With Benghazi, the crime is at least as bad as the coverup

Much has been made this week of the now impossible to deny cover up by the White House of the facts of the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya on Sep 11th, 2012.  Emails and video show clearly that Pres Obama's administration intentionally fed the American people a fabrication with the 'spontaneous protest' over an obscure internet video.

Usually with a scandal, the actual crime committed is relatively un-serious, while the cover-up is what generates the outrage.  Pres Clinton and his escapades in the Oval Office are a prime example; the Blue Dress was embarressing and demeaning, but the cover up and bald faced lies are what incensed the American people.

But with Benghazi, the crime is at least as bad as the cover up.  Aside from every thing else that happened that night, Americans were under attack for 8 hours and the United States, still the most powerful military force in the world, made a calculated decision to do nothing.  The White House left Americans to die.  While we remember the 4 Americans who were killed, it is worth noting that dozens of Americans were left out in the cold; the fact that our enemies only killed four is a testament to the heroism of some of those who gave their last full measure of devotion.

While President Obama never served in the US military, he nonetheless commands the military, and doubtless has good generals advising him on what the military is capable of, and how we think.  The fact that the White House sat idly by for 8 hours while the attack was ongoing and did nothing is irreconcilable with the Warrior Ethos we live by;

I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.

This ethos was not just absent on the night of Sep 11th, 2012; it was replaced by rank political cowardice.

Consider the last time a Democrat president was involved in a rapidly escalating military crisis in an African country-the now famous Blackhawk Down battle in Mogadishu.  When everything was going wrong, Americans were under fire and the situation in the ground hopelessly confused, two men demonstrated how far American warriors will go to live up to the Warrior Ethos-



Neither the White House, the State Department or the apologists on the left have ever given a reasonable, logical or plausible reason why US military rapid response forces, on high alert for the anniversary of 9/11, were not allowed to mount a rescue effort.

President Obama led a US military intervention in Libya, despite having poor intelligence on the ground, no formal backing from Congress and no clearly defined objective.  But when Americans were under fire, and asking for help, the President was too busy too even take a short walk down to the situation room.  While former Navy SEALS Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were waiting for the president to honor the Warrior Ethos, Pres Obama was instead honoring the Politician's Ethos;

I will always place re-election first

I will sacrifice anyone to avoid defeat

I will never stop lying to save myself

I will never hesitate to leave a fallen comrade if it will further my political career

The cover up of the Benghazi scandal has been slowly and inevitably unraveling.  But as Congressional hearings shift the focus to 'who knew what and when', we have to remember that Benghazi is not a faux outrage, not a manufactured scandal, and not a slight political embarrassment that is dwarfed by the cover up.  Benghazi was a a calculated decision by the commander in chief to ignore the pleas for help by troops in contact-an unforgivable sin.