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The Benghazi Inquiry, and the Difference an Investigation Makes
Illinois Review ^ | May 14, 2014 A.D. | John F. Di Leo

The Administration disapproves of the House Select Committee, chaired by Congressman Trey Gowdy, chartered to investigate the events surrounding the September 11, 2012 attacks on the United States mission (essentially a branch office, a sub-embassy) at Benghazi, Libya, in which the complex was attacked, robbed, and largely destroyed, and four US government employees were killed by Al Qaeda-connected militia.

Now, it is understandable that the Administration disapproves of such an investigation. They haven’t responded to the dozens of church bombings all over Africa in recent years… they haven’t responded to the thousands of Christians killed in the ongoing islamofascist attacks from West Africa to Sudan… they haven’t raised a murmur about the return of crucifixion as a Syrian terrorist technique. They don’t mind a millions abortions a year in their own country; why should we expect them to be concerned about four deaths abroad? Perhaps our expectations of humanity from the current Administration really are too high.

But that doesn’t mean that we should disregard the issue. If the Administration – even the entire Democratic Party – doesn’t think the Benghazi attacks worth studying, perhaps we need to remind them what the events surrounding the attacks really were all about. Because, while those four lives were indeed important, and worthy of better treatment than this Administration gave them, under any measure, the fact is that Benghazi is also about many, many other things besides these four tragic deaths.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked, in answer to an early barrage of unanswered questions on the subject, “What difference, at this point, does it make?”

Well, we owe it to the American people, and to the employees of the United States federal government, to delve into these matters, and to explore, once and for all, just what difference it does indeed make.

Four Americans, Undefended

Contrary to the claims of the partisan Democrats, who fear any truth that might reflect poorly on their political party, the Benghazi inquiry doesn’t lead up to the four victims of the 9-11-12 attacks; it only begins with them.

When the mission reported to Washington that they were under attack, a decision had to be made: what kind of support to give them? But that decision wasn’t made at all. Instead, a decision was made to abandon them, to send no aid at all. In fact, American forces in the area who offered to help were specifically directed, multiple times, to stay put and render no assistance. Why?

With the obvious exception of military personnel in combat zones, American government employees normally have a right to assume that they are reasonably safe when on US government ground anywhere on earth, and that their government will protect them if attacked. This investigation is therefore not just about these four American government employees stationed abroad who died; it’s about all other American government employees, the tens of thousands of other embassy personnel, commercial and Customs service agents, and so many other federal employees who work overseas at any given moment.

What changed? Since when are our civil servants left on their own when in danger abroad on government business?

Distress Calls, Unanswered

The Administration’s claim throughout has been that no help could have arrived in time. That was certainly possible.

We now know that the attacks went on for many hours, at least seven. In retrospect, we can look back and calculate flight times by helicopter, by plane, by humvee, and determine what we could or couldn’t have done in that time frame.

But not then! At the time of the event, there was no way to know how long the attack would last, how long Ambassador Stevens and his staff could have held out in a safe area. It might have just been another hour; it might have been another day.

The rest of the scandal

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3156035/posts