# What's the "final" word on the Benghazi embassy attack? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 31, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384 "2012-10-31T00:39:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/201 "2012-12-17T05:11:28Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Surely you people can’t quibble with my estimation of the Clintons? You mean your sober, measured judgement that “Bill and Hilary Clinton both are lying, arrogant, obstinate, obfuscatory and evidence-hiding pieces of shit”? Why would anybody argue with an objective, fact-based statement like that? > [@](#): > > Or the circumstances of this alleged injury, all of which appear, oh, so conveniently, to keep her out of the investigatory loop of the Benghazi inquiry while at the same time providing no verifiable or discoverable record as to whether or not this supposed injury which is serving to keep her out of it actually exists? That would sound loony, even if it wasn’t written right after the same kind of loony speculation from Fox News types about Petraeus’s resignation being forced on him to keep him from testifying. Guess what, Congress can subpoena anyone, and in fact Petraeus did testify under oath, a few days later. So even if Hillary quit her job today as a result of the injury, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference regarding the Benghazi “fact finding.” Unless she is claiming her injury has resulted in complete amnesia about everything that happened in September, you’re making a fool of yourself. Why not worry about something more substantial, like how Obama was losing the election until Hurricane Sandy oh, so conveniently, diverted attention from Acorn and the New Black Panthers stealing the election? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/202 "2012-12-17T06:22:39Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > You mean your sober, measured judgement that “Bill and Hilary Clinton both are lying, arrogant, obstinate, obfuscatory and evidence-hiding pieces of shit”? > Why would anybody argue with an objective, fact-based statement like that? It’s not a judgement, it’s a fact. And it’s based on personal observation of their behavior both on the campaign trail, while in the White House, during the various investigations that their behavior prior to and during their time in the White House gave rise to, after they had left the White House, and during Hilary’s campaign for the presidency. I don’t watch Fox, I don’t listen to Limbaugh, and I haven’t said anything about Patraeus’s involvement or made any of the other arguments you’ve erroneously presumed. There’s a reason why even though stereotypes may not form in a vacuum, they shouldn’t be regarded as a slam dunk. Simply put, you don’t know what you’re talking about, which is especially amusing given your superior tone. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/203 "2012-12-17T06:50:01Z")
Its based on your personal observation? Well, heck, why didn’t you say so, you left us to think it was nothing more substantial than an ill informed opinion, but its actually your personal observation! Well, that certainly settles _that_! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/204 "2012-12-17T07:01:28Z")
I’m sure that, if pressed, he can provide cites from Michelle Malkin. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/205 "2012-12-17T07:18:28Z")
Michelle Malkin cites _him_! ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/206 "2012-12-17T08:11:50Z")
No, Michelle Malkin _ex_cites him. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/207 "2012-12-17T12:18:37Z")
ENOUGH! All the back-and-forth snide remarks need to go to The BBQ Pit. Knock it off, everyone. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/208 "2012-12-19T03:29:32Z")
More on Benghazi ([Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/benghazi-report-systematic-failures-85290.html#ixzz2FSqHP5qx), abridged): \*An independent panel charged with investigating the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans has concluded that systematic management failures at the State Department led to inadequate security that left the diplomatic mission vulnerable. Despite those failures, the Accountability Review Board determined that no individual American officials ignored or violated their duties and found no cause for any disciplinary action… Diplomats and intelligence officers alike have spoken about the rising risk in Benghazi and growing debate over how to improve security before the attack, set against Ambassadors Chris Stevens’ decision to keep the Benghazi diplomatic post open and even visit there on Sept. 11. Late that evening, militants overran the lightly defended U.S. Consulate, setting fire to it and ultimately killing Stevens and information specialist Sean Smith… But the incident also sparked debate on the larger question of how U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers can do their jobs in unstable environments, as al-Qaida spreads across Africa, without also expanding their security. Diplomats have said that overreacting to the attack could produce what some are calling a “Benghazi effect” that would wall them off from the people they are supposed to be engaged with. Though called a consulate, the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi was so small it was only lightly staffed by a skeleton crew of diplomats and guarded by a local Libyan force. Its small size was partly because there was not yet much diplomacy to do in a city still rebuilding after the revolution that toppled Libyan strongman Muammar Qadhafi, but also because **[COLOR=“Red”]the consulate’s role was in part to provide cover for the larger intelligence gathering mission in the region.** Most of the roughly two dozen Americans based in Benghazi worked for the CIA, some helping the State Department **track and buy up the tens of thousands of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile systems known as MANPADS (man-portable-air-defense-systems) that have made their way from Qadhafi’s arsenal to the open market, trying to keep them out of the hands of Al Qaeda** sympathizers throughout the region. That work included developing a network of tipsters in the port city who would watch for weapons shipments headed out of the country.[/COLOR]\* Eye-bleeding emphasis mine, to point out irony and stuff ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/209 "2012-12-19T13:24:55Z")
