The Eleventh Hour

How ironic and extraordinarily well-planned that around 11:30 last night on NBC a trailer popped up for a movie that will not be released until January 15.  What a supreme coincidence that the subject of the movie is the terrorist attacks on the U.S. compounds in Benghazi. Many will cite moments from the hearing, but the real WTF moment occurred after it ended with the appearance of the trailer for this movie.

 

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)

Action, Drama, Thriller  |  15 January 2016 (USA)

Not yet released

(voting begins after release)

An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya as a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

Director: Michael Bay

Writers: Chuck Hogan (screenplay), Mitchell Zuckoff (book)

Stars: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale | See full cast and crew »

Read more and see trailer >>>>

The trailer appeared a little more than 13 hours from the moment Hillary Clinton commenced her testimony before the House Select committee.  Disturbing.  What is the basis for this movie?  Like Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, it is billed as "based on a true story," but there is a subtle difference between "a true story" and "based on a true story."

Since I had never heard such a movie was in production and had never heard of the book on which it is based, I, of course, googled and found this.

Angry Libyans slam Michael Bay's Benghazi attack thriller

Politicians, bloggers and social-media users bemoan ‘typical action movie all about American heroism’ that paints locals as ‘fanatical and ignorant’
Furious Libyans have criticised a Michael Bay movie about the fatal 2012 attack on the US embassy in Benghazi for playing up the heroism of American soldiers and ignoring the contribution of local people.
The first trailer for Bay’s action thriller 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi has caused uproar in Libya’s second-largest city after it was circulated on social media, with government officials, bloggers and Facebook users lining up to criticise the film.
SNIP
The US release of 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, which stars John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, Max Martini, Toby Stephens and Pablo Schreiber, has also been caught up in controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s current US presidential run. Clinton, who was US secretary of state at the time of the Benghazi attack, has been accused by Republicans of using a private email account to conduct government business during the period. The January release of Bay’s film, two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, constitutes poor timing in terms of the former first lady’s campaign – especially if Bay’s film proves a big hit at the box office.
Read more >>>>

Those who purchased the air time at NBC arguably had no way to know how long yesterday's testimony would last.  Had clock-watcher nonpareil Linda Sanchez not asked how late the proceedings were going to continue last night, we all might still have been tuned to C-SPAN, and I would not have seen the trailer.  Linda remained conscientiously within her allotted time throughout while the chairman routinely allowed Republicans to go well beyond - often by more than four minutes.  We can speculate that had Lynn Westmoreland been allowed another round, he would again have asked why the secretary did not send in FEST, and Hillary would have retained her consistently patient demeanor and explained again that he misunderstood what FEST is and does.  She clearly was prepared to stay as long as necessary.



Given that some Republicans appeared to think another round of questions was coming, it seemed a little abrupt and anti-climactic when Trey Gowdy suddenly called the session to a close as it was about to enter the 12th hour.  Sort of like he waved a white flag.  "We surrender, Hillary! We cannot outlast you or trip you up."

Until I saw the trailer,  I did not realize how close the hearing came to the duration of the attack.  I am pretty sure Hillary and many committee members were aware of that.  As for the background of this movie, its accuracy, intent, and the money behind it,  there are many questions.  If all we know right now is that residents of Benghazi are angered,  that is enough to arouse suspicion since we all remember that it was the Libyans who found Chris Stevens and moved him to a hospital.  They knew him and liked him, and if they are insulted by this film, something here rankles.

That the release comes in the eleventh hour before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries implies a nefarious intent and yet another shameful use of this tragedy as a political tool.

Somehow I can predict that this post will go largely ignored while everyone celebrates Hillary's great week with "This Girl's on Fire!" posters.  Fiddling while Rome burns.  We need to get to the bottom of this movie mystery.

************************************************************

Update: 11/10/15
They played an extended ad ( two-minutes) for 13 Hours in the middle of tonight’s debate.

TPM Livewire

Ad For Michael Bay’s ‘Benghazi’ Thriller Plays During GOP Debate Break

Within minutes, Michael Bay was trending on Twitter.  Fortunately, many tweets were about how fishy this convergence was but not all were negative by a long shot.

Must Read: Bernard-Henri Levy's Tribute to Hillary Clinton

As a long-time fan of BHL, I was delighted to find this excellent account of three meetings with Hillary whom he has long admired for reasons he makes crystal clear.  I simply had to share this.  I rarely come across a true must-read on a Sunday, but this is not to be missed. 

 

Bernard-Henri Levy: Th​ree encounters with Hillary Clinton

 

April 25, 2015 | Op-ed — by Bernard-Henri Lévy

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 23: Democratic presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the Women in the World Conference on April 23, 2015 in New York City. Clinton is in New York City after visiting Iowa and New Hampshire. Andrew Burton/Getty Images/AFP
 July 2004. Boston.
A downtown restaurant to which Tina Brown has invited Hillary Rodham Clinton and a handful of notables, including Caroline Kennedy, filmmaker Michael Moore, and former U.S. Senator George McGovern.
What is immediately striking is Mrs. Clinton’s youthful appearance. Her bright laugh. Her blue eyes, a little too round, that gaze at you with curiosity. Sometimes that gaze is briefly clouded by a streak of stifled pain, obstinate and not wholly contained. Five years earlier, she was the most humiliated wife in America, a woman whose feelings, reactions, privacy, and bed linens were scrutinized by everyone. So she can talk national and international politics until she is blue in the face. She can sing the praises of John Kerry, whom her party has just nominated in an effort to deny George W. Bush a second term. She can expound on her notion of the role of the senator from New York, a role with which she pretends to be content. Still there persists an idea (of dubious political correctness) that it is impossible to push out of one’s head, one that I, at any rate, cannot resist the temptation of entering into the travel journal that I am writing for The Atlantic.

