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Stevens warned State Dep’t on day he died about deterioriating security in Benghazi
Hot Air ^ | 5:21 pm on October 19, 2012 | Allahpundit

Posted on 10/19/2012 2:50:46 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach

Not just on the day he died, mind you. Multiple times before, too. I’m near the point now where I want to abandon the whole “pre-planned attack versus spontaneous protest” line of inquiry just because it’s steering us away from the more important topic of State’s negligence on his security. Besides, we already know, more or less, why Carney and Rice pushed the “spontaneous protest” theory. Ask Saxby Chambliss:

“Talking points distributed by the administration [in the immediate aftermath] are nearly identical to intelligence assessments within hours of the attack, except in one important way: the intelligence judgment that the attackers had ties to al-Qa’ida was excluded from the public points,” [Saxby] Chambliss said in a statement on Friday.

“The administration omitted the known links to al-Qa’ida at almost every opportunity … Whether this was an intentional effort by the administration to downplay the role of terrorist groups, especially al-Qa’ida, is one of the many issues the Senate Intelligence Committee must examine,” Chambliss said.

The guy who got Bin Laden and knocked out Qaddafi didn’t need a storyline in the middle of a campaign about AQ affiliates killing the American ambassador in the heart of the “new Libya.” That’s straightforward, and that’s almost certainly why the “spontaneous protest” theory got traction initially. (“Al Qaeda is on the run” used to be part of Obama’s standard stump speech, in fact. That line has been quietly dropped lately.) What’s not straightforward is why State refused to boost Stevens’s security despite countless warnings about the danger, some from the man himself. It’s inexplicable. It’s not a budget issue, either: Charlene Lamb testified to that before the House. She also testified that State had “the correct number of assets in Benghazi,” which literally no one but her seems to believe is true. So, once again: Why didn’t Stevens have more security? What were they waiting for before making a decision to either send him a more professional force or end the American presence in Benghazi? Was that politicized too, i.e. State didn’t want abandon the consulate over security fears because that would have made for some bad headlines about conditions inside the “new Libya”?

On Sept. 11 — the day Stevens and three other Americans were killed — the ambassador signed a three-page cable, labeled “sensitive,” in which he noted “growing problems with security” in Benghazi and “growing frustration” on the part of local residents with Libyan police and security forces. These forces the ambassador characterized as “too weak to keep the country secure.”…

Roughly a month earlier, Stevens had signed a two-page cable, also labeled “sensitive,” that he entitled “The Guns of August: Security in Eastern Libya.” Writing on Aug. 8, the ambassador noted that in just a few months’ time, “Benghazi has moved from trepidation to euphoria and back as a series of violent incidents has dominated the political landscape.” He added, “The individual incidents have been organized,” a function of “the security vacuum that a diverse group of independent actors are exploiting for their own purposes.”

“Islamist extremists are able to attack the Red Cross with relative impunity,” Stevens cabled. “What we have seen are not random crimes of opportunity, but rather targeted and discriminate attacks.” His final comment on the two-page document was: “Attackers are unlikely to be deterred until authorities are at least as capable.”…

“Islamic extremism appears to be on the rise in eastern Libya,” the ambassador wrote [on June 25], adding that “the Al-Qaeda flag has been spotted several times flying over government buildings and training facilities …”

Libyan guards at the consulate also thought security was too thin to meet the challenge from local mujahedeen, but were reportedly told by the Americans they spoke to that everything was cool and that no one would dare approach the consulate — even though, as noted above, even the Red Cross wasn’t spared from attack. (That may have been part of a jihadi strategy to push all western outfits out of the city.) I’d sure like to know which Americans said that; based on his increasingly dire reports to the State Department, it doesn’t sound like Stevens was one of them.

I’ll leave you with this. Funny how Susan Rice is capable of detecting a terrorist attack right away in some cases. Is she sure that Beirut bombing this morning wasn’t a reaction to the Mohammed movie?

****************************************************

Susan Rice

@AmbassadorRice

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist bombing in & extend our condolences to the victims' loved ones.

