Myth: Hillary Clinton said the attack on the Benghazi installation was an outgrowth of a demonstration against an anti-Islamist video on the internet.
Not exactly. Here are her words on September 12, 2012.
We are working to determine the precise motivations and methods of those who carried out this assault. Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protest that took place at our Embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the internet.
There were demonstrations against such a video at many U.S. embassies world-wide and in the region, however.
Sep 11, 2012Cairo protesters scale U.S. Embassy wall, remove flag
Egyptian demonstrators climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo today and pulled down the American flag to protest a film they say is insulting to the prophet Mohammad.
This Wikipedia entry gives a pretty complete treatment. All of these embassies were under the oversight of the State Department. The American School in Tunisia was destroyed. Secretary Clinton, just back from a tour that ended in Vladivostok, did have her hands full, but she did not blame this attack on the video.
Myth: She blamed the attack on the video at the Transfer of Remains Ceremony at Andrews AFB on the 14th. Nope again. She referred to the demonstrations above, but she did not say they caused the attack. Speaking of Ambassador Chris Stevens she said this.
The President of the Palestinian Authority, who worked closely with Chris when he served in Jerusalem, sent me a letter remembering his energy and integrity, and deploring – and I quote – “an act of ugly terror.” Many others from across the Middle East and North Africa have offered similar sentiments.
This has been a difficult week for the State Department and for our country. We’ve seen the heavy assault on our post in Benghazi that took the lives of those brave men. We’ve seen rage and violence directed at American embassies over an awful internet video that we had nothing to do with.
Spin: “What difference does it make?” First of all, those are not her exact words. Second, the exasperated remark came in the course of an exchange during Hillary Clinton’s testimony at the House Foreign Affairs Committee on January 23. The focus of that exchange was whether Secretary Clinton had spoken to any individual on the ground in Benghazi on the night of September 11. Thanks to Tom Kertscher at PolitiFact we have the transcript (there is more at this link.)
Clinton: Senator, you know, when you’re in these positions, the last thing you want to do is interfere with any other process going on, number one—
Johnson: I realize that’s a good excuse.
Clinton: Well, no, it’s the fact. Number two, I would recommend highly you read both what the ARB said about it and the classified ARB because, even today, there are questions being raised. Now, we have no doubt they were terrorists, they were militants, they attacked us, they killed our people. But what was going on and why they were doing what they were doing is still unknown —
Johnson: No, again, we were misled that there were supposedly protests and that something sprang out of that — an assault sprang out of that — and that was easily ascertained that that was not the fact, and the American people could have known that within days and they didn’t know that.
Clinton: With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided that they’d they go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator. Now, honestly, I will do my best to answer your questions about this, but the fact is that people were trying in real time to get to the best information. The IC has a process, I understand, going with the other committees to explain how these talking points came out. But you know, to be clear, it is, from my perspective, less important today looking backwards as to why these militants decided they did it than to find them and bring them to justice, and then maybe we’ll figure out what was going on in the meantime.
Johnson: OK. Thank you, Madame Secretary.
Spin: Nordstrom, understandably distressed, keeps returning like the Ancient Mariner saying Hillary Clinton refused additional security requested in March 2012. The body that properly should be called upon to address the reason for the reduction of available security resources is the House Appropriations Committee that cut the diplomatic security budget by hundreds of millions of dollars two years in a row. (Oh! Hi there Jason Chaffetz of the teary eyes and choked up throat!)
Spin: Gregory Hicks, demoted for speaking out. Leaving aside for the moment that you chose to speak to a Congress person without a lawyer present as that terrible witch Cheryl Mills pointed out to be State Department protocol, let’s look at what you did do. Left in charge of Embassy Tripoli on September 11 with four special forces in place, contacted by Ambassador Stevens (who had the other six special forces assigned to Embassy Tripoli with him in Benghazi), and told the installation was under attack, you thought it would be a great idea to send the last four special forces in Tripoli 400 miles away.
This, while embassies across the region and beyond were subject to rather aggressive demonstrations. Let’s also leave aside the logistics of getting those forces to Benghazi in time to do anything to help. There were two things that were unknown. First, was the Benghazi attack a distractor and precursor to a bigger attack on Embassy Tripoli (of which you were in charge)? Second, is there another attack coming in Benghazi? The second happened to be the case. But Hicks decided it made the best sense to send the last remaining forces out of Tripoli.
“I’m in charge” echoes from the grave of Alexander Haig aside, I have never seen a less responsible decision. Hicks was second in command and in charge of Embassy Tripoli that night. He was responsible for all embassy personnel and all classified material and electronics inside the embassy. This was his decision – to strip away all special forces on the ground there -yes, in the fog of an attack hundreds of miles away. We appreciate your service, but, questioning your judgment, understand why you were assigned a “desk job.”
Is this who should be chief of any mission? Or second in command? If you have ever been in charge of anything, you know the answer to this question. If you are a mom, you know the answer.
Happy Mother’s Day to our cherished and wise Madame Secretary! Great mom and great SOS!