Read more >>>>

Hillary Clinton and the ARB Reporting System Reviewed: More Things You Should Know

According to the Special Review of the Accountability Review Board Process (ISP-I-13-44A), the Permanent Coordinating Committee (PCC)  is the body within the State Department that must convene ASAP after a serious security incident at a U.S. mission abroad and determine whether or not to recommend that the secretary of state convene an Accountability Board Review (ARB).

P 7  ¶ 1 Permanent Coordinating Committee
“The Committee will, as quickly as possible after an incident occurs, review the
available facts and recommend to the Secretary to convene or not convene a Board. (Due to the 1999 revision of the law requiring the Secretary to convene a Board not later than 60 days after the occurrence of an incident, except that such period may be extended for one additional 60-day the Committee will meet within 30 days of the incident, if enough information is available.) In addition, the Committee will meet yearly to review the ARB process, existing policies and procedures, and ensure that any necessary changes are effected.” - 12 Foreign
Affairs Manual 032.1

On October 7, 2012 Hillary Clinton announced that not only had the recommendation been made but also the the ARB had been formed and would commence meeting that very week - well within the timeline stated in the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM). Many of you will remember that the Tea Party was already stridently calling for this review, however it is clear from the FAM directive that this process went a good deal more quickly than was required. 

P 16  ¶ 8  Secretary’s Report to Congress
“Report to Congress: the Secretary will, no later than 90 days after the receipt of a
Board’s program recommendations, submit a report to the Congress on each such
recommendation and the action taken or intended to be taken with respect to that
recommendation.” - 12 Foreign Affairs Manual 036.3a.

The delivery of the completed report along with a cover letter dated December 18, 2012 delineating in detail many steps Hillary had already taken to address weaknesses in security at U.S. missions worldwide also came in well before the deadlines outlined in the FAM.  The cover letter is a brilliant analysis and well worth the read.  If you happen to find yourself in a discussion on the  subject of Benghazi, the events surrounding this attack, and State Department responses to it, you will find valuable points therein.  The letter and reports were addressed and delivered to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

P 19 ¶ 1  “All of us—from senior Department leadership setting strategic priorities to supervisors evaluating the needs of individual posts to congressional committees appropriating funds and providing oversight—have a responsibility to provide the men and women who serve this country with the best possible security and support. Most of all, it is my responsibility as Secretary of State.” - Secretary Hillary Clinton

One wonders how many times Hillary Clinton needs, orally and in writing, to take responsibility for Benghazi for the Tea Party to stop accusing her of dodging that responsibility.  Breaking news the night before a presidential debate,  on October 17, 2012 was that while traveling in Peru Hillary had stated in an interview that the responsibility was hers.  Her signature is, in perpetuity,  on that letter where she assumed responsibility.    Must she wander the streets with a bell like a town crier declaring, "The buck stops with me?"

P 25 ¶ 1 Regional Bureau Shared Responsibility
ARB Recommendation 3: “As the President’s personal representative, the Chief of Mission bears ‘direct and full responsibility for the security of [his or her] mission and all the personnel for whom [he or she is] responsible,’ and thus for risk management in the country to which he or she is accredited. In Washington, each regional Assistant Secretary has a corresponding responsibility to support the Chief of Mission in executing this duty. Regional bureaus should have augmented support within the bureau on security matters, to include a senior DS officer to
report to the regional Assistant Secretary.”

Not to blame the victim,  but security at Tripoli and Benghazi was a shared responsibility and some of that responsibility fell on Ambassador Stevens.  Of all the players in this tragedy, he, from all indications, was most familiar with the culture of the country and the population in Benghazi in particular.   In his absence, Gregory Hicks shared that responsibility at Embassy Tripoli of which he had been left in charge.

Fortunately, Embassy Tripoli was not subject to an attack, however, the reckless irresponsibility of Hicks's decision to send the remaining two security officers from Tripoli to Benghazi is undeniable.

Special operations commander briefs Armed Services panel on Benghazi

By Jeremy Herb - 07/31/13 12:59 PM ET

Col. George Bristol, who commanded an Africa-based task force at the time of the terrorist attack, told the House Armed Services Committee that he gave Lt. Col. S.E. Gibson, who led the site security team in Tripoli, initial freedom of action to respond to the attack on the U.S. facility in Benghazi.

Bristol corroborated testimony Gibson provided the committee last month that no “stand down” order was given — contradicting accusations made by critics of the Obama administration’s response to the attack — according to a description of Wednesday’s classified, members-only briefing of the Armed Services Oversight and Investigations subcommittee.

Gibson had testified last month that he was told not to send his team to Benghazi because they needed to remain in Tripoli to defend the U.S. Embassy there in case of additional attacks.

Read more >>>>

Among the Benghazi recommendations is this one regarding funding.

