Hey, Benghazi-Heads, You Stand Down!
Michael Tomasky
Central to the Benghazi conspiracy: the alleged stand-down order that kept help from arriving from Tripoli. It never happenedand now we learn that Republicans have known for months.
Lets redirect our attention back to Benghazi. When is that
special Benghazi committee in the House of Representatives going to get cracking, you may have wondered? Good question. It hasnt been announced yet. But heres a better question. What, now, is it going to investigate?
While weve all been focused during the past week on the border, there was a pretty
major news development on Benghazi that got buried and is in need of a little sunshine. Last week, the Associated Press
reported on transcripts of hours of closed-door interviews with nine U.S. military leaders that had been conducted by two House committees, Armed Services and Oversight (the latter is Darrell Issas committee). Those military leaders agreed on a, or maybe the, central point as far as this continuing investigation is concerned: There was no stand-down order.
The stand-down conspiracy has been a central right-wing talking point virtually since the tragic storming of the consulate, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The idea is that our heroic men and women in uniform could have saved the quartet, but President Obama and Hillary Clinton didnt want them to, because theyre weak and they want America to fail.
Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz has been among the most vocal and direct Republicans on this point, saying last year: We had proximity, we had capability, we had four individuals in Libya armed, ready to go, dressed, about to get into the car to go in the airport to go help their fellow countrymen who were dying and being killed and under attack in Benghazi, and they were told to stand down. Thats as sickening and depressing and disgusting as anything I have seen. That is not the American way.
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/14/hey-benghazi-heads-you-stand-down.html