Tag Archives: Rose Garden Speech

Benghazi Continues To Demand Attention

I’m preparing a post regarding the continued saga that is Benghazi.  However, before I do I think it’s important to point out a little analysis I did on a past post in the comments.

Scott mentioned that Obama referred to the attacks as “acts of terrorism” the next day.  I’ve read the transcript and listened to the remarks.  And I don’t remember ever thinking that Obama referred to the attacks in Benghazi as those “acts of terrorism.”  In fact, I was struck by how he AVOIDED that reference.  He does this here in the same way that he refuses to name terrorism instead referring to it as “man caused disasters.”  In the same way that he refers to the Ft. Hood shooting as “work place violence.

Obama does NOT want to label events as terrorist attacks.

So I went back to the transcript and looked for Obama specifically referencing the attacks on the consulate.  This is what I found:

He mentions the attacks directly in the statements I’m copying.

The first:

Yesterday, four of these extraordinary Americans were killed in an attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi.

The second:

The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack.

The third:

We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence. None. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts.

The fourth:

Already, many Libyans have joined us in doing so, and this attack will not break the bonds between the United States and Libya. Libyan security personnel fought back against the attackers alongside Americans.

The fifth:

And then last night, we learned the news of this attack in Benghazi.

The sixth:

We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act.

The seventh:

But we also know that the lives these Americans led stand in stark contrast to those of their attackers. These four Americans stood up for freedom and human dignity.

And that’s it – seven mentions of attacks and not one single reference to terror.

Now, to be sure, the left has some righteous ammunition on statements and context.  Take the republican’s attack on “You didn’t build that.”  Clearly Obama was referencing the infrastructure work he mentioned directly before that comment.  That didn’t stop the right, and me, from scorching him over those comments but at least I mentioned that the context supported Obama’s contention.  But here, the democrats are trying to pull the same shennanigans – they wana change the context.  And theyjust can’t do it.