Email proves Chris Stevens was denied extra security

On September 11^th, Christopher Stevens, U.S. Ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans were killed in Benghazi, Libya.  The walls of the consulate were easily penetrated and the lack of security ultimately proved to give the men no chance of survival.  The four Americans fled to the “Safe House” but were still attacked by rocket-propelled grenades and other military artillery.  Stevens’ death was the first death of a U.S. Ambassador in over 30 years.  The other 3 Americans consisted of an IT guy and 2 Navy Seals who volunteered to provide security to the ambassador.

The U.S. government not only learned of the attack within 24 hours, but that in fact it was linked to a faction of Al-Qaeda.  After learning of this troubling and sad news the president decided to continue his fundraising campaign and fly to Las Vegas.  I hope he enjoyed his time.  The Obama administration decided that it wasn’t going to state the attack was a product of terrorism, but rather a product of the controversial anti-Muslim YouTube video released in July.  Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, went on every Sunday morning talk show that weekend claiming and feverishly asserting the absence of a terrorist link.  Other members of the administration (Press Secretary Jay Carney and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton) also perpetuated the notion of a YouTube backlash.  If indeed the administration was still investigating the attack then why did it send its U.N. ambassador on every morning talk show to vehemently state the absence of an Al-Qaeda link?  They could have simply delayed remarks until they were certain of the events.

As I mentioned in my blog post, Univision hosts presidential town hall interviews, the president maintained the story the administration had been sticking with for the past week.  Well after 9 days of withholding information, Hilary Clinton finally admitted that the attack was a product of terrorism.  They believed it was associated to a faction of Al-Qaeda.  Mind you the Libyan government had been stating this all along.

CNN somehow found Steven’s journal.  Not sure how they got in the consulate before the FBI did, but nonetheless they uncovered some troubling details.  The ambassador was scared he’d be attacked.  He had asked for added security 8 times and was denied.  What we do know is that the terrorists had been posting on Facebook since MAY that they planned to kill Stevens on 9/11.  They in fact had made it very public.  His itinerary (including what times he went for a run) had been posted online.

English: Jay Carney giving a press briefing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So let’s digest the information for a moment.  We have repeated requests for security which are subsequently denied.  We have Al-Qaeda members publicly stating they’d kill Ambassador Stevens on 9/11.  His schedule is posted online.  Steven’s “security” consisted of an IT guy and two off-duty Navy Seals.  We know that 100 terrorists attacked the consulate.  Libya recently overthrew its dictator.  Stating there is political unrest would be understating the volatility of the country.  Libya is a known “breeding ground” from Al-Qaeda.  Yet somehow this administration, in particular the president himself, refused to admit the obvious.  Somehow they want us to believe that protesters happened to have rocket-propelled grenades and mortar artillery lying around.

On Friday, ABC News obtained an exclusive letter in which a plane was requested for security purposes in Libya.  Stevens wanted some means of escaping should an attack occur.  We will never know if the plane could have saved their lives.  But that’s not the point.  The central question remains.  WHY DIDN’T THE LIBYAN CONSULATE HAVE ADDED SECURITY ON 9/11 IN A COUNTRY AS VOLATILE AND DANGEROUS AS LIBYA?  And that is the question the administration won’t and can’t answer.  They can’t answer because there isn’t a good reason as to why.  They won’t answer because it would be an admission in poor military judgment.  The Obama campaign has been touting the president’s military prowess with the famous Biden chant: “GM is alive and Bin Laden is dead.”  There obviously was a complete lapse of judgment.  A complete lapse of common sense.  How can anyone defend that?

In the coming weeks the House Oversight Committee will be investigating the Libyan consulate attack.  They will find out exactly what happened and what the U.S. government knew ahead of time.  Until the truth comes out, I cannot wait for the next two presidential debates when the president will surely be asked either by the moderator or by Romney why there wasn’t added security.  I cannot wait to hear his reasoning.

Email: realtalkdebate2012@gmail.com

Twitter: @adrakontaidis & @talkrealdebate