When foreign policy comes up at the debates this cycle, on one side we hear one thing: ISIS ISIS ISIS. On the other side the refrain begins with the dreaded, notorious, and monotonous Iraq War Vote, and then Bernie Sanders wanders over the rainbow to a land where Saudi Arabia and Iran team up like munchkins and flying monkeys to assure the defeat of terrorism in that region by throwing a bucket of water on ISIS.
Ted Cruz has raised this issue, but somehow it never quite makes it into the meat of the debate. Donald Trump, of course, intends to crush China by any means necessary.
The truth is, there is a means to combat this aggression right at our fingertips and nothing is being done to implement it. Here is the issue:
Beijing’s provocative move to put sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles on little Woody Island breaks previous promises and invites retaliation.
China deployed its advanced HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island in the South China Sea sometime in the first half of this month, Pentagon officials have revealed. Images of the missiles were released yesterday by various news organizations, and Taiwan’s defense ministry confirmed the reports.
The Chinese deployment breaks a series of pledges Beijing made to the United States and the international community, one as recently as last month by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Secretary of State John Kerry during Kerry’s trip to Beijing.
The missile deployments will destabilize the already troubled South China Sea, and the situation there could deteriorate fast as various nations, including the United States, introduce military assets in response to Beijing’s rapid build-up.
Long ago, back in 2008 before the election, those who were laying the groundwork for the emergence of the Tea Party spoke in hushed, dire tones about the “Law of the Sea Treaty” (LOST) as if it were some alien conspiracy to divest the United States of certain powers and options. The opposite was and is true.
As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton foresaw some probabilities on the foreign stage. One was the Arab Spring. She warned the Arab elders at Forum for the Future two years in a row that alienation from participation and unemployment were severe problems boiling beneath the surface among their populations. Hillary did not cause the Arab Spring. She predicted trouble if inclusion and jobs were not prioritized by leadership. She listened to their civil societies, perceived the growing unrest, and warned.
Hillary also knew that ratification of LOST was important and urgent. Here is how she introduced a plea for ratification.
I am well aware that this treaty does have determined opposition, limited but nevertheless quite vociferous. And it’s unfortunate because it’s opposition based in ideology and mythology, not in facts, evidence, or the consequences of our continuing failure to accede to the treaty. So I think you’ll hear, from both Secretary Panetta and General Dempsey as well as myself, further statements and information that really reinforces the very strong points that both of you have made.We believe that it is imperative to act now. No country is better served by this convention than the United States. As the world’s foremost maritime power, we benefit from the convention’s favorable freedom of navigation provisions. As the country with the world’s second longest coastline, we benefit from its provisions on offshore natural resources. As a country with an exceptionally large area of seafloor, we benefit from the ability to extend our continental shelf, and the oil and gas rights on that shelf. As a global trading power, we benefit from the mobility that the convention accords to all commercial ships. And as the only country under this treaty that was given a permanent seat on the group that will make decisions about deep seabed mining, we will be in a unique position to promote our interests.
(The “opposition based in ideology and mythology” Hillary referred to was, in fact GOP and specifically Tea Party opposition, making it odd that it is Ted Cruz alone who occasionally brings the South China Sea to the table.)
And there was this.
Now as a non-party to the convention, we rely – we have to rely – on what is called customary international law as a legal basis for invoking and enforcing these norms. But in no other situation at which – in which our security interests are at stake do we consider customary international law good enough to protect rights that are vital to the operation of the United States military. So far we’ve been fortunate, but our navigational rights and our ability to challenge other countries’ behavior should stand on the firmest and most persuasive legal footing available, including in critical areas such as the South China Sea.
I’m sure you have followed the claims countries are making in the South China Sea. Although we do not have territory there, we have vital interests, particularly freedom of navigation. And I can report from the diplomatic trenches that as a party to the convention, we would have greater credibility in invoking the convention’s rules and a greater ability to enforce them.
Most will not remember that later in 2012, as Dems were gathering to renominate Barack Obama in Charlotte, Hillary was on her way to an ASEAN Summit where issues in the South China Sea would be at the forefront.
BRISBANE, Australia — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling for Southeast Asian states to present a united front to the Chinese in dealing with territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
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She wants “to strengthen ASEAN unity going forward,” a senior U.S. official told reporters on board Clinton’s plane as she flew from the Cook Islands to Australia for a brief refueling stop en route to Indonesia.
Issues in the South China Sea would be far more easily settled if the United States were to assume its leadership position at the table as the world’s leading maritime power. This is an issue Hillary carries in her back pocket, and it has yet to arise in any question at a town hall or debate. Here is what happened the last time LOST came up for a vote.
