Sorry, but this whole thing was blown way out of proportion by people looking to score political points.
I am a Vet of several wars, and I (intentionally trying NOT to speak for all vets) do not consider myself a 'hero' for doing my job, for fighting for my country. I do not consider a soldier who simply gets captured by the enemy to be a 'hero'. That is always a risk we take...it happens. If you notice, John McCain himself did not call himself a 'hero'. We military types tend NOT to do such things. Humility usually pretty much comes with the job.
As a military member and a citizen, I do not need 'hero worship' from a Commander-and-Chief, but I do exect a measure of respect and support. (It also helps when the President actually LIKES the US military, unlike the current President.) For instance, I appreciate the fact that the mantra 'no man left behind' was thrown out to justify paying terrorists for a deserter...but at the same time, where was that creed when 4 Americans were left to die in Benghazi. Even if a response team gets there 'too late', it's NOT to late to secure the bodies of murdered Americans instead of allowing them to be dragged through the streets of some God-forsaken village overseas.
We also welcomed home a deserter and placed medals on his chest like a hero, but now we are seriously considering filing criminal charges against a Naval LCDR (White) for returning fire against an Islamic Extremist who committed an act of war on US soil by killing members of our military? REALLY?!
Again, you don't have to LIKE me or think I am a 'hero' - just support me in doing my job, have my back, and take care of me as I was promised, whether I retire as a veteran or fall in combat.
Thank you for your service.
That said....
Holyfuckingshit!
Stevens was not left to die. A rescue team went in. Some of whom were killed themselves. And Stevens was not dragged through the streets. He was rushed to a hospital.
There were 4 Americans who were killed in Benghazi, not just Stevens. These 4 were abandoned to die. Do you know exactly WHEN that 'rescue' team went in? There was never a 'rescue' team - there was a 'recovery' team. The FBI was not allowed into Benghazi to investigate the 'crime scene' until days after the attack. It is amazing what people who are NOT 'in-the-know' think they know...because the media and their President told them so.
Sorry, but this has been investigated by GOP-led committees no less than 8 times now and none of them reached the conclusions you are drawing. They were not abandoned. They were remote and the nearest base was hours away. Too far away to defend the ambassador. A small contingency of agents were located at a nearby annex and tried to help. Stevens was not dragged through the streets. There was no stand down order. No one in the administration lied about the anti-Muslim video. The worst they found, with the aid of 20/20 hindsight vision, was that there could have been better security. As Secretary of State, that falls on Hillary Clinton's shoulders. She will have to answer those questions to the electorate.
We know these things, not because of the media or the president, but from no less than 8 GOP investigations.
Faun, there are STILL 'new' things coming out about this even even today...why do you think there are about 2 months of e-mails missing from the Secretary of State's e-mails that just happen to be the time span involving Benghazi.
Where to start:
1. The Obama administration hired an AL QAEIDA-associated militia to 'protect' a US Ambassador.
2. The compound where the Ambassador was staying was attacked twice in the weeks previous to the final attack that cost him his and 3 other Americans their lives. The 2nd attack left a 3-foot hole in the compound wall - does this sound to you like a bunch of guys taking a walk one night and deciding to kill some Americans?
3. The US State Department, knowing about these attacks AND the existing threat called for by an Al Qaeida leader, REDUCED the number of US security personnel guarding Stevens the last 2 weeks. (The specific threat was a call for thge seath of Stevens on 9/11/12 in retaliation for a Benghazi Al Qaeida leader killed a month or 2 earlier by drone strike.) Add in the reports from Stevens in the last 2 weeks that Benghazi govt buildings were suddenly flying Al Qaeida flags and that 'ANOTHER' Al Qaeida training camp had been opened....
4. You say the nearest base was hours away...the attack on Benghazi - the whole event took more than 8 (Eight) hours. NO ONE ever knows how long an attack wil lgo on...which is why the EXPERTS know that the Reaction Force LAUNCHES...if for no other reason to secure the US PROPERTY (Compounds/Embassies) and secure the bodies! There was a team prepared to go. There was a 'stand-down' order. General Ham was relieved of duty because he was going to launch the team anyway. I really odn't care what the media said or what you heard from people not there, expecially on UN-Classified ESPN.
5. Both Hillary and Obama disappeared during the whole time...no one has come forward to declare and/or prove where they were until it was all over. The 2 State Department leads in Tripolis said they notified hillary personally within minutes of the attack that Benghazi was under TERRORIST attack..which proves Hillary LIED to Congress about knowing if it was a terrorist attack or not. (The fact that it was agreed that she did not have to testify under oath like everyone else seems to make sense now, doesn't it?)
6 The day after the Obama administration DID blame it on a video. Susan Rice - armed with a CIA report that was proven to have been modified 13 times before being released, every reference to 'terrorism' having been removed - went on the Sunday talk shows and blamed the videos.
7. Amost a month later, Obama again blamed a video when he gave a speech before the UN nearly a month later. In that speech Obama declared to the world, "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam." He was talking about how the video, which he was still claiming was ultimately responsible for Benghazi, had slandered Mohammad! I watched the speech...I have the transcripts!