Still4Hill 
Thank You Still for your reporting to us the truth and facts. This has legs and I can not wait for the legs to be broken. I do hope she testifies one more time to show her dedication and where her heart was at the State Dept. that said, Sen. Linsey Graham said on one of the talk shows this evening that he likes Sec. Clinton and hopes she can clear any misunderstanding of the E-mails .
It seems to me that he starting to back off a some. This is stupid crazy IMO.
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Lindsey likes Hillary. Hillary will respond in her own time and her own way. Meanwhile, it’s up to us to have her back.
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Yes, we have Hillary’s back!
I tweeted this article and made sure to include a little @FoxNews at the end. I doubt I will change the wingnuts’ hearts and minds because they have so little of either, but hopefully we’ll reach some of the regular folks. The way to fight false information is with good information.
I’m glad to hear that Lindsey Graham is backing off.
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He may like her, but im not ready to forgive him for saying she got away with murder.
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Don’t fool yourself. Lindsey Graham is NOT backing off this.
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HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!
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I think you have done an excellent job spelling out the facts. I’ve read a lot about this mess, and it easy to see why some of the Fox News sheep (who may not have the critical thinking skills to understand the news) are confused and choosing to believe what the ring-wingnut pundits tell them.
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Unfortunately, this message might never get to the sheepies. They are not so good at reading. Apparently.
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“Critical thinking skills”. Oh, please. There has been no more loyal supporter of Hillary than I to the point of leaving the dem party with my political beliefs destroyed. I am concerned that Hillary has gone way over & beyond to protect this illegitimate POTUS and now she is in trouble for it. Yes, all – she is in trouble. No one on here has done 1 oz of critical thinking. Stillforhill, you did a masterful job of writing your piece defending Hillary, but even you are not listening to the other side that is not intellectually void as you would have this group think. I’ve never seen such intellectual snobs in my life. Disgusting. This reminds me of the 0bama cult followers who would still support him if he committed murder. I do not just watch FoxNews. I listen to CNN as well as some of the network stations so I will have a better perspective. FoxNews is enjoying a new appreciation by the rest of the media because FN is the only cable outlet doing investigative reporting. However, Jonathan Carl from ABC asked the hard questions today of 0bama’s press secretary, Jay Carney. Bottom line, I was and continue to be horrified with Hillary’s outburst at the congressional hearing some weeks back when she said, “What difference does it make who did this – whether it was…….we just need to get to the bottom of it so that it never happens again” kind of wording – in my mind a catestraphic mistake of conflicting words. How the hell do you get to the bottom of it when it doesn’t matter who did it? Like it or lump it folks, the 0bama administration is in trouble over this and unless Hillary can finally stop protecting the fool in the WH and tell the truth, even I will not support or vote for her. I would suggest you watch something other than MSNBC. Interesting all these democrats coming out to support Hillary now, many of whom were on the 0bama bandwagon a few short years ago leaving Hillary high and dry. It is truly sickening. Do yourselves a favor and do some “critical thinking”.
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The main point I was addressing here is that Hillary is being misquoted, and I wanted to correct that. I have heard it across the board, and about an hour ago on CNN I heard it again when a commentator said that Hillary did not take responsibility for Benghazi. Absolutely she did.
As for the outburst that horrified you so, given that no one has ever worked harder for Hillary than you, that she occasionally snaps should not come as a surprise. She is human, after all.
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fran, i do agree with you about the dems suddenly coming out for hillary being suspicious. where were they in 2008???
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We know what they are up to. As soon as the whisleblowers showed up, MSNBC started to make their Great Slow Pivot, as we all knew they would, spotlighting Elizabeth Warren (twice) and Kirsten Gillibrand on prime time shows. The Obama people are not going stick with Hillary.
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Fran, perhaps you should change your name to “fran against obama” since it fits you better.
I think the fog of Fox news and the propaganda artists are clouding the thinking of many.
Thanks still4hill. I am ready for Hillary and my bumper sticker will go on as soon as it arrives. My moniker hasn’t changed since 08.
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I am finally getting the Superstorm Sandy damage to my car repaired next week, and I guess that means my 08 and Hillary 2012 stickers will be gone since it needs a coat of paint. Well, I had the foresight to get extra 08 ones back then and have my ready for Hillary one on order.
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franforhillary, I will let others speak for themselves as they can do a much better job of it than I, but can assure you there is no shortage of “critical thinking” skills here.
As for me, I’m sticking by Hillary, the person I consider the leader of our time. I won’t rehash the past here, but suffice to say I can’t stand MSNBC, rarely watch it. Started watching FOX in 2008 and now watch all the various stations you mentioned above and read a variety of articles from diverse sites.
If you are upset because of Hillary’s “outburst” during her congressional hearing and want to write her off in your mind from now on, then that is your right.
I, on the other hand, have chosen to stand by her. Hate me. Could she have chosen to use different words when asked that particular question? Perhaps, but no politician nor person is perfect in what they say or do every single second of every single day. To me, Hillary Clinton has more than proved her worthiness as a person and a leader based on her actions throughout her life.