Not getting it, here. What level of security would be adequate to neutralize determined enemies with automatic weapons and grenade launchers? Diplomats risk their lives for their country, just as soldiers do. They just don’t have the option of shooting back. ---
**Author:** ![bahimes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bahimes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahimes)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/210 "2012-12-19T15:41:12Z")
> [@For You](#): > > More on Benghazi ([Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/benghazi-report-systematic-failures-85290.html#ixzz2FSqHP5qx), abridged): > > [INDENT]\*[COLOR=“Navy”]An independent panel charged with investigating the deadly Sept. 11 attack in Libya that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans has concluded that systematic management failures at the State Department led to inadequate security that left the diplomatic mission vulnerable. > … I have only read the first 11 pages of the unclassified report, but the “…systematic management failures…” has yet to come up. “Systemic failures…” were mentioned. What does Systemic versus Systematic mean? Philologists and English majors correct me if I am wrong. \*\*Systematic \*\*indicates something which is done as procedure, part of the prescribed process of accomplishing a goal. Something like: the purchase of a new device or devices must include the cost of maintenance and replacement over a period of X number of years. Part of a “checklist” in project management, perhaps. **Systemic** (to me) indicates something which is imbued into a culture or business by stated or implied goals to perform in a particular manner. For example: “Our budget will be cut by 10-25% for the foreseeable future, therefore, I had best not authorize anymore than absolutely necessary.” (In Washington “absolutely necessary” may not be relate to the facts on the ground.) This is classic bureaucratic CYA. Government agencies are not immune, possibly, because of journalistic and governmental agencies’ oversight, they are even more vulnerable than commercial entities. Benghazi was a small, mostly temporary outpost providing cover for the “other agency” personnel, security upgrades were being made, albeit slower than we would have preferred. But I suggest that State was not the main driver behind activating, manning or funding the post. As I mentioned upthread, Marines are rarely assigned to consulates. Defending the posts are often, if not usually contracted to local or third party organizations. Engaging additional Marines for a post, let alone a new one, requires negotiations with several layers of State and Defense, and funding from Congress. The decision to even establish a post is often not in State’s control (or best interests). Just look at Baghdad. Consulates and embassies until the invasion of Iraq have never been constructed and manned in a war zone. Conflicts arise, the post is evacuated. It’s little different over the past 10 years, and the reasons are subjects for other threads. The conspiracy theories blowing through this thread, while initially amusing have become…I don’t know…idiotic? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/211 "2012-12-19T16:22:15Z")
“This is classic bureaucratic CYA”? More likely, a statement that problems occurred which were not foreseen or addressable in time when they did occur, but that by no means is anyone going to be thrown to the jackals over it. The GOP and Fox want a scalp for self-vindication, but they don’t deserve one and this statement shows they aren’t going to get one. Besides, the election is over and they’d be happy to put this in the past, too. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/212 "2012-12-19T17:17:10Z")
The State Department’s immediate response is: Give us a billion (1.3, actually) dollars, you fuckers, instead of denying funding every fucking year, and we might be able to do something other than wait for your tight asses to unclench. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/213 "2012-12-19T17:45:24Z")
This seems pretty much like boiler plate stuff to me. I mean, what are they going to say: _This was a tragedy, but there wasn’t anything we could do about it._ They have to find some fault somewhere, and this faults a whole lot of people but no one in particular. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/214 "2012-12-19T18:50:25Z")
From what I heard on the news, the report recommends zero disciplinary action but 29 suggestions for a proper reaction (all of which Hillary Clinton said she will implement). Such a recommendation seems to be saying that there is a lot to be done with the benefit of hindsight but that it’s not fair to assign blame for a lack of foresight. Despite that conclusion - and screaming from the Breitbarts of the world over it - three state department heads resigned under pressure and the candidacy of a someone who looked like she would have been an exemplary Secretary of State was derailed by rabid Republicans looking to “get” Obama with this. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/215 "2012-12-19T18:55:25Z")
