Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Ludicrous Right Wing ‘Benghazi-Gate’ Fake Scandal Gets Even More Ludicrous (Barf-o-licious)
Little Green Footballs ^ | Nov 17, 2012 | Charles Johnson (Moonbat)

Posted on 11/17/2012 1:17:37 PM PST by Qbert

Yes, the right wing is still trying to turn the Benghazi attack into a cut-rate Watergate scandal, despite David Petraeus’s testimony backing up everything the administration said. Jennifer Rubin, the right wing hack masquerading as a Washington Post blogger, leads the charge with yet another determinedly stupid article: BREAKING: The President Knew the Truth About Benghazi - Right Turn.

For some reason, the right wing echo chamber is obsessively fixated on whether the President “knew it was a terrorist attack,” and they’re going to keep hammering away at this empty nothing-burger until it’s flatter than Mitt Romney’s approval ratings.

Solomon cautions that there were bits of evidence pointing to a spontaneous attack but, as Eli Lake of the Daily Beast and others have reported, he writes: “Among the early evidence cited in the briefings to the president and other senior officials were intercepts showing some of the participants were known members or supporters of Ansar al-Sharia — the al-Qaida-sympathizing militia in Libya — and the AQIM, which is a direct affiliate of al-Qaida in northern Africa, the officials said.”

How could the president and his senior staff then have allowed (or rather, sent) Rice to go out to tell an entirely different tale to the American people on Sept. 16 on five TV shows?

This report indicates that the president certainly knew that Benghazi wasn’t a rogue movie review gone bad. He had information that plainly spelled out what was later confirmed by additional intelligence. If this information was too confidential to share with the public, at the very least the president and others should not have mislead voters.

It’s absolutely bizarre that people like Rubin continue pushing this false dichotomy. In actual fact, there is no contradiction here. This was a terrorist attack that was motivated by the anti-Islam video. And we know this because the New York Times reported it from Benghazi on October 15.

To Libyans who witnessed the assault and know the attackers, there is little doubt what occurred: a well-known group of local Islamist militants struck the United States Mission without any warning or protest, and they did it in retaliation for the video. That is what the fighters said at the time, speaking emotionally of their anger at the video without mentioning Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or the terrorist strikes of 11 years earlier. And it is an explanation that tracks with their history as members of a local militant group determined to protect Libya from Western influence. …

To those on the ground, the circumstances of the attack are hardly a mystery. Most of the attackers made no effort to hide their faces or identities, and during the assault some acknowledged to a Libyan journalist working for The New York Times that they belonged to the group. And their attack drew a crowd, some of whom cheered them on, some of whom just gawked, and some of whom later looted the compound.

The fighters said at the time that they were moved to act because of the video, which had first gained attention across the region after a protest in Egypt that day. The assailants approvingly recalled a 2006 assault by local Islamists that had destroyed an Italian diplomatic mission in Benghazi over a perceived insult to the prophet. In June the group staged a similar attack against the Tunisian Consulate over a different film, according to the Congressional testimony of the American security chief at the time, Eric A. Nordstrom.

At a news conference the day after the ambassador and three other Americans were killed, a spokesman for Ansar al-Shariah praised the attack as the proper response to such an insult to Islam. ‘We are saluting our people for this zeal in protecting their religion, to grant victory to the prophet,’ the spokesman said. ‘The response has to be firm.’

The right wing is trying to fool America into jumping aboard their crazy train, pushing a false line of attack that they know is false — that the anti-Islam video was not the reason for the attack, and that President Obama, for some reason (maybe he just hates America?), deliberately lied about this in order to cover for his jihadi friends.

It’s yet another attempt to demonize President Obama and make him out to be a dangerous secret subversive radical, who sympathizes with people who kill American citizens.

Really! That’s the conspiracy theory they’re trying to push here. It’s just beyond ludicrous, and it gets stupider and more deranged every single day.

UPDATE at 11/17/12 11:48:36 am Since Jennifer Rubin asked:

How could the president and his senior staff then have allowed (or rather, sent) Rice to go out to tell an entirely different tale to the American people on Sept. 16 on five TV shows?

I don’t expect it to make any difference to the false narrative they’re pushing, but here’s the answer. It’s really not that difficult to figure out — in fact, Petraeus actually told the hearing yesterday why the assessment was toned down: Petraeus Says U.S. Tried to Avoid Tipping Off Terrorists.

WASHINGTON — David H. Petraeus, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, told lawmakers on Friday that classified intelligence reports revealed that the deadly assault on the American diplomatic mission in Libya was a terrorist attack, but that the administration refrained from saying it suspected that the perpetrators of the attack were Al Qaeda affiliates and sympathizers to avoid tipping off the groups.

Mr. Petraeus, who resigned last week after admitting to an extramarital affair, said the names of groups suspected in the attack — including Al Qaeda’s franchise in North Africa and a local Libyan group, Ansar al-Shariah — were removed from the public explanation of the attack immediately after the assault to avoiding alerting the militants that American intelligence and law enforcement agencies were tracking them, lawmakers said.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: benghazi; benghazicoverup; lies; lunaticrant; obama
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-71 next last
The little green, pony-tailed anti-Semite goes further down the rabbit hole...
1 posted on 11/17/2012 1:17:42 PM PST by Qbert
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Qbert

Geez....didn’t he used to be on our side?

Did he figure the dark side is more profitable?


2 posted on 11/17/2012 1:27:06 PM PST by Aria ( 2008 & 2012 weren't elections - both were a coup d'etat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert
The President purposefully let 4 men die to hide what he the President was doing as far as arms trade in Libya.
3 posted on 11/17/2012 1:28:14 PM PST by classified
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

This guy is a pathetic nutball. His site is as bad, if not worse than the DUmp. Sane people don’t post over there. I’m ashamed that I used to read it years ago. It was back during Rathergate. Over the years he has become nothing but a Muslim loving, anti-Semite.