P ¶ 5 29 Funding
ARB Recommendation 10: “Recalling the recommendations of the Nairobi/Dar es Salaam Accountability Review Boards, the State Department must work with Congress to restore the Capital Security Cost Sharing Program at its full capacity as originally envisioned, adjusted for inflation, of approximately $2.2 billion in fiscal year 2015, including an up to 10-year program addressing that need, prioritized for construction of new facilities in high-risk and high-threat areas. It should also work with Congress to expand utilization of Overseas Contingency Operations funding to respond to emerging security threats and vulnerabilities and operational requirements in high-risk and high-threat posts like Benghazi and Tripoli.”

We do well to remember who stripped the DS funds two years in a row.  There is plenty of responsibility to go around including upon those who clog Hillary Clinton's Twitterfeed with cries of "Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi!"  ignoring the role played by tight-fisted Tea Party House members who swear they will recall Hillary Clinton.  If they do, we are certain that she will cooperate and be, as always, eminently well-prepared.

P 31 ¶ 2  Personnel Recommendations
No ARB has ever found “reasonable cause to believe” that a Federal employee or contractor has “breached a duty of that individual” as defined by the Act.

We have yet to hear any mea culpas emanating from Capitol Hill.

Hillary Clinton to Receive Public Service Award While Supporters Urge a Run and Issa Aims

Hillary Clinton will be in Beverly Hills this evening to receive another in a long string of awards and honors.

Chairman's Gala

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

U.S. Secretary of State (2009-2013)

May 8, 2013

BEVERLY WILSHIRE HOTEL | BEVERLY HILLS

Gala to honor Hillary Clinton May 2013 | Los Angeles
At a gala event on May 8, the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver one of her first addresses on the west coast since stepping down as U.S. Secretary of State earlier this year. Secretary Clinton will accept the inaugural Warren Christopher Public Service Award from the Pacific Council on International Policy, conferred in recognition of her distinguished service to the country 

The Ready for Hillary Super PAC is planning a rally to greet her, as they have at previous events.
All of this pro-Hillary excitement unfolds against the backdrop of a flurry of anti-Hillary activity in the House of Representatives where today the Oversight and Government Reform Committee heard the testimony of three State Department employees called by Darryl Issa who is itching to pin a bogus cover-up or something else - whatever he can find - on the retired Secretary of State.

Largely ignored by cable outlets today (except Fox News, of course),  at least some of the testimony concerned issues that had been adequately addressed in the Accountability Review Board (ARB) report provided to the all interested Congress persons well prior to Secretary Clinton's January 23 testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

State  Department officials have repeatedly and consistently stated that under Secretary Clinton's leadership all 29 recommendations by the board had been implemented. Hillary Clinton unequivocally took responsibility for failures on the part of her department.

Andrea Mitchell today had Ambassador Thomas Pickering, who led the board with Admiral Mike Mullen,  on her show.  Pickering stated that Gregory Hicks, who was second in command to slain Ambassador Christopher Stevens, and remained in Tripoli the night of the attack, had done a fine job and had spent many hours being interviewed by the ARB.  He pointed out that the requests from Hicks for four special forces to be sent to Benghazi after the first attack and for a fly over in Benghazi were deemed impractical both by State and by the Department of Defense.

Pickering also stated that he offered to testify before the committee and Issa declined his offer. 

Sending the only four special forces out of Tripoli where classified documents are kept would have left the embassy vulnerable when embassies across the region were under siege.   There were no classified documents in Benghazi.  The primary responsibility of the special forces is protection of classified materials - not personnel.  No one could have predicted a second attack in Benghazi.  The planes requested for the flyover could not have refueled since there was no tanker in the Mediterranean that night. (See p. 37 of the report)



So, while Issa and company continue to aim at her and miss,  Hillary will be receiving a public service award and her fervent supporters will greet her with pleas for her to run in 2016.  Meanwhile, husband Bill says she is having a fine time doing what she wants and talk of 2016 is a waste of time.  Hillary does not have to do anything at all to get her name in the headers or on her husband's lips, but she has already done so much that regularly she is given awards and honors.

