Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer.
- The Art of War, Sun Tzu, 512 BC

Apparently, President-Elect Obama in 2008 followed the age old advice of Sun Tzu, appointing Hillary Clinton, a former political enemy and potential future political enemy in 2012, to a job where he could keep keep a very close eye on her, and she would be so busy she wouldn’t even have time to contemplate running against Obama in 2012.

During the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fought bitterly, attacked each other, then when Obama was elected he appointed Hillary to be his Secretary of State, despite her complete lack of experience in foreign policy (unless we count sipping tea with first ladies of other nations), or running large government agencies like the State Department.

One of the most memorable attack ads of the 2008 primaries, is this ad by Hillary Clinton, asking who would we want taking that crisis call at 3 AM?

I recently blogged about ‘Amateur Hour’ at the White House comparing Hillary’s qualifications to every Secretary of State since at least World War II. She had no diplomatic experience, had never run a cabinet or served as a governor, served on a foreign relations committee in the senate, etc. Only Jimmy Carter’s second Secretary of State, Edmond Muskie, even came close to Hillary’s lack of qualifications, and he had served much longer in the U.S. Senate and had been governor of Maine.

The State Department has long known of the vulnerability of our embassies and consulates. Under Jimmy Carter, in 1979 our embassy in Tehran was overrun by violent protestors, and our staff held hostage for a humiliating 444 days until minutes before a new president, who appeared more resolute about facing Iran, was about to be sworn into office. I was stunned recently to learn that Jimmy Carter had covertly funded Ayatollah Khomeini and pressured the Shah’s military to accept the Shah’s departure when Jimmy Carter threw the Shah ‘under the bus. We should have known that those we support in overthrowing regimes aren’t always reliable in protecting our embassies and consulates afterwards. Though we had covertly funded Khomeini and paved the way for the Shah’s departure, Khomeini didn’t lift a finger to free our embassy in Tehran when it was overrun and our embassy held hostage for 444 days!

In 1979, our Pakistan embassy was burned down to the ground, as well as our embassy in Tripoli, Libya.

In 1983, or embassy in Beirut was bombed, killing 63, and our embassy in Kuwait was also bombed.

In 1998, during Bill Clinton’s presidency, Al Qaeda totally simultaneously destroyed with bombs two U.S. embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. killing 223 and wounding 4,000. You’d think that day would be seared into the memory of Hillary Clinton, since she was first lady at the time.

Now fast forward to 2012. In Libya, despite the unstable environment and heavy Al Qaeda presence, amazingly Hillary Clinton declined to authorize marine contingents, and special teams of Navy Seals who had provided protection were prematurely withdrawn, over the strong objections of embassy security officials, who pointed to a series of alarming attacks on embassies, consulates, diplomats, and non-governmental agencies present in Libya. Instead, the State Department relied on militia units of dubious reliability provided by the new Libyan regime.

Within two hours of the start of the terror attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya on 9/11, we already had intelligence the consulate was under attack by dozens of militants with heavy weapons such as rocket propelled grenades, mortars, assault rifles, etc. E-mails are starting to be revealed that showed just how much information was received at both the White House. From the Blaze:

When the attack began, the U.S. military also deployed an unarmed predator drone over the consulate, and remote operators watched as the horror of four Americans were slaughtered by terrorists with burning hatred in their eyes. According to various sources, as reported in the New York Post, the U.S. military had special forces deployed in Libya and nearby Italy, and heavily armored AC-130 gunships were available but shockingly inadequate response was mounted to rescue our embassy staff and their handful of guards as they desperately fought for their lives.

The administration sought for two weeks to convince us this wasn’t a terror attack, that a spontaneous demonstration over a offensive video escalated into a full fledged assault, until the overwhelming evidence confirmed this was a terror attack. Obama and Clinton even went to lengths to keep apologizing for the video, when the U.S. government had absolutely nothing to do with producing the video!

