White House Defends New Benghazi Email

[TaurusRex]

abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-defends-benghazi-email/story?id=23538942

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney today sought to defend a newly released email from a White House communications adviser, prepping then-U.S. ambassador to the UN Susan Rice for her round of interviews about the Benghazi attack.
“This document was not about Benghazi,” Carney told ABC’s Jonathan Karl.
“It is often forgotten that during that time period there was an enormous amount of attention and focus, appropriately, on the fact that there were protesters, sometimes violent protesters, surrounding U.S. embassies, causing us to draw down personnel at those embassies, causing great concern, understandably, about the safety of American personnel at other diplomatic facilities around the Muslim world. And that was a focus of a great deal of press attention, and thus would be, as the promos indicate, one of the areas of focus of those Sunday shows.”
The e-mail from National Security Council communications adviser Ben Rhodes, lists as a “goal” of Rice’s round of interviews “to show that these protests were rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy.”
The video Rhodes referenced was an anti-Muslim YouTube video that sparked other protests in the Muslim world.

To the families of the four Americans killed in the Benghazi terrorist attack, I offer my deepest sympathy and condolences;
But however, to folks referring to this event as some sort of political “cover-up” for some reason including that “Al Qaeda” still lives, so Obama couldn’t take credit for squashing them, I have to say, please stop bending our ears.

Al Qaeda does happen to be the largest Islamic terrorist group in the world, but somewhere I read that there are about 60 of these terrorist groups
And as a matter of fact the Islamic terrorist group responsible for the Benghazi attack was a group called “Ansar al-Sharia”:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansar_al-Sharia_(Libya

2012 U.S. Consulate attack in Benghazi[edit]
On September 11, 2012, the United States Department of State Operations Center advised the White House Situation Room and other U.S. security units that Ansar al-Sharia was claiming responsibility for the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi that had just occurred.[17] Witnesses said they saw vehicles with the group’s logo at the scene of the assault and that fighters there acknowledged at the time that they belonged to Ansar al-Sharia.[13] Witnesses also said they saw Ahmed Abu Khattala, a commander of Ansar al-Sharia, leading the embassy attack, a claim Mr. Khattala denied.[18] According to longwarjournal.org, the group issued a statement asserting that it “didn’t participate as a sole entity” and that the attack “was a spontaneous popular uprising” to an anti-Islam film.[19]
As of 6 August 2013, U.S. officials confirmed that Ahmed Abu Khattala (Khattalah), Libyan leader of Ansar al-Sharia, has been charged with playing a significant role in last year’s attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi. According to NBC, the charges were filed under seal in Washington, D.C. in late July. Authorities have not said whether he has been arrested in Libya.[5]

reclaimourrepublic.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/video-ansar-al-sharia-is-a-terrorist-group-addendum-to-egypt-involved-in-benghazi-attacks/

Ansar al-Sharia is a jihadist group that was ultimately blamed for the terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi on 9/11/12.

Furthermore, some of our media seems to be so intent on labeling the Benghazi event as some sort of “cover up” that they don’t seem to have any qualms about distorting the facts …
why couldn’t the “TERRORIST” attack have also been triggered by the film which supposedly mocks the Islamic prophet?

thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/20/1049311/fox-admits-libya-caused-by-video/

the New York Times met with Ahmed Abu Khattala — leader in the Ansar al-Sharia militia suspected by the Libyan and U.S. governments of taking part in the attack — in a Benghazi hotel. While Abu Khattala claimed that he himself did not take part in the assault, he said the attack grew out of a protest against the video.

PS:
Finally, poor Hilary has had to hear her comment misconstrued over and over, so I’m just giving her entire comment here:

usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/22/clinton-benghazi-hearing/1856741/

“With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans,” she said. “Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they’d go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator.”

