Aftermath ... Benghazi, The Great Debate, and Hurricane Hillary

Monday night, suddenly and without warning,  Hurricane Hillary hit every shore of the United States from a location in Peru.
On CNN to Elise Labott:

QUESTION: You say you don’t want to play the blame game, but certainly there’s a blame game going on in Washington. In fact, during the presidential debate, Vice President Biden said, “We didn’t know.” White House officials calling around saying, “Hey, this is a State Department function.” Are they throwing you under the bus?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, of course not. Look, I take responsibility. I’m in charge of the State Department, 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts. The President and the Vice President certainly wouldn’t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They’re the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision.

That this came the night before a presidential debate some thought significant.  Others considered it high time someone in the administration stepped up with a definitive statement of responsibility.   The probability that this issue would arise in the debate the next evening loomed, and many expected Mitt Romney to be the one to inject it.  That is not, however,  the way the debate rolled out.  It was a question from the audience that brought up the topic, and in his response,  Romney focused not on the secretary of state or responsibility,  but rather on the president, the White House, and their remarks on the cause.
Hmmmmmm ... some of us thought Romney might take this opportunity to grandstand - make a "buck will stop with me" sort of statement.   He did not.  Instead he remained locked on  the confusion that emanated from the White House for weeks following the Benghazi attack.  
Just when it appeared that Hurricane Hillary was not going to hit Long Island, the moderator chimed  in.

CROWLEY: Because we're - we're closing in, I want to still get
a lot of people in. I want to ask you something, Mr. President, and
then have the governor just quickly.
Your secretary of state, as I'm sure you know, has said that she
takes full responsibility for the attack on the diplomatic mission in
Benghazi. Does the buck stop with your secretary of state as far as what went on here?

Aha!   Now that was along the lines of what we expected from Romney.   It provided Obama the opportunity for this response.

OBAMA: Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she works for me. I'm the president and I'm always responsible, and that's why nobody's more interested in finding out exactly what happened than I do.

The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people in the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened. That this was an act of terror and I also said that we're going to hunt down those who committed this crime.

And then a few days later, I was there greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air Force Base and grieving with the families.

And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the Secretary of State, our U.N. Ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive.  That's not what we do. That's not what I do as president, that's not what I do as Commander in Chief.

Wait a minute. What was that?  Someone was playing politics?  Where did that come from?  Who said anyone was playing politics?  Romney did not.   In fact he did not take this bait .  He never mentioned the secretary of state at all!  Oh wait!  Someone had ... earlier in the day.  It came from the Obama camp.

Obama spokesman says Clinton taking responsibility 'absolutely not' political

By Justin Sink - 10/16/12 05:00 PM ET

Obama campaign traveling press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that Hillary Clinton's statement Monday night that she was taking responsibility for the attack on the American diplomatic mission in Libya was "absolutely not" a political move to shield the president.
"President Obama takes responsibility for the safety and security of all diplomats serving overseas," Psaki told Fox News. "Secretary Clinton, of course, has a great amount of responsibility as Secretary of State and she was doing interviews yesterday as she often does on the first day of a foreign trip and said, 'Look, we do own, the State Department does own decisions around funding for diplomats.' ”
 Read more >>>>

So for weeks no one in the administration accepts responsibility for whatever security lapses might have failed to sustain two stations in Benghazi and their occupants (arguably perhaps nothing and no force could have held off that attack).  The Secretary of State steps up to the plate and says it is her department, they are her people and her structures, and she is responsible for them.  The administration's reaction, rather than taking a positive and supportive stand,  is negative - a denial.  She is not playing politics. First from Psaki, then from Obama, and a little while ago Ohio State Senator Nina Turner.
There is something  disingenuous in the denial.  First Psaki, then Obama:

"President Obama takes responsibility for the safety and security of all diplomats serving overseas," Psaki told Fox News.
"Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she
works for me. I'm the president and I'm always responsible...."

Arguments about what precipitated the attack aside,  if  Obama accepts responsibility, why did he not say so until after Secretary Clinton did so?  In fact, why did he send a spokesperson out to say it before we heard it from him in the debate last night?
There is a ring of familiarity to this.