When did President Obama and Hillary Clinton find out it was a terror attack? It seems they were made aware by late afternoon, and a web site owned by terror group Ansar al-Sharia claimed responsibility. From The Blaze (summarizing other sources):

The first email, timed at 4:05 p.m. Washington time – or 10:05 p.m. Benghazi time, 20-30 minutes after the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission allegedly began – carried the subject line “U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack” and the notation “SBU”, meaning “Sensitive But Unclassified.”

The text said the State Department’s regional security office had reported that the diplomatic mission in Benghazi was “under attack. Embassy in Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well.”

A second email, headed “Update 1: U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi” and timed 4:54 p.m.Washington time, said that the Embassy in Tripoli had reported that “the firing at the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi had stopped and the compound had been cleared.” It said a “response team” was at the site attempting to locate missing personnel.

A third email, also marked SBU and sent at 6:07 p.m. Washington time, carried the subject line: “Update 2: Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibility for Benghazi Attack.”

The message reported: “Embassy Tripoli reports the group claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli.”

Shortly after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, President Barack Obama’s former minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright went on an anti-American rant which included an America-blaming quote, “America’s chickens are coming home to roost.”  After listening to this pastor, whose church President Obama sat in for over 20 years, it is easy to see where the President gets his “blame America first” mentality. But after looking back at Obama’s illegal war against Libya and his ill-advised Middle East policy, one must wonder if Rev. Wright would revise his now famous quote and say “Obama’s chickens are coming home to roost”?

This week, the House Oversight Committee held hearings to get to the truth about what happened in Libya leading to the death of our Ambassador and 3 other Americans and then the subsequent cover-up. As you might recall, despite the fact that there was no protest underway during the attack in Libya, the Obama Administration rushed to the streets proclaiming this was an out of control protest about a video that very few people have ever seen. Even after it became clear that was not the truth, the Obama team kept singing their song hoping someone might actually come to believe it.

Last month, On Sept. 11, almost simultaneously with the riots in Egypt and the terrorist attack in Libya, I was meeting in Washington, DC with Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN). I reported last week about his uncanny prediction of violence in response to Obama’s amateurish foreign policy and illegal war. During that interview he told me,

“I think he’s always looked at America as a state that tries to control the rest of the world, and he’s never liked that. He sent Winston Churchill’s statue back to England because they had the worldwide organization, and so I think he deliberately wants to diffuse the popularity and strength of the United States, and I think that’s by design, and I think it’s also incompetence. A lot of people would be very upset to hear me say that, but I really mean it. I think he is a disaster for this country.“

The next day, I also spoke with Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH). At that time, we already knew about Ambassador Stevens’ death, but the President was still singing the “blame the movie” song. Turner described Obama’s foreign policy as a failure stating,

“So now we are in the aftermath of that action where the president is sitting with an ill-defined policy and Americans have been killed and our country is still at risk.”

After yesterday’s Oversight Committee hearing, Mr. Turner issued the following statement:

Turner Statement on Oversight Hearing on Security Failures at Benghazi 

I would like to thank Chairman Issa for holding this important hearing to investigate the events surrounding the September 11th attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi that led to the murder of Ambassador Stevens and a number of embassy staff. The attack was performed on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history and is the first time a U.S ambassador has been killed since Adolf Dubs, the former ambassador to Afghanistan, was murdered in 1979. It is a stark reminder that terrorist groups continue to actively plan attacks against the United States and will exploit any opportunity when our guard is down.

The concern for terrorist activity has been particularly prevalent in Libya, which has a history of harboring known terrorist groups and top leaders of terrorist activity against the United States. Libya is reported to be the source of numerous terrorist training grounds and has produced such top ranked Al Qaeda commanders as Abu Yahya Al Libi.

