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For Obama, image is everything and the only thing
WaPo ^ | 5/26/2013 | Jennifer Rubin

Posted on 05/27/2013 4:34:11 AM PDT by RoosterRedux

The biggest scandal regarding Benghazi may be that the president was not at the helm on 9-11-2011 and was not directing the response to an attack. His aides insist he was getting updates, but the president is supposed to be more than an inbox for messages from his advisers. Was he peppering them with questions? Was he insisting they run through the available rescue options? The answer to both seems to be no, and for that dereliction of duty he needs to be held accountable. Maybe he would have been more accurate in his statements after the fact if he had had been plugged in and paying attention during the attacks.

Likewise, the president’s apparent inattention to the deteriorating security situation in Libya suggests that he, once again, was not in command. He was a passenger on the ship of state. Hillary Clinton wanted to go in; let her keep an eye on it.

With Obama it is all stagecraft and no state craft. He’ll chest-thump about the assassination of Osama bin Laden and be happy to leak details of “kill lists” (president, with brow furrowed, sits deciding life-and-death issues), but in fact he’s mostly talk. In this light we can see that part of the motive for cracking down on the media is to eliminate and deter information-gathering that is not White House-approved. It’s fine to leak favorable images and information. But if the media dare to put forth data that are inconsistent with his play-acting, then the retribution is fierce and swift.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: benghazi; navyseals; threatmatrix
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1 posted on 05/27/2013 4:34:11 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux

Valarie Jarret muslim brotherhood gave the order to stand down


2 posted on 05/27/2013 4:35:50 AM PDT by ronnie raygun (Yesterdays conspiracies are todays truths)
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To: annieokie; penelopesire; maggief; Protect the Bill of Rights; thouworm; SE Mom; Nachum; onyx; ...
He was called on to act and he turned down the part.

Anyone wanting on or off this ping list, please advise.


3 posted on 05/27/2013 4:40:27 AM PDT by MestaMachine
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To: RoosterRedux

..he is beholding to...

4 posted on 05/27/2013 4:41:07 AM PDT by Doogle (USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
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To: RoosterRedux

“The biggest scandal regarding Benghazi may be that the president was not at the helm on 9-11-2011”.

Did they mean 9-11-2012?


5 posted on 05/27/2013 4:44:19 AM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (I voted Republican, no Conservative was on the ballot.)
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To: ronnie raygun

You are exactly right. Valerie Jarrett gives ALL the orders.

“Not at the helm”...is that the same as dereliction of duty? The same as AWOL? Is arming the enemy the same as treason?


6 posted on 05/27/2013 4:44:36 AM PDT by abclily
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To: RoosterRedux

He even failed to vote present.


7 posted on 05/27/2013 4:47:48 AM PDT by Balata (*)We came unarmed (last time)
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To: MestaMachine

Here’s what I think happened an 9/11/12:

Obama meets with Panetta at 5 and hears (well after the onset) that an attack has been going on. Jarrett is either in the room or a phone call away. After explaining to Obama what and where Benghazi is, Jarrett issues the order that under NO circumstances will military be put in a situation where images comparable to “Black Hawk Down” could be televised. Obama departs for his evening activities, assuming everything has been taken care of.

Meanwhile, the OPS center is hounding Hillary. She finally breaks the rules and calls Obama, letting him know the you-know-what has already hit the fan and they need to come up with some sort of cover story. Voila! Let’s blame the video!


8 posted on 05/27/2013 4:52:38 AM PDT by Mangia E Statti Zitto
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To: RoosterRedux
What happened to all the talk that the president was accessible 24x7?

That it was okay to take all these vacations and fly back and forth to fundraisers because the president is always in communication?

We heard that a lot when Bush would go to Crawford, but I'm not hearing a peep about how the national security apparatus follows Obama around?

Why can't he explain his whereabouts on 9/11/12? What happened to this supposed White House infrastructure that was supposed to follow the president wherever he goes?

-PJ

9 posted on 05/27/2013 4:53:21 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: FRiends


Click the Pic


Support Free Republic

10 posted on 05/27/2013 5:03:12 AM PDT by deoetdoctrinae (The Old White Flag Republicans can go straight to He// and take their pal Obama with them!)
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To: RoosterRedux

When you are an empty suit, maintaining the appearance of the suit is everything.


11 posted on 05/27/2013 5:07:46 AM PDT by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
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To: All
Leave Valerie alone ---- she works hard to undermine US ntl security (cackle). EXAMPLE Ohaha is using the 1917 Espionage Act to nail journos (poor Valerie burned the midnight oil to come up with that one).

========================================

REFERENCE The DOJ search warrant in the Rosen case cites Section 793(d) of Title 18 of the U.S. Code...... a person lawfully in possession of secret govt-classified info who turns it over to someone not lawfully entitled to posses it has committed a crime (The source).....anyone who conspires to help the source do that has committed the same crime (The journo).

