Did Secretary of State Clinton or President Obama Fail the 3:00am Call Test?

Remember the 3:00am telephone call ad by Senator Clinton in 2008? It was her attempt to label Senator Obama inexperienced. Here’s the TV ad: “It’s 3:00am and your children are asleep. “There’s a phone in the White House. And it’s ringing. Something is happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers the call. “Whether someone knows the world’s leaders, knows the military, someone tested and ready to lead. T’s 3:0am and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?” Apparently neither President Obama nor Secretary Clinton after their response to the Benghazi Tragedy. They received the phone call as the attack commenced. The Administration had a live feed from Benghazi. Once again though it was an election year. The Administration’s claim was that Ben-Ladin was dead, and so was Al Qaeda. No terrorist attack could be acknowledged since it would cut to the core of the reelection campaign: “GM’s alive and Bin-Ladin dead.” The political decision was made: Deny, deny, deny, and coverup. Sounds like President Nixon and the Watergate Breakin – jut a third rate burglary. General Carter Ham, the Commander of U.S. Africa Command, wanted to act to save the Americans. He started to organize a rescue attempt. He was summarily replaced. The White House subsequently asserted that the CIA that stopped any rescue attempt. The CIA under General Petraeus denied it. He was replaced. A four-man special ops team in Tripoli was about to board a C130. They were told to stand down. A second special ops team was also told to stand down. Fighter planes could have been dispatched the 480 miles from Italy to support the Americans in Benghazi. They were not even scrambled while the two security officers, ex-Seals, were laser targeting the opposing mortar sight for aerial support. No AC 130 was sent to their assistance. The State Department, whose credibility is suspect, denies the claims that Secretary of State Clinton and her aide, Patrick Kennedy, tried to cut the Department’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau out of the loop. State Department employees in Libya knew immediately the attack on the Consulate was a terrorist attack. Yet, the draft talking points eliminated any reference to terrorism and terrorist organizations. Instead, the final talking points asserted the attacks represented a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Muslim video no one had ever heard of or viewed until the White House resurrected it. Secretary Clinton talked to President Obama around 4 in the afternoon, and by 10:00pm issued a statement denouncing the video. Maybe just a coincidence? The producer of the video, Mark Bassealy Youssef, is still in jail. The Administration could not dispatch support for the endangered Americans, but five days after the attacks it dispatched UN Ambassador Susan Rice to 5 Saturday talk shows to spread the new talking points that spontaneous riots erupted in response to the video. President Obama spoke out against the video. Secretary Clinton could not send help to Benghazi, but the State Department spent almost $1 million in TV ads in Pakistan decrying the video. The Obama Administration, which did not send help to Benghazi, subsequently had trouble dispatching the FBI to Benghazi. The FBI agents cooled their heels in Tripoli for three weeks before they left for Benghazi. They only spent about 3 hours in Benghazi before leaving. The coverup worked because the media, except for Fox, bought it. Not so much today. The networks are now questioning the Administration’s timeline and stories. The House will hold hearings on Wednesday. The coverup worked because Governor Romney was scared to push it during the debates. The media had already attacked him for questioning the Administration. We saw photos of the situation room during the takedown of Osama Bin-Laden. Where are the photos of the Situation Room during the standdowm of the Military and CIA? Secretary Clinton said its past. Jay Carney said its past. So was Watergate when the 1972 election was over, but didn’t stop the media or Democrats from pursuing Watergate and driving President Nixon from office. No one died in Watergate. Where was Secretary of State Clinton between 4pm and 10pm? It’s not ancient history since the American people need to know if the failed response to Benghazi was an act of incompetence or a calculated decision to subordinate military considerations to a political imperative. It’s not over because the American people need to know who made the order for the United States Military to stand down. The Secretary of State does not have that authority. America's enemies are becoming more fearless while the Administration is feckless.