Posted on 05/10/2013 5:03:19 PM PDT by raptor22
Libya: At least a dozen rewrites of the Benghazi talking points were made, with all references to al-Qaida and prior attacks removed at the direction of the secretary of state's office.
The astonishing thing about the administration's Benghazi cover-up is that it actually thought it could get away with it. But each lie has been successfully peeled away, from the protest that never happened, to the irrelevant filmmaker who was blamed, to the intelligence community whose talking points were used as a cover for incompetence and malfeasance.
Now White House and State Department emails obtained by ABC News, some first published by the Weekly Standard, show that the intelligence community, led by the CIA, told the truth about terrorist involvement in the Benghazi attacks and prior warnings in its original talking points draft. It was the White House and the State Department that lied and had them altered.
"Those talking points originated from the intelligence community. They reflect the IC's best assessments of what they thought had happened," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters last Nov. 28. "The White House and the State Department have made clear that the single adjustment that was made to those talking points by either of those two institutions were changing the word 'consulate' to 'diplomatic facility' because 'consulate' was inaccurate."
What the talking points reflected, after a dozen heavy edits dictated by the State Department, was a sanitized version designed to protect President Obama's re-election chances and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's prospective candidacy in 2016. They were deliberately altered to eliminate references to terrorism so the whole thing could be blamed on an inflammatory video and no one in the administration could be held responsible.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Yep. As did 0, Panetta and Biden. And they;re still looking for the killers, ala OJ.
This needs to be kept front-of-mind when hearing the DemocRat's talking points about anything regarding Benghazi:
Issues:
1) the State Department had the necessary budget
2) wanted Benghazi to become a permanent consulate
3) it was 1 of only 15 sites out of 300 globally to be rated at the 2 highest levels
4) and MOST DAMNING - ignored multiple formal requests to bring it up to legal standards after multiple, serious security incidents
There are only 15 facilities around the world rated "high" or "critical" - out of almost 300. The Benghazi site was rated "critical" (the highest threat) and needed H.R. Clinton's authorization to operate it while at the officially documented, legally deficient state of security, before the attack.
H.R. Clinton told Stevens, presumably ordered by Obama, that this admin's goal was to make Benghazi a permanent consulate. But, career state department employees were threatened, and demoted, for using official channels to make basic requests for security before the mid-term election.
Benghazi was pushed off until after the elections. Obama won. Mission accomplished. That’s the difference that it makes.
“The astonishing thing about the administration’s Benghazi cover-up is that it actually thought it could get away with it.”
They did get away with it.
Hillary was the first to use the "Youtube video" excuse.
10:38-39 p.m., 9/11/12. @StateDept tweets: " #SecClinton: I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi today. http://state.gov #Libya" and "#SecClinton: We have confirmed one @StateDept officer was killed in #Libya. We are heartbroken by this terrible loss." Hillary Clinton issues a statement, saying, "I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi today. As we work to secure our personnel and facilities, we have confirmed that one of our State Department officers was killed. We are heartbroken by this terrible loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and those who have suffered in this attack." She adds: "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind."
That was when Hillary herself took over the Cairo embassy Twitter account and personally posted. (anyone who thinks she wasn't directing the earlier Tweets is smoking something) That was at 10:38 PM Eastern Time. That would have been 4:38 AM Sept. 13th in Benghazi. About the time Woods and Doherty were making their last stand.
Worth a mention they made Petraeus resign right after the election because they knew they had changed his talking points.
IBD EDITORIAL PING
"CIA director David Petraeus was surprised when he read the freshly rewritten talking points an aide had emailed him in the early afternoon of Saturday, September 15. One day earlier, analysts with the CIA’s Office of Terrorism Analysis had drafted a set of unclassified talking points policymakers could use to discuss the attacks in Benghazi, Libya. But this new version—produced with input from senior Obama administration policymakers—was a shadow of the original."
Carney told reporters last Nov. 28. "The White House and the State Department have made clear that the single adjustment that was made to those talking points by either of those two institutions were changing the word 'consulate' to 'diplomatic facility' because 'consulate' was inaccurate."
This is what Carney slithered around the most today...at least a dozen times I would say.
After listening to him I still don't know what he was trying to say.
It's quite obvious now both State and the WH changed much more than "consulate"....NOT the CIA.
And the government had the video maker arrested and jailed. He is still in jail today and won’t get out until June. Where are the Reps in demanding that he be released immediately?
And...
In blaming it on an inflammatory video the Obama campaign could use the same tact to deflect criticism they might label “inflammatory”. They tried to spin this impossibly to their advantage.
The bold face lie to the families of those dead in Benghazi was just the cost of doing business.
And by law, the Secretary of State must sign a wavier permitting State personnel to occupy a facility that does not meet security standards set by Congress.
1)Fear of being blamed for the lack of security?
2)Excuse for a terrible Libya policy (video could be blamed for demonstrations in several countries, taking the spotlight off Libya)?
3)Obama told her to come up with something other than terrorism?
4) All of the above?
5) Something else?
Then there was the stomach-churning pantomime of Obama giving her a supportive pat on the back as if they were actually saddened by the deaths.
We’ve moved beyond No Shame into something approaching pure evil.
Obama went to the UN to blame the video and then basically blame it on the fact that he have the First Amendment. He darn near apologized for that. It was a disgusting spectacle.
Hillary Clinton is a liar, just like her husband.
Today, Jay Carney threw her under the bus, claiming all false changes to the talking points were conducted by THE STATE DEPARTMENT.
The House Oversight Committee needs to drag Hilderbeast into a hearing (in a big poacher’s net if necessary), and make her choose. Herself or Barry Soetero.
Well, the video guy did break the terms of his probation. Thing is, nobody would have noticed if the regime hadn’t blamed his video for Benghazi.
IBD EDITORIAL PING
For once the crime is worse than the coverup. When Obama got drunk and went to bed , what possible assurance could he have had that many of the other Americans that were there (aren’t there supposed to be 100 or more, some still in the hospital) were not going to be massacred as well?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.