Hillary Clinton Honors the Late Ambassador Chris Stevens

Common Ground Awards in Honor of the Late Ambassador Chris Stevens

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

The Carnegie Institution for Science

Washington, DC

November 8, 2012

---

SECRETARY CLINTON: This is a very moving moment to honor someone whose life and work truly exemplify the meaning of “search for common ground.” And I greatly appreciate everyone who has supported this organization and its mission over a number of years, John Marks and Susan Collin Marks, my longtime friend Ambassador George Moose, members of the Diplomatic Corps, and supporters of Search for Common Ground. I also want to congratulate all of tonight’s honorees.
It’s a special privilege and honor to have Chris’s sister Anne with us tonight. This has been for everyone a very difficult, personal ordeal. But of course, for Chris’s family, it has been so much more. They grieve and they remember. And they have shown such grace and dignity in the weeks since they were thrust into the harsh spotlight of history.
In the rush of headlines, it is easy to forget that at the center of this national tragedy was such a real person, with passion and principles, with humor and irony, with ambition and humility, with friends and colleagues and loved ones.
Chris Stevens was a son of the West. He hiked and jogged and danced his way through the hills and forests of northern California, and then he did it in Libya. He loved the cool, refreshing fog of the Bay Area, the sight of the Golden Gate, and the warm embrace of his family. But his family gave him not only roots but wings. And he shared the restless soul of the frontier. His mother liked to say that he had sand in his shoes, always moving and running and working, seeking out new challenges and adventures. And there was music in his life. The son of a cellist, he himself played the saxophone, which, of course, for me – (laughter). Friends in Jerusalem remember his passion for Palestinian songs, as he would serenade them in Arabic.
When Chris first took the Foreign Service exam in college, he was asked to compare American democracy with the freewheeling energy of jazz. One of his closest friends, Steve McDonald, remembers spending hours discussing the question, about experimentation and improvisation, about the relationship between a brilliant soloist and a band that all have to pull together to achieve harmony. Later, Steve would come to think of Chris as a jazz diplomat. That really resonates with anyone who ever worked with or knew Chris, who saw his creativity and inspiration up close.
Jazz musicians like to talk about playing the changes. Their art lies in the space between structure and spontaneity. Yes, they do master the technique, but then they begin to improvise. And that is how Chris worked. A young Foreign Service officer who was with him in Libya marveled at Chris’s appetite for history and culture. He stayed up late reading memoirs of former Libyan leaders and delighted in sharing obscure historical trivia and cracking jokes not just in Arabic but in the local dialect.
Other colleagues remember his endless patience and talent for listening, two characteristics that really are required to be a successful diplomat. As one of Chris’s friends explained recently, you develop a relationship and a personal connection, and a series of connections become a network. Many Americans, well, we start at A and work down the list to F. But A to B is not a straight line, and Chris had an instinctive feel for this, how to get things done. He understood not just the science of diplomacy but the art. He heard the music and the words. And he was committed to his mission of helping others find their own freedom.
He found a second home amidst the shifting deserts and crowded cities of the Middle East. He climbed the Atlas Mountains, he wandered through Syrian souks, he jogged through Libyan olive groves. And he had so many moments of common ground.
When the revolution broke out in Libya, I asked Chris to travel to Benghazi. And he did so on a Greek cargo ship, like a 19^th century envoy. It certainly appealed to his romantic side. But his work was very much 21^st century hardnosed diplomacy and relationship building. Even when a bomb exploded in the parking lot of the hotel where he was staying, he never wavered.
Chris would have been the first to say that the terrorists who attacked our mission in Benghazi on September 11^th did not represent the millions of Libyans who want peace and deplore violence. You saw and you heard the President’s inspired and inspiring words about that. Chris understood that most people, in Libya or anywhere, reject the extremist arguments that violence and death are the only way to reclaim dignity and achieve justice. He understood that’s why he was in Libya, and there was no substitute for going beyond the Embassy walls, building relationships, and finding common ground. He also knew that when America is absent, especially from the dangerous places, there are consequences. Extremism takes root, our interests suffer, and our security at home is threatened.
The State Department sends people to more than 275 posts in 170 countries around the world. Chris understood that diplomats must operate in many places where soldiers do not, where there are no other boots on the ground, and security is far from guaranteed. And he volunteered for those kinds of assignments. He understood that we will never prevent every act of terrorism or achieve perfect security in this world, and that our diplomats cannot work in bunkers and do their jobs, that we inevitably must accept a level of risk to protect our country, a country we love, and to advance our interests and values.
Of course, it is also our responsibility to constantly improve, to reduce the risks our people face, to make sure they have the resources they need to do what we ask of them. And nobody takes that more seriously than I do, and the security professionals at the State Department. We now have a formal Accountability Review Board investigating the terrorist attack that killed Chris, and we will certainly apply its recommendations and lessons learned to improving security everywhere. It’s appropriate that we do so based on facts and evidence. Chris’s family, his colleagues at the Department, and the American people deserve nothing less.
As that process moves forward, though, we are taking immediate steps to bolster security and readiness. We’ve dispatched teams, joint teams from the Department of State and Defense, to review high-threat posts to determine whether there are other improvements we need in light of the evolving security challenges we now face.
The men and women who serve our country overseas represent the best traditions of a bold and generous nation, and they are no strangers to danger. From Tehran and Beirut to Islamabad, East Africa, and Saudi Arabia, and now in Benghazi, and many other places in between over the years, we have seen our diplomats devoted to peace targeted by terrorists devoted to death. But we cannot, indeed we must not, be intimidated. We have to remain focused and clear in our vision of the kind of world we seek to build.
Chris Stevens was an inspiration to all who served with him and knew him during his life. He remains an inspiration now and I believe far into the future, because he exemplified the best of what we stand for, who we are as a people. And he believed in the search for common ground.
So we thank you for recognizing this brave and good man, this consummate diplomat, this American hero. And now please join me in welcoming Anne Stevens to the stage. (Applause.)

Next Week: On Hillary Clinton's Agenda

Although none of this has been confirmed by the State Department,  multiple reports lend some credibility to the way next week is shaping up for Hillary Clinton.   Apparently, early in the week she will be in Australia.

Hillary Clinton set to visit Adelaide

Yahoo!7 November 8, 2012, 6:17 pm

Hillary Clinton to visit Adelaide

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to visit Adelaide next week, despite the US Embassy yet to confirm her trip. Mike Smithson reports.

