# Prior to Benghazi, 13 attacks on embassies **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 19, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999 "2016-10-19T02:07:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sputnikkk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Sputnikkk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sputnikkk)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/1 "2016-10-19T02:07:24Z")
Prior to Benghazi, there were 13 attacks on embassies and 60+ deaths under President George W. Bush. > **[PolitiFact: Prior to Benghazi, were there 13 attacks on embassies and 60...](https://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/politifact-prior-to-benghazi-were-there-13-attacks-on-embassies-and-60/2179435/)** > > The statement Why wasn’t anyone in the Bush administration scrutinized and blamed the way Hillary was? During any of those attacks that occurred under Bush, were reinforcements and rescue delayed in any way, even for a second? Did anybody lie about the causes? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/2 "2016-10-19T02:19:47Z")
Moved to Great Debates. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Navy\_draftee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ec9cab/32.png) [@Navy\_draftee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navy_draftee)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/3 "2016-10-19T02:31:17Z")
> [@Sputnikkk](#): > > Prior to Benghazi, there were 13 attacks on embassies and 60+ deaths under President George W. Bush. > > [PolitiFact: Prior to Benghazi, were there 13 attacks on embassies and 60 deaths under President George W. Bush?](http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/politifact-prior-to-benghazi-were-there-13-attacks-on-embassies-and-60/2179435) > > Why wasn’t anyone in the Bush administration scrutinized and blamed the way Hillary was? > > During any of those attacks that occurred under Bush, were reinforcements and rescue delayed in any way, even for a second? Did anybody lie about the causes? apples to oranges At Benghazi, the American Ambassador to that country got killed. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/4 "2016-10-19T02:41:02Z")
> [@Navy\_draftee](#): > > apples to oranges > > At Benghazi, the American Ambassador to that country got killed. How does that make it an “apples to oranges” comparison? Are you suggesting that attacks on our embassies are only worth investigating if someone sufficiently important gets killed? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/5 "2016-10-19T02:44:23Z")
> [@Navy\_draftee](#): > > apples to oranges > > At Benghazi, the American Ambassador to that country got killed. So as long as no American get killed, attacks on our embassies/consulates are acceptable? From the OP’s link. > [@](#): > > Garamendi also understated the number of deaths. In the 20 incidents with at least one fatality, the total death toll was 87 — quite a few more than the 60 Garamendi cited. > > We should note that the vast majority of these deaths were not of Americans. We counted 63 deaths that were either of non-Americans or of people whose nationality is unknown. Another three were U.S. civilians. Another 21 were workers at a U.S. embassy or consulate, either of American or foreign nationality. Oh look. Americans _were_ killed. Just no one you consider important. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/6 "2016-10-19T03:03:09Z")
> [@Sputnikkk](#): > > During any of those attacks that occurred under Bush, were reinforcements and rescue delayed in any way, even for a second? Did anybody lie about the causes? Not that we know of, but I’d be interested if you had any evidence suggesting either of those things happened. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/7 "2016-10-19T03:06:59Z")
220 Marines die in Beirut. One Congressional investigation, bipartisan recommendations, pretty much followed by the Reagan administration. Four personnel die in Benghazi. Thirty three hearings, extremely partisan, focusing on minutiae such as emails being erased. We used to have an opposition party that was actually interested in governing; now, we do not. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/8 "2016-10-19T03:07:17Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > How does that make it an “apples to oranges” comparison? Are you suggesting that attacks on our embassies are only worth investigating if someone sufficiently important gets killed? Just to quote the article from the OP: > [@](#): > > Still, these experts said there are valid reasons to treat Benghazi differently from the other attacks. One is that a U.S. ambassador died in the attack, which hadn’t happened since the 1970s, said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University. If you don’t understand that, I don’t know how else to explain it to you. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/9 "2016-10-19T03:12:28Z")
[Here’s](http://www.politifact.com/embassyattacks/) a list of deadly attacks on US diplomatic targets during the Bush administration. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/10 "2016-10-19T03:13:29Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Just to quote the article from the OP: > > If you don’t understand that, I don’t know how else to explain it to you. So how many regular Americans (and nationals of the host country) does it take to equal one Ambassador? Or was the mockrage because a Democrat was in office? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/11 "2016-10-19T03:19:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Just to quote the article from the OP: > > If you don’t understand that, I don’t know how else to explain it to you. “Why X?” “Because X!” That’s not an explanation, that’s a tautology. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/12 "2016-10-19T03:36:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > “Why X?” > “Because X!” > > That’s not an explanation, that’s a tautology. Gawd, he said he didn’t know how to explain it, what do you want!? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/13 "2016-10-19T04:06:26Z")
Is the “Why X?” in this equation “Why is the death of an ambassador more noteworthy then the death of some other random American?” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/14 "2016-10-19T09:34:52Z")
Is that the threshold for your indignation - that Ambassador is the minimum rank to trigger it? How did you come to develop that standard? You’re right about one thing - you can’t explain it. But that isn’t \*our \*fault. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/15 "2016-10-19T09:44:34Z")
Apples and oranges. Hundreds of Americans were proud to give their lives at Embassies serving under Reagan or Bush, among the greatest and patriotic Presidents ever. Hundreds of other fine Americans regret that they were not there to sacrifice their lives too. But the callous contempt for American life which stains the Teleprompter “Saviour” who pretends to be half-white and his sidekick, the Wicked Witch of Arkansas, is a different matter altogether. When are we going to have more hearings on their treasons and felonies? > [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > JIf you don’t understand that, I don’t know how else to explain it to you. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/16 "2016-10-19T12:07:48Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Is that the threshold for your indignation - that Ambassador is the minimum rank to trigger it? How did you come to develop that standard? > > You’re right about one thing - you can’t explain it. But that isn’t \*our \*fault. It sounds like a “standard” developed after the fact to me. Were any of the other attacks investigated as extensively as this one? ---
**Author:** ![Navy\_draftee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ec9cab/32.png) [@Navy\_draftee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navy_draftee)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/17 "2016-10-19T12:56:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It sounds like a “standard” developed after the fact to me. Were any of the other attacks investigated as extensively as this one? Why was Benghazi worse? The \*\*cover up \*\* by Barack HUSSEIN Obama and Sect of State Hillary via Susan Rice. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/18 "2016-10-19T13:05:37Z")
> [@Navy\_draftee](#): > > Why was Benghazi worse? > > The \*\*cover up \*\* by Barack HUSSEIN Obama and Sect of State Hillary via Susan Rice. And that’s why we know nothing about what happened that day, oh wait… There was no cover-up. There was a period during and immediately following the attack that the details of the attack and the reasons for it were not fully known, and the intelligence view changed a few times as further information was received. But if you have evidence of actual intent to cover up, I’m sure we’d all like to hear about it. And you don’t have to capitalize Obama’s entire middle name. Just the first letter will do. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/19 "2016-10-19T13:14:11Z")
But then how will we know he’s really a Muslim traitor? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999/20 "2016-10-19T13:25:58Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Apples and oranges. > > Hundreds of Americans were proud to give their lives at Embassies serving under Reagan or Bush, among the greatest and patriotic Presidents ever. Hundreds of other fine Americans regret that they were not there to sacrifice their lives too. > > But the callous contempt for American life which stains the Teleprompter “Saviour” who pretends to be half-white and his sidekick, the Wicked Witch of Arkansas, is a different matter altogether. When are we going to have more hearings on their treasons and felonies? Please don’t do that. It’s already hard enough to try and figure out when American posters are being sincerely batshit insane or just posing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prior-to-benghazi-13-attacks-on-embassies/768999.md?page=2)