some war story on TV or some fairy tale?

Okay.

Then you support an investigation into the run up to the Iraq war..right?

Lots of American lives were lost.

How about Katrina?

Lots of American lives were lost.

I mean..how come no republican or conservative calls for inquiries?

That is a change of subject but I will go there anyway. Yes, investigations should take place in the government which they do, weither it be the Iraq War and the decisions of Bush, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and all the rest that voted to send people into war or Katrina where Bush advised a manatory evacuation. The Governor and Mayor should even be investigated as to why they did not do anything but sit on their hands refusing to ask for government assistance. Did they not know they had to request federal assistance before Bush could send help?

I even think hurricane Sandy should be investigated for the inadequate response from FEMA. Why are the FEMA offices closed do to weather today when many still do not have power yet, and they still may not have found all the bodies yet. From all indications the people in the area are doing most of the work.

Now back to the subject. The bottom line is that Obama allowed these 4 to die and it will not go away.
 
I remember a rumor about the night Reagan lost 241 marines on a peace keeping misson in Lebannon. The rumor was that the marines did not have live ammo, anyone know the truth of the rumor?
The loss of 241 marines was the Corps biggest loss since WWII.
Obvious bullshit is obvious.

So what is obvious bullshit; Reagan didn't lose 241 marines in one night in Lebannon; they did have live ammo, they weren't on a peacekeeping mission, or it wasn't the worst loss of marines since WWII?

That they didn't have live ammo.
 
You know, they got away with keeping it hidden until the election was over. What are they afraid of now? It's not like we get to have a do over when the public realizes the incompetence that led to our people being dead.
 
Questions will be asked and people will have to answer them now the media has no problem ignoring four murdered Americans in Libya but a sex scandal involving the head of the C.I.A. they won't pass on that it's just not in there nature to pass up the sex story and since Libya and the C.I.A. are tied together you won't get questions about one without the other.
 

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