OPINION:
The murder of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens is not an event that we can ignore. The killing poses huge questions about our intelligence capabilities, the Department of State and the White House.
Before the attacks, Stevens informed the State Department more than once that he was in danger. The department should have given him the security he needed or ordered him home. Shortly after Stevens’ murder, President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice and White House spokesman Jay Carney all stated it was the result of an amateur video that has been online since June.
Inconveniently for the White House, senior members of the State Department testified under oath that they knew immediately that the attack wasn’t a reaction to an old video but a terrorist attack. Those same people also testified under oath that budget considerations had nothing to do with not sending in more security, as requested by Stevens.
Let’s assume that the White House didn’t know the real story, which is incredibly hard to believe. The first time the White House said the attack was caused by this video, the department should have been on the phone to the White House to clue in the people there. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is ultimately responsible for her agency’s actions. The thought that she would not be briefed completely on something as serious as the death of an ambassador is unthinkable. Either Mrs. Clinton should resign or the White House should own up to its lies and incompetence. Someone is directly responsible for this travesty, and the families of four dead Americans deserve no less than the full, truthful story.
This is just further evidence that the current occupant of the White House shouldn’t be there.
CHRISTOPHER MOODY
Gaithersburg
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