Repeat: Benghazi wasn’t a White House scandal
No one in the U.S. military halted CIA attempts to save American personnel who were trapped in the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 when it came under attack.
The White House did not manufacture false talking points.
The CIA did not bungle the intelligence leading up to the attack, which resulted in the deaths of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
All of the worst allegations from people desperate to turn a tragedy into a defining dishonor for President Barack Obama’s administration have been debunked again, this time by a report released last week by the Intelligence Committee of the GOP-controlled U.S. House.
Republicans in Congress, along with certain media outlets, including Fox News, have kept Benghazi on the front burner. So this latest report, by the GOP’s own investigators, should put an end to the scandal-mongering.
If only.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the report “a complete piece of garbage.” Other Republicans have placed their faith in the one investigation still ongoing, a special House committee formed by Speaker John Boehner.
But six investigations have looked at what happened in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, when fighters attacked the U.S. compound. They have criticized security, but dismissed multiple conspiracy theories.
The GOP report cleared Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, of deliberately lying when she said on a TV news show that the onslaught was ignited by local protests over an offensive video. That was the CIA’s theory at the time. It turned out to be wrong, and the administration retracted it, but the blowup by conservatives cost Rice a chance to be secretary of state.
The quest to use the Benghazi deaths to damage Obama has consumed millions of taxpayer dollars, untold hours of Congressional time and countless, breathless cable TV segments. In the end we are left with the deaths of four dedicated public servants and a new chapter in “gotcha” politics.
The administration made mistakes, but there was no cover up or dark secret buried in the rubble.
This story was originally published November 27, 2014 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Repeat: Benghazi wasn’t a White House scandal."