Readers here know, it’s right there in the sidebar, the importance Hillary Clinton invested in ratification of the Law of the Sea Treat (LOST). She testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 23 of this year calling ratification “urgent” if the U.S. is to have equal footing on a level playing field in conflicts arising over jurisdictions with regard to offshore drilling and mining. Ratification would permit us to extend our own continental shelf 200 miles – we have four of them! But Rachel Maddow last hour reported, as her blog explains, that the GOP has likely killed the ratification that would have boosted our economy and strengthened our position both in the global economy and militarily on the high seas. According to the blog post, the last two “nails in the coffin” were Senators Rob Portman and Kelly Ayotte – names in the news as possible Veep choices for Mitt Romney. Goes to show you, the Republicans can be transparent … it is possible. Stunning considering the long list of Republicans who supported ratification. Ambition, apparently knows no party loyalty – or common sense!
If President Obama looked a little haggard when he spoke to the press today, it was not all about Congress stonewalling a SCOTUS nomination. Guess where he was! And guess what they were talking about!
President Barack Obama, center, speaks at the plenary session meeting of ASEAN, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, at the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for Monday, Feb. 15, 2016. Sitting with Obama are Laos’ president, Choummaly Sayasone, left, and Brunei’s sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, right. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
A fair town hall or debate question at any and all events this week should address foreign policy on a broader scale than the Middle East. The South China Sea may be on the other side of the globe, but what happens there affects us all. Only one candidate knows what needs to be done.
How ironic and extraordinarily well-planned that around 11:30 last night on NBC a trailer popped up for a movie that will not be released until January 15. What a supreme coincidence that the subject of the movie is the terrorist attacks on the U.S. compounds in Benghazi. Many will cite moments from the hearing, but the real WTF moment occurred after it ended with the appearance of the trailer for this movie.
The trailer appeared a little more than 13 hours from the moment Hillary Clinton commenced her testimony before the House Select committee. Disturbing. What is the basis for this movie? Like Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, it is billed as “based on a true story,” but there is a subtle difference between “a true story” and “based on a true story.”
Since I had never heard such a movie was in production and had never heard of the book on which it is based, I, of course, googled and found this.
Politicians, bloggers and social-media users bemoan ‘typical action movie all about American heroism’ that paints locals as ‘fanatical and ignorant’
Furious Libyans have criticised a Michael Bay movie about the fatal 2012 attack on the US embassy in Benghazi for playing up the heroism of American soldiers and ignoring the contribution of local people.
The first trailer for Bay’s action thriller 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi has caused uproar in Libya’s second-largest city after it was circulated on social media, with government officials, bloggers and Facebook users lining up to criticise the film.
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The US release of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, which stars John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, Max Martini, Toby Stephens and Pablo Schreiber, has also been caught up in controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s current US presidential run. Clinton, who was US secretary of state at the time of the Benghazi attack, has been accused by Republicans of using a private email account to conduct government business during the period. The January release of Bay’s film, two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, constitutes poor timing in terms of the former first lady’s campaign – especially if Bay’s film proves a big hit at the box office.
Those who purchased the air time at NBC arguably had no way to know how long yesterday’s testimony would last. Had clock-watcher nonpareil Linda Sanchez not asked how late the proceedings were going to continue last night, we all might still have been tuned to C-SPAN, and I would not have seen the trailer. Linda remained conscientiously within her allotted time throughout while the chairman routinely allowed Republicans to go well beyond – often by more than four minutes. We can speculate that had Lynn Westmoreland been allowed another round, he again would have asked why the secretary did not send in FEST, and Hillary would have retained her consistently patient demeanor and explained again that he misunderstood what FEST is and does. She clearly was prepared to stay as long as necessary.
Given that some Republicans appeared to think another round of questions was coming, it seemed a little abrupt and anti-climactic when Trey Gowdy suddenly called the session to a close as it was about to enter the 12th hour. Sort of like he waved a white flag. “We surrender, Hillary! We cannot outlast you or trip you up.”
Until I saw the trailer, I did not realize how close the hearing came to the duration of the attacks. I am pretty sure Hillary and many committee members were aware of that. As for the background of this movie, its accuracy, intent, and the money behind it, there are many questions. If all we know right now is that residents of Benghazi are angered, that is enough to arouse suspicion since we all remember that it was the Libyans who found Chris Stevens and moved him to a hospital. They knew him and liked him, and if they are insulted by this film, something here rankles.
That the release comes in the eleventh hour before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries implies a nefarious intent and yet another shameful use of this tragedy as a political tool.
Somehow I can predict that this post will go largely ignored while everyone celebrates Hillary’s great week with “This Girl’s on Fire!” posters. Fiddling while Rome burns. We need to get to the bottom of this movie mystery.
Within minutes, Michael Bay was trending on Twitter. Fortunately, many tweets were about how fishy this convergence was but not all were negative by a long shot.