South Australian and Federal Police are preparing for another massive security operation with Hillary Clinton set to visit Adelaide next week.
The security surrounding Prince Charles and Camilla yesterday will appear just a dress rehearsal compared to when the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in South Australia.
7News understands about 140 rooms have been booked at the Intercontinental Hotel for Mrs Clinton and her entourage, including her staff and secret service agents.
Read more >>>>

Hillary Clinton to visit Adelaide: Tiser

AAP November 8, 2012, 2:13 pm

AP © US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is planning to visit Adelaide next week on a private trip.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is planning to visit Adelaide next week on a private trip to see some friends, the Advertiser newspaper has reported.
The newspaper says police and US officials have been in talks about the trip which will have Ms Clinton in town for two days.
She is also expected to attend the Australia-United States Ministerial (AUSMIN) meeting in Perth earlier in the week, although her attendance there is yet to be confirmed by the White House.
A US Embassy spokeswoman said a visit by Ms Clinton to Adelaide had not yet been confirmed by either embassy officials or the White House.
Read more >>>>

Later in the week, back in D.C., she evidently has been invited to Capitol Hill to testify regarding the September 11 attack on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

House panel invites Clinton to testify at Libya hearing

Published November 08, 2012
| FoxNews.com

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The House Foreign Affairs Committee has scheduled an open hearing for next Thursday on the Libya terror attack and has invited Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to testify, Fox News has learned.
The committee joins two others planning to hold hearings, albeit closed ones, that day.

Read more  >>>>

Republicans want Clinton to testify on Benghazi

By: Hope Hodge
11/8/2012 01:01 PM

President Barack Obama may have won re-election, but Republicans in Congress are making it clear that he has not dodged hard questions on the administration’s handling of the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya that left four Americans dead.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) led the charge, sending a letter Wednesday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterating demands for access to State Department cables detailing security requests made by the consulate before, during, and after the deadly attacks and for real-time updates in the ongoing investigation.
Read more >>>>

We wish her a safe journey and a fair series of hearings. 

I am adding Victoria Nuland's remarks about these hearings from today's press briefing.  From what she said if is not clear that it will be Mme. Secretary who testifies.

TRANSCRIPT:

12:46 p.m. EST
MS. NULAND: All right. It’s Thursday, right? So we would say happy Thursday. I have nothing at the top. Let’s go to what’s on your minds.
QUESTION: Can we start with a little housekeeping on Libya?
MS. NULAND: Please.
QUESTION: Not that I expect any significant answer or substantive answer, but the impatience seems to be growing on the Hill. Yesterday, Congresswoman Lehtinen – Ros-Lehtinen sent yet another letter to the Secretary complaining about the delay in getting documents. Do you guys have any response to these complaints?
MS. NULAND: Well, we are responding to all of these letters as we get them.
QUESTION: Well, she says that she hasn’t gotten any response.
MS. NULAND: She hasn’t gotten any response to any of her letters?
QUESTION: That’s what she said.
MS. NULAND: I did not see the letter that most recently came in, but my understanding is that as these letters have been coming in, we’ve been responding to them. We have also been making appropriate documents available to members and their staff. There will be a number of closed-door sessions on the Hill next week at the Hill’s request. So as you know, we are very committed to working with the Congress throughout this process. We are obviously – as we learn the lessons that we need to learn from this incident, we’re going to need to continue to work with the Congress on remedies, et cetera. So that relationship is obviously crucial for us.
QUESTION: Who from the Department is going to be at these hearings next week?
MS. NULAND: Again, I think that’s currently being worked out. I’ll let you know if we have something to announce, but all of these are, my understanding, classified sessions at the Hill’s request.
QUESTION: And you’re aware of more than one?
MS. NULAND: There are a number of them that the Administration is participating in. I’ll take a look for you and see what we can share tomorrow.
QUESTION: The documents that you’re making available, has there been any limitations placed on the time that they’re able to look at these documents? There’s reports that they’re only available for a couple of days this week, which means many members wouldn’t be able to see them because they’re not in town.
MS. NULAND: My understanding is that we’re working with staffs to ensure that the appropriate people can get to them on the schedule that is convenient for them, so if there are issues we are working them through. But members have been coming and going because of the election, et cetera.
Other thoughts? Done? No. All right, Samir.

Secretary Clinton to Deliver Remarks in Honor of the Late Ambassador Chris Stevens

Secretary Clinton to Deliver Remarks in Honor of the Late Ambassador Chris Stevens at the 2012 Common Ground Awards

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

November 5, 2012

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On November 8, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver remarks at the Common Ground Awards in honor of the late Ambassador Chris Stevens, who is among this year’s recipients of the prestigious award. Accepting the award on behalf of Ambassador Stevens is his sister, Anne Stevens.
The Common Ground Awards are presented annually by Search for Common Ground to honor outstanding accomplishments in conflict resolution, negotiation, community building, and peace building. Recipients have made significant contributions toward bridging divides between people, and finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems.
The Common Ground Awards will be presented at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 8.
Please click here for more information and for a list of the other awardees.

Came the Dawn ... Daylight Emerges Between the Clinton State Department and the White House

As the House Committee Oversight and Government Reform hearing  (there is a link to the C-SPAN video of the proceedings at that post) was getting underway on Wednesday October 10, references were made to a background briefing the evening before.  The transcript of that briefing is now available at the State Department website and provides the most complete account to date of events on the ground in Benghazi on the night of September 11 and the morning of September 12.

All over the internet, MSM and bloggers are referring to this text as well as statements by Secretary Clinton and other State Department officials as evidence that the Department of State never laid blame for the attack in Benghazi on the notorious Youtube defaming Islam which was the message put forth in Vice President Biden's remarks during Thurday's debate with Paul Ryan (a segment during which neither candidate appeared appropriately informed much less "presidential" in a heartbeat-away kind of way)  as well as in U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's remarks on the Sunday morning talk circuit the weekend following the attack.  At Friday's press availability with Italy's foreign minister,  Secretary Clinton chose her words very carefully in response to a question from CNN's Jill Dougherty.

To this day – to this day, we do not have a complete picture. We do not have all the answers. No one in this Administration has ever claimed otherwise. Every one of us has made clear that we are providing the best information we have at that time. And that information continues to be updated. It also continues to be put into context and more deeply understood through the process we are engaged in. Ambassador Rice had the same information from the intelligence community as every other senior official did.

She did not say that the information Ambassador Rice had was that the attack stemmed from a demonstration of any kind in Benghazi.  In the background briefing we see:

OPERATOR: The next question is from the line of Brad Klapper with AP. Please, go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi, yes. You described several incidents you had with groups of men, armed men. What in all of these events that you’ve described led officials to believe for the first several days that this was prompted by protests against the video?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: That is a question that you would have to ask others. That was not our conclusion. I’m not saying that we had a conclusion, but we outlined what happened. The Ambassador walked guests out around 8:30 or so, there was no one on the street at approximately 9:40, then there was the noise and then we saw on the cameras the – a large number of armed men assaulting the compound.

The hearing itself was purportedly held to determine the nature and extent of  security in Benghazi the night of the attack. What we learned was that there was an interagency detail in Tripoli into August and that although the tour had been extended previously, it was withdrawn and replaced with a State Department detail in Tripoli.  Part of that detail accompanied Ambassador Stevens to Benghazi.

OPERATOR: The next question comes from the line of David Lerman with Bloomberg News. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi. Did the Ambassador – before the attack, did the Ambassador request that security be increased in Benghazi? And if so, did anything ever come of it?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL NUMBER TWO: The – when the Ambassador traveled to Benghazi, he traveled with two additional security agents over and above the complement of three who were assigned to post. So there were five agents with him there rather than the two who are normally assigned there – the three who are normally assigned. So they were up two.

There remain voices demanding to know, as Paul Ryan asked during Thursday's debate, why Ambassador Stevens was not given a Marine Guard.  At Friday's press briefing, Victoria Nuland remained remarkably composed and patient as she addressed that issue for the Nth time to a question from the aforementioned Jill Dougherty of CNN.

QUESTION: There is something on the – that came up in the debate last night. It’s more a kind of how do things work question. Congressman Ryan said that Marines should have been sent – Marines exist, guard the Embassy in Paris, and they should have been guarding the Ambassador when he went to Benghazi. Is that correct? I mean, could they have sent Marines? Is that the normal course?
MS. NULAND: Let me just stop everybody here and remind you that we don’t do politics at this podium. We don’t litigate the campaign on one side or the other.
QUESTION: No, I’m not saying it’s politics. I’m saying: How does it work?
MS. NULAND: If you’re asking me a factual question --
QUESTION: Exactly. How does it work? Where-- what do Marines protect? Would they in any case have protected that mission in Benghazi?
MS. NULAND: We’ve talked about the role of Marines from this podium several times. We talked about it in the days following the attack. I would refer you back to what we said at the time, which is that – and I can get you the precise numbers – but we have Marine security guards in about 60, 65 percent of our missions around the world. They are primarily assigned to protect classified information, classified equipment, in those posts that are classified. So – and I would also remind you of what Eric Nordstrom said when he testified on the Hill, which was that in his professional opinion, another foot of wall or another four, five, six – I can’t remember the number that he used – of American security personnel wouldn’t have been able to turn back or handle the assaults at the level of ferocity and lethality that we saw that night.

In the background briefing linked here, the reason why Marine Embassy Security would never have been in Benghazi for any reason was made eminently clear.

OPERATOR: The next question is from the line of Margaret Brennan, CBS News. Please, go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi, thanks for doing this. The timeline here begins around 8:30 p.m., but we had heard in response to some reports where reporters had found paperwork documents on the grounds of the compound that secure materials, that confidential paperwork had actually been secured earlier in the day, therefore there wasn’t any compromised material found at the compound. When did that occur? At 8:30 at night? When were those documents secured or shredded or burned or whatever?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Because of the – this was a post and not a – and we – this post held no classified documents. They had computer communications with Washington, but the material would arrive on the screen and you would read it on the screen, and then that was it. There was no classified paper, so there was no paper to burn.

Assuredly the debate will continue to rage.  A few  things are clear:

1. There is never-before-seen daylight making its appearance between the Obama White House and the Clinton State Department.  Under-the-bus stories abound.  (I am putting my money on Hillary Clinton.) 

2.  Hillary Clinton intends to get to the bottom of this and will probably make no definitive statements until all investigations are complete  nor should she absent all possible information.  (I hope this extends to appearing before the Oversight Committee as well.) 

3. When faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary some people will never cease to believe that a Marine guard, which, had one been assigned,  would have remained in Tripoli,  would have made a difference.

