Posted on 03/12/2014 9:32:03 AM PDT by Don Corleone
Dear
Thank you for your letter outlining some of your concerns over President Obama’s handling of certain critical events. I too have had disagreements with him and his administration regarding several of these important issues; specifically I would like to update you on what I am doing in regards to the tragedies of Benghazi and Operation Fast and Furious.
I was deeply saddened by the brutal murders of four U.S. citizens, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, during the attack on our consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. I am equally outraged by the manner in which President Obama handled the situation as it happened, and the dark cloud of uncertainty and deceit that still hangs over the events of that fateful night.
It has been more than a year and a half since the Benghazi terrorist attack. Congress has conducted exhaustive hearings and inquiries into this tragedy, the Administration, however, refuses to adequately answer fundamental questions or take accountability for what transpired. My questions to Senior Administration officials, like then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey remain unanswered to this day. The American people still do not know who made the unwise policy decision that led to shrinking diplomatic security forces in known dangerous outposts, or who was awake and making the decisions that night in Washington.
We have still not uncovered the truth of what happened in the aftermath of this tragedy. State Department whistleblowers Mark Thompson, Acting Deputy Secretary for Counterterrorism; Gregory Hicks, former Deputy Chief of Mission in Libya; and Eric Nordstrom, Diplomatic Security Officer and former Regional Security Officer in Libya, testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on May 8, 2013. From their testimonies we uncovered that the White House, State Department, and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) talking points in the weeks after the attack—during the height of campaign season—were altered as the Administration wanted to change the perception of actual events and mitigate risk to President Obama’s re-election efforts.
There is plenty of blame to go around. To date, the State Department’s own “Accountability Review Board” yielded no disciplinary action, our agencies of government have yet to round up any of the suspected perpetrators, and the White House simply refuses to release key documents or cooperate with any Congressional investigative effort.
On January 10, 2014, the White House identified two militant groups responsible for the 2012 attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and designated these groups as terrorist organizations. While this is a step in the right direction, the announcement is both extremely late and comes short of acknowledging the clear link to Al-Qaeda.
There were undeniable security and intelligence failings which claimed the lives of four U.S. citizens. Please know that I will continue to demand that President Obama’s Administration provide all of the information related to the tragedy in Benghazi in order to provide justice to the families, hold the Administration accountable for its actions (or inaction), and prevent a travesty like this from happening again.
I would also like to make you aware of the actions I have supported in Congress to hold the Obama Administration accountable for the failure of Operation Fast and Furious. As you are likely aware, Operation Fast and Furious was launched in 2009 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The purpose of the operation was to gather intelligence on Mexican drug cartel gun smugglers operating within the United States. The ATF allowed straw purchasers to buy weapons in Arizona and had planned to track these weapons back to Mexico and the drug cartel leaders. The operation was ill conceived, poorly implemented, and resulted in many of the weapons turning up at crime scenes in Mexico and the United States. Tragically, weapons used in the killing of United States Border Patrol agent Brian Terry were procured during Operation Fast and Furious. Additionally, the ATF admits that over 2,000 weapons involved in this operation remain unaccounted-for.
In October of 2011, documents were released that contained information indicating that Attorney General Eric Holder received memos regarding operation Fast and Furious in 2010. This information contradicts his sworn testimony before the House Judiciary Committee where he stated he was unaware of Fast and Furious until April 2011. On June 28, 2012, the House of Representatives held Holder in Contempt of Congress with a 255-67 vote for not releasing documents requested by the House Oversight Committee. Please rest assured that I will continue to look into this situation and work with my colleagues here in the Senate and in the House of Representatives to hold all responsible parties accountable.
Again, thank you for contacting me on these important issues. Please feel free to contact me on this or any other matter in the future.
Sincerely, John McCain United States Senator
JM/int
And you lie.
I decide McLame is a scumbag
Yep. You are going to be put out to pasure soon, Mr. McCain. Count on it.
Who gives a fig what this senile, gutless old coot has to say about anything except maybe dentures?
McCain seems to think that he himself isn’t one of the problems.
The real question is, “Will McCain ever shut up?”.
The old bastard is our misfortune...oh, do I believe in term limits!!
There are many posts that impugn Mr. McCain in the most very base of terms.
He flew A-4’s off of aircraft carriers. After the fire on the USS Forrestal, he requested transfer and was re-assigned to the USS Oriskany. He was shot down in 1967 and spent about 6 years in unbelievable conditions. That’s the short of it.
This man is an American hero in the truest terms. No less than The Honorable Tammy Duckworth, a double amputee Army pilot, these people deserve our respect.
I may (and often do) disagree with their political positions, yet they still deserve to be treated with a modicum of respect that they have earned through service to our country.
I would expect this forum to express dissatisfaction with a person’s views, but, at least, in an honest and respectful manner.
Thanks for letting me vent.
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