19 Oct 12



TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: benghazi; benghazicoverup; benghazisecurity; christopherstevens; libya; shadowwars; stevens; threatmatrix
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1 posted on 10/19/2012 2:50:54 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Marine_Uncle; TigersEye

fyi


2 posted on 10/19/2012 2:51:58 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

How could Obamagabe insist during the debate that he called it a terror attack (and asked Ms. Candy to show the transcript) then spend the next three weeks giving the US another story???


3 posted on 10/19/2012 2:56:42 PM PDT by SkyDancer (Live your life in such a way that the Westboro church shows up at your funeral)
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To: All
Related thread:

McClatchy: Obama admin changed story on Benghazi to blame video 3 days after attack

4 posted on 10/19/2012 2:56:59 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
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To: SkyDancer

See #4.


5 posted on 10/19/2012 2:58:32 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
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To: SkyDancer
How could Obamagabe insist during the debate that he called it a terror attack (and asked Ms. Candy to show the transcript) then spend the next three weeks giving the US another story?

Either he thinks Americans are not paying attention or he thinks the MSM still has the power and credibility they had before he was elected OR he thinks we're stupid.

6 posted on 10/19/2012 3:01:59 PM PDT by tsowellfan (KEEP WORKING like we are 10 POINTS DOWN!!!!)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Ya know what we hear zip about....chatter...

and every year there is an increase in security for 9-11 because alqueda loves anniversaries. Nothing on that either. Obama stays close to home on the anniversaries...Does a wreath thing at the Pentagon...and disappears.

7 posted on 10/19/2012 3:02:50 PM PDT by Sacajaweau (r)
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To: tsowellfan

He lives in a bubble. Even my Aussie friends who watched the debate with me asked how was that possible if the questions were not known before hand. I think Romney blew it when Obamagabe started interrupting Romney and walked towards Candy telling her to show the transcript. What was she doing with it? The whole debate was a joke.


8 posted on 10/19/2012 3:05:20 PM PDT by SkyDancer (Live your life in such a way that the Westboro church shows up at your funeral)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Hillary Denied
People Died
Obama Lied


9 posted on 10/19/2012 3:05:54 PM PDT by william clark (Ecclesiastes 10:2)
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To: All; Fred
related thread:

OBAMA ADMIN SENT UNARMED BRITISH FIRM TO PROTECT U.S. MISSION IN BENGHAZI "No Bullets" ROE

10 posted on 10/19/2012 3:06:58 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Hillary killed Ambassador Stevens.

She admitted it.

He was killed by being sent to a dangerous place without enough security, after requesting more security several times, and being ignored and/or rejected.

The person who sent him there was Hillary.
The person who received his requests for more security was Hillary.
The person who rejected his requests for more security was Hillary.
The person who ignored his requests for more security was Hillary.

That is HOW he was killed.

Hillary admitted to personal responsibility for ALL of this.

Hillary is LITERALLY standing there saying, “Yep, I did it. I’m Secretary of State, and these issues are my personal responsibility, and not the White House.”

But John McCain then immediately organized RINO senators to THANK Hillary for her honesty, BUT shift the blame to Obama!

And what happens? Everyone rushes to Obama!

You know, after all these years, it’s getting so that I can see Hillary’s point.

Americans really DON’T want good government.

In fact, they don’t even want justice.

Apparently (and I can see Hillary nodding here), what they WANT...

... is chains.


11 posted on 10/19/2012 3:10:37 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Things get curiouser and curiouser. Maybe we need to step back from this attack for a minute. Nobody has really explained the Democrat’s interest in seeing the regimes in Libya, Egypt and Syria fall. The Democrats usually could care less about foreign affairs unless they affect the Democrats in the US. And that usually means elections. Remember Carville’s big motto “It’s the economy, stupid!”. They really only care about domestic policy and money. We’ve been brushing over Obama’s and Hillary’s messing around in Libya, Egypt and Syria. They’re self-centered, self-serving money-grubbing Democrats, not some freedom fighters. What’s in it for them in these countries? Campaign donations? Somebody wrote that Gadaffi had money that is missing, but Egypt and Syria? Who has an answer? I don’t get it.