Hillary knows what she has to do tomorrow and long has known what she wants to say in her testimony to the House Select Committee on Benghazi. She has not been campaigning this week and probably is reviewing briefs and papers that the State Department has provided to the committee.
Most of us will be as glued to various-sized screens watching the proceedings as time and work permit. In case you feel you need to brush up on any of the information related to the Select committee’s investigation, Correct the Record has put together a handy guide for your convenience.
Just saying, it would have been nice if Appropriations had granted the State Department an unlimited budget for embassy security in 2011 and 2012 rather than cutting those budget figures, but that’s just me.
Clearly, a great deal of what the State Department could and could not do to increase security, if indeed headquarters was notified of such a need, rested not in the hands of the department itself, but rather in the hands of the same body that is now calling the secretary and her department to task, the House of Representatives and specifically, the Appropriations Committee.
Try as they might to somehow blame the Secretary of State for not adequately protecting her colleagues, the Republican Tea Party House has blood on its hands and should be called to task as well. We should not forget their role in this going forward.
Remember that the right sidebar here contains links to the complete unclassified Accountability Review Board report and the cover letter that accompanied to to Congress in late 2012 when a good number of the recommendations in that report had already been implemented. This remains the seminal document covering the events of September 11, 2012.
Hillary Clinton testifies before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, which is investigating the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate there, in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others died.
Hillary is on Capitol Hill today, testifying in front of the House Select Benghazi Committee. Here’s what it’s all about.
What happened in Benghazi
On September 11, 2012, a group of Islamic militia members attacked a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya. Four Americans were killed in the terrorist attack: U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glenn Doherty, and Tyrone Woods.
For Hillary, who was serving as secretary of state at the time, the tragedy is personal. She was the one who had asked the late Chris Stevens to serve as ambassador to Libya. She was with President Obama at Andrews Air Force Base when Marines brought home the caskets of the four Americans. Anyone who knows Hillary knows she isn’t the kind of person to stand around wringing her hands after a tragedy—she leapt into action immediately to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.
The Benghazi Committee is the eighth—yes, eighth—congressional review of the tragedy.
The events in Benghazi have been scrutinized by countless panels, news organizations, and government agencies. After the attack, Hillary set up a nonpartisan panel known as the Accountability Review board (ARB) to investigate. The panel made dozens of recommendations for improvement. By the time Hillary left office, every single reform was on its way to being implemented.
After the ARB, seven congressional panels have also completed investigations. Five were led by Republicans. None found any wrongdoing. But even with these conclusive findings, House Republicans approved an unlimited budget—yup, we’re talking about your taxpayer dollars—for an eighth congressional review. Enter the House Select Benghazi Committee.
The House Select Benghazi Committee has one goal.
Now, if you’re wondering why Republicans are still at it even after the thorough reviews—or if you’re thinking that sounds a little fishy—you’re onto something. Over the past few weeks, a number of key Republicans—from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to New York’s Rep. Richard Hanna—have copped to the truth about why this committee was established in the first place: to “go after” Hillary Clinton and to hurt her presidential candidacy. A whistleblower has even come forward to say that he was fired because he objected to how partisan the inquiry was.
Trey Gowdy, the chair of the committee, has predicted the probe will continue well into 2016. Their aim is clear: hurt Hillary’s chances of winning the presidential election. And for those of you who are curious, no, the committee has not been able to produce any new facts about the attack.
What you’ll hear today
“No one wants to find out what happened more than I do.”
Hillary, October 24, 2012
Hillary’s first priority is to get to the bottom of what happened in Benghazi. That’s the right thing to do—and the way to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s why she has already testified on Capitol Hill about the tragedy (twice, in fact), and she has been asking to testify before the this committee for more than a year so that the public can hear her answers.
Republicans, on the other hand, are going to exploit whatever they can to mislead voters about Hillary’s record. They’ll grill her about emails and anything else they can think of to discredit her.
But here’s what Hillary is going to do: stay focused, clarify the facts, and offer some lessons that we can learn to protect Americans going forward. The men and women who serve our country deserve nothing less.
So Jason Chaffetz wants (and gets!) an apology from the Secret Service for disclosing details related to his rejected application to join the force, but the newly transparent Republican Party feels no such compunction to apologize to Hillary Clinton for investing $4.5 million and more than a year trying to damage Hillary’s reputation. That, of course, was the purpose of the committee, and when it was articulated by majority leader and Speaker-in-waiting, Kevin McCarthy, the remark was intended as an indication of success in getting stuff done by the majority party.
In the public interest, this is what your $4.5 million tax dollars have gone to finance.
The Select Committee on Benghazi has a website. These are the members.
On May 8, 2014, the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 567, Providing for the Establishment of the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi, Libya. (Roll Call Vote 209)
The Select Committee is authorized and directed to conduct a full and complete investigation and study and issue a final report of its findings to the House regarding–
All policies, decisions, and activities that contributed to the attacks on United States facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012, as well as those that affected the ability of the United States to prepare for the attacks;
All policies, decisions, and activities to respond to and repel the attacks on United States facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012, including efforts to rescue United States personnel;
Internal and public executive branch communications about the attacks on United States facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012;
Accountability for policies and decisions related to the security of facilities in Benghazi, Libya, and the response to the attacks, including individuals and entities responsible for those policies and decisions;
Executive branch authorities’ efforts to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012;
Executive branch activities and efforts to comply with Congressional inquiries into the attacks on United States facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012;
Recommendations for improving executive branch cooperation and compliance with congressional oversight and investigations;
Information related to lessons learned from the attacks and executive branch activities and efforts to protect United States facilities and personnel abroad; and
Any other relevant issues relating to the attacks, the response to the attacks, or the investigation by the House of Representatives into the attacks.
Number 9 looks like a catch-all item meant to license anything related in any kind of webby way, and, of course, “relevant” is not defined and obviously is left to the discretion of members.
H.Res. 567 authorizes and directs the Select Committee to conduct a full and complete investigation and study of the events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi and issue a final report of its findings to the House.
The non classified versions of this final report, as well as any interim reports, will be published on this page.
Republicans are tripping all over their own feet trying to walk back McCarthy’s assertion. Three hearings, none since January 27, and one interim report from May that is 15 pages long – that is what $4.5 million have bought. Ten hearings have been canceled according to the July 15 letter from committee Democrats to the chairman.
In contrast, the current status of the Warren Commission Report is about 900 pages with 26 volumes of supporting material. More will be released in 2017.
Has there been any Congressional endeavor as dysfunctional, wasteful, and disingenuous? The only real inaccuracy in McCarthy’s statement is the damage to Hillary Clinton’s image. We have known all along that the committee had a political mission and that Hillary was the target. The truth is that despite their expensive, extended efforts she is looking very good!
McCarthy’s candidness is as refreshing as the toothpaste Republicans are trying to get back into the tube. We just don’t want to buy any more toothpaste right now.
Hillary registers her distress. I register my frustration. Apparently it is not NEWS until we get it from a Republican. Democrats (and I) have been shouting into the wind evidently all these years. The evidence has been clear all along. Just go back to yesterday’s post up there to see↑↑↑↑↑↑↑↑.
“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.”
– House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy 09/30/15
Hillary registered her distress speaking with Reverend Al on Politics Nation. The interview will air Sunday morning.
SHARPTON: Let me raise another issue. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, he said this week, quote — I’m quoting him — “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers Friday? What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.” That’s the quote.
CLINTON: Um-hmm.
SHARPTON: You’re expected to testify before the Benghazi Committee on October 22. What’s your response to McCarthy’s comments?
CLINTON: I have to tell you, I find them deeply distressing. I knew the ambassador that we lost in Benghazi. Along with him, we lost three other brave Americans who were representing us in a very dangerous part of the world.
There have already been eight investigations in the Congress. One independent investigation. We have learned all we can learn about what we need to do to protect our diplomats and our other civilians and we need to be enforcing and implementing those changes, which is what I started and what Secretary Kerry has continued.
So when I hear a statement like that, which demonstrates unequivocally that this was always meant to be a partisan political exercise, I feel like it does a grave disservice and dishonors not just the memory of the four that we lost, but of everybody who has served our country.
We’ve had lots of different situations, as you know so well. We’ve had embassies run over. We’ve had them blown up under Ronald Reagan, under Bill Clinton. We’ve had lots of attacks where we lost Americans or foreigners working for America, under George W. Bush. We can go back and there’s a wall in the State Department, there’s a wall in the CIA where we lost those civilians we lost.
It’s never been turned into a partisan political battle by the majority in Congress the way the Republicans in this Congress have done. And I just wish that they would really start tending to the people’s business, deal with the many problems that we face and figure out how we’re going to move our country forward.
You know, I — I really regret the way that they have treated this serious matter.
SHARPTON: There’s a lot of cynicism, a lot of people don’t trust what’s going on in government. Does this add to it, when you hear a statement by the majority leader? Does this add to the kind of cynicism that many of us are trying to counter?
CLINTON: I think it does. I mean when this happened, I immediately said, I want an independent review board. I want to know everything that we could have done differently. I want to change the procedures. I took responsibility because I wanted us to get to the bottom of what we could understand about that attack.
And that’s been my position from the very beginning. When I was asked to testify before this committee, it was after a year of my asking to go testify, because I said I’d be willing to go. I hope they actually ask me about Benghazi and what happened and what we need to do better to protect our people while we still are in dangerous parts of the world.
After Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) admitted that Republicans lied about the purpose of the Benghazi investigation, several top Democrats are calling out the House Republicans’ abuse of power and calling for an immediate end to the investigation
SNIP
The ranking member of the Select Committee on Benghazi, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said, “This stunning concession from Rep. McCarthy reveals the truth that Republicans never dared admit in public: the core Republican goal in establishing the Benghazi Committee was always to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and never to conduct an even-handed search for the facts. It is shameful that Republicans have used this tragedy and the deaths of our fellow Americans for political gain. Republicans have blatantly abused their authority in Congress by spending more than $4.5 million in taxpayer funds to pay for a political campaign against Hillary Clinton.”
SNIP
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) called for an immediate end to the Benghazi investigation and for Republicans to apologize to the families of the Benghazi victims, “Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled the curtain back on the true purpose of the Select Committee on Benghazi – not to get the facts – but instead as a political ploy against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This stunning admission shows a gross misuse of millions in taxpayer dollars for a purely political purpose. I believe it is time to end this investigation and for Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader McCarthy, and Chairman Trey Gowdy to apologize to the families of the four Americans who died during the attack and the American people for abusing the memories of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.”
WASHINGTON — Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics, challenged Congress and by extension the mightiest nation in the world on Thursday to break out of its cycle of paralysis and use its power to heal the “open wounds” of a planet torn by hatred, greed, poverty and pollution.
Taking a rostrum never before occupied by the bishop of Rome, Francis issued a vigorous call to action to lawmakers who have spent years stalemated over major issues and even now are days away from a potential government shutdown in a dispute over the moral boundaries of federal spending.
WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner, an Ohio barkeeper’s son who rode a conservative wave to one of the highest positions in government, said Friday he would relinquish his gavel and resign from Congress, undone by the very Republicans who swept him into power.
Mr. Boehner, 65, made the announcement in an emotional meeting with his fellow Republicans on Friday morning as lawmakers struggled to avert a government shutdown next week, a possibility made less likely by his decision.
WASHINGTON — House conservatives, fearful that the post-John A. Boehner era of leadership may look more like a modestly renovated old house than a newly built one, have begun to cast about for one of their own to join the upper ranks: the head of the committee that has been ripping into Hillary Rodham Clinton for well over a year.
Yes, that Trey Gowdy! It is hard to know whether this script could be more absurd if Samuel Beckett had written it. An element of drama is suspension of disbelief. But this is not dramatic fiction. This is taking place in our Capitol, and it is very real.
There is no question as to whom Gowdy has been targeting. He has twisted and contorted himself every which way like Brody on that crane hook to aim at Hillary Clinton. Like a mouse in a maze he has tried every avenue. Now his Tea Party partisans want to place him in the leadership position.
You cannot make this stuff up. We can never put the absurd past the Republicans. I know this hits you like an “And now this” segment from John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight. It should. Like everything in those segments, this is actually happening.
There is only one explanation for an option so extreme. They fear Hillary Clinton. It is as pathetic as it is possible.
If it were not obvious from the outset, guess what? The political nature of the Benghazi Select Committee is gaining notice! Wow! It has taken only three years and a wasted $4.5 million not to find out what went wrong so that we can prevent similar attacks in the future. Correct the Recordshared this today, for those who need a picture.
But we have known it all along. We knew it less than a month after the attacks when the House Oversight Committee accused State Department officials of a political agenda.
Representatives Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz of the House Oversight Committee, on October 2, sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a letter listing attacks in Libya over the six months prior to the deadly September 11 attack on our Benghazi consulate.
Today was the first public session of the House Committee Oversight and Government Reform hearings on diplomatic security in Libya. In closing today’s more than four-hour long session, chairman Darrell Issa noted that although this is an election year, his committee wants to find out what went wrong in Benghazi in order to prevent it from happening anywhere again. If you buy that, I have a bridge for sale.
His admonishing tone, suggesting members of the panel might have an election year agenda, was startlingly inappropriate.
Resoundingly missing from the cover of the Interim Progress Report on the Benghazi, Libya consulate attack published yesterday by the House Republican Conference is the name Harold Rogers (R-KY), chairman of the House Appropriations committee that twice slashed the State Department’s diplomatic security budget. That committee was apparently excused from reporting to the conference in the zealous crusade being waged by Tea Party Republicans, led by Darryl Issa and Jason Chaffetz, to pin blame on then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Issa’s name is listed as a co-author of the report while Media Matters reports that Chaffetz appeared with Megyn Kelly to discuss the report released to great hullabaloo in right-wing circles.
In astoundingly transparent fashion, the Republicans on the Select Committee on Benghazi have abandoned all pretense plans for investigating departments and agencies outside the State Department and individuals other than Hillary Clinton.
