Today was the first public session of the House Committee Oversight and Government Reform
hearings on diplomatic security in Libya.
In closing today's more than four-hour long session, chairman Darryl
Issa noted that although this is an election year, his committee wants
to find out what went wrong in Benghazi in order to prevent it from
happening anywhere again. If you buy that, I have a bridge for sale.
His
admonishing tone, suggesting members of the panel might have an
election year agenda, was startlingly inappropriate. The panel
consisted of Col. Andrew Wood, who had been stationed in Libya earlier
this year, Eric Nordstrom, who was a regional security officer and had
been in Libya earlier in 2012, Charlene Lamb, who is Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Diplomatic Security, and Under Secretary of State for
Management Patrick Kennedy.
In the course of the four-hour
testimony there were some obvious gaps in congressional knowledge of how
embassy security operates. As
Victoria Nuland pointed out on September 17,
internal security (walls inward) is the task of the guest country, and
external security (walls outward) is up to the host country, Marine
Embassy Security Guard (MESG) is posted at embassies (not usually at
consulates) primarily to secure documents not personnel. That task
falls under the purview of the
Bureau of Diplomatic Security headed by Eric Boswell who testified in camera along with Secretary Kennedy yesterday to the same committee.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (center) and South Sudan
Foreign Minister Nhial Deng Nhial (far left) walk to a vehicle escorted
by members of her Diplomatic Security protective detail (third from
left in striped tie, and right in sunglasses) upon her arrival for her
first visit to South Sudan August 3, 2012, at Juba International Airport
in Juba. (AP/ Wide World Photos)
The
Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) is the security and law enforcement
arm of the U.S. Department of State. DS is a world leader in
international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security,
counterterrorism, security technology, and protection of people,
property, and information.
There were moments of
contention, as could have been expected, and too much showcasing by
some. Of course, as Issa pointed out at the end, it is a general
election year. Directing that remark to the panel, however, appeared
ignorant and was certainly arrogant. Three of the four, career Foreign
Service officers, are, as the Department of State is, apolitical.
They serve, and have served through multiple administrations of both
parties and were not there to promote anybody's candidacy. Perhaps the
most bizarre moment came when Trey Gowdy (R - SC) appeared to accuse
Kennedy of sending White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and U.N.
Ambassador Susan Rice forth with erroneous information. (For the
record, the under secretary cannot do that.)
So what was all this
showmanship during a congressional recess weeks before a general
election really all about given that both the FBI and a separate State
Department Accountability Review Board (ARB) have investigations
ongoing? Perhaps Brent Budowsky at
The Hill got it right.
By Brent Budowsky - 2012-10-10 04:03:00 PM ET
Don't miss the story in
The Hill "Issa closes in on Clinton" about Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)
aiming at his biggest target yet, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The story is correct. The Issa strategy will backfire. It will prove to
be a disaster. House Republicans, whose brand is not exactly soaring
with voters, are making a huge mistake using congressional hearings as a
partisan weapon to exploit a national tragedy to attack one of the most
admired and respected public servants in the nation.
There is now
an independent and nonpartisan investigation of exactly what happened
in Libya. A partisan witch-hunt by Republicans using taxpayer money
against Secretary Clinton, as a partisan weapon in the closing days of
an election, to exploit a tragedy to score political points is exactly
what the American people believe has gone wrong with Washington, and is
exactly why the Republican brand is in such disrepute with many voters.
Read more >>>>
One thing is for certain. A national tragedy has now officially been
turned into a political football by the party in power in the House of
Representatives, the same body that cut the State Department's security
budget for two years in a row - coincidentally the two years following a
Tea Party coup in the House.
Saying his will
undoubtedly tee some people off. Let me remind one and all, this blog
has been equally critical of Obama and received angry comments on that
account as well. We call them as we see them.
(If you have a burning desire to see your government
waste your money at work, C-SPAN 1 will repeat the entire proceedings starting at nine tonight EDT.)
