What’s “Not Optimal” is Democrats’ Libya Failure

October 22, 2012

What’s “Not Optimal” is Democrats’ Libya Failure

President Obama’s Flippant Dismissal of Tragedy Shows an Administration Grasping at Straws to Defend its Libya Failure

President Obama’s flippant dismissal of the deaths of four Americans in Libya as “not optimal,” and on “The Daily Show” of all places, is just the latest chapter in the Obama administration’s embarrassing response to the terrorist attack in Libya.
While the Obama administration manufactures excuses for its failure of leadership, Americans continue to remain in the dark about what exactly happened in Libya and why requests for increased security were ignored.
It’s the latest example of how the Obama administration has been more interested in making excuses than showing leadership in foreign policy.

President Obama’s flippant dismissal of the deaths of four Americans in Libya as “not optimal,” and on “The Daily Show” of all places, is just the latest chapter in the Obama administration’s embarrassing response to the terrorist attack in Libya:

OBAMA ON LIBYA: “WHEN FOUR AMERICANS GET KILLED, IT’S NOT OPTIMAL”:(Ashley Killough, “Obama Talks Libya on Daily Show,” CNN, 10/18/2012)

While the Obama administration manufactures excuses for its failure of leadership, Americans continue to remain in the dark about what exactly happened in Libya and why requests for increased security were ignored:

LIBYA ATTACK TOOK PLACE ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2012: (Kimberly Dozier, “Day After Libya Attack, CIA Found Militant Links,” AP, 10/19/2012)

AP: “DAY AFTER LIBYA ATTACK, CIA FOUND MILITANT LINKS”: (Kimberly Dozier, “Day After Libya Attack, CIA Found Militant Links,” AP, 10/19/2012)

BUT IT TOOK TWO WEEKS FOR THE WHITE HOUSE TO FINALLY CALL DEATHS A “TERRORIST ATTACK”: “White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed today that the president believes the deadly assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi was a ‘terrorist attack,’ a term Obama has not yet used in his characterization of the violence.” (Mary Bruce, “Obama Considers Libya a ‘Terrorist Attack,’ White House Says,” ABC News, 9/26/2012)

WA POST FACT CHECKER: “THERE IS A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE” BETWEEN ACKNOWLEDGING TERRORISM AND REFERRING TO “ACTS OF TERROR”: “Note: we added this statement to the timeline after Josh Gerstein of Politico asserted that the phrasing ‘acts of terror’ showed Obama acknowledged ‘terrorism’ was behind the attack. From our many years of covering diplomacy we would say there is a world of difference, but readers can draw their own conclusions.” (Glenn Kessler, “From Video To Terrorist Attack: A Definitive Timeline Of Administration Statements On The Libya Attack,” The Washington Post ‘s Fact Checker, 9/27/2012)

ABC NEWS: “DOCUMENTS BACK UP CLAIMS OF REQUESTS FOR GREATER SECURITY IN BENGHAZI”:(Jake Tapper, “Documents Back Up Claims of Requests for Greater Security in Benghazi,” ABC News, 10/19/2012)

DIRECTLY CONTRADICTED BY JOE BIDEN IN THE VP DEBATE: “BIDEN: WE WEREN’T TOLD THEY WANTED MORE SECURITY. WE DID NOT KNOW THEY WANTED MORE SECURITY THERE.” (Vice Presidential Debate, Danville, KY, 10/11/2012)

“AMBASSADOR STEVENS WARNED OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISM BEFORE BENGHAZI ATTACK”: “Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, in a diplomatic cable from Libya last June, cited the apparent rise of “Islamic extremism” and the spotting of “the Al Qaeda flag” over buildings outside the Libyan city of Benghazi, where he and three other Americans were ultimately killed in an attack on Sept. 11.” (Guy Taylor, “Ambassador Stevens Warned of Islamic Extremism Before Benghazi Attack,” The Washington Times, 10/20/2012)

It’s the latest example of how the Obama administration has been more interested in making excuses than showing leadership in foreign policy:

OBAMA TRIES TO DEFLECT BLAME FOR LIBYA MISHANDLING: “ ‘What happens, during the course of a presidency, is that the government is a big operation and any given time something screws up,’ Obama said. ‘And you make sure that you find out what’s broken and you fix it.’” (Kimberly Dozier, “GOP Pounces After News of CIA Cable on Libya Raid,” AP, 10/19/2012)

SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR ATTACKS: “I’m in charge of the State Department’s 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts. The president and the vice president wouldn’t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They’re the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision.” (Conn Carroll, “Morning Examiner: Obama Throws Hillary Under the Bus,” The Washington Examiner, 10/16/2012)

BOB WOODWARD: BENGHAZI DEBACLE REVEALS OBAMA ADMINISTRATION “PASSIVITIY”: “But it is also a mindset, sometimes when there’s trouble in the White House, there is too, too frequently a passivity, ‘Uh okay let’s step back and let the State Department handle it. Let’s let somebody else handle it’ and not jump in, and realize the seriousness of the moment. That…” (Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday” 10/14/2012)

DURING VP DEBATE, JOE BIDEN WAS SMIRKING, GRUNTING, WHILE DISCUSSING THE TRAGEDY IN LIBYA: “And given the wonkiness of the debate — from Libya to taxes to Afghanistan to Medicare — the television image that will be repeated most often will be Biden’s sardonic grin, which sometimes seemed out of place, especially when the subject was foreign policy.” (Doyle McManus, Op-Ed, “Vice Presidential Debate: Biden’s Mission Accomplished,” Los Angeles Times, 10/11/12)

OBAMA ADMIN “DESPERATELY NEEDS A SCAPEGOAT,” “PUNCHES INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY” RATHER THAN TAKE RESPONSIBILITY: (Peter Feaver, “Biden Punches the Intelligence Community, Will It Punch Back?”, Foreign Policy, 10/12/2012)

What’s “Not Optimal” is Democrats’ Libya Failurehttp://ow.ly/eErR3