Also imho this sounds more like a Republican attempt to smear Hilary for the next election than it sounds like a “cover up” to me
And although Obama did conclude that Benghazi was a “terrorist attack”, would it really be any big deal if afterwards someone just called it an attack?

rex

 

[MJE]

Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Robert Lovell, former intelligence director of AFRICOM, delivered testimony this morning before the House Oversight Committee on the Benghazi attack. The hearing comes just days after new emails surfaced, pointing to a link between top White House officials and the false narrative put forth by Susan Rice about how the attack happened.
In a prepared statement Lovell said that military officials knew “early on that this was a hostile action.”
“This was no demonstration gone terribly awry,” said Lovell.
Initially, the Obama administration blamed a protest for the Benghazi attack, saying that is what the intelligence indicated at the time. Lovell went on to push back against the administration’s claims that there was not enough time for military action to attempt to save the lives of the four Americans who died.
He said he didn’t know whether military action would have succeeded, but added "we should have tried

foxnewsinsider.com/2014/05/01/disturbing-and-perhaps-criminal-issa-questions-why-benghazi-docs-were-not-turned-over

And who gave the order to stand down?

 

[zz912]

To the families of the four Americans killed in the Benghazi terrorist attack, I offer my deepest sympathy and condolences;
But however, to folks referring to this event as some sort of political “cover-up” for some reason including that “Al Qaeda” still lives, so Obama couldn’t take credit for squashing them, I have to say, please stop bending our ears.

Interesting straw man argument. The three main issues are: 1. Running guns to the rebels. 2. Refusing to assist Americans (including an Ambassador) in danger b/c it would be embarrasing and politically damaging. 3. Covering up #1 and #2 by lying to the American public repeatedly and jailing an innocent man.

Al Qaeda does happen to be the largest Islamic terrorist group in the world, but somewhere I read that there are about 60 of these terrorist groups
And as a matter of fact the Islamic terrorist group responsible for the Benghazi attack was a group called “Ansar al-Sharia”:

And they probably used weapons we supplied them with.

Furthermore, some of our media seems to be so intent on labeling the Benghazi event as some sort of “cover up” that they don’t seem to have any qualms about distorting the facts …
why couldn’t the “TERRORIST” attack have also been triggered by the film which supposedly mocks the Islamic prophet?

Because only a dozen people had seen the video at the time of the attacks. And coordinated military strikes with mortar rounds are not the result of out of control demonstrations. And it is BLATANTLY obvious the media is NOT trying to label this a cover up. They are HELPING to cover it up. The truth is still getting out.

PS:
Finally, poor Hilary has had to hear her comment misconstrued over and over, so I’m just giving her entire comment here:

Yeah, I’m crying tears for the poor thing. Exactly where was she during the 8 hours of the attack again? (And what about the President?) What orders were given? Who gave the stand-down order to our military to keep them from possibly helping?

Also imho this sounds more like a Republican attempt to smear Hilary for the next election than it sounds like a “cover up” to me
And although Obama did conclude that Benghazi was a “terrorist attack”, would it really be any big deal if afterwards someone just called it an attack?

rex

Nice spin. You should be more concerned with truth though.

 

[stevegravy]

The naiveté of some folks is totally underwhelming. People still want to defend a video! Dink the kool aid and stay a toddie all your life. Expect Bagdad Bob Carney Carney will soon explode in a, “You can’t handle the truth,” movement.

When we start getting answers to, what was the Ambassador doing at a rented villa not a consulate? And why was the security detail so pathetic, in a city where all other western government officials had fled? And what was the CIA up to just a few miles away? And what was the Turkish Ambassador meeting with our guy about? And how convenient it was the terrorist waited to attack until after the meeting? You ever get answers to those questions you may get to the truth. But don’t hold your breath.

Sure the republocrats are grand standing and yes the demopublicans are stonewalling trying to protect their brand, who cynically lied to protect their electable ASSets.

Face it, The ambassador died, Obama lied, then took a nap and flew off to Vegas to PARTY!

What a guy!

But for the Obama defenders please stick with your current vision of the truth. After all if you like your trrorist. you can keep your terrorist.

 

[TaurusRex]

Please provide sources for your opinionated comments folks because I’m sick of reading the twisted, distorted and opinionated comments coming from some news sources.

Here’s the last guy to talk to Chris Stevens and poor Chris had to try calling him at least a few times because the guy wasn’t answering the phone because he didn’t recognize the caller’s number:

abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/09/gregory-hicks-hearing-of-death-of-christopher-stevens-saddest-moment-in-my-career/

Mr. Hicks is of the opinion that at least a couple of the victims at Benghazi could have been saved although he admits that Stevens may have been dead with the initial attack …
wonder how long it was before Stevens was able to complete his call
And maybe Obama didn’t recognize his calling number either.

