From Bad to Worse

Libya is a disaster.  That's a given.  It's tragic for the American patriots who died.  It's tragic for their families.  As the story unfolds, it just keeps getting worse.  I've posted about it over the last few weeks here and here.  And I sorta thought that would be it.  Now it appears that the story is even worse than we've been led to believe.

The guys on the ground not only asked for help in the days before the attack, but they asked for help as the attack was underway.  And they were denied.  They were denied three times.  Take a look at a map of the Mediterranean.  NAS Sigonella is 480 miles away.   At that base are F/A-18 fighter aircraft, AC-130 gun ships, Special Operations Response Teams, and other forces that could have been mobilized.  The attack lasted 7 hours.  Help could have been there in 1 hour.  By any measure, that is unsat.  Were there concerns and uncertainties.  Probably yes.  But Americans were clearly being mortally threatened and we turned our backs.  I say we because it was my government that did this.

I've said before that the PR spin was screwed up but not supporting the guys on the ground was worse. But now the story evolves so that we now know there was immediate and relatively good knowledge of what was happening on the ground.  There may have been a "fog of war", as Hiliary has intimated, but that fog was between agencies...State, CIA, and the Military.  It is the responsibility of the National Command Authority to break through that fog.   They had Predators overhead and real time communications with the Consulate and the Embassy in Tripoli who knew what was going on.  Their responsibility was to take action.

So why?  Why would our government not send aid to Americans in extremis in a terrible and dangerous place when the danger was real, it was verified, and help was available.  I can only think of one reason.  Politics.

We have evolved to a wierd place in dealing with terrorists around the world.  I don't think most Americans know or care, but I strongly suspect we are looking for bad guys aggressively around the world.  We are using every tool at our disposal to do it, including Special Forces.  And when we find one of them, I'm confident it takes Presidential approval to take action.  That is what we've evolved to.  A direct line into the Oval Office to take out a scumbag in a rat hole on the other side of the world.  Why?  Because we can.  Think of the guys sitting around the table, including Obama, when OBL was taken out.  What were they adding?  What kind of pressure did the guys on the ground feel?  What kind of relevant direction will emanate from a bunker under the White House, other than Stop?  What kind of Commander sends their guys into the most dangerous circumstances in the world and wants a real time link as they creep into a dark house in the middle of the night?  And BTW, why was there a photographer present?

Now think about Libya.  Obama thinks what happened there last year was one of his signature successes.  We led from behind.  We didn't lose one person.  It was all done from the air.  Quaddafi was ousted and the rebels assumed control.  And the story disappeared from the front pages.  Perfect circumstances.  We do nothing, our goals are met, and the aftermath is not only not known, but no one cares.  Debating whether the Libya effort was a success or not and whether we exercised the best form of leadership or not is not the point.  The point is that for Obama, Libya was a foreign policy success.  Four weeks before the election is no time for us to be sending forces into Benghazi, the rebel stronghold, to rescue some diplomats.  There would be no way to spin losses if things go down sideways after the brilliant leadership he displayed in leading from behind.  So spin.  Blame a video.  Blame a mob.  Blame the fog of war.  Trot out administration officials to spin.  Have Hiliary fall on her sword.  Give no interviews and hold no press conferences.  Limit exposure to places like The View, Entertainment Tonight, and Letterman, places filled with useful idiots.

And maybe it's working.  When I opened the fishwrap this moring I looked for a Benghazi story.  On page A11 there was a story about the wisdom exercised by Panetta for not sending forces into an unknown situation.  That's it.  I really thought that maybe it was dead.  But then this afternoon things started coming apart.  More details emerged.  We are finding out now that those with responsibility and accountablity to do something possessed the information they needed to act and they didn't.

Now it will be interesting to see how our media handles it.  Clearly most in the media are in Obama's corner.  They don't want to investigate further.  There are less than two weeks to the election.  If we see an increasing number of stories about this disgraceful saga, then maybe we can have a little renewed faith in journalistic ethics.  I really hope that is the case but I'm not optimistic.  There is a big storm heading for the East coast and the news will probably focus on the idiots who decide not to evacuate and the how the stores are running out of milk. Plus the World Series is in full throw and the NFL is heading into mid-season...Priorities...