So why the brouhaha? B/c the Obummber crew has NEVER, EVER exhibited a modicum of interest in defending US ntl security from foreign domination ---- nor has it exhibited a concern for the life and liberties of Americans.

On the contrary----via "immigration reform" Ohaha is forcing on Americans entire primitive populations of creepy savages emanating from antediluvean Third World countries.

VALERIE TOLD OHAHA YOUR HOMELAND NEEDS MONEY---THE TIME IS NOW TO EXTORT TAXPAYERS When the Kenyan butcher hacked a Brit soldier to death, and defiantly gave an interview with blood-soaked hands, Valerie okayed $50 million to Kenya---as a sign of Ohaha's "tolerance and compassion.".

===============================================

YAWN More stupid futile nation-building ---- to subsidize living standards for the Kenya hellhole (dumbos still have no water, electricity, adequate shelter and food). But forget these "amenities" --- your tax dollars will build Kenyan "madrassas" to train more of these jihadist zealots to butcher innocent people.

12 posted on 05/27/2013 5:09:36 AM PDT by Liz
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To: abclily

Apparently not if Obama is the one doing it.


13 posted on 05/27/2013 5:09:37 AM PDT by autumnraine (America how long will you be so deaf and dumb to thoe tumbril wheels carrying you to the guillotine?)
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To: RoosterRedux

———dereliction of duty-——
can he as commander in chief be court marshaled?

that is brought to trial in a military tribunal that lacks the protection from his lacky Holder?

The compost has gone on attack.


14 posted on 05/27/2013 5:13:00 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....Obama Denies Role in Government)
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To: ronnie raygun

And the military blindly followed it. It wasn an illegal order and they should have ignored it


15 posted on 05/27/2013 5:13:22 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: Mangia E Statti Zitto

————Obama departs for his evening activities-——

He spends substantial every evening helping the girls with their homework


16 posted on 05/27/2013 5:15:27 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....Obama Denies Role in Government)
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To: RoosterRedux; All
Very true and the President is seldom at the helm that's valjars job. Here's another of her miscues, IMHO, neatly documented by someone who appears to know what he is talking about.Although many think that panetta is the idiot of Benghazi what if he was just taking orders from val/jar?