PS:
For the information of you folks skeptical of the matter that the attack on Benghazi could have both been considered a terrorist attack and also triggered by the film, the leader of Ansar al-Sharia quoted in my first post admitted that the Benghazi attack was initiated because of the film;
And also for the information of you folks, these Islamic jihadist terrorists are very touchy about their prophet and have been known to kill folks just for drawing pictures of him.

In any event I think the “cavalry” responds today as efficiently as Mr. Hicks answers the phone.

rex

 

[qui_est_ce]

Please provide sources for your opinionated comments folks because I’m sick of reading the twisted, distorted and opinionated comments coming from some news sources.

rex

Also imho this sounds more like a Republican attempt to smear Hilary for the next election than it sounds like a “cover up” to me
And although Obama did conclude that Benghazi was a “terrorist attack”, would it really be any big deal if afterwards someone just called it an attack?

rex

Look in the mirror.

People have been screaming about this since 9/11/2012 when OBAMA ran for re-election. Hillary’s run wasn’t even on the radar then.

Obama lied, Hillary lied, Susan Rice lied. And you bet it’s going to haunt Hillary when she decides to run.

 

[WKW_69]

I don’t see what all the hub bub is about this one attack. About 10,000 Americans have died during the war with militant religious extremists. The people in Benghazi are just casualties in that war. There will be many more causalities during this war, so I pray for peace.

 

[qui_est_ce]

I don’t see what all the hub bub is about this one attack. About 10,000 Americans have died during the war with militant religious extremists. The people in Benghazi are just casualties in that war. There will be many more causalities during this war, so I pray for peace.

It doesn’t bother you when a President, a Secretary of State, and a UN Ambassador lie to us and to the families of the dead?

BTW, I didn’t know we were at war with Libya.

 

[DeniseNY]

Look in the mirror.

People have been screaming about this since 9/11/2012 when OBAMA ran for re-election. Hillary’s run wasn’t even on the radar then.

Obama lied, Hillary lied, Susan Rice lied. And you bet it’s going to haunt Hillary when she decides to run.

Seriously!

 

[RACJ]

Some Democrats will search the ends of the earth to justify the reprehensible. You would never excuse 1/10 of the lies if the Clintons and Obamas were members of the other party. This abomination alone would have been enough to drive all parties involved from office in disgrace, were they Republicans. And I would have supported it 100%. Rob

POOR Hillary? Four dead and “poor Hillary”, Rex? :banghead:

 

[WKW_69]

It doesn’t bother you when a President, a Secretary of State, and a UN Ambassador lie to us and to the families of the dead?

A person giving their opinion on why something happened is not a lie.

BTW, I didn’t know we were at war with Libya.

No where has anyone said we were or are at war with Libya. We are fighting a war with religious extremists. They have attacked numerous American targets and killed thousands of Americans over the last twenty years. I don’t see a lot of charity in this thread.

 

[qui_est_ce]

A person giving their opinion on why something happened is not a lie.

Are you saying Obama, Hillary, and Susan Rice were giving their personal opinion when they blamed the attack at Benghazi on an internet video?

 

[Havard]

Are you saying Obama, Hillary, and Susan Rice were giving their personal opinion when they blamed the attack at Benghazi on an internet video?

In my opinion, I have won the PCH sweepstakes many times, for hundreds of millions of dollars. I choose to trust the large print on the outside of their envelopes over the fine print inside, it’s my prudential judgment in determining which information is more credible.

And you can’t call me a liar, 'cause it’s just an opinion.

 

[_Abyssinia]

Who gave the stand down order which prevented US Special forces from protecting the consulate in Benghazi?

There were multiple sources saying that the Benghazi attack was linked to an extremist group before Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama went out and said what they did regarding the anti-Islam/anti-Mohammed video.

All bolded texts my emphases.

At a hearing Wednesday of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee on Benghazi, Trey Gowdy (R–South Carolina) read into the record an email from Beth Jones, the acting assistant secretary of State for Near East Affairs. The September 12 email—disclosed for the first time on Wednesday—said Jones had spoken to Libya’s ambassador to Washington, who said the attack was the work of former Gadhafi regime loyalists. Jones said she told the ambassador: “The group that conducted the attacks, Ansar al-Sharia, is affiliated with Islamic terrorists.”

thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/08/top-u-s-diplomat-in-libya-knew-benghazi-was-terrorism.html

In the hours following the 9/11 anniversary attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, U.S. intelligence agencies monitored communications from jihadists affiliated with the group that led the attack and members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the group’s North African affiliate.

In the communications, members of Ansar al-Sharia (AAS) bragged about their successful attack against the American consulate and the U.S. ambassador, according to three U.S. intelligence officials who spoke to The Daily Beast anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

At this stage there is no consensus inside the U.S. intelligence community that AQIM planned the attack, but the communications are more evidence that the attack was no spontaneous reaction to an Internet video, as the Obama administration had said for the first nine days after the attack.

thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/28/intercepts-show-attackers-on-u-s-consulate-in-benghazi-bragged-to-al-qaeda.html

House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) told Fox News in November, “I will tell you this, by witness testimony and a year and a half of interviewing everyone that was in the ground by the way, either by an FBI investigator or the committee: It was very clear to the individuals on the ground that this was an Al Qaeda-led event. And they had pretty fairly descriptive events early on that lead those folks on the ground, doing the fighting, to the conclusion that this was a pre-planned, organized terrorist event,”

foxnewsinsider.com/2013/12/29/new-york-times-reports-no-al-qaeda-link-benghazi-attack-says-anti-islam-video-blame

At a House hearing last year, Greg Hicks (who is a Democrat), said he spoke to Hillary Clinton at 2:00am on the night of the attack and he never told Hillary Clinton that it was a protest or that the attack was a response to a video.

 

[qui_est_ce]

In my opinion, I have won the PCH sweepstakes many times, for hundreds of millions of dollars. I choose to trust the large print on the outside of their envelopes over the fine print inside, it’s my prudential judgment in determining which information is more credible.

And you can’t call me a liar, 'cause it’s just an opinion.

I can call you delusional.

 

[Havard]

I can call you delusional.

I can call you Betty, and Betty when you call me, call me Al. :whackadoo:

 

[MJE]

• Testimony given Wednesday on Capitol Hill by Greg Hicks, Benghazi whistleblower and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya, exposed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a liar.
  Hicks, who was on the ground in Libya on September 11, 2012, said Clinton called him around 2 a.m. from Washington to ask “what was going on.” Hicks responded by saying the consulate was under attack. He never told her about a protest outside the consulate because there wasn’t one.
  “The only report that our mission made through every channel was that this was an attack,” Hicks said. “No protest.”
  In his recollection of events the night of September 11, 2012, Hicks stated that U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens called him and said, “We are under attack,” just before he was brutally murdered and dragged through the streets. Again, no mention of a protest.
  “The video was not instigative of anything that was going on in Libya,” Hicks said. “We saw no demonstrations related to the video anywhere in Libya.”
  Hicks also noted that Twitter feeds were being monitored and showed Ansar al-Sharia took credit for the terrorist attack and had control of the hospital where Ambassador Stevens was taken.
  Despite knowing Benghazi was a terrorist attack from the very beginning, after all she was briefed by Hicks who was on the ground, Clinton shamelessly stood in front of the flag draped caskets of dead Americans and blamed a YouTube video anyway. Watch starting at the 6 minute mark.
  “We’ve seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful internet video that we had nothing to do with. It is hard for the American people to make sense of that, because it is senseless and totally unacceptable.”

Early in April HC was scheduled to speak @ an event in San Diego but she cancelled because there were going to be protestes headed up by the mother of the US SEAL Sean Smith killed in Benghazi.
Politicians cancel gigs because of protesters?

townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/05/08/hillary-clintons-big-benghazi-lie-n1591097

 

[_Abyssinia]

Who gave the stand down order which prevented US Special forces from protecting the consulate in Benghazi?

There were multiple sources saying that the Benghazi attack was linked to an extremist group before Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama went out and said what they did regarding the anti-Islam/anti-Mohammed video.

All bolded texts my emphases.