4 posted on 11/17/2012 1:29:59 PM PST by beandog (All Aboard the Choo Choo Train to Crazy Town)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

I wonder if Charles Johnson thinks Watergate was a “fake scandal”. Probably not, as it concerned a Repub and not his boy-king.


5 posted on 11/17/2012 1:30:42 PM PST by jeffc (The U.S. media are our enemy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

This person things thinks these are the type of things that make for a fake scandal

1. obama administration ignored pleas regarding Benghazi security for months
2. Ambassador Stevens was requesting more security the day he died
3. No backup was sent after we determined the annex was under attack
4. We told people nearby to stand-down rather than help
5. obama claims we couldn’t respond in time (doesn’t even grasp the ramifications of our enemies knowing this might be true)
6. obama refuses to recognize in public what took place at the annex
7. obama has his people go out and lie
8. obama lied


6 posted on 11/17/2012 1:37:28 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Hurricane Sandy..., a week later and 48 million Americans still didn't have power.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Aria

Agent provocateur.


7 posted on 11/17/2012 1:37:28 PM PST by Eagles6 (Valley Forge Redux)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: beandog

"This guy is a pathetic nutball. His site is as bad, if not worse than the DUmp. Sane people don’t post over there. I’m ashamed that I used to read it years ago. It was back during Rathergate."

Yep. Even before he "changed" there was something about him that didn't feel right to me- I could never put a finger on it, but it didn't surprise me what happened to him.

"Over the years he has become nothing but a Muslim loving, anti-Semite."

He especially hates Jewish women (Pam Gellar, Jen Rubin, etc.)

8 posted on 11/17/2012 1:39:08 PM PST by Qbert ("The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry" - William F. Buckley, Jr.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

This still doesn’t answer the question why adequate action wasn’t taken that might have prevented the death of four victims of an attack by Muslim terrorists.


9 posted on 11/17/2012 1:43:16 PM PST by windsorknot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

Holy cow. (shaking head)

LGF ignores the holes blown in the consulate walls weeks ealier
LGF ignores the policeman who photographed the grounds earlier in the day
LGF ignores the caliber of weapons that were available for this “spontaneous” attack

etc


10 posted on 11/17/2012 1:45:00 PM PST by kidd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

little green goofballs.


11 posted on 11/17/2012 1:46:05 PM PST by Sivad (Nor Cal Red Turf)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

“the right wing hack masquerading as a Washington Post blogger”

How does one masquerade as a blogger? Either you are one or you’re not. It isn’t like being a reporter, which is supposed to be a profession. “Blogger” connotes amateurs sitting in their underwear in the basement of their mother’s house, if anything.


12 posted on 11/17/2012 1:48:25 PM PST by Tublecane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

The libtards know fake scandals....
....Iran/Contra....Rathergate....Valerie Plame..
....voter intimidation


13 posted on 11/17/2012 1:53:50 PM PST by Sivad (Nor Cal Red Turf)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

He tries to present scandalmongers as promoting a flaws dichotomy between the video and a terror attack by saying it was a terror attack motivated by revenge for the video. Either he hasn’t been paying much attention, has a learning disability, or woefully underestimates what it takes to win an argument. Because the real problem with the White House’s initial response is that they pretended it was a “spontaneous” outbreak instead of a planned attack.

Oh, and by the way, I don’t care what the attackers themselves said about the video. The fact that it took place on 9/11 is at least as important as any other motivation, if not infinitely more. Only an idiot can think otherwise.


14 posted on 11/17/2012 1:55:57 PM PST by Tublecane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

I wouldn’t even bother to link him, he just wants attention. I guarantee he is reading these comments. Hey Charles, you’re irrelevant.


15 posted on 11/17/2012 1:57:13 PM PST by kreitzer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne

Until we get more people focused upon gunrunning from Benghazi to Syria, this “investigation” isn’t one. We have layered coverups here.


16 posted on 11/17/2012 1:59:45 PM PST by Carry_Okie (The Slave Party: advancing indenture since 1787.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Sivad

Iran-contra was a real scandal, if not fully a presidential one. Not the contra part, but the negotiating with terrorists part. I often wonder why we conservatives pretend Ollie North is a hero or one of us. Except that it’s fun to watch congressional dog and pony shows be stolen.


17 posted on 11/17/2012 2:00:42 PM PST by Tublecane
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: windsorknot

"This still doesn’t answer the question why adequate action wasn’t taken that might have prevented the death of four victims of an attack by Muslim terrorists."

Exactly (both that night, and in the months leading up to the attack).

But the radical leftists have no concern for the truth here. Their real is trying to find some alibi they hope will stick- while simultaneously, creating enough confusion so that people forget the four deaths.

18 posted on 11/17/2012 2:01:22 PM PST by Qbert ("The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry" - William F. Buckley, Jr.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

Leftwingers are proof that a mind is a terrible thing to waste.


19 posted on 11/17/2012 2:25:00 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (We need Comprehensive Election Reform, NOW!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert
For the sake of argument let's say the attack was a protest gone wild. Is that any excuse to leave 41 of your own people to die at their hands? Is that the 'official' 0bama policy excuse?

"We will only defend the lives of our diplomats and other assets if they are being attacked by a terrorist group with official terrorist credentials." - 0bama Zombie Policy

20 posted on 11/17/2012 2:34:51 PM PST by TigersEye (Who is John Galt?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-71 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson