Obama Explains Why The President Must Be Held Accountable In Benghazi

President Obama spoke moments ago about leaks that put national security at risk. His remarks also describe in detail how his beauty sleep prior to a Vegas fund raiser put national security at risk and cost the lives of brave Americans in Benghazi. This comment goes a long way in explaining why the Obama administration is lying to the American people about Benghazi.

To be, uhh, clear, President Obama was talking about leaks relating to CIA operations similar to the Benghazi, Libya operation in which America armed and trained Al Qaeda and other groups in order to overthrow various governments and then allocated $40 million to track down and buy back heavy weapons.

"They can put men and women in uniform that I have sent into the battlefield at risk.

They can put, uhh, some of our intelligence officers, who are various dangerous situations that are easily compromised, at risk.

U.S. national security, uhh, is, uhh, dependent on those folks being able to operate with confidence that folks back home have their backs. So they are not just left out there 'high and dry,' uhh, and potentially put in even more danger than they may already be.

uhh, and so, I make no apologies and I don't think the American people would expect me, as Commander-In-Chief, not to be concerned about information that might compromise their missions or might get them killed.

The flip side of it is, we also live in a democracy, uhh, where a free press, free expression, uhh, and, uhh, the open flow of information helps hold me accountable, helps hold our government accountable and helps our democracy function. Uhh, and, ya know, the whole reason I got involved in politics is because I believe so deeply in democracy and that process.

...(edited for length)

When we express concern about leaks at a time when I have still got 60,000 plus troops in Afghanistan. uhh, and I've still got a whole bunch of intelligence officers around the world who are in risky situations,uhh, in outposts, uhh that uhh in some cases are as dangerous as the outpost in Benghazi. Uhh, that part of my job is to make sure that, uhh, we are protecting what they do. Uhh, while still accommodating for the need for, uhh, information. So,... or for the need for the public to be informed and be able to hold, uhh uhh my office accountable."

In the event that you, the, uhh, reader, might think this is being taken out of context, here is a Bloomberq reporter asking about the IRS scandal and President Obama's unresponsive answer. This is simply to make the point that the man is again lying.

Reporter: "Mr. President, I want to ask you about the IRS. Can you assure the American people that nobody in the White House knew about the agencies action before your council's office found out on April 22nd."

President Obama: "I can assure you that, uhh, I certainly did not know anything about the IG report before the IG report had been leaked through press, uhh through the press."

The reason President Obama makes these implied acknowledgements that the White House knew about the targeting of conservative groups is simple. He is not held accountable. Consider the AP headline on this statement which relies upon people NOT reading the story:

BREAKING: Obama assures he did not know about IRS political targeting before reports became public.
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 16, 2013

Did the 2012 Election Kill Seal Team 6?

America mourns the loss of heroes with the news of a "lucky shot" that took down 30 special forces in a helicopter at the end of a rescue mission in Afghanistan. Many of the personnel were members of the unit known as "SEAL Team 6." This is a tragedy that is gaining media coverage during a week of horrible economic news.

Some discussions of this tragic event have put the blame on the Obama administration. With no evidence of interference or leaks about the location of the SEAL unit, these are baseless accusations fueled by partisanship and loathing of the administration.  Obama has one accomplishment, the killing of Osama Bin Ladin through the efforts of our military and intelligence heroes. This accomplishment should not be unfairly tarnished.

Unfortunately, the security of "SEAL Team 6" was compromised by the Obama administration. A recent New York Times op ed article named "The Downgrade Blues" by Maureen Dowd chronicles the "'Mission Accomplished' glow" that the administration was targeting as a 2012 October surprise.

The White House is also counting on the Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal big-screen version of the killing of Bin Laden to counter Obama’s growing reputation as ineffectual. The Sony film by the Oscar-winning pair who made “The Hurt Locker” will no doubt reflect the president’s cool, gutsy decision against shaky odds. Just as Obamaland was hoping, the movie is scheduled to open on Oct. 12, 2012 — perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost to a campaign that has grown tougher.

The moviemakers are getting top-level access to the most classified mission in history from an administration that has tried to throw more people in jail for leaking classified information than the Bush administration.  It was clear that the White House had outsourced the job of manning up the president’s image to Hollywood when Boal got welcomed to the upper echelons of the White House and the Pentagon and showed up recently — to the surprise of some military officers — at a C.I.A. ceremony celebrating the hero Seals.

It seems that Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal are examples of at least two people who were given inappropriate access to classified information. Two people surrounded by big mouth media agents, publicists and self-promoting and greedy associates. Two people granted access for political gain.

There is a reason that society values humble, hard working men and women who understand that "loose lips sink ships." Even if this breach of security is completely unrelated to the tragedy in Afghanistan, it looks and smells horrible. Our military personnel will not be happy with this information. Perception is reality in politics and national security.