At a hearing Wednesday of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee on Benghazi, Trey Gowdy (R–South Carolina) read into the record an email from Beth Jones, the acting assistant secretary of State for Near East Affairs. The September 12 email—disclosed for the first time on Wednesday—said Jones had spoken to Libya’s ambassador to Washington, who said the attack was the work of former Gadhafi regime loyalists. Jones said she told the ambassador: “The group that conducted the attacks, Ansar al-Sharia, is affiliated with Islamic terrorists.”

thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/08/top-u-s-diplomat-in-libya-knew-benghazi-was-terrorism.html

In the hours following the 9/11 anniversary attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, U.S. intelligence agencies monitored communications from jihadists affiliated with the group that led the attack and members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the group’s North African affiliate.

In the communications, members of Ansar al-Sharia (AAS) bragged about their successful attack against the American consulate and the U.S. ambassador, according to three U.S. intelligence officials who spoke to The Daily Beast anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

At this stage there is no consensus inside the U.S. intelligence community that AQIM planned the attack, but the communications are more evidence that the attack was no spontaneous reaction to an Internet video, as the Obama administration had said for the first nine days after the attack.

thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/28/intercepts-show-attackers-on-u-s-consulate-in-benghazi-bragged-to-al-qaeda.html

House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) told Fox News in November, “I will tell you this, by witness testimony and a year and a half of interviewing everyone that was in the ground by the way, either by an FBI investigator or the committee: It was very clear to the individuals on the ground that this was an Al Qaeda-led event. And they had pretty fairly descriptive events early on that lead those folks on the ground, doing the fighting, to the conclusion that this was a pre-planned, organized terrorist event,”

foxnewsinsider.com/2013/12/29/new-york-times-reports-no-al-qaeda-link-benghazi-attack-says-anti-islam-video-blame

At a House hearing last year, Greg Hicks (who is a Democrat), said he spoke to Hillary Clinton at 2:00am on the night of the attack and he never told Hillary Clinton that it was a protest or that the attack was a response to a video

 

[TaurusRex]

• Testimony given Wednesday on Capitol Hill by Greg Hicks, Benghazi whistleblower and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya, exposed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a liar.
  Hicks, who was on the ground in Libya on September 11, 2012, said Clinton called him around 2 a.m. from Washington to ask “what was going on.” Hicks responded by saying the consulate was under attack. He never told her about a protest outside the consulate because there wasn’t one.
  “The only report that our mission made through every channel was that this was an attack,” Hicks said. “No protest.”
  In his recollection of events the night of September 11, 2012, Hicks stated that U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens called him and said, “We are under attack,” just before he was brutally murdered and dragged through the streets. Again, no mention of a protest.
  “The video was not instigative of anything that was going on in Libya,” Hicks said. “We saw no demonstrations related to the video anywhere in Libya.”
  Hicks also noted that Twitter feeds were being monitored and showed Ansar al-Sharia took credit for the terrorist attack and had control of the hospital where Ambassador Stevens was taken.
  Despite knowing Benghazi was a terrorist attack from the very beginning, after all she was briefed by Hicks who was on the ground, Clinton shamelessly stood in front of the flag draped caskets of dead Americans and blamed a YouTube video anyway. Watch starting at the 6 minute mark.
  “We’ve seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful internet video that we had nothing to do with. It is hard for the American people to make sense of that, because it is senseless and totally unacceptable.”

Early in April HC was scheduled to speak @ an event in San Diego but she cancelled because there were going to be protestes headed up by the mother of the US SEAL Sean Smith killed in Benghazi.
Politicians cancel gigs because of protesters?

townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/05/08/hillary-clintons-big-benghazi-lie-n1591097

Although there were protests all over the east, nowhere did I mention a protest in Benghazi;
But I did say that an attack instigated by this Muslim mocking video can still be termed a terrorist attack;
And to my knowledge these Ansar al-Sharia were quite well equipped even with artillery on trucks and definitely with machine guns;
So they really only needed someone to say: attack the consulate imho.

PS:
All I see are personal opinions and opinionated sources.

rex

 

[MJE]

You cannot make this stuff up:

Pelosi: “Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi! Why aren’t we talking about something else?”

hotair.com/archives/2014/05/01/pelosi-benghazi-benghazi-benghazi-why-arent-we-talking-about-something-else/

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, isn’t it?