What came out of the Benghazi hearings today, May 8th, 2013

Bookworm Room found this on Facebook "One of my Facebook friends who is, like me, a refugee from the Left, put together a perfect summary of what came out of today’s testimony.  If you’re on Facebook, please share this article or just block and copy this summary and send it around:"....

....8. Greg Hicks – the top diplomat in Libya – is shocked and embarrassed by Susan Rice’s appearances. When he raises the issue with his superiors at State they turn hostile.
9. When a congressional investigation team comes to Libya, Greg Hicks – still the top diplomat in Libya – is ordered by State Department lawyers for the first time in his 22 year long career not to talk to a Congressional committee. A State Department lawyer is sent along with the committee to make sure Hicks is kept away.
10. When he does talk to the committee, a furious Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, calls Hicks and demands an explanation and a report.
11. Gregory Hicks – a diplomat with a stellar record – has been harassed by the State Department and has not had an appointment since the Benghazi affair.

Diplomat Says Questions Over Benghazi Led to Demotion  "Mr. Hicks offered an unbecoming view of political supervision and intimidation inside the Obama administration. When Representative Jason Chaffetz, Republican of Utah, visited Libya after the attack, Mr. Hicks said his bosses told him not to talk to the congressman. When he did anyway, and a State Department lawyer was excluded from one meeting because he lacked the necessary security clearance, Mr. Hicks said he received an angry phone call from Mrs. Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills."
Hicks: ‘I’ve been demoted’ for challenging Susan Rice’s claims

Powerline; The Benghazi Hearing: Did It Matter?  "... For example, we now know that there were multiple instances when special ops would-be rescuers were told to stand down, leading Lt. Col. Gibson to tell Greg Hicks, “This is the first time in my career that a diplomat has more balls than somebody in the military.” Obvious questions remain to be answered: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton hide behind the military, saying or implying that doing nothing to try to save the besieged Americans in Benghazi was a military decision. But we don’t know that: who actually gave the order to give up on the Americans who eventually died? So far, there is no evidence on the record.

Whistleblower: “YouTube video was a non-event in Libya.” 

"Hicks gave a moving, harrowing account of the night of the attack, sometimes visibly overcome by emotion as he spoke.  Nothing in his account gave even the smallest hint of any “spontaneous video protest.”  He was very clear about discussing events with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that very night, at around 2 AM… and yet she, and the rest of the Administration, continued peddling a blatantly false narrative about a video protest for days afterward."

Flashback: Obama One Week After Benghazi – “Extremely Offensive Video Directed At Mohammed And Islam” Responsible For Attack…

Weasel Zippers

As witnesses today make clear that there was real-time information that the Benghazi attack was terrorism, and as reports circulate that initial talking points were changed to suggest it was an anti-Islamic video that was responsible, it’s important to recall that President Obama was still parroting the video line one week after the attack.

 

 Flashback: Jay Carney On Benghazi, “Let’s Be Clear. These Protests Were In Reaction To A Video”…

 

Remember Baghdad Bob?

Moonbat Vet Offers Her Spot In Arlington National Cemetery To Dead Boston Jihadist Tamerlan Tsarnaev…

Weasel Zippers   

 

Now why would anyone have a problem with a terrorist being buried among America’s heroes? 

“I feel sympathy for them in that as long as this issue is open, they can’t have closure… Nobody deserves to rot above ground.”

More commentary on Benghazi

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News, a persistent voice of media skepticism on Benghazi
"From the start, the Obama administration’s account of what happened in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 last year didn’t quite square for Sharyl Attkisson.
So the veteran CBS News reporter dug in, and kept digging."

The Profound Moral Failure of Benghazi  "If the most current reports can be believed, after depriving our men and women on the ground of the security they begged for, our leaders didn’t just stand by and watch as a tiny band of courageous but out-gunned Americans gave their last full measure of devotion to try to save an ambassador, save their fellow diplomats, and save themselves against an overwhelming terrorist force; those same leaders told potential rescuers to “stand down.” This isn’t just a tactical failure, or a failure of process. It’s a failure of character, and if there is any honor left in Washington, those responsible should resign."

Blackfive; What Needs to Be Answered about Benghazi  "NPR goes on to post speculation that this is really about Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions and the Republicans attempts to thwart them."

The Blackfive article cites this column from PJ Media:
5 Benghazi Mysteries that Must Be Solved  "As the Benghazi story has unfolded, many mysteries have persisted. Why wasn’t the Benghazi mission’s security enhanced? Where was President Obama? What role, if any, did Obama campaign officials play in crafting the government’s communications after the attack? Perhaps Wednesday’s witnesses can help shed some light on them."
...."The question is, how far up in the U.S. chain of command was that decision made, and why was it made? Additionally, how did U.S. forces react to that order? Was anyone relieved of command for considering or attempting to disobey that order, as has been rumored for months?"

How Obama Betrayed America; A policy of appeasement and intervention abets our enemies.

