THE BENGHAZI STORY AMERICANS NEED TO HEAR

CNN did the American people a service this past week when it reported that CIA operatives are being coerced into supporting a government coverup of key facts related to the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Now the cable news network and its fellow media outlets can do an even greater service by shining daylight on  a more fundamental matter, that being Barack Obama's conduct as commander-in chief before, during and after the attacks.

Largely ignored up to now, the President's own conduct in the midst of the crisis is as telling as the White House's reporting of events in the days that followed, and in the end, even more relevant.  What we've learned already from Congressional testimony and investigative reporting is cause enough for concern and reason to question nothing less than Barack Obama's fitness to command.

Despite the White House's initial claims that they didn't have enough information or time to react, we now know from US State Department records that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had been warned by the department's senior security staff almost a month before the attacks, that ten terrorist militia groups were operating in Benghazi, and that the consulate could not be defended.  It's implausible to think that the secretary of state didn't in turn advise the national security advisor and the president. 

We also know from e-mails turned over to the House Oversight Committee last October that embassy staff in Libya sent multiple updates of events on the ground in Benghazi directly to both the Director of National Intelligence and the White House Situation Room starting just 20 minutes into the first attack. 

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Charlene Lamb has since testified that White House and Pentagon staff actually watched the attacks live as they were taking place in Benghazi via a drone camera video being broadcast by satellite.  This occurred while security personnel at the consulate were repeatedly calling for help.

As part of a public relations blitz to show Obama as engaged and concerned, the White House has released records indicating that the president, Vice President Biden and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were quickly informed and met within an hour of the first attack.  Clearly the president knew early what was happening and had ample opportunity to take action. 

In gripping testimony on May 8th of this year, Gregory Hicks, Ambassador Stevens' Deputy Head of Mission in Libya, told Congress that:

-A rescue team was in fact boarding a plane to fly to Benghazi from Tripoli, but was repeatedly ordered to stand down by senior commanders.

-Lives could have been saved if US military aircraft had been dispatched from the US Navy's Souda Bay Base in Greece, only an hour's flight from Libya.

In a separate investigation, Forbes Magazine confirmed that US fighter jets and AC-130 gunships stationed at air bases in Sigonella and Aviano, Italy could have been scrambled and would have arrived in Benghazi within two to three hours of the first attack.

And Fox News later revealed that a 40 man, C-110 Special Forces unit was on maneuvers in Croatia and could have arrived in Benghazi within 4 hours of the initial attack on the consulate.

Most recently on June 26th, General Carter Ham, the former head of US Special Operations Command for Africa (SOCAFRICA) at the time of the attacks, told Congress that Pentagon officials knew almost immediately that the consulate was being attacked by terrorist militias and not by rioting protestors, as first reported by the White House. 

Bit by bit, as the facts have come to light, the administration's credibility has crumbled, and the American public has come to realize the real significance of the debacle in Benghazi.  The administration's failure to provide adequate protection for the consulate in the face of repeated warnings in the months and weeks before the attacks is shocking.  But Obama's failure to respond during the course of a seven to nine hour attack on American civilians at a key foreign outpost is shameful, to say the least.

The United States Constitution prescribes that a president's first duty is to defend America.  An American diplomatic mission is sovereign US territory.  The attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi and the assassination of the president's personal representative were acts of war.  This would have meant something to men like Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush. They would have ordered their military commanders to move mountains to rescue Americans put in harm's way, and they wouldn't have given a second thought to the political fallout of a failed attempt.

But Barack Obama is no such man.  For Obama the first order of business was his own political survival.  He couldn't let the facts undermine his claims that Al Qaeda was on the run.  It might have cost him the election.

In his first public appearance the day after the attacks, Obama was vague about their nature, even though he knew exactly what had occurred.  Immediately afterward he left Washington for a fundraiser in Las Vegas.  His spokespeople then purposely misled voters for several days by portraying the attacks on the consulate as a spontaneous protest that got out of hand, all the time knowing it was a planned military attack.  During an appearance on Jon Stewart's Daily Show, Obama later coldly characterized the outcome of the Benghazi attacks by saying, "If four Americans get killed, it's not optimal."

Almost a year later, we still don't know precisely what the president did or whether he was even in the Situation Room during the attacks.  To date, not a single terrorist has been apprehended.  Despite a large American Air Force presence that helped topple Muamar Gaddafi and is still in the region, there hasn't been a retaliatory strike on the militia camps from which the consulate attack was launched. A sealed arrest warrant for undisclosed individuals is not an effective subsitute for shock and awe. 

This is the state of affairs that Barack Obama has led us to.  A lieutenant in the United States Army who acted with such disregard would have been charged with dereliction of duty.  A president with a sense of honor would have resigned from office.  Instead, Obama responded that the murder of four Americans and the destruction of a US consulate were just "bumps in the road".

Whether it was gross negligence or misguided foreign policy, Barack Obama has signaled America's enemies that they can attack us with impunity.  They can kill American civilians and not fear the consequences - a point not lost on the Taliban and Iran's ayatollahs.  Contrary to Hillary Clinton's assertions, what the administration did or didn't do matters.  It matters a lot, because Obama is still responsible for keeping America safe for the next 3-1/2 years.  A lot of Americans don't find that reassuring. 

Congress needs to do its job and complete a thorough, objective investigation of this matter.  Republicans should not be deterred by accusations of partisanship.  Democrats should be reminded that their duty is not to Barack Obama, but rather to the United States Constitution and the American people.

This story isn't over yet.