'Hope' Is no Way to Protect American Embassies

With each passing day it seems that the Obama Administration is looking more and more responsible for the success of the terrorist attack against the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Take the following developments since the initial news of the attack:

• The Obama Administration initially blamed the attack on protests against some crudely made internet video
• Prior to the terrorist attack, there were no protests outside the Consulate. The attack started at 9:40 PM.
• The Administration claimed to have no intelligence information suggesting any impending attacks, however they were informed both internally and from foreign sources.
• The attack happened on 9/11
• The Administration, including the President,  met during the attack and decided to take a 'wait-and-see' posture, deciding against sending forces to defend the consulate.
• The Ambassador himself alerted the State Department regarding threats to his life.
• The Ambassador had repeatedly requesting additional security.
• The requests were denied.
• the requests and the denials were kept from the public.
• The State Department even told the Ambassador to stop asking for additional support.
• It took weeks before the Consulate was investigated by the FBI. To this day, there is no evidence that the State Department did anything to secure the site or any confidential information still remaining in the Consulate.

 How is it possible, other than through a case of negligence, possibly bordering on criminal negligence, or through some huge misguided social experiment in 'Hope' is is possible for a consulate in a country full of persons violently hostile to Americans to have less security than the US Embassy in peaceful Helsinki, Finland. How is that possible? It's possible when you put a President in charge who does not believe in a strong defense. A President who believes that a strong defensive posture is what drives hate against Americans. 

All I can say to that is that letting those who hate America destroy our Embassies and kill Americans is not going to extinguish the hate. All it will do is make America look weak and fan the flames of more hate.

This is just one more reason to elect Mitt Romney as the next President. The haters around the world will hate us no matter who is President. We can however minimize the threat by having a strong a proud President at the helm.

This is just the latest example of how much of a failure President Obama's soft stance against terrorism is. Hugging terrorists does not reform them. It never will. The Obama Administration will never understand this. The only 'extremists' they can recognize are members of the 'Tea Party.'

UPDATE 10 October 2012

Above I had mentioned the possibility that persons in the State Department might have been criminally negligent. Well, take a look at this Congressional hearing questioning Charlene R. Lamb, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs. Here is a summary of what she is responsible for:

Diplomatic Security Senior Leadership » Lamb, Charlene R - Assistant Director for International Programs Biography Other Releases Bureau of Diplomatic Security Washington, DC Share on facebookShare on google_plusone Share Charlene R. Lamb Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs, Ms. Lamb is a key member of the DS management team, responsible for providing strategic planning, management support, and establishing budget priorities to senior DS management. Ms. Lamb manages more than $1.2 billion in security assets and programs and thousands of personnel dedicated to that purpose. She is also responsible for the safety and security of over 285 overseas Embassies and Consulates and oversees the 550 special agent/security professionals posted at those locations. - US State Department

That is a pretty impressive set os responsibilities. You know what else is impressive, her past history. Go ahead and read the rest of her bio which includes postings in a number of hot spots. It sounds like this is exactly the kind of person you would want overseeing embassy safety and security. Which makes this testimony all the more bizarre and I dare say damning. How on earth did she come to the conclusion that security in the consulate was anywhere near acceptable, especially considering that embassies in peaceful countries have much better security. 

Found here.
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