I Will See You the NYT and Raise You a Congressional Committee
“A senior Obama administration official said the White House does not dispute a New York Times (NYT) article published Saturday about the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which found no evidence al Qaeda was involved. ”
Apparently, the White House now stands behind The New York Times reporting on the events before, during and after the US lost the military Battle of Benghazi.
However, many in the Intelligence Community, and on Capital Hill think otherwise.
Consequently, to clear the air all Democrats in both House and Senate should immediately be supportive of a complete and through investigation since a “Senior Obama official” just confirmed that they nothing to fear.
Congressman Frank Wolf offered a select Committee as the best means to get to the bottom of this scandal and to render needed accountability and answers to critical questions swirling around this scandal.
It is the Speaker stopping the Congressman’s call for a Select Committee and the Washington Post captures the bi-partisan integrity of a very decent person.
Wolf has been a vocal and sometimes lonely advocate for oppressed religious minorities, particularly Christians in Egypt, Syria and Pakistan. And although he is conservative on many issues, he has been willing to defend federal workers, squabble with anti-tax activists and cooperate with Democrats, making him something of a rarity among modern House Republicans.
A dedicated, transparent and inclusive Hill Committee looking into all the issues connected to the battle will help the President and Hillary Clinton finally get their facts on the record.
It is also critical, thanks to The New York Times that since everything is very murky and caught up in the Fog of War, Americans should be allowed to hear ALL voice communications to decide for themselves what really occurred.
And equally important it would be commendable if The New York Times in support of their reporting called for hearings, or even better a select Committee in an Editorial because after all a potential Pulitzer Prize is at stake.
As a sad practical matter, if the NYT is correct, then our National Command Authority instead of losing a battle in the field to Al-Qaeda, the Administration and especially our military African Command (AFRICOM) lost the battle to a disorganized group of thugs.
In losing the Battle of Benghazi, the world saw that we are even weaker then we first thought.
It is also doubly tragic that Secretary Clinton and her Department of State security team did not even have minimum protection in place that could stand up against an assault by what amounts to a mob.
Al-Qaeda, meaning the base, is accepted as a confederation of like-minded fanatical Islamist ideological and religious killers. I am sure the “Senior Administration Official” and NYT reporter could take advantage of an open hearing to explain what they meant when they ruled out Al-Qaeda.
At Benghazi, the U.S. lost the first set piece battle against Al-Qaeda. With no counter-attack, the enemy held its objective. This is a classic definition of a military defeat and one which will have dangerous consequences for the future.
With the White House standing with NYT, then what good is NSA, let a select Committee find, and all Americans find out. Lying to FBI is a felony as is lying to Congress–NYT can make it up and based on how they weasel word their sourcing they are doing just that.
As one of the wisest US senior Libyan experts, with extensive personal contacts, told me the events leading up to the Battle of Benghazi are even worse for the Administration:
Apparently lost in either narrative is the giant vacuum we left in Libya after the invasion by not strenuously imposing a national army created out of various militia. The militias grew stronger as we conducted ‘interviews’ with some militia members one by one to see who might become our new best friends – a process the NYT correctly describes in its article.
This naive undisciplined effort is reflective of the ‘lead from behind’ approach of President Obama.
I believe Fox/Congress has Benghazi right.
But the real story of frittering away a year in ‘position papers’ with no national army stood up is the unreported back story that leads us in a straight line to 9/11.
Already a very senior Democrat is defecting from NYT story line. California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff joined Rogers on the show, who then said, “intelligence indicates Al Qaeda was involved.”
With the never ending surprise a minute Obama Care debacle and Iran quickly moving toward acquiring a nuclear bomb, the Administration can see in public Congressional hearings how many members will follow the NYT pied piper over a cliff.
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