12 posted on 10/19/2012 3:12:48 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: All
Oh, got to include this:

U.S. intended to keep Benghazi mission open through 2012

*****************EXCERPT**********************

WASHINGTON | Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:21pm EDT

(Reuters) - Newly released government papers show U.S. officials intended to keep open a mission in Benghazi, Libya, for at least the rest of this year in hopes of having a "calming effect" on the region, before the building was overrun and burned by militants last month.

Locals in Benghazi wanted the Americans to stay permanently in the eastern Libyan city, the cradle of last year's revolution against Muammar Gaddafi, according to one memo written by the former top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman.

The documents were made public on Friday by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which has been investigating the September 11 assault on the U.S. mission in Benghazi that took the lives of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Other lawmakers raised more questions about the aftermath of the Benghazi events. The leading Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee questioned why U.S. spy agencies and government spokesmen initially played down suspected al Qaeda links to the September 11 attack on the mission there.

In public statements soon after the September 11 attack, administration officials said it could have been a spontaneous protest against a U.S.-made anti-Muslim video. Ultimately the administration declared the Benghazi incident to be a "deliberate and organized terrorist attack" carried out by "extremists" affiliated with or sympathetic to al Qaeda.

The Obama administration's statements have "been strange from Day One on this," the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Saxby Chambliss, said in a telephone interview with Reuters on Friday.

Chambliss said the intelligence committee would investigate further. Another panel, the Senate Homeland Security Committee, sent letters on Friday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, demanding information about Benghazi.

The Benghazi attack has turned into election-year fodder in the United States, with Republicans charging that the Democratic Obama administration was caught unprepared for the assault, and Democrats claiming that Republicans are trying to exploit tragic events for political gain.

"A SALUTARY, CALMING EFFECT"

Feltman's memo, written December 27 to Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy, urged the U.S. to continue its presence in Benghazi - which began during the anti-Gadaffi revolt - through the end of 2012. Feltman said this would emphasize U.S. interest in the eastern part of Libya, which he said sometimes feels ignored by Tripoli.

13 posted on 10/19/2012 3:16:05 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach ((The Global Warming Hoax was a Criminal Act....where is Al Gore?))
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

The ambassador was sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. The imposter-in-chief didn’t want to annoy his buddies so he refused the security.


14 posted on 10/19/2012 3:18:17 PM PDT by I want the USA back (Leftists and jihadis have the same goal: eliminate Christianity-based civilization.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
"Who the hell is Ben Gazzi?"


15 posted on 10/19/2012 3:18:32 PM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: blueunicorn6
The (formerly known as) U.S. is being removed from all Middle East countries, so that they may establish the SOCIALIST CALIPHATE of the EASTERN HEMISPHERE.

The North American and South American continents are being combined to form the new SOCIALIST CALIPHATE of the WESTERN HEMISPHERE.

Valerie Jarrett will be head of the Western Hemisphere.

Coming to you December 21, 2012. Agenda 21.

16 posted on 10/19/2012 3:20:55 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 ( If you think I'm crazy, just wait until you talk to my invisible friend.)
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To: blueunicorn6
Why? Because the Taliban is inside the building, that's why.


17 posted on 10/19/2012 3:21:26 PM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: UCANSEE2
Obama's teleprompter writer.


18 posted on 10/19/2012 3:22:58 PM PDT by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Talisker

“Responsibility” without consequences for the responsible party is meaningless. Reminds me of Janet Reno taking responsibility for Waco.


19 posted on 10/19/2012 3:31:37 PM PDT by luvbach1 (Stop the destruction in 2012 or continue the decline)
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To: luvbach1

Yes - it’s only republicans who actually face responsibility.
They resign - or they are fired.
Sometimes they even get arrested and face legal consequences.

Democrats? They say the words then proceed on as if nothing happened.


20 posted on 10/19/2012 3:33:51 PM PDT by Scotswife
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