OPINION:
“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,” stated Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jan. 23, 2013.
By her own words and actions, Secretary Clinton reveals the disdain she has for both our military and the decisive actions required to protect American lives. In doing so, she has demonstrated her inability to uphold the oath of office, and thus disqualifies herself from the office of the president.
The Sept. 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi presented Mrs. Clinton with an opportunity to demonstrate her readiness to make effective decisions. But, rather than protect American lives, her first instinct was to protect the sensitivities of the Libyan government. Hillary chose to debate uniforms and videos that night, while Americans were dying.
Even before the smoke had cleared, Mrs. Clinton engaged in a deceptive cover-up, and would go on to deceive the American people. While looking in the eyes of the Benghazi parents, Hillary lied to these distraught families whose sons were just murdered.
The follow-on obstruction of justice is reminiscent of the very totalitarian regimes Hillary claims to abhor. Meanwhile voters find themselves overwhelmed with the litany of lies and deceptive tactics of the Clinton campaign smoke screen, and the truth of the disaster that happened in Libya is pushed under the rug.
Our nation’s commander in chief wields great power from the Oval Office, and this role must be filled by a president who is trusted by and feels accountable to the American people. The office of the presidency demands a president who will uphold the Constitution and the rights of its citizens above their own self-interests.
Hillary Clinton’s actions prove that she places her own self-interest and financial well-being above the welfare and safety of our great nation. And, as her emails now leak out, voters learn she will also engage in any level of deception to court foreign donors abroad and avoid accountability at home.
In the case of Libya, Mrs. Clinton executed an ill-conceived foreign policy in support of an Islamist-led revolution in Libya in 2011; and, once bombing began, she shut down a negotiated truce to facilitate Gadhafi’s abdication so her war could continue. Her misguided decision to support the covert arming of terrorists led to thousands of Libyan causalities, and ultimately resulted in American deaths. In the aftermath, Hillary lied and stonewalled investigations designed to provide the whole truth to the American people, and destroyed evidence even after receiving a Congressional subpoena.
In the testimony of Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, he states, “The president made clear that we ought to use all of the resources at our disposal to try to make sure we did everything possible to save lives there.” Mr. Panetta testified that at 6 p.m. he had identified “three distinct capabilities” to deploy to Benghazi, and by 7 p.m. he “issued the order to deploy the identified assets.” As Americans would learn, it was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who made the decision to derail the “deploy order” from the president and secretary of Defense, and to withhold military assets pending approval from the Libyan government. Hillary put her own self-interest of protecting her Libya legacy above the welfare of more than 30 Americans who were fighting for their lives when their “3 a.m. phone call” was never answered.
The president of the United States sets a standard of leadership for other nations to follow. A Hillary presidency would only embolden totalitarian regimes, many of whom have already “paid to play,” and feel entitled to take a card out of the Clinton playbook on how to commit crimes and get away with it.
The level of deception by the Clinton machine has reached such epic proportions as to meet the standard of what can only be described as a criminal syndicate of racketeering and organized crime. Al Capone would have envied the fervor and ability of Hillary Clinton to obstruct justice and obfuscate the truth.
America must not elect a president who does not tell the truth. Integrity is the foundation upon which our great nation stands. A Hillary Clinton presidency does not offer the sound moral foundation upon which government must rest, and America would be in grave danger of sinking in the quick sand of political corruption.
• Charles R. Kubic, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, served as a Navy Seabee and as a senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House. He is a national security policy adviser to Donald Trump.
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