Anti-American sentiment is a prevalent theme in the region and requires a careful diplomatic and military strategic engagement plan to ensure the promotion of a healthy democratic state. Achieving this goal places a great onus on the American diplomats and field agents operating in these dangerous environments, and our government has a responsibility to enact and adhere to safety policies that protect the lives of our agents. However, in the case of the September 11th attacks in Benghazi, it appears that State Department officials not only ignored security policies but, on numerous occasions, directed their agents not to file reports that would trigger the very safety measures that could have prevented the tragic loss of life.

Witnesses at today’s hearing, including the Regional Security Officer (RSO) of the U.S. Mission in Libya, Eric Nordstrom, shared with the committee evidence to suggest that the State Department intentionally kept the number of security agents assigned to Libya artificially low in order to give the appearance that the situation in Libya had “normalized.” This conclusion is consistent with an internal Embassy document from February 2012 that refers to an effort underway to “transition from emergency to normalized security operations,” including the “transition to a more locally based security team.”

It appears that the State Department’s goal to achieve this false perception took priority over the safety of the Ambassador and embassy staff. Evidence collected by the committee paints a chaotic and violent picture of Libya that starkly contrasts the “normalized” environment the State Department intended to project. According to this information, in the 13 month period preceding Ambassador Stevens’ death, the Embassy’s RSO, Mr. Nordstrom, reported over 230 security incidents in Libya and made numerous requests for additional security personnel. These incidents included IED attacks, kidnappings and gun battles. Despite these circumstances and repeated embassy requests for additional security personnel, the State Department systemically reduced security forces to dangerously low levels.

The evidence provided to the committee raises serious questions as about the Administration’s policy in Libya and whether their strategic plan places a premium on promoting a false perception of the region at the expense of American citizens. However, there are many reasons to believe that the situation in Libya is disintegrating. The country remains dangerously splintered and infested with extremist groups. Authorities in Egypt, Niger, Algeria, Israel, and Tunisia, have repeatedly expressed concerns about weapons smuggling across their borders and into the hands of terrorist groups.

These weapons could include the innumerous shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADS) that are known to exist in Libya. While it is estimated that Gadafi had an estimated 20,000 MANPADS before the collapse of his regime, only 5,000 have been recovered. These weapon systems pose a real threat to the United States military and civilian aircraft, and our inability to account for them in this extreme, terrorist diaspora is reason for great concern. Of equal concern is the Administration’s apparent attempt to hide these realities from the American public despite the grave threat they pose.

If September 11th, 2012 and September 11th, 2001 have demonstrated anything, it is that the terrorist threat to our nation is real and we cannot let down our guard. Our government has a constitutional responsibility to protect its citizens and must adopt policies that achieve that end. I hope this hearing will aid in ensuring that safety of American’s at home and abroad and will influence a policy shift that better serves that objective.”

In the 1970′s, President Richard Nixon was forced to resign under threat of impeachment for covering up a third rate burglary. No one was hurt or killed as a result, but clearly laws were broken and the public was outraged. Now President Obama and his Administration have engaged in not one, but two, cover-ups where lives have been lost. Operation Fast and Furious has left a trail of death in Mexico and Arizona. And now we have more dead Americans in Libya and yet another Administration cover-up of critical security information. Additionally, we have about 15,000 missing missiles that could be smuggled across our open borders to attack Americans in our own country. We are in danger because of Obama’s reckless and illegal war in Libya. It is time for the public outrage to reach an appropriate crescendo leading to the President’s removal from office by a huge defeat at the polls.

President Obama told the “60 Minutes” audience that he ended the Iraq War. He didn’t. He said the deficits he has overseen in his three years were trillion dollar deficits because of two wars in the previous administration, a popular Medicare medicine program and Bush tax cuts that weren’t paid for.

This man is a blatant liar.

George W. Bush negotiated the end of the War and the final departure of all troops leaving it to Obama to execute properly. Meanwhile, he adopted the Afghan War as his own and everyone can see that we can’t trust those very people he promised to help – they are killing Americans at record rates. I do not speak of the Taliban-enemy killing our people but soldiers and police we have trained under Obama.