Damn, you’re right. That’s what happens when you appease terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![bbonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecb155/32.png) [@bbonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbonden)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/216 "2012-12-21T07:23:24Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Correct if mistaken, but I believe that Amb. Stevens requested more security for the Embassy in Tripoli. I admit that Benghazi is only a few hundred miles away. OK. Corrected. We know that Stevens wanted more security. > [@](#): > > Two journalists combed through the U.S. consulate building in Benghazi, Libya, over a month after it was attacked and turned up something significant: two unsigned draft letters expressing strong concern about security at the building. The letters are dated Sept. 11 – the day of the attack – and addressed to Libya’s foreign minister and Benghazi’s police chief. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens’s team had earlier requested additional security from the Libyans, according to the letters, and were not satisfied with the results. > > The story make clear that there was a significant gap between the security that Stevens had in Benghazi and the security he felt the consulate badly needed. It originally appeared on pan-Arab network Al-Aan and is now in English on [ForeignPolicy.com](http://ForeignPolicy.com). [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/01/new-details-on-ambassadors-failed-fateful-push-for-more-security-at-benghazi/](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/01/new-details-on-ambassadors-failed-fateful-push-for-more-security-at-benghazi/) And we know that his team asked for the additional security that he wanted. [http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/documents-back-up-claims-of-requests-for-greater-security-in-benghazi/](http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/documents-back-up-claims-of-requests-for-greater-security-in-benghazi/) > [@elucidator](#): > > I don’t know how “casually” he was chatting, but any number of news sources has him denying it. Have you any proof? Here’s the interview: [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/world/africa/suspect-in-benghazi-attack-scoffs-at-us.html?pagewanted=all&](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/world/africa/suspect-in-benghazi-attack-scoffs-at-us.html?pagewanted=all&) In it, you have the NYT Cairo bureau chief reporting that: [ul] [li]The Libyan government identify Abu Khattala as the leader of the attacks[/li][li]“Witnesses” observed Abu Khattala’s organization perpetrating the attacks[/li][li]“Witnesses” observed Abu Khattala personally directing fighters[/li][li]Abu Khattala admitted that he was at the scene[/li][li]Abu Khattala described what he witnessed as a “peaceful protest,” something that we know never occurred[/li][li]Abu Khattala saying that he never saw anything burning, even though he was walking through a compound that was being gutted by fire[/li][li]Abu Khattala descibing guns and other items at the dipomatic mission that never have been verified[/ul][/li] We also have the fact that the NYT Cairo Bureau Chief thought the story plausible enough that he went to Benghazi and found Abu Khattala in the first place. Read the article: it’s pretty clear that Kirkpatrick didn’t believe a word that he was hearing. Is that “proof”? You tell me. Did you ever see “proof” that bin Laden was involved in the WTC hijackings? He denied it, after all. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/217 "2012-12-21T07:45:39Z")
No, I didn’t. Nor am I totally convinced. Let the rich guy give you all his money, tell him he’s the leader, let him take the heat. Could happen. Keeping in mind that the 9/11 plot was the stupidest plan that ever worked perfectly. Forty years of airplane hijacks, and we don’t lock the cockpit doors. Retarded outsmarts braindead. ---
**Author:** ![bbonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecb155/32.png) [@bbonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbonden)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/218 "2012-12-21T07:49:02Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > and the candidacy of a someone who looked like she would have been an exemplary Secretary of State was derailed by rabid Republicans looking to “get” Obama with this. Rubbish. Susan Rice told flat untruths on five separate news programs. We don’t know whether her fabulism was a lie perpetrated by her personally (because we don’t know whether she was given the real events and timeline), but the Administration certainly knew that her statements were untruths at the time she was making them. Since time immemorial, the consequence for a bureaucratic functionary who is publicly embarrassed in his or her official capacity is resignation. Since Rice was essentially up for a promotion, she lost that, instead of her existing position. It may be fair, it may be unfair to Rice personally – but it is the way of things. > [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > Such a recommendation seems to be saying that there is a lot to be done with the benefit of hindsight but that it’s not fair to assign blame for a lack of foresight. Oh, poppycock. I defer to Chefguy and others as to what security is reasonable for a diplomatic mission in general; certainly diplomatic missions and diplomats always are going to be vulnerable, and terrorists are going to seek out the most vulnerable targets. “Stuff” happens, as it were, even really bad stuff. But when the head of al Qaeda calls on his cadres in the first week of September to attack Libya, and when the US has a diplomatic mission in Libya within spitting distance of an al Qaeda training camp, it doesn’t take “foresight” to have – at a bare minimum – some type of rapid response force available in Sicily or elsewhere close to react to an incident in that region on September 11. To be perfectly clear, I think that the absence of a rapid response team anywhere in the Mediterranean (i.e., within a short flight to the Arab Spring nations, probably from Sicily) requires so much incompetence that the most parsimonious explaniation is that a team was physically available but bureaucratically put or held off limits. