With Memorial Day just around the corner, let us remember our family, friends, and fallen heroes in their eternal rest.
Let us especially remember the fallen of Benghazi. They have left this life, but cannot be fully at rest until the nation acknowledges the truth about their sacrifice upon the altar of progressive politics. What follows is a compilation of salient timestamps regarding the national disgrace that was Benghazi. They were gleaned from reputable sources—none of which had all the facts, but most of which reported identical information, and they are the best available at this writing: CBSNews.com, TheHill.com, Breitbart.com, Doug Ross @ Journal, and Factcheck.org.
Lest We Forget Benghazi
3/28/12 Ambassador Gene Cretz requests upgraded security assets at Benghazi.
4/6 Terrorists throw an IED over the consulate wall.
4/19 Secretary Hillary Clinton refuses the Cretz request.
5/22 A Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) strikes International Red Cross offices.
6/6 An IED explodes outside the U.S. Consulate wall.
6/7 Ambassador Chris Stevens asks that two security teams be kept in Libya.
6/11 An RPG strikes the British Ambassador’s motorcade. The UK closes its consulate.
6/15 State declines to renew the security team contract.
7/9 Stevens cables for military security team assistance, but the teams are not extended.
8/2 Stevens sends an urgent cable requesting a protective bodyguard, saying the situation is, “unpredictable, volatile, and violent.”
8/5 State orders removal of Stevens’ security team.
8/8 Stevens tells State violent incidents are “targeted and discriminate.”
8/16 The Regional Security Officer emails Clinton’s office about the “dire” situation.
8/27 State issues travel warning for Libya.
9/10 Al Qaeda leader Zawahiri calls for Libyans to revenge the death of his deputy.
9/11 Stevens warns State of the deteriorating situation in Benghazi.
9/11 7:30p Benghazi Time (BT) Stevens meets with a Turkish diplomat.
8:00p Terrorists set up checkpoints around the U.S. Consulate.
8:30p Stevens’ meeting ends.
8:40p First shots are fired. Stevens calls Hicks in Tripoli: “We’re under attack.”
10:05p (4:05p Washington Time (WT) State notifies White House (WH) and intelligence agencies: “US Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi under attack.” Consulate is in flames. Stevens is missing.
10:30p (time approximate) Sean Smith is found dead.
11:00p (5:00p WT) Obama, Biden, Panetta meet at WH. Consulate is abandoned.
11:30p (5:30p WT) Tyrone Woods, Glen Doherty, and 5 others leave Tripoli for Benghazi. Body of Stevens is found and taken to hospital.
9/12 12:36a (6:06p 9/11 WT) DOD emails that Ansar al Sharia claims the attack.
1:30a (7:30p 9/11 WT) Doherty and Woods et al. arrive in Benghazi.
2:00a (8:00p 9/11 WT) Clinton calls Libyan President about the Ansar al Sharia attack.
4:00a (10:00p 9/11WT) Doherty and Woods are killed on the roof of the annex. Clinton issues statement blaming Internet video for the attack.
5:12a (11:12p 9/11 WT) Clinton emails Chelsea about an Al Qaeda attack on Benghazi.
9/12 Clinton emails the Egyptian Prime Minister the attack has nothing to do with the video. “It was a planned attack—not a protest.”
9/12 WH blames video for attack; Clinton blames heavily armed militants. Obama condemns the attack in the Rose Garden—does not call it a terror attack. Obama affirms his Rose Garden evasion to Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes.” He leaves for a Las Vegas fundraiser.
9/13 Obama and Clinton stand with families as the bodies of Stevens, Smith, Doherty, and Woods are received at Dover AFB. Clinton: “an awful internet video we had nothing to do with.”
9/14 Jay Carney tells media WH has no information suggesting a pre-planned attack.
9/14-15 WH, State, CIA prepare talking points for administration use.
9/16 Susan Rice blames Internet video for Benghazi attack. Clinton maintains this view through 9/20.
9/21 Clinton says it was a terrorist attack for the first time.
9/25 Obama tells the UN the attack occurred because of the Internet video.
10/12 Obama: “GM is alive, bin Laden is dead, and Al Qaeda is on the run.”
11/6/12 Obama is re-elected.
1/22/13 Clinton: “What difference, at this point, does it make?”
2/1/13 Clinton leaves as U.S. Secretary of State.
The Benghazi story’s unalterable facts lead to certain observations: Secretary Clinton repeatedly and recklessly denied requests for standard and upgraded security protection for her ambassador and his staff. Would the four have died had she done her duty? Perhaps, not.
Why did she fail her responsibility? Though never satisfactorily explained, the most logical reason is this: Clinton and Obama were the architects of Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster and had a political investment in the appearance of success for the new regime. A look and feel of peace and serenity surrounding American assets in Libya became important, and a higher protective profile would have been an embarrassment to the new regime and its American sponsors.
Apparently, Clinton also failed to insist that rescue assets be deployed in a timely manner. It is possible that Doherty and Woods would be alive today had willing military personnel been permitted to come to their aid. Obama and Clinton next behaved—as they must have agreed—like the guilty everywhere: they bought time with lies, and with an array of government organs and state media as accomplices, and they continue to lie to us today. Why? To preserve the illusion Obama had quelled the jihadist menace at a critical moment before the 2012 presidential election, and to burnish the narrative of lead-from-behind diplomacy.
Remember the Alamo! Remember the Maine! Remember Pearl Harbor! Remember 9/11!
Remember Benghazi!
It is a disgrace complicit Democrats want us to forget, but the rest of us can make it possible for the whole truth to finally be told. We can avenge Stevens, Smith, Doherty, and Woods with our votes in November.