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Benghazi Eight Months Later
National Review ^ | 5/8/2013 | Senator Ted Cruz

Posted on 05/08/2013 4:53:18 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross

What we know and what we still don’t know.

On September 11, 2012, terrorists attacked our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and murdered four Americans, including our ambassador. Eight months later, we have learned some of what happened, but many questions remain.

This week the House of Representatives will hold a hearing on Benghazi, because we still don’t know all the facts about how we responded during the seven and a half hours of attacks, why we could do nothing to save the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, and Tyrone Woods, and what, if anything, we have done to deter future attacks against Americans by holding the responsible parties accountable.

What we do know leads to the inescapable impression that before, during, and after the Benghazi attacks, there was confusion and paralysis at the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the White House.

Congress has learned that both Ambassador Stevens and his predecessor made repeated requests for additional security during the spring and summer of 2012. Most notably, Ambassador Stevens sent a cable to the State Department on August 15, 2012, expressly requesting additional security because the Benghazi consulate could not withstand a coordinated attack. The requests were denied, but Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, observed in congressional testimony that Defense could have provided all the needed security if State had requested it.

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


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 113th; 201208; 20120815; benghazi; benghazihearings; coverup; cruz
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Previous statements and answers have been exposed as lies. MANY questions remain.
1 posted on 05/08/2013 4:53:19 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross
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To: Servant of the Cross

I am sure there are a lot of facts we don’t know about Benghazi.

We do know one fact and we have known it since it’s inception.

The Government lied to us about it. Not just one person, but many, and the lie came right out of the White House.


2 posted on 05/08/2013 4:56:43 AM PDT by Venturer
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To: Servant of the Cross

I’d like to hear an explanation of why GEN Ham and RADM Gaouette were relieved of duty.


3 posted on 05/08/2013 4:59:02 AM PDT by castowell (I am Andrew Breitbart!)
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To: castowell

Me too. I am thinking, Gen. Hamm tried to go over the head of the administration, and got it chopped off.


4 posted on 05/08/2013 5:00:11 AM PDT by mware (By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West)
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To: Servant of the Cross

“What difference does it make?”


5 posted on 05/08/2013 5:00:22 AM PDT by IbJensen (Liberals are like Slinkies, good for nothing, but you smile as you push them down the stairs.)
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To: Venturer

Bump!


6 posted on 05/08/2013 5:08:18 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
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To: castowell

We need to hear the full explanation of that if indeed it did happen....that’s like being refused a blood transfusion while bleeding out on the whitehut floor!...they wanted Stevens dead or captured...the only conclusion u can draw at this point....i mean they pulled security less then a month before 9/11...sent him on a mission with even less security on what???....9/11???


7 posted on 05/08/2013 5:17:12 AM PDT by M-cubed
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To: Servant of the Cross
This is a distraction from the real business of government - plundering the fruits of the labors of the ever diminishing group of Americans who actually WORK for a living.

The internet sales tax bill passed by the looters in both parties in the senate is now going to the house. That bill will actually affect lives of most Americans by taking more money out of their pockets and giving it to the spendthrift wastrel state governments.

In addition it will put a huge administrative burden on on-line retailers who to remain in business will have to pass those costs on to their customers. GOVERNMENT HATES SUCCESS! If you're successful at best they simply look at you as a source of plunder, and then do their best to make sure you fail in the future.

This dog and pony show while interesting to actually see the turd in the white house's machinations brought to light will really make no difference in our lives. They aren't going to rehold the election, and the media isn't going to pursue this like they did Nixon and Watergate (no one died in Watergate) because the media is totally in the bag for the turd in the white house.

Oh and for all of you "local business owners" who lobbied for this because you claim you can't compete with the internet? If you can't compete YOU DESERVE TO GO OUT OF BUSINESS. DON'T USE THE POWER OF GOVERNMENT TO PROP UP YOUR POORLY THOUGHT OUT BUSINESS MODEL. I hope you all end up homeless.

8 posted on 05/08/2013 5:18:10 AM PDT by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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To: Servant of the Cross

9 posted on 05/08/2013 5:18:28 AM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Servant of the Cross

It will be interesting to see how this is handled by Congress. If it’s soft ball, or hard ball. It should no matter provide us insight in the direction we the people must address our concerns for the future.

