In order to cleanse the Obama administration from the taint of what is clearly a botched response to the terrorist attacks to our U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which led to the death of our ambassador and other American personnel, now is the time for a special prosecutor to be appointed.
Even six months after the attacks, there exists so many unanswered questions that must be answered and there must be accountability as to how the attacks happened, who is responsible, what did we know before, during and after, who knew it, and what did those in a position of authority do with the information they had, and who made the decisions with regard to dissemination of information to the American people.
The most glaring question yet to be answered is could the government have saved those under attack by an immediate military response. In addition, we need to know why the FBI was not immediately dispatched to our consulate to secure and preserve the crime scene?
The fact that our government allowed a U.S. consulate to be placed in Benghazi without the necessary and proper setbacks, fortifications, and security personnel is unconscionable.
The fact that our U.S. ambassador was allowed to travel on the anniversary of 9/11/01 from our embassy in Tripoli to Benghazi was gross negligence.
The fact that numerous warnings were made by the ambassador and other American personnel for additional security in the months leading up to the attacks in Benghazi went unheeded is an outrage.
The most ominous cloud hanging over these attacks is the question of whether or not there was a cover — up by the administration because of possible political fallout within months of Obama’s second term presidential election.
Some argue that the Obama White House and campaign was fearful that a terrorist attack so close to an election would have adverse effect on its outcome. The Obama administration was hoping that their message that “Osama is dead and GM is alive” would carry the day. The hope for them was that the American people would give Obama credit for an aggressive assault on al-Qaida.
The attacks in Benghazi clearly were in contradiction to what the Obama White House and campaign wanted in terms of messaging and policy. If anything, the narrative in the aftermath of 9/11/13 was that although Osama bin Laden is dead — al-Qaida is alive and well and killing Americans and destroying American government assets.
Why a special prosecutor?
A special prosecutor is a lawyer from outside the government appointed by either the U.S. attorney general or by Congress to investigate government officials for misconduct while in office.
The reason for the need for an outsider to lead an investigation is that the government is not in the best position to investigate itself for political and conflict of interest reasons.
It is clear that because of so many contradictory actions by government with regard to the Benghazi attacks, because of the possible misleading statements by the government, because of the accusations of witness intimidation by government officials, because of the yet unanswered questions surrounding the who, what, when, and why of the attacks, and more — now is the time for America to be assured and reassured of the facts and circumstances, letting the chips fall where they may with regard to culpability and responsibility.
The Obama administration and the Executive Branch including but not limited to the White House, the Justice Department, the FBI, CIA, Defense Department, State Department, and others has lost the confidence of the American people with regard to the handling of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi.
According to a Fox News Poll released on May 6, 46 percent of the American people believe there is a government cover-up of the facts and circumstances surrounding the terrorist attacks on our American personnel and assets in Benghazi, Libya.
If there is nothing to hide and our government acted appropriately, then the Obama administration should welcome a fresh set of eyes and call for the appointment of a special prosecutor to look into all the facts and circumstances surrounding the terrorists attacks in Benghazi and let the chips fall where they may, if at all.
Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is currently a professor of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and a frequent contributor to Fox News Opinion. Read more reports from Bradley Blakeman — Click Here Now.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.