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/219 "2012-12-21T08:39:44Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > No, I didn’t. Nor am I totally convinced. Let the rich guy give you all his money, tell him he’s the leader, let him take the heat. Could happen. Keeping in mind that the 9/11 plot was the stupidest plan that ever worked perfectly. Forty years of airplane hijacks, and we don’t lock the cockpit doors. Retarded outsmarts braindead. Although its easy to say now, retarded doesn’t begin to describe it when you also consider that a plane being flown into the White House was a major plot in a very popular book, and from a different author, a plane being “hijacked” and flown into a building was also written about. Not to mention some Japanese tactics in WW2 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384/220 "2012-12-21T09:36:32Z")
> [@bbonden](#): > > Rubbish. Susan Rice told flat untruths on five separate news programs. We don’t know whether her fabulism was a lie perpetrated by her personally (because we don’t know whether she was given the real events and timeline), but the Administration certainly knew that her statements were untruths at the time she was making them. No, you and your like repeat that but it’s simply not true: > [@](#): > > CIA documents supported Susan Rice’s description of Benghazi attacks > > “Talking points” prepared by the CIA on Sept. 15, the same day that Rice taped three television appearances, support her description of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate as a reaction to Arab anger about an anti-Muslim video prepared in the United States. According to the CIA account, “The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the U.S. Consulate and subsequently its annex. There are indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations.” > > The CIA document went on: “This assessment may change as additional information is collected and analyzed and as currently available information continues to be evaluated.” This may sound like self-protective boilerplate, but it reflects the analysts’ genuine problem interpreting fragments of intercepted conversation, video surveillance and source reports. > > [Washington Post](http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-10-19/opinions/35501083_1_cairo-benghazi-attack-safe-room) So either the CIA lied to her when they were giving her what they knew at the time, or what they knew at the time had some inaccuracies because it was all very new and investigations were ongoing. Why would the administration and CIA, knowing that there would be exhaustive investigations into what happened and why, give Rice information that they knew was untrue? Sorry but I’ll use Occam’s Razor on this one. Why attribute malice to something when intelligence incompetence is the simplest explanation? I hesitate to even use the word incompetence since there is nothing incompetent about having some facts wrong at the onset of an investigation. It’s called the process. > [@](#): > > Oh, poppycock. I defer to Chefguy I defer to the actual report that suggested no disciplinary action. Like many of these issues when it comes to Republican outrage, their hypocrisy is showing to those who pay attention to these things (see Condoleezza Rice). > [@](#): > > The Bush administration failed to anticipate the 9/11 attacks, despite the fact that the outgoing Clinton administration warned them of the threat and left a great big file on the desk of the new national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. Rice justified the oversight to the 9/11 Commission because, despite intelligence indicating an attack, there was nothing concrete: the intercepts did not say who, they did not say when, they did not say how. So the administration did next to nothing. The Bush administration and Condoleezza Rice, as national security adviser, were let off the hook by the 9/11 Commission. > > Rice was eventually named secretary of state despite the fact that the oversight of the Bush administration cost 3,000 American lives on 9/11, not four as at Benghazi. Still, Joe Biden and Barack Obama voted to confirm her as secretary of state along with 28 other Democrats. At that time, Senator McCain warned against letting a rancid debate over confirmation of the new secretary get in the way of a foregone conclusion. He seems to have had a change of heart. > > The story does not end there, of course. > > In the wake of 9/11, the Bush administration then went on the craft a narrative, supposedly based on intelligence, justifying a war against Iraq that cost the United States over $1tn, with nearly 5,000 dead soldiers and 120,000 documented Iraqi civilian deaths. > > Condoleezza Rice also vouched for the “clearness” of the intelligence to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq on numerous occasions. > > The basis for the 2003 war is still far from transparent and the use or misuse of intelligence by administration principals is anything but clear. Based on what we know, Bush policy-makers either ate what they were spoonfed by the CIA or they flatout lied. Either way, since this is the charge Senator McCain makes against Susan Rice, Democrats should offer to look into the matter more. > > Somehow, I doubt the Republicans will be so willing to press their case against Ambassador Rice if the President offers to take their increased interest in transparency in earnest. That is too bad, since someone should answer for the national tragedy that was Iraq. > > [The Guardian](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/28/hypocrisy-republicans-attack-susan-rice) So why was Condoleezza Rice held to a different standard by McCain and others? Gee, I wonder… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-final-word-on-the-benghazi-embassy-attack/639384.md?page=12)