2012 Benghazi attack

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==Obama Administration response==
 
==Obama Administration response==
The [[Barack Obama|Obama]] administration's response was poorly coordinated. The President described the attack in terms of a [[terrorism|terror]] attack the day after, but the administration was not consistent later, with some officials saying that the attacks were due to the ''Innocence of Muslims'' films.<ref>http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/17/mitt-romney/romney-says-obama-waited-14-days-call-libya-attack/</ref> They were also not clear whether the attack was premeditated or whether members of [[al-Qaeda]] were involved, and in what capacity they were involved.
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The [[Barack Obama|Obama]] administration's response was poorly coordinated. The President described the attack in terms of a [[terrorism|terror]] attack the day after, but the administration was not consistent later, with some officials saying that the attacks were due to the [[Innocence of Muslims]] films.<ref>http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/17/mitt-romney/romney-says-obama-waited-14-days-call-libya-attack/</ref> They were also not clear whether the attack was premeditated or whether members of [[al-Qaeda]] were involved, and in what capacity they were involved.
  
 
==Republican criticism==
 
==Republican criticism==

Revision as of 02:04, 20 September 2013

Some dare call it

Conspiracy

link=:category:
Secrets revealed!
The revealers

On September 11, 2012, the United States consulate and a nearby CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya was attacked by Islamic extremists. Four Americans were killed, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens.

Contents

Obama Administration response

The Obama administration's response was poorly coordinated. The President described the attack in terms of a terror attack the day after, but the administration was not consistent later, with some officials saying that the attacks were due to the Innocence of Muslims films.[1] They were also not clear whether the attack was premeditated or whether members of al-Qaeda were involved, and in what capacity they were involved.

Republican criticism

Naturally, the lackluster handling of the situation was a ripe target for criticism from the Republican Party, with many accusing the President of drawing an unwarranted connection to the aforementioned film. At the time, the film had just sparked protests in other areas, and a connection seemed reasonable; the GOP alleged that the Obama administration emphasized this connection to downplay the continuing threat of terrorist activity in the Arab world.[2]

Had they stopped at that reasonable claim, the Republicans might have won back some respect from disgruntled independents. Of course, "knowing when to quit" is not an attribute selected for in GOP evolution, and the party went much further than was reasonable, claiming that the so-called "cover-up" was worse than Watergate, that Obama was directly responsible for the Americans' deaths, that impeachment was inevitable, etc.

Conspiracy theories and general nuttiness

As you might suspect, this incident was rife with conspiracy theories. Memes spread quickly on the internet, namely that the State Department for some reason sat back and watched the attack occur, while purposely doing nothing about it.[3][4] Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) went so far as to say that there were teams ready to stage a rescue, but they were told to stand down. This is not true, because those teams were called after the attack occurred, and thus could do nothing to help.[5]

Another meme spread around was an image of Ambassador Stevens (the first victim of the attack) with descriptions usually along the lines of "These are pictures you will not see in the Obama media. Our US Ambassador to Libya being dragged through the streets before being murdered."[6] The image is real, but it in fact depicts a group of Libyan citizens pulling him from the wreckage and bringing him to the hospital, and not an angry mob of people dragging him through the streets.[7][8]

Manufactroversy development hell

The Benghazi uproar was effectively negated due to two more serious scandals: the Department of Justice's "massive and unprecedented" seizure of Associated Press phone records (after the organization received details of a terrorist attack halted by the CIA coinciding with Osama bin Laden's death),[9] and Edward Snowden's leak of continuing NSA mass surveillance under the PATRIOT Act.[10]

Footnotes

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