May 25, 2013 U.S. Military: We Could Have Saved Ambassador Stevens By Jonathon Moseley Elite U.S. troops were completely capable of saving Ambassador Chris Stevens during the Benghazi Consulate attacks on September 11, 2012. Elements of the highly specialized Combatant Commanders In-Extremis (CIF) units are always on alert, on forward deployment, ready to respond. Their job description is to hit the ground in 3 to 5 hours. CIF elements are ready to engage in active combat anywhere in their region, 3 to 5 hours after the call. Leon Panetta, Secretary of Defense at the time, either misled the U.S. Congress or was incompetent. Panetta testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 7, 2013 that the U.S. military could not have responded in less than 9 to 12 hours. Obama’s first secretary of defense, Robert Gates, told CBS’s Face the Nation on May 12, 2013 that “[w]e don’t have a ready force standing by” in that region. But we absolutely do “have a ready force standing by” to reach any trouble spot in a few hours. Insider reports previously revealed that CIF elements were training in Croatia and could have been in Benghazi in three and a half hours. Although rotating out of the United States, some CIF elements are always forward-deployed within each military command region, always on stand-by. Their training includes expertise within each local region. Some of each region’s unit is always ready. They don’t need to pack. Being ready to go — immediately — is their job description. It’s the reason they exist. The U.S. military has developed a range of capabilities, from CIF teams to the Navy SEALs, to Rangers, to Green Berets. But now many in the special forces/special operators community feel betrayed. Commanders in Extremis units are so highly trained and expert that even elite Green Berets wash out of the highly demanding CIF training in large numbers. Standard military doctrine is to activate all such resources immediately, even if they are ultimately not used. Military’s plans require getting such teams in the air and on the way, not waiting to see if they will be needed. So Panetta’s and Gates’s statements to the public violate standard military protocol. Leon Panetta telegraphed to our enemies an image of incompetence of U.S. forces. Panetta’s testimony was an insult to the U.S. military. Elite forces go through constant, grueling training to be able to do what Panetta and Gates say they cannot do. One of the purposes of “special operators” is deterrence. Panetta and Gates undermined that deterrence. The U.S. military perfected capabilities after the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000, the 2008 U.S. Embassy bombing in Yemen, and similar events. Gates emphasized the need for planning; Commanders in Extremis forces plan constantly for all contingencies. CIF units answer directly to the general for each regional command to eliminate delay. Therefore, if AFRICOM — the U.S. military’s regional command for matters involving Africa — had actually wanted to rescue Ambassador Stevens — and the classified secrets in the Consulate — the AFRICOM general would have communicated directly with the CIF team on forward deployment in the region. Panetta testified that the U.S. military could not react because they didn’t know the situation on the ground in Benghazi. In fact, two unmanned drones were overhead, sending real-time video, including infrared and night-vision cameras, back to the national command authority. Everyone but Panetta seems to know how dumb Panetta’s statement was. Panetta testified that we should not send in aircraft without knowing what is happening on the ground. Au contraire. You send in the correct aircraft to find out what is going on. It’s called reconnaissance. The U.S. Air Force has been conducting reconnaissance since World War I (then as part of the U.S. Army). Unless maybe our leaders don’t want to know. In fact, it is reported that CIF elements assigned to AFRICOM were already mobilizing and preparing to respond in Southern Europe. But they were ordered to stand down. It is believed they were mobilizing at a U.S./NATO air base in Sigonella, Italy, near Naples. Sigonella air base is only 475 miles from Benghazi. Fighter jets from Sigonella could have been above Benghazi in 20 minutes from takeoff at the F-16′s maximum speed of 1,500 miles per hour. Transports and gunships could have reached the Consulate in 90 minutes from take-off. F-16s can carry fuel for a flight of 2,000 nautical miles. So the 475-mile flight from Sigonella would have left enough fuel for an hour of operations over the Consulate in Benghazi plus a flight to Andravida Air Base in Greece, only 405 miles away, to land and refuel. Greece is a NATO partner. Later waves could have refueled first in Andravida, 405 miles away. Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis and its battle group were within range to assist the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette was relieved of command and flown back to the States on undisclosed allegations of inappropriate judgment, as reported in the military’s Stripes magazine. It is widely believed within the U.S. military that Admiral Gaouette was mobilizing a response to come to the aid of Ambassador Stevens but was ordered to stand down. The allegation of “inappropriate judgment” was that Admiral Gaoutte insisted on mounting a rescue, leading to sharp words being exchanged. Gregory Hicks, Deputy Chief of Mission in Libya, immediately tasked his embassy defense attaché with calling for help from the U.S. military. According to Hicks’s testimony on May 8, AFRICOM told the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli that the U.S. airbase in Aviano, Italy could have F-16s over Benghazi in 2-3 hours but that there were no aerial tankers in the area to refuel the F-16s. That excuse rings false. Throughout Europe, U.S.-compatible standard refueling tankers are always available. That’s why they exist. NATO exists so that all NATO countries will come to the aid of any of their fellows when attacked. Furthermore, why Aviano? Sigonella was roughly half the distance. Sigonella’s F-16s could have reached Benghazi in 20 minutes from wheels up, conducted action above the Consulate, and returned to Italy or Greece with fuel to spare. Remember: a “spotter” from the Benghazi CIA annex was on the roof of the Consulate, “laser designating” the attackers’ mortar team and reporting by radio. Gates also commented that U.S. F-16s could not have simply buzzed the Benghazi Consulate to scare away the attackers because of the risk of anti-aircraft missiles. Hogwash. For months the year before the U.S. Air Force and NATO jets had strafed and bombed the Libyan military and decimated its anti-aircraft weaponry. And since when are members of the U.S. military afraid to come to the defense of civilians because someone might hurt them? Even liberal columnist Maureen Dowd commented: “The defense secretary at the time, Leon Panetta, insisted, ‘We quickly responded.’ But they responded that they would not respond.” Dowd sums it up: “All the factions wove their own mythologies at the expense of our deepest national mythology: that if there is anything, no matter how unlikely or difficult, that we can do to try to save the lives of Americans who have volunteered for dangerous assignments, we must do it.”

The only thing that makes sense here is that all those at Benghazi were to die since dead men tell no tales.

17 posted on 05/27/2013 5:16:46 AM PDT by rodguy911 (FreeRepublic:Land of the Free because of the Brave--Sarah Palin our secret weapon)
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To: RoosterRedux
The answer to both seems to be no, and for that dereliction of duty he needs to be held accountable.

Wrong - it's not dereliction.

Obama made the decision to STOP the military from saving these people. He wasn't passively refusing to get out of bed - he wasn't sleeping unaware of the situation. He knew - and he acted...

A child drowning in the water... a lifeguard is asleep. That dereliction.

A child drowning and the chief lifeguard tells other lifeguards to stay out of the water. The child dies - that's murder.

18 posted on 05/27/2013 5:18:54 AM PDT by GOPJ (It's Gotten So Bad for Obama Fox News Changed Its Slogan to "See. I Told You So!"- Leno)
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To: RoosterRedux

Obama is more interested in being a celebrity rather than being President.


19 posted on 05/27/2013 5:19:49 AM PDT by GreenHornet
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To: RoosterRedux

Obama reminds me the actor who played pharoah in “Moses.”

~So let it be written! So let it be done!”

Works on film, not so much in real life, but a narcissist has no idea that creating a fantasy of what he wants isn’t real.


20 posted on 05/27/2013 5:27:50 AM PDT by OpusatFR
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