An article in The Hill today reveals a letter from Select Committee Democrats to their GOP counterparts accusing them of refitting the objectives of the committee from inquiry and prevention into a political weapon aimed at the former secretary of state. Thank you, Karen Finney, for sharing this because regardless of what “we all knew all along,” here is the evidence. In the end evidence is all that really counts. It is our only weapon.
Following the attack on the U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, Hillary Clinton, then Secretary of State, convened, as required by law, an Accountability Review Board (ARB). It was the 12th ARB to have been convened since the law was established. The ARB submitted their report to her, and on December 18, 2013, Hillary Clinton submitted the board’s classified and unclassified reports along with a cover letter to Congress while recovering from serious health issues at home.
Both documents were made available here at the time and remain available in the sidebar on the right. In the wake of their publication, I posted sections of the report in small portions on Facebook. Several friends thought that was a good way to make the information available.
Apparently in response to demands from the House Oversight and Reform Committee, the State Department Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently conducted a review of ARBs and issued that report this week. Four former secretaries of state, including Hillary Clinton, were interviewed in the process of conducting this review. As I have been reading through it I have found some items that deserve to be brought to the fore in light of criticisms that have been lodged against Hillary.
As for accusations that the ARB was somehow covering information to protect Secretary Clinton.
P 1 ¶ 1 The Accountability Review Board process operates as intended—independently and without bias—to identify vulnerabilities in the Department of State’s security programs.
Then, of course there is the accusation that Hillary, herself, appointed board.
P 6 ¶ 1 ARB membership consists of five individuals. The Secretary names four members, and the Director of National Intelligence names the remaining member.
Darrell Issa and his minions who have railed and roiled since the ARB did not interview Hillary Clinton. Here is the record. The emphasis is mine.
P 14 ¶ 6 None of the 12 ARBs interviewed the Secretary to ascertain her/his role in the events leading up to the incident under review. ARB members interviewed by the OIG team stated that after reviewing documentation, they did not find reason to interview the Secretary; rather, the ARBs focused their inquiries at the operational levels of the Department responsible for implementing and overseeing security policies and programs. ARB members were unanimous in saying that they felt empowered to interview anyone, including the Secretary, as the facts or events warranted.
Hillary submitted the ARB reports, both classified and unclassified, and made the unclassified report public. The day she testified before Congress it appeared that there were those (Republicans) in both houses who had not familiarized themselves with the contents of the reports. This is especially egregious negligence on their part since she was not required to submit the actual reports but did so nonetheless. She, in fact, went above and beyond the call of duty in providing the documents since all she was actually required to do was provide her own report to Congress based on these reports. Instead, she sent them all of the information gathered by the ARB, something she did not have to do.
P 17 ¶ 1The Secretary has a legislated mandate to submit a report to Congress on each recommendation but is not required to forward to Congress a copy of the ARB report itself. The Department submitted the ARB reports on the Nairobi/Dar es Salaam and the Benghazi attacks to Congress in their entirety. Because the recommendations in these reports were so far-reaching and had such significant resource implications, the Secretary considered it important that the findings be shared with both houses of Congress. In the other 10 ARB investigations reviewed, the secretaries’ reports to Congress provided a summary of the key elements of the ARB report, transmitted the ARB’s recommendations for action, and informed Congress of the Department’s response to those recommendations. The OIG team’s review of the secretaries’ reports to Congress over the last 14 years indicated that they accurately conveyed the key elements of the ARB reports.
Should I, as I continue reading the report, find additional information to shed clear light and offer evidence of Hillary’s transparency on issues at the center of the Tea Party Benghazi obsession, I will be certain to share them.
The bottom line, of course, is that Hillary followed the letter of the law and went beyond by providing the ARB report in two forms when that was not required. She is above reproach in this review process while the Tea Party Republicans show no respect for law or order in this case or in their current attempts to bring the country to its knees over a law (the Affordable Care Act) that, while not perfect, is helpful to many and thus good. Instead of tweaking the imperfections of the law and improving what we have (their job), they would prefer to drive us to insolvency for purely partisan reasons.
Their war against Hillary and their strategy of pulling the emergency brake on the whole country because of a law they do not like although the country re-elected the president who signed it are shameful and unconscionable.
As we know, Hillary will receive the Liberty Medal from Jeb Bush at Constitution Hall in Philadelphia this evening. Although none of the C-SPAN schedules currently show an airing of the event, it is possible to view the proceedings here.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton receives the the National Constitution Center’s 2013 Liberty Medal. The medal, which honors leaders who promote liberty around the globe, is delivered by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), NCC chair.