We must watch for the contributors as well the obstructionists today, and make the list.


10 posted on 05/08/2013 5:19:23 AM PDT by rockinqsranch (Proud contributer to the Free Republic Q-2 Freepathon.)
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To: Servant of the Cross

This entire corrupt government was interested in only one thing: the re-election of Obama. Nothing was allowed to complicate that over-riding agenda. Every department involved in the murders at Benghazi lied to promote his fabricated “success” in foreign policy.


11 posted on 05/08/2013 5:21:37 AM PDT by txrefugee
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To: Servant of the Cross

Is there a limitation on the hearings? I would like to see them continue until all the questions are answered.


12 posted on 05/08/2013 5:26:02 AM PDT by Cowboy Bob (Democrats: Robbing Peter to buy Paul's vote.)
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To: castowell
I’d like to hear an explanation of why GEN Ham and RADM Gaouette were relieved of duty.

I'd like to hear why there's been a near total eclipse on the survivors of Benghazi.

Why will no one demand that they testify? Who are they? What happened to them? Were they tortured, so their accounts would be just too lurid and inflammatory for America's tender ears?

13 posted on 05/08/2013 5:29:24 AM PDT by HomeAtLast
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To: Servant of the Cross

Ted Cruz continues to lead.


14 posted on 05/08/2013 5:34:43 AM PDT by SueRae (It isn't over. In God We Trust.)
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To: from occupied ga

We can focus on more than one travesty at once. The House will nix the internet sales tax or at least put it on hold for now.

This is a question of dereliction of duty at the least, and criminal actions at the most.


15 posted on 05/08/2013 5:40:00 AM PDT by randita
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To: randita
We can focus on more than one travesty at once.

You vastly overrate the intellectual capacity and attention span of the average 'murcan.

16 posted on 05/08/2013 5:43:24 AM PDT by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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To: Servant of the Cross

Great summary piece by Cruz and it will get coverage because a sneeze from Cruz arouses attention.

As with any good attorney, Cruz knows the answers to these questions already.

“But many more questions remain. Here are a dozen:

Why was the State Department unwilling to provide the requested level of security to Benghazi?

Were there really no military assets available to provide relief during the seven hours of the attacks? If so, why not? During the attacks, were any military assets ordered to stand down?

If the chairman of the Joint Chiefs thought there was “no question” this was a coordinated terrorist attack, why did Ambassador Susan Rice, Secretary Clinton, and President Obama all tell the American people that the cause was a “spontaneous demonstration” about an Internet video?

Why did the State Department edit the intelligence talking points to delete the references to “Islamic extremists” and “al Qa’ida”?

Why did the FBI release pictures of militants taken the day of the attack only eight months after the fact? Why not immediately, as proved so effective in the Boston bombing?

Why have none of the survivors testified to Congress?

Why is the administration apparently unaware of the whistle-blowers who have been attempting to tell their stories? Is it true that these career civil servants have been threatened with retaliation?

Did President Obama sleep the night of September 11, 2012? Did Secretary Clinton?

When was President Obama told about the murder of our ambassador? About the murder of all four Americans? What did he do in response?

What role, if any, did the State Department’s own counterterrorism office play during the attacks and in their immediate aftermath?

Why was Secretary Clinton not interviewed for the ARB report?

And why, if all relevant questions were answered in the ARB report, has the State Department’s own inspector-general office opened a probe into the methods of that very report?”


17 posted on 05/08/2013 5:43:32 AM PDT by randita
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To: Servant of the Cross

Red Cruz is being a BULLY. </s>


18 posted on 05/08/2013 5:50:22 AM PDT by 11th Commandment (http://www.thirty-thousand.org/)
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To: from occupied ga
You vastly overrate the intellectual capacity and attention span of the average 'murcan.

We've succumbed to the attention span of the average 'murcan for way too long and look where we are. It's way past time for patriots to insist on government honesty and integrity.

19 posted on 05/08/2013 6:02:41 AM PDT by randita
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To: Servant of the Cross

The unholy trinity of Obama, Panetta and Clinton need to be taken to account by the American people.


20 posted on 05/08/2013 6:04:50 AM PDT by Hotlanta Mike ("Governing a great natiorn is like cooking a small fish - too much handling will spoil it." Lao Tzu)
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