Really Mr. Secretary?

Well that sure didn’t take long.  Seems I recall predicting to someone just Friday that we would get a “new” Benghazigate story by today.  Right on cue, and early in fact, we get one Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta projectile vomiting the latest batch of lies and misdirection in a crude attempt to cover up for the previous batch of lies and misdirection.

Misdirection #1. “There is a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on by people who don’t know what’s going on.”  Really Mr. Secretary?  Are you implying that the DoD does know what’s going on or are you saying that if the DoD doesn’t know what’s going on nobody else possible could either?

Lie #2. When asked why fighter aircraft had not been sent to the scene to at least do “low and loud” passes over the consulate or to lay down suppressing fire the Secretary said that they “were concerned about creating civilian casualties that might further inflame the situation.”  Really Mr. Secretary? The Consulate was already in flames, how much more inflamed could it get?  Anybody who has ever been in combat will tell you that once a firefight breaks out that civilians flee the area as quickly as possible or crawl into the deepest hole they can find to keep from getting their heads blown off.  What did the Secretary think these “civilians” he’s so concerned about were doing?  Sitting out in their lawn chairs watching the show and roasting shish-ka-bobs of the flames of burning vehicles?

Lie #3. “We weren’t going to deploy assets into a situation we hadn’t fully assessed.”  Really Mr. Secretary?  Just how much more information did you need?  You had both Flash Traffic and emails coming from inside the Consulate as the attack was taking place.  You had CIA assets at the annex requesting permission to led assistance to the Consulate that could have both provided support and on a further on the ground situation report.  You had Predator drones circling overhead providing you live video feeds in both visible and infrared light.  What else were you waiting for Mr. Secretary?  Did you think al Qaida was going to post their Order of Battle to help you make a decision? 

This was followed by the most monstrous, shameful and shameless lie of all.

Lie #4.  With a shrug of his shoulders Mr. Panetta concluded, “This was all over before we could do anything about it.”  Really Mr. Secretary?  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the designator for US Army Delta Force units is QRT (Quick Response Team).  Do you need “quick” defined for you?  Why did they remain on the ground in Sicily two hours away?  Why were they not embarked on their KC-130 aircraft to at the very least circle off shore where they could then either go into action or return to base as the situation developed?  Do not such QRTs also have AC-130 gunships attached?  Aren’t these aircraft designed for and known for being able to lay down pinpoint accurate suppressing fire?  Is there not a US Navy CVN and LHA stationed full time in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea?  Just what are those QRT teams, aircraft and that full Battalion of Marines there for if not for just such situations?

I’m sorry Mr. Secretary no one but the gullible, naïve or stupid is buying any of this retched street pizza your laying out.  The real shame is not that hack politicians lie to us; we’ve come to expect it.  No the real shame is that no one in the so-called mainstream media is asking anything close to these kinds of follow up questions when presented with such blatant and obvious lies.