• 2008 primary debates:  Hillary got the hard questions first, and Obama's frequent refrain was "Senator Clinton is right about that."
• 2009: HRC holds a town hall meeting at the State Department (February, I think).  Someone asks if she would consider extending benefits to domestic partners of employees.  She promises to look into it.  In June, she comes back to the LGBT association at the department and announces that they studied the possibility, found it doable, and were going ahead and extending the bennies.  Months later Obama does the same at the White House.
• Earlier this year Joe Biden said he has no problem with gay marriage.  First everyone freaks.  There's old Joe again shooting his mouth off.  Second some wonder how  Joe cane so definitive on tis issues while Obama claims to be evolving.  Days later, Obama finally evolves.

This is a pattern.  Yes, we knew about this well before Obama was nominated in 2008.  At the time, many of us thought this indicated a lack of imagination and absence of  real plans.  Today, it indicates something even more serious,  a Commander-in-Chief who not only leads from behind, but leads only on second thought.  And he is out there right now asking for your vote.  As Uppity Woman has been reminding us lately, you coulda had a V-8.

We continue to accord Mme. Secretary a standing ovation for her courage, maturity, and professionalism in stepping up on this.  Someone had to,  and,  as you said, Mme. Secretary, it is your department.  Until you said it, apparently the president forgot the hierarchy. 

FTR Mr. Obama: You do not write her paycheck.  The American people do.  She works for us, not for you.  Very interesting phraseology in contrast to what she said about State Department staff.

Look, I take responsibility. I’m in charge of the State Department, 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts.

She knows for whom she and they work.

The transcript of the debate is available here.

