…for President Obama, a politically useful telephone call—and the ability to have his aides rush out and tell the media about that phone call—came first.
Daniel Halper
The Weekly Standard
2/7/2013
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testified this morning on Capitol Hill that President Barack Obama was absent the night four Americans were murdered in Benghazi on September 11, 2012:
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Panetta said, though he did meet with Obama at a 5 o’clock prescheduled gathering, the president left operational details, including knowledge of what resources were available to help the Americans under siege, “up to us.”
In fact, Panetta says that the night of 9/11, he did not communicate with a single person at the White House. The attack resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Obama did not call or communicate in anyway with the defense secretary that night. There were no calls about what was going on in Benghazi. He never called to check-in…
Read the rest of the article at The Weekly Standard.
H/T GatewayPundit who included this:
Obama knew about the attacks 90 minutes after they began. The US Ambassador went missing for at least 5 hours.
It looks now like he went to bed.
And, from the comments section, “btw, Panetta also gave the order to down OBL..a bit more..”
Well, there was that campaign fundraiser with Beyonce on 9/12/12 in Vegas, right…? A guy’s gotta get his beauty rest.
More from The Weekly Standard, No Word from Hillary During Benghazi Attack
Neither the secretary of defense nor the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to the secretary of state during the 8-hour attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. At a Thursday hearing in the Senate, Republican Ted Cruz asked both Leon Panetta and Martin Dempsey, “In between 9:42 p.m., Benghazi time, when the first attacks started, and 5:15 am, when Mr. Doherty and Mr. Woods lost their lives, what converations did either of you have with Secretary Clinton?”
“We did not have any conversations with Secretary Clinton,” Panetta responded.
“And General Dempsey, the same is true for you?” Cruz asked. Dempsey confirmed this…
Watch the video at the link.
General Dempsey: ‘We Never Received a Request for Support from the State Department on Benghazi’
On November 1, 2012, Alaan TV, a UAE channel, revealed that letters found inside the Benghazi consulate, and written by the U.S. Consular staff, had requested special security arrangements at the Benghazi consulate – but they were turned down…
Reporter: “The letters revealed that since September 9, the Americans had been requesting special security arrangements, in preparation for the arrival of Ambassador Chris Stephens to Benghazi. These arrangements included the police guarding the front and rear gates of the consulate around the clock, in addition to a mobile patrol and a bomb-sniffing dog.
Today, General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the State Department never requested “support” in Benghazi.
Watch the video of Dempsey at GatewayPundit.
More video: General Dempsey “Surprised” Hillary Clinton Didn’t Know About Cable From Benghazi Consulate…
General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared to be unaware that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified that she did not see a cable from Ambassador Christopher Stevens in August of 2012 in which the late ambassador warned the consulate in Benghazi was not safe from attack. Republican senator Lindsey Graham asked Dempsey about Clinton’s testimony.
Update: The Right Scoop has video of Panetta’s testimony and this: See how ABC, NBC, and CBS News covered the Benghazi hearing. And, as usual, we look to TRS for our daily dose of Mark Levin audio:
Mark Levin on Benghazi hearing: Our men were fighting for their lives and Obama did NOTHING!
Update 2: Dereliction of Duty: Obama Did Nothing to Save American Lives in Benghazi–and Lied About It at Breitbart.