David Horowitz  “If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see farther into the future.” — Madeleine Albright, secretary of state (1997–2001), Clinton administration

"It is a judgment on Barack Obama’s timorous, apologetic, and irresponsible conduct of foreign affairs that Madeleine Albright’s words, spoken little more than 15 years ago, now sound as antique as a pronouncement by Harry Truman at the onset of the Cold War, the great challenge America confronted bravely and without equivocation generations ago. Obama has set in motion policies meant to make America far from indispensable — a diminished nation that “leads from behind,” if at all; a nation with a downsized military, chronically uncertain about its meaning and its mission as it skulks in the wings of the world stage."

Putin keeps John Kerry waiting for THREE HOURS during his visit to Russia for meetings over Syria as relationship between the U.S. and Russia remains frosty  "Differences over Syria have deepened strains in ties between the United States and Russia that are also hampered by what Washington views as a crackdown on Russian civil society since Putin began a third term as president a year ago after the biggest protests since he first rose to power in 2000."

 

The most America-bashing president ever

David Limbaugh  "Can he ever set aside his agenda for a brief moment? Can he ever pass up an opportunity to politicize?
"I don’t believe I’m exaggerating when I say we’ve never seen anything like this before – not to this extent, anyway." Next we hear from David's brother:

Rush: Obama sending secret signals in speeches  "When has a president of the United States ever attacked America’s sovereignty? I think this is a first. I am not aware of any president ever attacking America’s sovereignty. And in coded language, which is what this was, he’s winking and nodding and dog whistling to the radicalized – not all of them – the radicalized Hispanics. (imitating Obama) “I get it, I get it, we should never have taken Mexico. It’s really yours. I get it, I get it. We’ve been mean. We’ve been imposing our way too long.” Time for a new mind-set."
Even if this president never makes another regulation, the damage done by his mouth may never be undone. Those who elected this man are looking more like nincompoops as time goes by. TD

Obama Blames U.S., Repeats 90% Gun Lie In Mexico  "
Once again blaming his own country for Mexico's gun violence without mentioning Fast and Furious, the gun runner in chief pledges to find and jail gun smugglers. Perhaps he should start with his own administration."

Obama Bashes America On Foreign Soil: Blames America, NOT Him Or Eric Holder, For Gun Violence In Mexico

Obama, in Mexico, Credits Latinos for Winning Presidency " then he pledged immigration reform in the United States to legalize those who are here illegally."

Statecraft as Malpractice; The president’s “red line” is meaningless, and the world will take note.

I heard a statement somewhere about a man whose mouth wrote checks his brain couldn't cash. Don't know why I thought about that. Just did.

Rich Lowry  "This possibility is noted by friend and foe alike. Surely the Iranians will be even more likely to discount the president’s Churchillian statements of resolve in stopping their nuclear program. Surely the Israelis, who just bombed Iranian missiles in Syria making their way into Lebanon, will be even more likely to believe in no red line except their own. Our other allies around the world, who depend on security guarantees that, at the end of the day, are based only on our word, will wonder, too."

The Benghazi Talking Points; And how they were changed to obscure the truth

Stephen F.Hayes  "But according to two officials with knowledge of the process, Mike Morrell, deputy director of the CIA, made broad changes to the draft afterwards. Morrell cut all or parts of four paragraphs of the six-paragraph talking points—148 of its 248 words (see Version 2 above). Gone were the reference to “Islamic extremists,” the reminders of agency warnings about al Qaeda in Libya, the reference to “jihadists” in Cairo, the mention of possible surveillance of the facility in Benghazi, and the report of five previous attacks on foreign interests.
"What remained—and would be included in the final version of the talking points—was mostly boilerplate about ongoing investigations and working with the Libyan government, together with bland language suggesting that the “violent demonstrations”—no longer “attacks”—were spontaneous responses to protests in Egypt and may have included generic “extremists” (see Version 3 above)."

 Stephen F. Hayes is a senior writer at The Weekly Standard.

The man behind the Benghazi cover-up?  "CIA career officials clearly and repeatedly identified Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda-linked Islamic terrorists as the culprits behind the murder of four Americans.

"Of course, this would cause embarrassment for the Obama team, especially in the few weeks before the election. They had been boasting for years that Al Qaeda had been decimated, the "tide of war" was receding; they had been on a mission to whitewash the prospect of Islamic terrorism as a threat to America (see Lauri Regan's superb column."

 

Two by Caroline Glick: Time to confront Obama/ Dershowitz and tragedy

Caroline Glick  "Due to American pressure on Israel not to act, and due to the White House's rejection of clearcut reports about Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, Iran has crossed the threshold. Iran will be a nuclear power unless its uranium enrichment installations and other nuclear sites are destroyed or crippled. Now.

 

"True, the Americans set a different red line for Iran than Israel. They say they will not allow Iran to assemble a nuclear bomb. But to believe that the US has the capacity and the will to prevent Iran from climbing the top rung on the nuclear ladder is to believe in the tooth fairy - (see, for instance, North Korea)."

