Benghazi Hearings

[bobabode]

At least I read them, Mike. Did you? Sargeant has some logical and valid points. The other cited by JB? Not so much...

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

There you go again post a blog as "fact." I guess I'll start posting editorial items from the National Review as "facts" to buttress my arguments.

If you really want to go on believing that the editing of the talking points represents something akin to Watergate or Iran/Contra, have at it. Meanwhile, your party just continues to look like a bunch of angry and opportunistic nincompoops completely undeserving of being handed the keys to governance.

[bobabode]

Here's a blog with cartoons...enjoy!



"Republicans could make an easy hit on the Obama administration by highlighting the State Department’s apparent bureaucratic blundering during and after the deadly terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last fall, but they refuse to settle for such a small political prize. Instead, they have got themselves all steamed up and snarling about heinous, impeachable offenses that are figments of their imaginations.
The latest round of House hearings about the Benghazi incident provides a perfect example of how American politics has been warped and gummed up by bombastic, partisan extremism. A cool, methodical inquiry could well uncover serious mistakes and provide remedies so that future incidents can be thwarted before more American diplomats are killed in the line of duty. But the current generation of Republican lawmakers does not know how to do cool. Hot rhetoric more suited to a Glenn Beck tirade seems to be the only way they know how to communicate.
A prime example is Rep. Steve King of Iowa. On Wednesday, he said he did not know “what took place, and who was where doing what and why,” yet he declared, “I believe that it’s a lot bigger than Watergate, and if you link Watergate and Iran-Contra together and multiply it times maybe 10 or so, you’re going to get in the zone where Benghazi is.”
Yup, King does not actually know any details, but he is sure Benghazi is vastly bigger than the two biggest political scandals of the last 40 years. Either King does not really have a clue what Watergate and Iran-Contra were all about or he simply thinks if he really, really believes, wishes upon a star, picks a crop of four-leaf clovers and asks Santa, he and his party will luck into a scandal big enough to topple a president they despise.
That seems to be what Mike Huckabee is praying for. On Monday, the former preacher and presidential candidate said on his radio show, "I believe that before it’s all over, this president will not fill out his full term. I remind you, as bad as Watergate was, because it broke the trust between the president and the people, no one died. This is more serious because four Americans did in fact die.”
Of course, none of these folks were calling for impeachment of President George W. Bush in 2001 when he and his top advisors ignored warnings of an impending attack and 3,000 people died on the morning of Sept. 11. That was a failure that went right to the top. Whatever lack of foresight there may have been at Benghazi, it pales in comparison to 9/11. With Benghazi, the fault appears to lie with mid-level bureaucrats (and perhaps with a myopic Congress that saw no need to provide adequate funding for State Department security).
It is a fever dream for Republicans to think they can bring down President Obama with this pipsqueak of a scandal. Possibly, though, they could do some harm to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the strongest Democratic prospect for the 2016 presidential election. A smartly targeted investigation might do that.
More likely, though, Republicans will continue to overreach and come off looking like hyper-partisan, blustering witch hunters."



Original source: Ridiculous Republican rhetoric undermines Benghazi probe on Los Angeles Times Exclusive

[wgrr]

While you are blaming Obama and Clinton for lax security you might want to remember who cut funding for foreign diplomatic security, by half a billion dollars, before the attack in Bengahzi. I will give you a hint. Everyone of the feckless Republicans in Congress including the hypocrite asshat Republicans trumping up imaginary charges in hearings that are completely uneccessary. Bengahzi is as bad as Watergate and Iran Contra are you kidding me?

As soon as I get hearings and answers to these embassy and consulate attacks I reserve the right to call BS on Bengahzi.

June 14, 2002, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide bomber kills 12 and injures 51.

February 20, 2003, international diplomatic compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Truck bomb kills 17.

February 28, 2003, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Gunmen on motorcycles killed two consulate guards.

July 30, 2004, U.S. embassy in Taskkent, Uzbekistan
Suicide bomber kills two.

December 6, 2004, U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Militants stormed and occupied perimeter wall. Five killed, 10 wounded.

March 2, 2006, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide car bomber killed four, including a U.S. diplomate directly targeted by the assailants.

September 12, 2006, U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syria
Gunmen attacked embassy with grenades, automatic weapons, and a car bomb (though second truck bomb failed to detonate). One killed and 13 wounded.

January 12, 2007, U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece
A rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the embassy building. No one was injured.

July 9, 2008, U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Armed men attacked consulate with pistols and shotguns. Three policemen killed.

March 18, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen
Mortar attack misses embassy, hits nearby girls' school instead.

September 17, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen
Militants dressed as policemen attacked the embassy with RPGs, rifles, grenades and car bombs. Six Yemeni soldiers and seven civilians were killed. Sixteen more were injured.

Looks like that convicted criminal Issa has a lot of work to do.

[JBS...]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Here's the latest skinny on the editing of the talking points. It ends up that there really was nothing nefarious going on. I suppose the GOP will be apologizing tomorrow for wasting everybody's time.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...oints-tell-us/

What a joke...

When putting it in context with the emails you get the full picture, and that's the deleting of the truth.

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by JBS...

What a joke...

When putting it in context with the emails you get the full picture, and that's the deleting of the truth.

So, you want every detail of intel trumpeted in the media as it is found out? To hell with trying to catch these guys. Give 'em all the big head start they need to up and vanish into the Libyan desert like a camel fart in a scirocco?
How's that for context?
Never mind your boy Romney making political hay that very night before the bodies were even cold.
Deleting the truth my ass. That's rich. Pffft...

[JBS...]

Originally Posted by bobabode

So, you want every detail of intel trumpeted in the media as it is found out? To hell with trying to catch these guys. Give 'em all the big head start they need to up and vanish into the Libyan desert like a camel fart in a scirocco?
How's that for context?
Never mind your boy Romney making political hay that very night before the bodies were even cold.
Deleting the truth my ass. That's rich. Pffft...

Oh, is that what Victoria Nuland meant when she wrote.

“could be abused by members [of Congress] to beat up the State Department for not paying attention to warnings, so why would we want to feed that either? Concerned …”

So they delete

“The Agency has produced numerous pieces on the threat of extremists linked to al-Qa’ida in Benghazi and eastern Libya. These noted that, since April, there have been at least five other attacks against foreign interests in Benghazi by unidentified assailants, including the June attack against the British Ambassador’s convoy. We cannot rule out the individuals has previously surveilled the U.S. facilities, also contributing to the efficacy of the attacks.”

[bobabode]

Scratch...belch...fart. Oops, excuse me. I'm still yawning about all of this. It still ain't Watergate or Iran/Coke and the Contras no matter how many times Fox and those idjits in congress say so.

How about your guys explain why they cut $500,000,000 from the budget that might have done something to prevent this terror attack? That is what the Prez called it in the Rose Garden on the day after. Couldn't be politics, now could it?

[JBS...]

Originally Posted by bobabode

Scratch...belch...fart. Oops, excuse me. I'm still yawning about all of this. It still ain't Watergate or Iran/Coke and the Contras no matter how many times Fox and those idjits in congress say so.

How about your guys explain why they cut $500,000,000 from the budget that might have done something to prevent this terror attack? That is what the Prez called it in the Rose Garden on the day after. Couldn't be politics, now could it?

Yawn, resorting to talking points now are we. LOL

[bobabode]

Originally Posted by JBS...

Yawn, resorting to talking points now are we. LOL

Only when they're reality based. I'll be here all week, try the veal.