The recent terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Orlando, and San Bernardino, all demonstrate a very distinct fact: that we are at war.
While it has been revealed that growing numbers of terrorist organizations threaten America’s security, our current administration spends more time developing politically correct public relations strategies (to avoid offending people), than it does on strategies to save American lives.
It is dangerous, the precedent set when government officials take actions to divert the public’s attention away from the realities of terror in an attempt to avoid responsibility for the rising power of these groups. There is no better example of this than the actions taken by the offices of the President and the State Department, when they orchestrated the now historic cover-up to thwart the discovery of truth.
Long before John Boehner ordered the inception of the Select Committee on Benghazi, a non-partisan organization, Special Operations Education Fund (OPSEC), was the stand-alone actor demanding further information on Benghazi. OPSEC, a grassroots advocacy organization focused on protecting U.S. Special Operations Forces from political exploitation, understood that a review of the events surrounding Benghazi was imperative in understanding the lengths that the State Department, and other institutions, had taken to conceal their missteps and lack of action during the attacks.
In spite of multiple claims to the contrary, the Select Committee on Benghazi was not provided with a complete set of facts, which stunted their ability to produce meaningful findings; findings that could have been released months earlier but were delayed and stonewalled by the Campaigner-In-Chief and the State Department (i.e. Hillary Clinton).
Without these critical pieces of information, the committee was unable to ascertain the individuals responsible for making decisions that lead to missteps – such as the grounding of jets that could have flown to the rescue of the compound in Benghazi during the 13-hour stretch of attacks, and beforehand, the refusal to acknowledge the complaints made by Ambassador Stevens and other personnel regarding the compound’s soft security.
Presidential authorities and the DoS have also refused to support certain requests from the Benghazi committee, leaving gaping holes in the report. It is a report from a committee tasked to find the truth, yet higher authority repeatedly rejected them.
Additionally, the committee tasked with investigating a matter of military and intelligence failures, contains only two members who possess military experience. This setback, in addition to officials’ refusal to provide information to congress and the American people is an effort to divert attention from mistakes that reveal this administration’s politically-charged and misguided approach to the war on terror. Mistakes, that if not corrected, will lead to the loss of more American lives.
Because presidential authorities and the DoS refused to support certain requests from the Benghazi committee, sizeable holes are left in the final report. It is a report from a committee tasked to find the truth, yet they have been repeatedly thwarted in their attempts.
History has taught us that a just leader steps forward and takes responsibility for a lapse in judgment. After Desert One, President Carter stood before the American people and took full responsibility for his order. History also teaches us that when leaders attempt to lie to cover-up their transgressions, they get into more trouble; Richard Nixon was forced to resign and Bill Clinton was impeached.
But it appears that today’s officials are too timid, too concerned with their political futures to take ownership of their actions. Alas, in a sad attempt to divert attention away from their ignorance, incompetence, and blatant disregard for matters of terror and national security, our leaders are undermining our system of governance and endangering the lives of the American people.
It matters, and Hillary, it does make a difference.