Stop making "Benghazi" a political rat's nest. If Republicans - or even any Democrats - want to blame Hillary Clinton for the assault on the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya...on September 11th, 2012...because she was Secretary of State at the time...then we must blame former President George W. Bush for the attacks on American soil on September 11th, 2001...forever more known as "9/11."
President Bush was re-elected in 2004...even though there is concrete and definitive proof...that the President's chief counter-terrorism adviser on the National Security Council, Richard A. Clarke...advised the Bush Administration in a
January 25th, 2001 memo to then National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice..."urgently" requesting a high-level National Security Council review on al-Qaeda. In his book...Against All Enemies...Clarke wrote that in the summer of 2001 - just a couple of short months before 9/11 - the intelligence community was convinced of an imminent attack by al-Qaeda. It was July 5th, 2001 when - at a gathering at The White House - Clarke told members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration...that "something really spectacular is going to happen here... and it's going to happen soon." At that same meeting...a memo was read 
from now retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Donald Kerrick - who was Deputy National Security Advisor - stating that the National Security Agency needed to "pay attention to al-Qaeda and counter-terrorism"...and that the United States would be "struck." Testifying before Congress on May 19th, 2004...Richard Clarke - under oath - said he 
and then Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet "tried very hard to create a sense of urgency" but that their warnings were not heeded. Clarke also told Congress that prior to 9/11...the FBI was well aware...that at least two of the 19 hijackers...were in the United States...but that the information never made its way to President Bush...or to the highest levels of power under him.For those of you who think Benghazi will be the demise of Hillary Clinton's chances to be nominated as the Democratic Party's candidate for President in 2016...and ultimately for her to win The White House...you're sadly mistaken. If Americans - as a whole - were to point the finger at Secretary Clinton...for the tragedy at Benghazi...then Americans need to accuse President George W. Bush for 9/11 - which, of course, we don't. And therefore...I don't think Americans - as a whole - will hold Secretary Clinton responsible...for Benghazi.
On Wednesday, January 15th, 2014...a scathing new bi-partisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee...says the deadly attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi...was "preventable." The report describes - that prior to the assault - the intelligence community "provided ample strategic warnings that the security situation in eastern Libya was deteriorating." Four Americans - including Ambassador Christopher Stevens - were killed. The Congressional Committee of Republicans and Democrats...charge the State Department for ignoring multiple warnings and for failing to provide adequate security. But a major new finding has been revealed...whereby Ambassador Stevens...although - according to the report - warned the State Department about security problems...he "declined two specific offers"...for more military
support...from now retired U.S. Army General Carter Ham...who at the time was the senior U.S. armed forces commander in Africa. Twice...twice Ambassador Stevens was asked if he needs more security...and he said, "No."The report by the Senate Intelligence Committee should not have spewed any political venom. But Republicans insisted that the document include a blazing beating of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The report claims that "At the end of the day...she was responsible for ensuring the safety of all Americans serving in our diplomatic facilities. Her failure to do so...clearly made a difference...in the lives of the four murdered Americans and their families."
Let us remember...that prior to 9/11...there were intelligence reports that al-Qaeda wanted to hit targets in the United States. On September 11th, 2001...2,975 people - that's the official total - were killed at the World Trade Center in New York City...at The Pentagon...and on the hijacked airplane that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Yet President George W. Bush was re-elected three years later...and approval ratings for Mr. Bush...were his highest...after 9/11.
Following 9/11...thousands of troops in America's military...were sent in to harm's way....and a war began that never should have started. President Bush - as Commander-in-Chief - ordered armed forces troops in to Iraq... because he claimed that intelligence reports proved...that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction. Mr. Bush's decision to invade Iraq...was reportedly based...on something that was just not true. The former President commenced a war...supposedly because of an intelligence report...that was very, very wrong. Still...the majority of Americans...cast their ballots in President Bush's favor...in November 2004.If Republicans - according to the Senate Intelligence Committee's report - believe that Hillary Clinton - as Secretary of State - was responsible for the safety and security of Americans at the consulate in Benghazi...then President Bush needs to be held responsible for the safety and security of every single American in the United States on 9/11. Obviously...that cannot be true for Mr. Bush...and it should not be true for Mrs. Clinton.
I certainly believe that Secretary Clinton will weather the storm of Benghazi. If voters could re-elect President George W. Bush after 9/11...then Hillary Clinton can easily win the Democratic nomination for President in 2016 - if she wants it - and Mrs. Clinton can ultimately be elected the 45th President of the United States in the general election in November of that year.
In his book, Duty: Memoirs Of A Secretary At War - which in last week's column, I stated that former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates should have waited to
write...because of it being extremely critical of President Obama and Vice President Biden...along with 
one verbal thrashing of Secretary of State Clinton - Gates... in his book...commented that Hillary Clinton is "smart, idealistic... pragmatic, tough-minded, funny." And this
morning...Sunday, January 19th, 2014...David Gregory - moderator and anchor of NBC's Meet The Press - interviewed Secretary Gates. David noted that during conversations with other reporters that Gates praised Secretary Clinton as someone he often agreed with on national security issues...and that Gates has stated in the past...that Mrs. Clinton would be a "good President." So David asked Secretary Gates..."You're a Republican. Could you imagine voting for her?" Gates told David that "It's clear in the book that I have a lot of admiration for Hillary." Secretary Gates wouldn't answer David Gregory's question in the way that David - and I think most Democrats - wanted to hear. "I'm still going to be evasive," Gates replied...but he went on to say - in a positive fashion - "I worked with (Hillary) in the national security arena for two-and-a-half years. I have a lot of respect for what she did...and the way she conducted herself as Secretary (of State)."The most important issue now...is making sure that the security at U.S. embassies around the world...is improved. And that all Americans serving our country...at those diplomatic compounds...are safe from any danger. Why must we blame any U.S. official for Benghazi? We've never blamed any American for 9/11. Let's just make certain...that no other disaster - similar to either catastrophe...ever happens again.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
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