Hillary Clinton on SOTU with Candy Crowley

Interview With Candy Crowley of CNN's State of the Union

Interview

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Intercontinental Hotel

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

October 23, 2011

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QUESTION: Secretary Clinton, thank you so much for joining us. I want to start with Iraq. And clearly the biggest concern here is that with the exit of U.S. troops Iran will move in where the U.S. is moving out. I want to bring to your attention an interview that CNN’s Fareed Zakaria did with President Ahmadinejad.
(Clip played)
QUESTION: Since there will be a need in Iraq for training and support, will the Iranian Government be providing greater support in that area.
PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD: Again, I think we should have done it sooner, maybe seven or eight years ago.
(End Clip)
QUESTION: Now, I assume the U.S. would not look favorably upon the Iranians training the Iraqi army and police.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Candy, thanks for asking about this, because I do believe there is a lot of questioning, and to me, it is very clear to make three points: First, we are continuing a training mission in Iraq. That has been agreed to. We will have the same kind of training and support mission that we have with many other partner countries around the world. What we will not have are combat troops and bases.
Now that was really a decision put into motion back in the Bush Administration, and President Obama has demonstrated great leadership as he has made it possible for our troops to leave, as was promised and by the end of this year, but leaving behind a training and support mission along with a very robust diplomatic presence also envisioned by the agreements reached back in the Bush Administration.
QUESTION: How many troops are we talking about?
SECRETARY CLINTON: I also think it’s important to underscore – well, but let me just finish. It’s also important to underscore that Iran would be badly miscalculating if they did not look at the entire region and all of our presence in many countries in the region, both in bases, in training, with NATO allies like Turkey. So I’m used to the president of Iran saying all kinds of things, but I think it’s important to set the record straight.
QUESTION: Can you tell me how many troops we’re talking about staying there? Is it beyond the usual contingent that is around an embassy? And can you tell me the level of your fear that Iran, whether it’s in supporting troops or not, is going to be an increased presence in Iraq as the U.S. pulls out?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, yes, the support and training mission is in addition to the usual marine contingent, the defense attaché, and other normal relations between our diplomats and our Department of Defense representatives. This will be run out of an office of security cooperation. It will be comparable to what we’ve done in many countries where we handle military sales. The Iraqis are buying military equipment from the United States. And we will be working with them, as we work with Jordanians, Colombians, and others around the world.
And I also would underscore that it is not our only presence in the region. In addition to a very significant diplomatic presence in Iraq, which will carry much of the responsibility for dealing with an independent sovereign democratic Iraq, we have bases in neighboring countries, we have our NATO ally in Turkey, we have a lot of presence in that region. So no one, most particularly Iran, should miscalculate about our continuing commitment to and with the Iraqis going forward.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, 57 percent of Americans said in a recent poll that the war in Iraq was not worth it. Do you think it was?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think we can either look backward or we can look forward. I choose to look forward. An enormous amount of sacrifice was made by Americans, most particularly our young men and women in uniform, many of whom lost their lives or suffered grievous injuries, and then of course, I’m particularly proud of our diplomats and the other U.S. Government representatives in Iraq. So we are where we are right now. We have a plan in place.
There’s been an enormous amount of effort in conjunction with the Iraqi Government. The Iraqi Government is looking forward. They’re trying to chart a new course that will give them the kind of independence and sovereignty from everyone, including their big neighbor Iran, and we’re going to support that. It’s very much in America’s interest to do so.
QUESTION: So I’m going to take that as you’d rather not answer that question as to whether it was worth it. Let me move you to Libya, where the UN --
SECRETARY CLINTON: I think I’ll leave it to others to argue.
QUESTION: Okay.
SECRETARY CLINTON: I’ll leave it to others to argue. My job, President Obama’s leadership, is leading us forward, which is where I think America needs to be.
QUESTION: Okay. Let me move you to Libya where the UN is calling for – wants an investigation as to how Muammar Qadhafi died, the circumstances, who killed him, what he died of. Is the U.S. interested? Is it a matter of consequence to the U.S. how Muammar Qadhafi died?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Of course it is, and we strongly support the UN call and we also strongly support the Transitional National Council of Libya’s call for an independent investigation. Because as Libyans move into the future once again, they need to do so with a sense of unity and reconciliation, they need to hold each other accountable. Those who do not have blood on their hands must be made to feel safe and included regardless of whether or not they supported Qadhafi in the past. So we believe in the rule of law and accountability, and such an investigation would contribute to that.
QUESTION: Will the U.S. put pressure on the transitional government to hold accountable the convicted Pan Am bomber al-Megrahi?
SECRETARY CLINTON: We have certainly raised it in every meeting with the leadership. Now as you know, Candy, there will be, later on Sunday, an announcement of a new government. So once there’s a government in place, we will renew our calls that Megrahi, who should never have been released in the first place, be returned to serve the rest of his sentence for the terrible crime against those passengers on Pan Am 103.
QUESTION: You’ve spoken with members of the transitional government. Has this come up yet?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, absolutely. I’ve raised it a number of times. Now there’s not yet a government. That’s what we’re waiting for, a government to be put in place. The Transitional National Council said they would wait to declare the liberation of Libya until they were sure that Sirte had been taken from the regime loyalists. They would then announce a government. That process begins today.
QUESTION: And finally, let me turn you to Pakistan, where it seems to me the U.S. has spent many, many months warning Pakistan to crack down particularly on the Haqqani Network. We have had folks in the Administration, both publicly and privately, say they believe that the intelligence arm of the Pakistani Government is, in fact, a supporter of the Haqqani Network, which has attacked the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, among other things. Is your patience wearing thing with the Pakistan Government?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, as you know, I led a very high-level delegation of U.S. officials, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dempsey, now director of the CIA, Dave Petraeus and others, and we had intensive discussions.
And I would make three points: First, the cooperation on security that we have received over the past years from Pakistan has been absolutely essential in our efforts to defeat and disrupt the al-Qaida network. Secondly, the Pakistanis themselves, as you know, have suffered enormously from their military actions against the terrorist networks. And of course, that’s not only been military losses, but civilians to the total of about 30,000 over the last decade.
And finally, we are very clear we need to do two things together. We need to squeeze the terrorist networks, including the Haqqani Network, out of their safe havens, preventing them from being able to plan and carry out attacks across the border. And we have to, on the Afghan side of the border, squeeze and eliminate safe havens of those who move back and forth and who use safe havens in Afghanistan to attack Pakistan. And we have to have a very firm commitment to an Afghan-led reconciliation peace process. We’re about 90, 95 percent in agreement between the United States and Pakistan about the means of our moving toward what are commonly shared goals, and we have a work plan and a real commitment to making sure we are as effective as possible together.
QUESTION: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, thank you so much for your time. Safe travels to you.

Secretary Clinton's Interview With Candy Crowley of CNN's State Of The Union

Interview With Candy Crowley of CNN's State Of The Union

Interview

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Washington, DC

January 30, 2011

---

QUESTION: Joining me now from the State Department, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Madam Secretary, thank you for being here.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, Candy.

QUESTION: It seems to me that when this started out, and we saw the signs and the protestors in the street, they were anti-Mubarak. Now, if you are watching, we are seeing signs that say, “U.S., Stop Backing Mubarak.” What side is the U.S. on, Mubarak, or the people in the streets?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, there’s another choice: it’s the Egyptian people. We’re on the side, as we have been for more than 30 years, of a democratic Egypt that provides both political and economic rights to its people, that respects the universal rights of all Egyptians. And that is the message that every ambassador, whether Republican or Democratic president, everyone has conveyed for over 30 years.