Krauthammer Misled - Hillary Did Not Blame The Video

The proper blog founded in 2008 specifically for defense of Hillary Clinton is The Department of Homegirl Security.  Because this issue also involves her work and career, I am cross-posting it here.

Offline most of the day, I was unaware that Charles Krauthammer's nasty and misleading attack on Hillary Clinton had buzzed around the interwebs all morning.   You would think, from reading his words, that Hillary Clinton blamed the video for the attack on the Benghazi consulate that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others.  That was his implication. That was not the case.  She did make a reference to that video in the context of demonstrations at several U.S. Embassies in the region.  She did not, however,  tie that video to the attack on the consulate as she spoke at Andrews AFB beside the caskets on September 14.  In fact, quoting Mahmoud Abbas,  she referred to it as an act of terror.   I hope that before people believe a misrepresentation of what she said, they will read her words and/or watch the video. 

Hillary Clinton at the Transfer of Remains Ceremony to Honor Those Lost in Attacks in Benghazi, Libya

Of Cleavages and Cleavers

Let me catch my breath.  What the "hey" is going on?  I cannot figure out whether people are stupid, crazy, or just uninformed.

First, the interwebs are inundated with a picture I will not post here from Wednesday's event when Hillary Ciinton,  a laureate herself in October 2010,  celebrated this year's winners of the McGovern Award, David Novak and Christina Aguilera (who apparently did not consult with Reese Witherspoon about wardrobe recommendations when participating in State Department events).   The  picture and stories misrepresent what actually happened at that moment in that crowded little space behind the table bearing the (huge) awards and beside the podium.  In the video from  Wednesday, it is clear that Hillary is merely trying to move and was oogling no one and nothing, spectacularly exhibited cleavage notwithstanding.

Second, as if there were nothing else going on in the world, someone makes a meme of Hillary and Big Bird with a reference to a safe house (also not shared here since it would be counter-productive to the purpose of this post).  Yes, we all enjoy the Hillary memes, Hillary included, and everyone loves Big Bird.  We do want him and the Sesame Street residents, whom Mme. Secretary loves, to be safe from Mitt Romney and his big budget cleaver, but the buzz word here should set off bells and whistles.  Perhaps this is not the most appropriate time to posit jokes about safe houses. Think of the implications.

On October 10, next Wednesday,  Mme. Secretary is due on Capitol Hill to testify before Darryl Issa's House Oversight Committee on security in Libya in general and in Benghazi in particular in the months and weeks prior to the attack on our consulate there culminating with the murders of  Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others at a safe house in Benghazi. 

Get it? 

(I am sure Mme. Secretary saw the humor in both of these items, but in her videos today she appeared less bubbly than usual.  Prepping for Issa is taxing and the strain shows.   He and his Tea Party cronies are going after her.  We should keep that in mind going forward.  That "vast right-wing conspiracy"  exists, and they are going after our girl.)

Time To Turn Off The Caps Lock

I am sharing this article for two reasons.  First, it states accurately and articulately my personal position on the statements I have been seeing and hearing since the attack in Benghazi three weeks ago from people were not even on the continent of Africa at the time.  If so many people *know* so much, perhaps the government is better off hiring psychics to inform them than sending in the FBI, CIA, and ARB.

Second,  Ms. Kemper alludes to the uncommon tsunami of ill-will and incivility that appears to be sweeping  the electorate.   It stuns me to hear and read some recent remarks from people who claim to have supported Hillary Clinton in 2008.   I see comments that resemble nothing of the tone of Hillary's campaign and everything negative in the way the Obama campaigners approached some of us:  the shouting, the anger, and the insults.  

It is high time for everyone to step back - out of each other's faces, take a deep breath, and think and reflect for a  moment.  It is inappropriate to use the tragedy in Benghazi in any political way.  There is no place for rudeness in discussions. 

This country has been here for 236 years.   Neither of these candidates is the best we have but neither is Satan either.  Neither is going to take this country down.  Make your choice, but if it differs from mine  that does not mean that I am less informed,  less intelligent,  less American than you are.  I simply see things differently.  Your vote - and mine - are precious.  Let's be a little more respectful of each other.  Take a deep breath - and turn off your caps lock.

  October 3, 2012, 11:08 am

Dishonoring Ambassador Stevens and his colleagues

By Kathy Kemper

As a proud, patriotic American, I am embarrassed by the calls that are being made for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice to resign. Not even a month after the murder of our ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans, many are politicizing their deaths rather than honoring their service — hardly the behavior that one would or should expect from the citizens of the nation that leads the free world.
Read more...

Remarks by Deputy Secretary Burns at Ceremony Honoring Fallen Americans in Triploli, Libya.