As far as Obama goes, didn’t vote for him, don’t like him, trust him or any of his inner circle. Had mixed feelings when Hillary accepted the Secretary of State position, but came to believe it was a positive step for her and the nation. Should she decide to run for President, I will work as hard as I can to help her get elected. Should she choose to do something else, I will do the same.
If that makes me a “cult follower”, guess I’ll plead guilty. To paraphrase Hillary, herself…I sure like the company.
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Maddie!!!!!Thank you for putting in words what I think and feel about the Benghazi mess.I’m with Hillary forever, she’s not perfect, has made mistakes, but she’s the most extraordinary leader of my life time….and I sure love the company,too!!
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🙂
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btw, thomas pickering will be on three of the sunday news shows. good. he should’ve been allowed to testify at the issa hearing last week.
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He offered. Issa declined. Any question that this is political manuvering?
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Plus, we’ve got Dick Cheney shooting off his mouth and Karl Rove running anti-Hillary ads.
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Those icons of truth, justice, and the American way!
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Lol
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what a waste of money. what’s the point of rove bashing hillary now when we don’t even know if she’s going to run?
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Preemptive strike – his pattern. Strike Iraq before they nuke us. Strike Hillary before she nukes them.
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i guess they think this’ll work – even though it never has before.
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Fear…they are afraid of her, plain and simple…if she runs, she will win and then they will be in deep doo doo because their games will be cut short.
BTW – this cracked me up…
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This too!
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/05/fox-new-evidence-hillary-killed-lincoln.html
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Lol…I saw that too… liked how SNL also mocked the overtly dramatized nature of the hearings in the opening skit.
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OMG! Genius! Using the very, very bright smartmouth sociopath Jodi Arias. “If you know who did it, why are you having hearings?” That was excellent!
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Funny!!
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LOL!
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Still, thanks for this article. The Hillary Haters want to keep repeating lies and half-truths until they’re accepted as fact. As tragic as the Benghazi incident was, the Republicans who claim to be so outraged and concerned about getting to the truth are primarily interested using it against Hillary.
No surprise about the Obamadems trying to blame it on Hillary, either – we saw their true colors in 2008. They haven’t faded much.
Maddie, you rock! I totally agree with your post!!
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They are so overplaying their hand.
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Especially Chaffetz, choking up the way he did when he voted to remove hundreds of millions from her security budget. House Appropriations is the real culprit here.
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That’s exactly right, freespirit. That is exactly what is going on. And, yes, Maddie totally rocks!
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Gosh, you guys…I just stopped back by here. Since my mother’s day wasn’t that great, nice to read that somebody thinks I “rock”.. 🙂 🙂
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Sorry your Mother’s Day wasn’t so nice. But we think you’re great! 🙂
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This is all about 2016. The Republicans are terrified that Hillary’s polls are so high that she would win against anyone they throw at her. So they think that Benghazi is the perfect excuse to soil her.
The Baggers have so little to go on that they are latching on to the attack on Benghazi as if their political lives depend on it. They are a dying party, with their racism and sexism they may never win the minority and women’s vote.
This too will die down because, like Obama said, there’s no “there” there. The worst that the administration can be faulted for was the many edits to the talking points. I guess these folks never had to write talking points on anything, it’s no shock that they were edited 12 times. As anyone with a legal background can tell you, edits are very common and sometimes a document can be amended dozens of times before its final approval.
Their most serious accusation is that the administration sent no help. The military has said that there was no team nearby to send, Hicks opinion notwithstanding.
I hate the mob mentality of the Right. The Tea Party Congress people are rabid fanatics (who elected these worms?). Cheney has a lot of nerve to suggest that Congress should subpoena Hillary. He should be in jail. Pat Smith (the mother of one of the dead men) blames Hillary for his death and yesterday wished her a “Happy Mother’s Day” saying that she had her child while her son was dead thanks to Hillary. Sen. Inhofe suggested that Hillary’s emotion at the hearing was faked and that her “forceful attitude” was usually not heard from women. Sexist much?
They can all go to hell, as far as I’m concerned. I’m only sure of one thing, if Hillary does choose to run, she will win. Enough with the RW bullcrap!!!
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I went through 14 drafts of this post. That is average for everything I write. People who do not go through drafts turn in sloppy text. I try not to be sloppy. People who try to be precise go through drafts. It’s normal. The GOP is setting a terrible example for students!
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Exactly. Also, most of these people are lawyers and any lawyer worth his/her salt knows that one word can change the whole meaning of a document.
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Karen Finney on Now w/ Alex Wagner talked about having had to drive one of these efforts and called it “a pain in the ass.” She said everyone wants their sentence their way. It reminded me of going through this process wordsmithing a mission statement for our department. Only 25 people and we went through many, many more than 12 drafts – in comparison, 12 is miraculous. We may have gone through three times that number before we arrived at something everyone could “live with.” That was the criterion – what we all could live with.
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