What happens is truly up to the Egyptian people. And what the United States is doing is sending a very clear message – we wish to see everyone refrain from violence. The Army is now fulfilling security responsibilities. They are a respected institution in Egyptian society, and we know they have a delicate line to walk, because they want to protect peaceful protest, but they also don’t want to see any city descend into chaos with looting and criminal activity. And we are encouraging a very careful approach that respects the rights of people.

We are also very much behind the kind of concrete steps that need to be taken for economic and political reform. We have, over the past 30 years, supported civil society groups, we have supported women’s groups, we have tried to help build up a lot of the elements within Egyptian society that are going to be necessary when there is a national dialogue, as we are urging, to determine the path forward.

And clearly, Candy, this is a complex, very difficult situation. Egypt has been a partner of the United States over the last 30 years, has been instrumental in keeping the peace in the Middle East between Egypt and Israel, which is a critical accomplishment that has meant so much to so many people. So I think we have to keep on the message we’ve been on, convey that publicly and privately, as we are doing, and stand ready to help with the kind of transition that will lead to greater political and economic freedom.

QUESTION: The President’s remarks, in which he said much of what you just said, warning against huge crackdowns against peaceful protestors, saying we’ve got to see some concrete steps towards opening up political reform and advancing it, it’s been interpreted here by many, and some overseas, as a beginning to back away from President Mubarak. Do you argue with that translation?

SECRETARY CLINTON: We do not want to send any message about backing forward or backing back. What we’re trying to do is to help clear the air, so that those who remain in power, starting with President Mubarak, with his new vice president, with the new prime minister, will begin a process of reaching out, of creating a dialogue that will bring in peaceful activists and representatives of civil society to plan a way forward that will meet the legitimate grievances of the Egyptian people.

There is no easy answer. And clearly, increasing chaos or even violence in the streets, prison breaks which we have had reports about, that is not the way to go. We want to see this peaceful uprising on the part of the Egyptian people to demand their rights, to be responded to in a very clear, unambiguous way by the government, and then a process of national dialogue that will lead to the changes that the Egyptian people seek and that they deserve.

Now, that will take time. It is unlikely to be done overnight without very grave consequences for everyone involved. So what we want to see is, as we have said over and over again, the concrete steps taken. It took 30 years to have a vice president appointed. We want to see both the existing and any new members of any government continue to put real life into what President Mubarak himself said, which were concrete steps toward democratic and economic reform.

QUESTION: If I could, the people that we are seeing – and certainly that you are seeing – don’t seem like the type that want to wait another 30 years for a full democracy. So –

SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, of course not.

QUESTION: So, what I – when we look at these demonstrations, when we talk to some of the people involved in it, it does not seem that even if President Mubarak were to do everything you have now laid out, that he is at all acceptable. Do you think that President Mubarak can survive this?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Again, Candy, this is going to be up to the Egyptian people. But let’s look at what we have. We have a calendar that already has elections for the next president scheduled. So there is an action-enforcing event that is already on the calendar. Can there be efforts made to really respond to the political desires of the people so that such an election is free and fair and credible?

There are many steps that can be taken by reaching out to those who have advocated a peaceful, orderly transition to greater democracy, where the Egyptian people themselves get to express their views.

QUESTION: But from what you’ve seen –

SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s what we wish to see.

QUESTION: From what you have seen, will that be enough? If he takes those steps and says, “Hey, we have already got pre-scheduled elections coming up,” is that enough to keep him in power?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, no. Much has to be done. And we are not advocating any specific outcome. We are advocating that the government, the representatives of the civil society, the political opposition and activists begin a dialogue to chart a course. Egypt is a large, complex, very important country. I don’t think the Egyptian people want to see what is a very clear effort to obtain political and economic rights turn into any kind of new form of oppression or suppression or violence or letting loose criminal elements. That’s not what they’re in the streets protesting for.

So, how do we get from where they are today to where they would like to be? It needs to be done immediately, with a process that brings people to the table, and that the Egyptian people can see, “Oh, I know So-and-So. He represents a group that has been advocating for democracy for many years.” This is going to be a legitimate effort that is going to result in changes that will have responded to the needs and the voices of the people who have been protesting.

QUESTION: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a busy woman these days. We thank you for your time.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, Candy.