On Iraq, Obama flinched at leaving troops there after combat troops were withdrawn. Result, Iraq is allowing Iranian planes to overfly with weapons and munitions in Iran’s effort to buttress Syrian Dictator Assad in killing his own people. Would that happen if there were American troops there helping Iraq on its path to a democratic future? I don’t think so.

One wonders what Obama would do and say if Israel decided on its own to shoot down those planes in an effort to help Syrian next-door-neighbors eject Assad, whom Secretary of State stupidly called a “reformer.”

Obama should be publicly chanting “Hey, Hey Assad, how many Syrians have you killed today?” Instead he says nothing. Obama says nothing about Assad killing more than 20,000 Syrian men, women and children.

Let us go back to the deficit and the growth of government. Tax cuts are not to be “paid” for, they are tax cuts. Did John F. Kennedy “pay” for his famous tax cuts? Did Ronald Reagan “pay” for his 1983-1986 tax cuts that let loose a tsunami of economic growth and prosperity that continued up to and through the Clinton Years interrupted only by a mild recession in 1991-1992?

The Bush Medicare drug program has proven to be exceptionally popular and less costly than projected. Doesn’t matter to Obama, his Obamacare destroys the program and also steals $716 billion from Medicare in order to finance his unpopular Obamacare that most Americans despise.

None of the Bush deficits approached the Obama deficits during 7 of his 8 years and the one year it did, his last, was so large because of emergency aid to the financial industry, to banks and insurance companies that saved the industry and the economy while Obama was still campaigning. There was an economy on January 20 only because Bush stepped up to the plate and saved the country from collapse. The kicker is that the ungrateful Obama doesn’t even mention that almost every cent of the Bush Rescue (called T.A.R.P.) has been repaid while Obama political slush fund money (The Stimulus) is down a rat hole that saved some public employee jobs but saddled the states with long range expenses they cannot afford even by borrowing more money every day.

The most egregious Obama bromide during his “60 Minutes” interview involves the Middle East. This interview was made on September 12, the day after our Consulate in Benghazi was destroyed and three Americans including our Ambassador to Libya were killed. He doesn’t mention the killings in this interview, nor the consulate’s destruction nor is there any mention of all the trouble in the Muslim world since September 11.

Obviously he couldn’t have foreseen everything that has happened in the Middle East and in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia since then but why didn’t he have CBS in to tape comments on the current situation.

He sends his petty little “achichinqles” (ah-chee-chink-less, gophers) like Susan Rice the ersatz phony Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of State Hillary to make TV commercials for Pakistan, but he doesn’t discuss the obvious failure of his outreach to Muslims that hate the United States, Obama notwithstanding.

Obama still won’t state publicly that the murder of our Ambassador was a terrorist act. If he did he would have to admit he is an abject failure. He promised to close Guantanamo prison in one year. Four years later it is still open. He promised to try terrorists in federal courts and to do away with military tribunals President Bush set up. No federal trials and the military tribunals are ongoing in Guantanamo.

Adding the abject failure of the Obama outreach to Muslims, to the killings of Americans under his watch, to his failure at reconstructing a stronger economy and to his blatant, we conclude that Obama is the worst President since James Buchanan left office in 1861. Buchanan’s legacy: the Civil War.

Obama’s legacy: a broken economy, a Middle East burning and our only friend there is on the brink of nuclear threat and destruction while Obama attends fundraisers.

Editors note: as with all blog postings that appear with a by-line, the opinions presented are the author’s and not necessarily the positions of Cafe Con Leche Republicans.

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Raoul Lowery Contreras (1941) was born in Mexico, raised in the USA. Former U.S. Marine, athlete, Dean’s List at San Diego State. Professional political consultant and California Republican Party official(1963-65)…Television news commentator, radio talk show host…published Op-Ed writer (1988 to present)…author of 12 books (as of 1-05-12). His books are available on Amazon.com.