Also by Ms. Glick: Dershowitz and tragedy  "Over the past generation, we have been inundated by disinformation from an unlimited number of seemingly credible organizations whose aim is to discredit any development related to Israel that does not advance the positions of the Left. And due to the ubiquity of this disinformation, among wider and wider circles today the belief has taken hold that there is something fundamentally illegitimate about non-leftist Israelis and non-leftist supporters of Israel."

Rush Limbaugh: Don’t blame me for WABC’s declining ad sales (UPDATED)

Read more: NYDailyNews.com  "The roots of this simmering dispute go back to February, 2012, when Limbaugh called law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” after she pressed D.C. lawmakers to mandate insurance coverage of birth control.

"Media Matters and other progressive groups called for advertisers to drop Limbaugh’s show — and several hundred, including Sears, Geico, John Deere, Netflix, Capitol One and the New York Lottery, did, the group said.
"Limbaugh has said the departees were replaced, and a source close to the show said revenue was “very minimally impacted in the short term.”
....
"Talk radio has suffered from a serious ad slump since the recession began in 2008. But WABC has opened a substantial lead in recent years over its primary news/talk rival in New York, WOR. In the latest Arbitron ratings, WABC averaged 2.8% of the audience to 1.2% for WOR.
....
"If Limbaugh leaves Cumulus, which now carries him on 40 stations in 36 markets, the source at his show confirms he would be looking for other stations in those markets."

UPDATE:Talk radio turmoil  "While liberal media enjoy the spectacle of intramural conflict in the talk radio biz, this appears to be nothing more than a hardball negotiation tactic, with both sides keeping their options open. Fans of Rush and of talk radio need not worry."

The feckless elimination of America's stabilizing influence in the world.

Someone said "so we can't be the world's cop, but what if there is a world criminal?"

By Elliott Abrams;  Of Presidents and Bluffing  "Today's New York Times carries a story about the President's "red line" on the Syrian use of chemical weapons: how that line appeared and how it disappeared.

"There are many aspects to this story, but most appear in these brief paragraphs:

Mr. Obama’s advisers also raised legal issues. “How can we attack another country unless it’s in self-defense and with no Security Council resolution?” another official said, referring to United Nations authorization. “If he drops sarin on his own people, what’s that got to do with us?”

But they concluded that drawing a firm line might deter Mr. Assad. In addition to secret messages relayed through Russia, Iran and other governments, they decided that the president would publicly address the matter.

"First, the humanitarian issue: "If he drops sarin on his own people, what's that got to do with us?” said one adviser about the possibility of such an atrocity. How soon they forget. According to the Times that line was uttered last August, not quite four months after Mr. Obama established his "Atrocities Prevention Board." In a speech on April 23, 2012 he said this at the Holocaust Museum:

And finally, "never again" is a challenge to nations.  It’s a bitter truth -- too often, the world has failed to prevent the killing of innocents on a massive scale.  And we are haunted by the atrocities that we did not stop and the lives we did not save.  Read more...

 

By William Kristol;   Pathetic   "The Obama administration’s Syria policy is bad enough, and this State Department press release from this morning is just pathetic:"....

"If the government of the United States is unwilling to do anything but present to the world the sorry spectacle of justice without a sword or justice unwilling to use the sword, surely it would be better to say nothing. If the Obama administration is, as Churchill put it in November 1936, "decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent," then it should have the decency to keep silent rather than engage in such pitiable and contemptible posturing."

Also by Mr. Kristol; Losing the Game   "We’re unfortunately approaching a state where “our friendship is not valued, and our enmity is not feared.” That would be disastrous for us, and for the world. An American president has no more important job than to check, and then reverse, the momentum toward such an outcome." 
That will not be said about Israel. See this next post:

Report: Israel Strikes Syria; 'At Least Some...Take Red Lines Seriously'
"Israeli warplanes struck areas in and around the Syrian capital Sunday, setting off a series of explosions as they targeted a shipment of highly accurate, Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be on their way to Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, officials and activists said."..
" "If fired from southern Lebanon they can reach Tel Aviv and even (the southern city of) Beersheba." He said the rockets are much five times more accurate than the scud missiles that Hezbollah has fired in the past. "It is a game changer because they are a threat to Israel's infrastructure and military installations," he said."
US Peace activists are painting posters as we speak.

BENGHAZI: Names of ‘whistle-blower’ witnesses revealed

Fox News  via Drudge: "Appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will be three career State Department officials: Gregory N. Hicks, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time of the Benghazi terrorist attacks; Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy coordinator for Operations in the agency’s Counterterrorism Bureau; and Eric Nordstrom, a diplomatic security officer who was the regional security officer in Libya, the top security officer in the country in the months leading up to the attacks."
....
" "For me the Taliban is on the inside of the [State Department] building," Nordstrom testified, angry over inadequate staffing at a time when the threat environment in Benghazi was deteriorating,"...