Tea Partiers are predictably berserk over this decision on Bush’s part given today’s date. We would remind them that Tea Party Republicans had a major role in reducing funds available for embassy security and that 2012 was not the only year that saw an attack on Americans on September 11. As New York Senator, Hillary Clinton fought hard for the families of those lost in the attacks on the twin towers as well as for health care for first responders who suffered devastating illnesses from working for many months on “the pile” which burned into mid-February 2002.
Senator Clinton with the 9/11 Families’ Association
By Marian Fontana
I still find it difficult to look at Ground Zero without getting emotional; however, the window in our office overlooking the site seemed like a fitting place to start our meeting with the Senator on March 6th. Our loved ones were in the forefront of Vice President Lee Ielpi’s mind as he pointed out to the Senator where his son Jonathan was found, emphasizing the painful reality that over, forty percent of the families have received nothing of their loved ones remains.
(New York-WABC, December 18, 2006) (WABC) — Senator Hillary Clinton is putting new pressure on the White House to address health concerns of ground zero workers.
Senator Clinton says the program that monitors and treats 9/11 first responders and workers could run out of money by this summer.
She wants President Bush to put more money into the program when he presents his next budget.
“We are worried that the medical treatment that has begun, finally, after years of effort and many obstacles along the way will run out of money starting this summer,” Clinton said, “so that the people who are finally being treated for the many symptoms of their chronic conditions due to 9/11 exposures will once again be left out in the cold.”
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will award former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday with the 2013 Liberty Medal and defends it as part of a shared interest in the “importance of civic engagement.”
The potential opponents in the 2016 presidential election come together as Bush presents Clinton with the award at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to honor her lifelong career in public service and her ongoing advocacy efforts on behalf of women and girls around the globe. Bush is chairman of the National Constitutional Center.
“While Secretary Clinton and I disagree on many issues, we certainly agree on the importance of civic engagement,” Bush said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
When you do read more of the above article, you see that a Tea Party affiliate will be holding a competing event naming an alternate choice for the honor.
As if all of this were not sufficient to make Philadelphia simply explode tonight, the Ready for Hillary Super PAC will be holding a rally simultaneously at Finnegan’s Wake.
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013
As Hillary Clinton receives the Liberty Medal Tuesday night, supporters will gather at a rally by the super PAC Ready for Hillary to celebrate the group’s efforts to encourage her to run for president in 2016.
The event is at Finnigan’s Wake, the popular bar/event hall at 3rd and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. The event begins at 6:30 p.m.
Read moreravel Deals $249 — NY: Lake Placid ‘World’s Best’ Suite, Reg. $407 See all travel deals » Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013, 10:09 AM As Hillary Clinton receives the Liberty Medal Tuesday night, supporters will gather at a rally by the super PAC Ready for Hillary to celebrate the group’s efforts to encourage her to run for president in 2016. The event is at Finnigan’s Wake, the popular bar/event hall at 3rd and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. The event begins at 6:30 p.m.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/big_tent/Details-on-tonights-rally-for-Hillary.html#kMeR18H5Rl71rE5E.99
Travel Deals $249 — NY: Lake Placid ‘World’s Best’ Suite, Reg. $407 See all travel deals » Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013, 10:09 AM As Hillary Clinton receives the Liberty Medal Tuesday night, supporters will gather at a rally by the super PAC Ready for Hillary to celebrate the group’s efforts to encourage her to run for president in 2016. The event is at Finnigan’s Wake, the popular bar/event hall at 3rd and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. The event begins at 6:30 p.m.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/big_tent/Details-on-tonights-rally-for-Hillary.html#kMeR18H5Rl71rE5E.99
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013, 10:09 AM As Hillary Clinton receives the Liberty Medal Tuesday night, supporters will gather at a rally by the super PAC Ready for Hillary to celebrate the group’s efforts to encourage her to run for president in 2016. The event is at Finnigan’s Wake, the popular bar/event hall at 3rd and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. The event begins at 6:30 p.m.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/big_tent/Details-on-tonights-rally-for-Hillary.html#kMeR18H5Rl71rE5E.99
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013, 10:09 AM As Hillary Clinton receives the Liberty Medal Tuesday night, supporters will gather at a rally by the super PAC Ready for Hillary to celebrate the group’s efforts to encourage her to run for president in 2016. The event is at Finnigan’s Wake, the popular bar/event hall at 3rd and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. The event begins at 6:30 p.m.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/big_tent/Details-on-tonights-rally-for-Hillary.html#kMeR18H5Rl71rE5E.99
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013, 10:09 AM As Hillary Clinton receives the Liberty Medal Tuesday night, supporters will gather at a rally by the super PAC Ready for Hillary to celebrate the group’s efforts to encourage her to run for president in 2016. The event is at Finnigan’s Wake, the popular bar/event hall at 3rd and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. The event begins at 6:30 p.m.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/big_tent/Details-on-tonights-rally-for-Hillary.html#kMeR18H5Rl71rE5E.99
The local broadcast of the medal ceremony will be shown at the rally.
