This was published in LDR 01/25/14. I love the headline they put on it: The Bloody Handprint of Benghazi. Have you ever wondered about the bloody handprint you see on the wall of the American Consulate building in Benghazi, Libya when news stories about the 2012 terrorist attack there appear on your television? Pat Smith, the mother of State Department manager Sean Smith, is haunted by the thought that it could belong to her son, and she has appeared on national television many times begging members of Congress for details of that night when four brave Americans struggled for their lives against the armed terrorists. The embassy compound came under attack the evening of September 11, 2012 and Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith and former U.S. Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were all killed. The details of the Benghazi attack have been shrouded in mystery from the very beginning and several Congressional committees have listened to hours of testimony and still have not found the answers to the following questions. Who was responsible for the decision not to send additional security for the embassy after the Ambassador asked for it in the weeks leading up to the attack? Who neglected to take into account the fact that the eleventh anniversary of the 911 attack in New York City was coming up and that our embassy in Benghazi could be vulnerable? Who made the decision that Susan Rice instead of the Secretary of State should be the one to speak to the nation about the attack on five different Sunday news shows on September 19? Susan Rice did not hold any position in government at the time which would qualify her to be the spokeswoman for a news story involving the State Department. Who wrote the talking points for Susan Rice to use that day, talking points wherein she alleged that the deaths of Ambassador Stevens and the three others were due solely to an anti-Muslim video, and further emphatically stated that terrorism had absolutely nothing to do with the attack? Who sent law enforcement to arrest and imprison the maker of this video, based on the false premise that the video and subsequent protests against it in Cairo were the cause of the attack in Benghazi? Who told Susan Rice to deny on national television that there had been a terrorist attack on Benghazi even though Congressional testimony released just this week revealed that our military and government officials knew fifteen minutes into the attack that it was an act of terrorism? How could our Secretary of State look the families of these four brave men in the eye when their bodies arrived at Andrews Air Force Base and tell them that We will get the man who made this video and he will be brought to justice” when she knew before she went to bed the night of the attack that it was not related to a video but that it was carried out by a group of Islamic terrorists? Why did the administration pay out $70,000 in taxpayer funds on September 19 to produce a TV ad denouncing the anti-Muslim video? The ad featured both the President and the Secretary of State apologizing for the video, when they knew at the time of its making and airing that it had absolutely nothing to do with the Benghazi attack. Why did our Secretary of State appoint a bipartisan Select Senate committee to investigate the details of the attack, when she knew that the members she appointed would not call her to appear and testify before that Committee, even though the incident came under the purview of her department? Why were Doherty and Woods twice denied permission by the State Department to leave their post at the CIA annex to attempt to rescue Stevens and his staff that night? We do know that in defiance of this order not to make a rescue attempt, they walked to the residence of the Ambassador and found Sean Smith already dead and pulled him from the burning building. They were unable to locate the Ambassador. Why were no military reinforcements sent to the aid of Doherty and Woods who were alone at the annex attempting to fight off their attackers who were armed with AK-47s, rocket launchers and mortars? Why was Woods’ body left to lie on the tarmac for three hours after he was murdered by a mortar round? It was only when a Libyan plane was finally commandeered to remove his body that it was taken away. Finally why, according to Congressional testimony, did it take the FBI three weeks to even get to the compound to investigate and sift through the wreckage of the burned out buildings? I have followed this story through various news outlets on a daily basis since it occurred sixteen months ago, and I certainly have my own opinions as to the answers to these questions, as I’m sure many of you do. Isn’t it time all of us bombarded our Senators and Congressional Representatives in Washington with demands that they aggressively pursue their investigation until answers are forthcoming from those involved. This is my first column in this space. I will be writing every other week with my commentary on current news events and issues, mostly on the national level, and it is my goal to provoke and encourage others to become involved and knowledgeable about matters of importance to all of us. I realize this first column containing mostly questions is an unusual format for this kind of issue but I felt it was warranted in view of my attempt to bring the matter to the attention of those who haven’t had the time or the curiosity to deal with it Unfortunately from what I hear in television interviews with the families of Ambassador Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, they are beginning to wonder if everybody has forgotten them and the heroic sacrifices they made that night.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 01:59:19 +0000
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