This was taken from a chapter in her upcoming book,”Hard Choices.”
Tag: chris stevens
Susan Rice. Remember her? She was one of the names being talked about to take over as Secretary of State when Hillary Clinton steps down later this month. But Mrs. Rice had to withdraw her name after Republicans, specifically John McCain and Lindsey Graham, placed a target on her back and relentlessly fired away, blaming her it seemed, for the events in Benghazi where four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens were killed.
The unwarranted attacks on Rice came after she went on television and repeated the talking points given to her about the events in Benghazi. Rice, who is the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, had no first hand knowledge of the events in Benghazi, but Republicans crucified her anyway, causing her to withdraw her name from consideration for Secretary of State. And it is noteworthy to point out that since Rice withdrew her name, the attacks mysteriously stopped.
For Months since the Benghazi September 11th, 2012 attacks, Republicans wanted blood. They wanted someone from the Obama Administration to pay for what happened in Libya. Their next target after Rice, was the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Previous attempts to get Mrs. Clinton to testify failed due to some health issues. After it was reported that Mrs. Clinton suffered a concussion in her home, Republicans tagged that news as her trying to avoid the testimony. They called it Benghazi-gate.
Well now the time has come. The climax of the Republican party is here. Hillary Clinton is testifying today about the events in Benghazi and Republicans are having the time of their lives and the time of their political career. This is their opportunity to bring the Obama administration to its knees. This is their chance to blame a high-ranking official for the four American deaths in Libya.
But their plan may not be working out just yet. Early reports from the testimony are showing that Mrs. Clinton is holding her own. Apparently she is not the raving lunatic Republicans would have us believe. Apparently she has a heart and although she acknowledged that things could have went differently, it seems that she and her department are doing everything possible, including implementing 29 recommendations from an independent review board, to make sure another future Benghazi does not happen.
Almost coming to tears at times, the Secretary of State tried to reassure the Republicans on the panel. “Make no mistake about it, we have got to have a better strategy,” she said. “I stood next to President Obama as the Marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at Andrews,’ she said. ‘I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters.”
A Republican representing Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, dug in.”There were systemic [security] deficiencies and I know you know that,” he said. “To my knowledge no one has been held accountable.”
‘These officials were screaming out for more security.
Mrs Clinton replied;
“We can’t think now about what could have, should have, would have happened. Benghazi didn’t happen in a vacuum,’ she said. ‘The Arab revolutions have scrambled power dynamics and shattered security forces across the region. And instability in Mali has created an expanding safe haven for terrorists who look to extend their influence and plot further attacks of the kind we saw just last week in Algeria.”
Senator John McCain, the man responsible for the personally attacking Susan Rice and questioning her education and experience, called Benghazi “a cover-up from the beginning.” He is the newest member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
It is the hope of Republicans to take Hillary Clinton out now. She is the Democratic favorite to run for President in 2016 and tarnishing her exceptional job as Secretary of State they hope, will be a deciding factor for many Americans if she runs. But so far, these hearings are not turning out the way Republicans plan. They are coming off as a group of hypocrites, who ignored the attacks on September 11th where almost three thousand people died in New York, focused instead on Benghazi where four Americans were killed.
If they can ask about security now, why shouldn’t they answer that same question about September 11, 2001? After all, there are documented proof that their president, George W. Bush, had intelligence that Bin Laden was about to attack.
Where were the security measures then?
John McCain is doing a fantastic job of playing the role of the grumpy old man. He has embraced this role since losing to President Obama in 2008 and he sees a clear benefit to continuing his role today in 2012. The killing of four Americans in Benghazi has been McCain’s most recent trophy, and he is trying to use this trophy to hit the president and his administration on the head.
Since Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed on September 11th, 2012, Republicans led by presidential loser Mitt Romney have tried to blame President Obama. The blame game began before knowledge of the American deaths were known as Mitt Romney held a press conference while the attacks were happening, calling the uprising in Libya “the downfall of President Obama’s foreign policy.”
The killings happened at an unfortunately ideal moment, as Muslims all over the Middle East responded to a “movie” made by a right-wing nut-job here in America. Egyptians marched in protest to the movie that depicted their leader in many disparaging ways and in Libya, more protests against the movie occurred. People marched to a compound in Benghazi where Ambassador Stevens worked and rocket-propelled grenades exploded in the compound killing the four Americans.
At this moment when the news finally made it back that Americans actually died, Mitt Romney had already wrapped up his press conference blaming President Obama. That was a little over two months ago and since then, Mitt Romney lost the general election. Leave it up to John McCain to carry on Romney’s fight.