Congratulations, Mme. Secretary! We are so happy for this high recognition of your dedicated service!
Speaking at a town hall meeting on Wednesday, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) claimed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “screamed at a member of Congress” two days after the Benghazi attack for daring to classify the tragedy as terrorism.
The alleged incident occurred during a briefing just two days after four Americans were killed in a fiery assault on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya.
“Two days after this attack we were in a briefing with Hillary Clinton and she screamed at a member of Congress who’d dare suggest that this was a terrorist attack,” Kinzinger told constituents in Rochelle, Ill., on Wednesday. ”Now we find out that while it was happening they knew it was a terrorist attack. These are answers, we are going to get to the bottom of this.”
A few things did not ring true. First was that two days after the attack no such hearing was on her schedule. Second was the use of the verb “scream.” It is not that it is unimaginable that Hillary might raise her voice – but “scream?” Certainly, even from a closed hearing, some word of her “screaming” would have leaked somehow. Third, even a closed hearing would have appeared on her schedule, and there was none that week.
Yesterday, Hillary’s spokesperson, Nick Merrill, came back at the story thus.
Nick Merrill, a Clinton aide, provided the following statement to The Hill on the condition that it be run in its entirety.“Here are the facts: on September 20th, 2012, nine days after the attack – not two as he falsely stated – Secretary Clinton was part of two large briefings held for the benefit of all 535 Members of Congress.
Hundreds of House members were present for their session, and more than 90 Senators attended theirs. On January 23rd, 2013, she testified publicly before both the Senate and House. Those are the only two times Adam Kinzinger would have been within a mile of her.”So we are to believe that he woke up today, 10 months and 27 days later, and suddenly remembered he heard something that 434 other people somehow missed? Not so much. What happened this morning was nothing short of brazen deceit.”
Hillary Clinton was on an extended trip in Asia the week prior to the attack ending with APEC in Vladivostok. She returned to the State Department immediately upon her arrival and went straight to work. No Congressional briefings appear on her schedule the week of the attack.
9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the regional bureau secretaries, at the Department of State. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
10:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks at the Global Infrastructure Conference, at the Department of State. Please click here for more information. (OPEN PRESS COVERAGE FOR SECRETARY CLINTON’S REMARKS)
10:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister R.M. Marty Natalegawa, at the Department of State. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
10:45 a.m. Secretary Clinton hosts the third annual U.S.-Indonesian Joint Commission meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister R.M. Marty Natalegawa, at the Department of State. (OPEN PRESS FOR OPENING REMARKS)
11:50 a.m. Secretary Clinton hosts a working lunch for Indonesian Foreign Minister R.M. Marty Natalegawa, at the Department of State. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
1:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton hosts a joint press availability with Indonesian Foreign Minister R.M. Marty Natalegawa, at the Department of State. (OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)
3:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton briefs members of the House, at the U.S. Capitol. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
4:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton briefs members of the Senate, at the U.S. Capitol. (CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)
Mr. Kinzinger’s memory of events is apparently faulty. Perhaps he meant two working days for him after the attack although we do not have his schedule. We know that Republicans tend to have problems with larger numbers as indicated by their cuts to embassy security budgetssubmitted by Secretary Clinton two years in a row.
Finally, let us not forget that Hillary Clinton took full responsibility for incidents in Benghazi with no reservations. She has been entirely forthcoming and cooperative with Congress and should not be used as a political football by those seeking votes – neither should the tragic events in Benghazi.
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Hillary Clinton’s Cover Letter to Congress on the ARB Report
Hillary because…
She would NEVER have allowed social safety nets to be "on the table."
Read the unclassified ARB Report on Benghazi here.
@U.S. Senate: Time to ratify LOST!
"... ratify the Law of the Sea Convention, which has provided the international framework for exploring these new opportunities in the Arctic. We abide by the international law that undergirds the convention, but we think the United States should be a member, because the convention sets down the rules of the road that protect freedom of navigation, provide maritime security, serve the interests of every nation that relies on sea lanes for commerce and trade, and also sets the framework for exploration for the natural resources that may be present in the Arctic." -HRC, 06-03-12, Tromso Norway
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“You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors. Eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard.” HRC
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"What I have always found is that when it comes to foreign policy, it is important to remember that politics stops at the water's edge." -HRC 11-04-10
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"...whether it’s here, in the absolute best embassy in the world, or whether it’s in Washington, or whether it’s elsewhere, what a difference one woman can make. And that woman is right here, the woman who needs no introduction, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton." 07.05.10 - Unidentified speaker, Embassy Yerevan
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