Government Lies to the Public Won’t Protect Mistakes

Does our government believe the people are stupid?

U.N. Ambassador, Susan Rice, went to every Sunday morning TV talk show on September 16 to tell viewers and the hosts that the attack on the Benghazi, Libya consulate was not  a premeditated act of terrorists but was simply an over zealous group of protesters. I did not believe her contentions.

Machine guns and RPGs were focused directly at that building in Benghazi and the terrorists followed the staff to a secondary facility over a mile away and continued firing their weapons. It just did not sound like an unplanned demonstration.

Finally today CNN reports, “The U.S. intelligence community has revised its assessment of the deadly attack on the American consulate in Libya, saying it now believes it was a deliberate terrorist assault.”

“At every turn Ambassador Rice provided — and said she was providing — the best information and the best assessment that the administration had at the time, based on what was provided to Ambassador Rice and other senior U.S. officials by the U.S. intelligence community.”

I cannot fathom the purpose of Rice’s appearance on all those TV programs. Had she said “we do not know enough to conclude that the attack was conducted be a terrorist group and more information needs to be obtained.” That would have been sufficient. Instead her insistence that the attack was not conducted by a terrorist group makes her look like someone who was trying to mislead the public. The administration’s sloppy handling of this event will bring on a congressional investigation.

My guess is that the administration is trying to cover up an error in judgment somewhere in the government. Someone is being protected!

History Repeats Itself in the Middle East

A senseless movie clip is obviously being used as a motivator to commit crimes against Americans in Muslim countries and nations with high Muslim populations.  It has been reported that some of the rioters have been using relatively sophisticated weapons such as rocket propelled grenade launchers (not exactly the kinds of weapons in the hands of most rioters).  Relying on television reporting, I can only conclude that these riots are not spontaneous but are the work of Al-Qaeda and other associated groups.

Some people are comparing the attack on the embassy in Libya to the hostages taken by Iran in 1979. They are incorrect.  Republicans who are condemning Obama should recall the death of American marines in Lebanon during the Reagan presidency.  241 American servicemen were killed in that October 1983 massacre.  Major motivation for that bombing was the ill will generated by the Multinational Force (MNF) among Lebanese Muslims, especially Shiʿa living in the slums of West Beirut and around the airport where the Marines were headquartered.  That MNF group was there to bring peace to that war torn nation.  President Reagan ordered the marines to begin withdrawing from Lebanon immediately after the bombing. Their withdrawal was completed on February 26, four months later.

There was no serious retaliation for the Beirut bombing from the Americans.  We never seem to learn!