Deputy Secretary William Burns was in Tripoli today to participate in a memorial service for our fallen heroes. Here are his words

Remarks at a Ceremony Honoring Fallen Americans

Remarks

William J. Burns
Deputy Secretary

Tripoli, Libya

September 20, 2012

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DEPUTY SECRETARY BURNS: Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, distinguished guests: We gather with heavy hearts today to remember four remarkable men – Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty – who gave their lives serving their country and trying to build a better future for the people of Libya. Last Friday, I accompanied my fallen colleagues on the long, sad plane flight home, where their families and friends, joined by President Obama and Secretary Clinton, gathered to honor their sacrifice – the ultimate sacrifice. I am proud and grateful to be able to join all of you this evening, here in Libya, to mourn their passing.
This is a hard moment, for all of us. It is a moment of shared loss. And it is a moment of shared hope, and shared responsibility.
We have lost four wonderful colleagues. We have lost a brilliant ambassador, full of courage and skill and passionate determination to help Libyans, to help all of you, realize the promise of your revolution, to make a reality of a free Libya, of "Libya al-Hurra." I last saw Chris Stevens during a visit to Libya in July, just after the elections. His sense of commitment and possibility was contagious, drawing him to Libyans from all walks of life, from senior officials to students to street vendors. He was a very fine diplomat, and an extraordinary human being. He really was America at its best.
This is truly a shared loss. I can see that sense of loss on the faces of all those gathered here this evening . . . the loss of a tireless friend and advocate, a man who dreamed your dreams and wanted deeply to help you achieve the dignity you deserve, after so many decades of tyranny. I could see that sense of loss, as well as a profound sense of honor and decency, in the bravery of the Libyans who risked their lives to try to fight off attackers and rescue Chris . . . in the grief-stricken faces of the doctors and nurses who did all they could to try to save his life . . . in the outpouring of condolences and support from your leaders . . . in the simple, heartfelt, hand-printed signs of ordinary Libyan citizens, urging the world to understand that the extremists who did this do not speak for them and do not speak for Libya.
Tonight it's difficult to see beyond that sense of loss. But the truth is that what Chris Stevens embodied most of all was a sense of shared hope. He was an optimist, about Libya and about the potential for friendship between Libyans and Americans. He saw the promise of a free Libya, of a better future for Libyans and their children and their children's children.
Chris saw the promise of a free Libya even in the hardest days of the revolution in Benghazi, when so many others couldn't see it, when so many others began to waver, when so many others began to doubt. Chris never wavered. He believed in Libya. He believed in all of you. He believed in what you could build, in what you could overcome, in what you could become as a nation.
Neither Chris Stevens nor our three other fallen colleagues were naïve. They were not blind in their optimism. They knew the troubles Libyans faced, and the risks they had to endure. Chris understood better than most that it was only through a shared sense of responsibility that those hopes could be realized. If Chris were here this evening, I know he would be the first to say that – for all the pride and jubilation of the revolution, for all the pain we feel tonight – it is the days ahead which matter most.
Chris would be the first to remind us that dignity, respect, hope, and freedom are powerful words and noble aspirations – but translating them into reality takes hard work and great sacrifice. That is the responsibility before all Libyans, and before all of us in America and around the world who remain committed to supporting you in this crucial effort. There are formidable tasks ahead: to build democratic institutions to safeguard human rights for every Libyan; to build security institutions to protect your own citizens and the diplomats who serve here; to build an economy which realizes the full potential of all Libyans.
None of this will be easy. It will take time. There will be more difficult moments along the way. But you have already achieved so much, and so much more is possible. Libyans will have to continue to make hard choices, to live up to your responsibilities, and to ensure that violent extremists don't hijack the promise of your revolution.
Chris Stevens would have had no doubts about your ability to do that. He would not have wavered. And he would have drawn strength from your resolve, which is so evident this evening.
Chris would not have let the profound sense of loss we feel tonight obscure the hopes we share, or the responsibilities we must accept. The best way to honor his memory, and the memory of Sean and Tyrone and Glen, and the memory of all the Libyans who have sacrificed so much for the revolution, is to renew our shared determination to build a free Libya, "Libya al-Hurra." We owe them – we owe ourselves – no less.
Thank you.

Hillary Clinton on the Tragedy in Benghazi

Remembering to thank our troops is a good thing.  It would be even better if we would remember, as our Secretary of State never fails to do in any country she visits, to thank as well our foreign service officials who serve unarmed every bit as patriotically as our military. 

Statement on the Death of American Personnel in Benghazi, Libya

Press Statement

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 12, 2012

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It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the death of four American personnel in Benghazi, Libya yesterday. Among them were United States Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and Foreign Service Information Management Officer, Sean Smith. We are still making next of kin notifications for the other two individuals. Our hearts go out to all their families and colleagues.

A 21 year veteran of the Foreign Service, Ambassador Stevens died last night from injuries he sustained in the attack on our office in Benghazi.
I had the privilege of swearing in Chris for his post in Libya only a few months ago. He spoke eloquently about his passion for service, for diplomacy and for the Libyan people. This assignment was only the latest in his more than two decades of dedication to advancing closer ties with the people of the Middle East and North Africa which began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. As the conflict in Libya unfolded, Chris was one of the first Americans on the ground in Benghazi. He risked his own life to lend the Libyan people a helping hand to build the foundation for a new, free nation. He spent every day since helping to finish the work that he started. Chris was committed to advancing America’s values and interests, even when that meant putting himself in danger.

Sean Smith was a husband and a father of two, who joined the Department ten years ago. Like Chris, Sean was one of our best. Prior to arriving in Benghazi, he served in Baghdad, Pretoria, Montreal, and most recently The Hague.
All the Americans we lost in yesterday’s attacks made the ultimate sacrifice. We condemn this vicious and violent attack that took their lives, which they had committed to helping the Libyan people reach for a better future.

America’s diplomats and development experts stand on the front lines every day for our country. We are honored by the service of each and every one of them.