At the end December, I ran down updates that included multiple stand down orders revealed in the closed-door hearings that went on. This month, among other updates, we have the NY Times trying to revive the blame on the YouTube video, GITMO detainee involvement and Boehner being accused of blocking the investigation.
NY TIMES REVIVES YOUTUBE VIDEO
The New York Times is out with a revisionist account of the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi. The Times says that in months of investigating, it “turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault.” The Times also claims that the attack “was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.”
I suspect that the Times story tells us more about Hillary Clinton’s assessment of the threat Benghazi poses to her likely 2016 run for president than it does about what happened in Benghazi. But to the extent that the Times story is viewed as shedding a new, different light on the Benghazi, perhaps the House should hold new hearings on the attack.
The Times bases its claim that neither al Qaeda nor any other international terrorist group had a role in the attack on its view that Ansar al-Shariah is a “purely local extremist organization.”
In a nutshell the Times is really saying, “Hillary 2016 – What difference does it make?” It makes this difference. None of the questions have been answered by this administration. Reminder: Obama Linked Benghazi to Video 3 Days After CIA Eyewitnesses Confirmed No Protest There
Related Reads:
- ‘Completely false’: Sources on ground in Benghazi challenge NYT report
- Instapundit » ROGER KIMBALL: Benghazi: The New York Times vs. the Truth. “How are we to understand the Times’s
Within a week, the NY Times narrative was dismantled as it was announced the U.S. was seeking an Al Qaeda operative for their role in Benghazi.
The identification of Jamal as an al Qaeda member linked to the Benghazi attack contradicts a recent New York Times investigative report that concluded there was no evidence al Qaeda or foreign terrorists were behind the Benghazi attack that is currently the subject of several congressional inquiries.
A CIA spokesman declined to comment when asked if al Qaeda is linked to the Benghazi attack.
A FBI spokesman declined to comment. An Egyptian Embassy spokesman declined to comment on whether Jamal remained in Egyptian government custody and referred to a State Department press release of Oct. 7 that said that Jamal had been arrested by Egyptian authorities in November 2012.
GITMO DETAINEE SOUGHT
Two days ago, it came to light that the U.S. was also now looking for a former GITMO detainee in connection to Benghazi.
A former Guantanamo Bay detainee is suspected by U.S. officials of being involved in the deadly Benghazi attack and his group may soon be designated as a foreign terrorist organization, officials familiar with the situation told the Washington Post.
According to U.S. officials, who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity, militiamen following orders from Abu Sufian bin Qumu — leader of Ansar al-Sharia in the Libyan city of Darnah — participated in the attack which claimed the lives of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
More at the Washington Post.
Reminder:
Benghazi attackers said to carry Ansar al-Sharia banner http://t.co/nLTW4gD8aL
— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) January 9, 2014
AMERICANS DETAINED IN BENGHAZI
Two items that never seemed to hit the news cycle were the detaining of Americans in Benghazi and Tripoli. Funnily enough, the NY Times reported on the second one.
- TWO AMERICAN BASKETBALL PLAYERS Detained in Benghazi
- Libya Holds Four American Military Personnel for Hours
BOEHNER BLOCKING INVESTIGATION
On Monday, family members of those murdered in Benghazi, along with 75 other military and conservative leaders, delivered a letter to Speaker Boehner that was highly critical of the ongoing investigation.
Excerpt:
To date, five (5) different committees of the House have conducted separate hearings, uncovering information in a piecemeal fashion lacking professional investigators. The five committees’ efforts are disjointed and uncoordinated. The Obama administration has benefited from that dysfunctional process to hide the truth. Hardly any Obama administration witnesses have testified – publicly or privately. You have resisted repeated calls for the creation of a select investigative committee with subpoena authority. It appears that you are satisfied to allow that state of investigative incoherence and ambiguity to continue. The last public hearing by any of the five committees was held in September – four (4) months ago. The families of the dead who fought valiantly to protect the mission and their families, the survivors, and the American people deserve better from you and your Members of Congress. They deserve the absolute truth from their government. Your failure to get the truth and hold public officials accountable increases the possibility of other repeat attacks and additional failures to defend Americans abroad.
On Sunday, December 29, 2013, the New York Times published a story concerning the Benghazi attacks that directly contradicts the sworn testimony of witnesses who appeared before various committees.
Read the full letter at FrontPage Mag.