So now, John McCain has the administration in his sights and more specifically, the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice. Rice could President Obama’s nominee to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, but soon after the events in Benghazi, Rice went on the Sunday television talk shows and repeated the information she knew at that time – that the attack in Benghazi was not an act of terrorists, but the result of the uprising against the movie.
That was the information Susan Rice had before the formal investigation was made, but John McCain thinks there is a bigger story here. Without any proof whatsoever, McCain and the Republicans are continuing to push this issue hoping that somehow, it leads to the doorstep of President Obama. And McCain is willing disapprove any nominee for Secretary of State until the President is impeached for… something.
Doing how own rounds on the Sunday talk shows, McCain was heard saying;
Under the present circumstances, until we find out all the information as to what happened, I don’t think you would want to support any nominee right now. Because this is very very serious and it has even larger implications than the deaths of 4 Americans. It really goes to the heart of this whole light foot print policy that this administration is pursuing.
The American people have spoken in the election, and based on the results of the elections they want a government capable of working together to solve the pressing issues of the day. But given McCain’s present goal to bring down this administration at any cost necessary, including pushing baseless and fact-less stories, it seem that working together for the benefit of the country is not the path McCain wishes to pursue.
Apparently McCain still has some ill feelings towards this president and the need for the country to have an effective Secretary of State will take a back seat to McCain’s own personal feelings.
The big story now, in the Republican circles at least, seems to be the tragedy that happened in Benghazi Libya on September 11th 2012 when four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens were killed. The Obama administration originally said that the attack on the Embassy was the result of a hateful video against Islam, a video that caused violent uprising in many Islāmic nations.
After an investigation, it was determined that the American Embassy was the target of a terrorist attack. It was also revealed that the Embassy may have requested extra security before the attack happened.
Republicans led by Mitt Romney, saw some political benefit in attacking the Obama administration for not “providing the necessary security” the Embassy requested, and they have harped on this over the last few weeks. But a new report is shedding more light on this claim and the reason more security wasn’t sent to Benghazi.
It seems that Republicans, including the Republican vice president candidate Paul Ryan, voted to cut funding to the very department responsible for paying for extra security. The New York Times reports;
The ugly truth is that the same people who are accusing the administration of not providing sufficient security for the American consulate in Benghazi have voted to cut the State Department budget, which includes financing for diplomatic security. The most self-righteous critics don’t seem to get the hypocrisy, or maybe they do and figure that if they hurl enough doubts and complaints at the administration, they will deflect attention from their own poor judgments on the State Department’s needs.
But as part of the Republican majority that has controlled the House the last two years, Mr. Issa joined in cutting nearly a half-billion dollars from the State Department’s two main security accounts. One covers things like security staffing, including local guards, armored vehicles and security technology; the other, embassy construction and upgrades. In 2011 and 2012, President Obama sought a total of $5 billion, and the House approved $4.5 billion. In 2009, Mr. Issa voted for an amendment that would have cut nearly 300 diplomatic security positions. And the draconian budgets proposed by Mitt Romney’s running mate, Representative Paul Ryan, would cut foreign affairs spending by 10 percent in 2013 and even more in 2016.
President Obama spoke today at the United Nations and discussed the unfortunate recent events Libya, where a mob attacked and killed four Americans including Chris Stevens, U.S. Ambassador to Libya.
The attacks on our civilians in Benghazi were attacks on America. We are grateful for the assistance we received from the Libyan government and the Libyan people. And there should be no doubt that we will be relentless in tracking down the killers and bringing them to justice. I also appreciate that in recent days, the leaders of other countries in the region – including Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen – have taken steps to secure our diplomatic facilities, and called for calm. So have religious authorities around the globe.
But the attacks of the last two weeks are not simply an assault on America. They are also an assault on the very ideals upon which the United Nations was founded – the notion that people can resolve their differences peacefully; that diplomacy can take the place of war; and that in an interdependent world, all of us have a stake in working towards greater opportunity and security for our citizens.
Al-Bakoush told the Associated Press on Monday that Stevens was breathing, though his face was blackened and he seemed paralyzed.
A translation provided by The New York Times shows that one of the Libyans said: ‘I swear, he’s dead.’
Another man says: ‘Bring him out, man! Bring him out,’ another says.
There is hope as others are heard saying: ‘The man is alive. Move out of the way. Just bring him out, man.
‘Move, move, he is still alive!’
The crowd that had formed in the area then shouts: ‘Alive, Alive! God is great.’
Al-Bakoush said the crowd carried Stevens to a private car to drive him to a hospital, since there was no ambulance.
h/t The Daily Mail
