Ace
Ace of Spades HQ
9/27/2012
…Kessler writes: “We will leave it to readers to reach their own conclusions on whether this is merely the result of the fog of war and diplomacy — or a deliberate effort to steer the storyline away from more politically damaging questions. After all, in a competitive election, two weeks is a lifetime.”
The entire point of his “Fact Checker” gig is to test the truthfulness of statements offered by high political officials, but in this case — where the Obama administration has plainly said untrue things for two weeks (by their own sudden admission) he says the reader can pass judgment on their own, and helpfully offers Obama an “out” — “fog of war.”
But it wasn’t fog of war. They know from almost the first hours that this was a planned attack, which included attacks from indirect-fire mortars which require a fair amount of skill to aim.
Further, they were not tentative in their conclusions as a “fog of war” situation would suggest they should be — instead, they were very certain that this was not a planned attack (despite occurring on September 11th and having the hallmarks of an Al Qaeda attack). They said so repeatedly.
What they said, again and again, with perfect confidence, was:
1. This was spontaneous attack no one could possibly have seen coming (so it’s not our fault).
2. There was no actionable intelligence whatsoever suggesting a September 11th attack (so it’s not our fault).
3. The consulate had the right amount of security, despite everyone inside it being massacred (so it’s not our fault)…
…When Glenn Kessler has a series of Administration statements which were quite clearly false, by their own admission, he does not render a Fact Check at all, but invites the reader to conduct his own, but always keeping “fog of war” in mind…
Read the complete article at Ace of Spades HQ
Related: Althouse, “A definitive timeline of administration statements on the Libya attack.”
…Yesterday, Carney was asked whether “there any reason why the President did not — he was asked point-blank in The View interview, is this a terrorist attack, yes or no? Is there any reason why he didn’t say yes?” Jeez, “The View” was too tough. Carney said:
“He answered the question that he was asked, and there’s no reason that he chose the words he did beyond trying to provide a full explanation of his views and his assessment that we need to await further information that the investigation will uncover. But it is certainly the case that it is our view as an administration, the President’s view, that it was a terrorist attack.”It’s our view and his view, but he wouldn’t say it on “The View.”
Read the whole thing.
Libyans hired by State Dept. to guard consulate fled during attack
The State Department hired Libyans to protect the U.S. consulate that was attacked and burned by an alleged Al Qaida-aligned force.
The guards were outgunned in the Sept. 11, 2012 assault and fled the scene…
…“There was a group called Blue Mountain Group, which is a private security company with permits to operate in Libya,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. “They were hired to provide local Libyan guards who operated inside the gate doing things like operating the security access equipment, screening the cars, that kind of thing.”
Officials said only six of the Libyan guards were given firearms to protect the consulate. The other Libyans were said to have carried non-lethal equipment…
Obama On Foreign Stage–Like a Cold Fish Out Of Water
…The tensions between Mr. Obama and the Gulf states, both American and Arab diplomats say, derive from an Obama character trait: he has not built many personal relationships with foreign leaders. “He’s not good with personal relationships; that’s not what interests him,” said one United States diplomat. “But in the Middle East, those relationships are essential. The lack of them deprives D.C. of the ability to influence leadership decisions.”
Arab officials echo that sentiment, describing Mr. Obama as a cool, cerebral man who discounts the importance of personal chemistry in politics. “You can’t fix these problems by remote control,” said one Arab diplomat with long experience in Washington. “He doesn’t have friends who are world leaders. He doesn’t believe in patting anybody on the back, nicknames.
“You can’t accomplish what you want to accomplish” with such an impersonal style, the diplomat said…
…You’ve seen one foreign leader, you’ve seen ’em all. But if you’ve seen only one Ohio voter, you are just warming up.
Update: ‘Bumps in the road’: Obama’s rocky foreign policy A 23-page presentation.
President Obama says his Mideast policy has hit “bumps in the road.” Americans are dead, including an ambassador and ex-Navy SEALs. Al Qaeda’s flag flew above a U.S. Consulate. Libya’s president blamed terrorists, while the administration worked on ads apologizing for a YouTube video. “Bumps in the road” may be the understatement of the year.
Update 2: Krauthammer: Obama Deceived Americans on Libya Hoping That the Media Would Let It Slide
