The Benghazi Committee report released Tuesday confirms, with new information, what was already known but swept under the rug by most of the news media. Hillary Clinton must bear responsibility for the deaths of four Americans in Libya.
Clinton failed to provide for the safety of the diplomatic facility in Benghazi, leaving it vulnerable to terrorists. Her primary concern before and after the attack was to help reelect Barack Obama and make herself a viable candidate in 2016, not saving American lives.
As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was responsible for protecting her employees. The record shows that the Benghazi location was known to have inadequate security and faced increasing danger from terrorists. It had already been subjected to two bombing attacks. There were multiple requests for personnel, equipment, and security infrastructure to prepare for the next attack.
Instead of improving security or closing the facility, the Clinton’s State Department allowed the US military presence in Libya to be reduced and counted on unreliable Libyan militia for protection. This was done despite repeated danger warnings from on-site personnel.
Clinton has tried to escape the blame for four deaths by passing on the blame to lower level employees, saying that such matters were not worthy of her attention. Even if the lives of Americans could somehow not be worthy, the decisions were made by her employees, working under her direction, according to her orders, following her priorities.
The buck stopped on her desk – and she failed, leading to four dead Americans.
The report also shows that, even as Libya was turning into a failed state following the American-sponsored overthrow of its government, Clinton was desperately trying to put the best face on events and make it look like an Obama-Clinton triumph – something Obama could boast about as he campaigned.
Clinton was even planning to visit Libya for a victory lap. Americans were not to be allowed to know that the Obama-Clinton policy had created a safe haven for anti-American Islamic terrorists. With Obama trumpeting his claim that terrorists had been defeated, the truth might have led to his defeat and the end of Clinton’s chances of becoming his successor as president.
After the attack, Clinton knew that it was planned and carried out by Islamic terrorists. She even revealed this fact to her own daughter. Yet she fell in line with the official Obama administration claim that it was simply a protest demonstration that got out of hand. She made no public mention of the role of radical Islamic terrorists. One can only conclude that Clinton deliberately took part in the Obama administration deception campaign.
Voters must now ask themselves whether someone who failed to carry out her official duties, allowed poorly-protected Americans to be killed by terrorists, and then tried to cover up her failure can be trusted with the office of President.
