Benghazi, An Exercise in Realpolitik

In my partner's post Did Obama IGNORE Americans under attack inn Benghazi? Emails indicate yes. it's revealed that 300 to 400 national security figures received emails in real time almost as the raid was playing out. So we know that some nameless soul in the State Department didn't drop the ball by failing to bring the attack to the attention of the administration. Everybody who was anybody in the defense, state, and national security purviews knew Americans were under attack by terrorists. It is inconceivable that the Defense Department did not inform the president of the military options at his disposal, options that while bold, could have possibility saved the life of Ambassador Stevens and the other three Americans.

One thing we can ascertain with perfect certitude is that the administration did nothing. The proverbial 3 am call came in late afternoon before the dinner hour but Obama was out to lunch. Why was no attempt made to save the lives of the four Americans? The decision to act or not to act could only come from the president therefore it is almost axiomatic that the president knew and failed to act. The American public expects its presidents to protect the lives of all Americans especially members of the government and when the president fails to do so he invites a multitude of conspiratorial theories to explain his actions or lack thereof.

Rather than fly with the black helicopter crowd I prefer to think that the president failed his most important test because he was given bad advice by political operatives and one Valerie Jarrett. For some reason Jarrett hold almost Rasputin like power over the first family. Rumors indicate that three times she nixed the hit on Osama bin Laden. The decision to intervene in Lybia in the beginning was portayed as a tug of war between Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice who championed intervention and Valerie Jarrett who counseled to the contrary.

National Security advisor Tom Donilon is a veteran lobbyist and Democratic political hack who has dabbled in foreign affairs since the Clinton administration. He was well rewarded for his efforts by President Clinton who handed him the wealth enhancing title of Executive Vice President for Law and Policy at Fannie Mae.  Obama should have known that appointing a political hack to a national security position that he could expect to receive national security advice based on domestic political considerations.

David Plouffe ran Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and is now listed as a senior White House advisor. David Axelrod is the only campaign official in memory to frequently address questions of foreign affairs and national security on the Sunday talk show circuit.

When news of the attack on the Benghazi consulate reached the White House is it unreasonable to assume that the ongoing presidential campaign was not on the minds of Jarrett, Plouffe, and Donilon? How would this effect the campaign? For Obama's part, was he so wedded to his legalistic, leftist ideology that he could not bring himself to send American troops into a foreign country even if it meant the death of his ambassador? Remember the FBI was stalled in its so called investigation of the attack because it could not obtain visas. If the administration was put off by this Libyan action it did not publicly indicate as much.

In the end the truth will get but not until after the election which is the White House's hope. The American public is apt to see a White House too paralyzed by politics and ideology to act and a president too weak the execute the sworn duties of his office, to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.