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Home Front: Politix
Obama's September 11 Phone Call
2012-10-29
While Americans were under assault in Benghazi, the president found time for a non-urgent, politically useful, hour-long call to Prime Minister Netanyahu. And his senior national staff had to find time to arrange the call, brief the president for the call, monitor it, and provide an immediate read-out to the media.

I suspect Prime Minister Netanyahu, of all people, would have understood the need to postpone or shorten the phone call if he were told that Americans were under attack as the president chatted.

But for President Obama, a politically useful telephone call--and the ability to have his aides rush out and tell the media about that phone call--came first.

So here are a few more questions for the White House: While President Obama was on the phone for an hour, did his national security advisor Tom Donilon or any other aide interrupt the call or slip him a piece of paper to inform him about what was happening in Benghazi?

Or was President Obama out of the loop for at least an hour as events unfolded and decisions were made? On the other hand, national security staff were obviously with the president during and immediately after the phone call--otherwise how could they have put out their statement right away? Surely his aides told the president about what was happening in Benghazi.

Was there then no discussion of what was or what wasn't being done to help, pursuant to the president's first directive that everything possible be done?
Adding another one: Did he tell Bibi what was going on?
Posted by:Sherry

#22  Mr. Wife studied Arabic when he was working in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. His tutor was Palestinian, but he was able to practice on the locals. When he went to Morocco he spoke French, because they did not understand his Arabic.
Posted by: trailing wife   2012-10-29 23:23  

#21  Perhaps we should cut the TOTUS a little slack. The old ad was about a 3AM call when the president is sleeping, not about a 3PM call when he is busy with politics.
Posted by: James   2012-10-29 21:21  

#20  When you are told "weapons free" will come directly from the White House, you hold your fire.

I see your point, Besoeker - a conditioned response - as well as JFM's point that there was also concern for Libyan sovereignty. But Woods and Doherty disobeyed orders. I just can't see how at least one of their brothers-in-arms would not have broken ranks too, if getting a go/no-go was the only obstacle.
Posted by: RandomJD   2012-10-29 17:50  

#19  Therte is all latin radio. It is not in Vatican, it is not in a catholic country, it is not in a country whose language is derived from Latin. It is in Finland.

BTw, one of the reasons the Catholic Church clinfs is precisely because it is a sleeping language; meaning of wors doesn't change.
Posted by: JFM   2012-10-29 15:07  

#18  Bobby, Latin's not a "dead" language. It's just sleeping!
Posted by: Scooter McGruder   2012-10-29 13:56  

#17  I lived in Morocco for six months in 1977. Classical Arabic sounded more like French (soft, flowing), to me, while Moroccan Arabic was much more like German (harsh and gutteral). I spoke a little bit of each at the time. French and German, that is.

I suppose classical Arabic might be more akin to (dead) Latin, while the local dialects more like French, Spanish, and Italian - from the same root.
Posted by: Bobby   2012-10-29 12:33  

#16   From what I have head classic Arabic like spoken in Saudi Arabia is nearly unintelligible for Moroccans or Algerians a bit like Shakespearian English or even Medieval English for an American.

Hmmmm. Might one conclude from this that Moroccan and Algerians are evolving while the Soddies are stuck in the Seventh Century?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2012-10-29 12:04  

#15  @Sherry

During the Algerian civil war it was not uncommon of some insurgents dressing or acting like Afgans (eg sitting on their heels) despite being Algerians
Posted by: JFM   2012-10-29 12:04  

#14  In that Times interview with 5 of the Libyan guards, one said some of the attackers were dressed like Afgans.
Posted by: Sherry   2012-10-29 11:50  

#13  Voice recognition, the taal (language), and the infomation contained in actual intercepts, are Essential Elements of Information (EEI). These elements (when available) must be fused with other pieces such as interrogation reports, source reports, photo-imagery, biometric data, captured documents, weapons, etc. If you stroke your chicken and wait a couple of weeks to pull these elements together, they can become contaminated or lost to history.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-10-29 11:43  

#12  JohnQc

The info I have is that the attackers definitely spoke Arabic but not Lybian Arabic. Understand that the differnces between Arabics of differnet countries are far more substantial than between English or Spanish speaking countriies. From what I have head classic Arabic like spoken in Saudi Arabia is nearly unintelligible for Moroccans or Algerians a bit like Shakespearian English or even Medieval English for an American.
Posted by: JFM   2012-10-29 11:32  

#11  Listen. This was Lybia not Afghanistan: understand that in Lybia it was not simply a matter of desobeying orders but of engaging the responsibility of the United States. Dragging the United States into a war without consent of the governement or even causing her diplomatic problems is good for the Japanese Army of the 30s (remember this path ended leading to war with the United States and to Hiroshima) not for the American Armed Forces.

The decision to go could origiante of any other than the CinC and the blame is to be put at his feet and none other's.
Posted by: JFM   2012-10-29 11:26  

#10  Had to be QUD, no one else could put this together.

Reports indicated that the attackers were foreigners because they spoke a foreign language. If so, I wonder if they spoke Persian/Farsi?

If Woods and Doherty did kill some number of attackers, where are the bodies? Were they dragged off? If there were bodies and they were not dragged off could this not provide evidence as to where they came from? Any wounded who could be questioned? Did they end up in some local hospital? Blood evidence? If 60 attackers were killed, it would seem there would be a great deal of blood. I'm not in any way trying to detract from their bravery. They went to the fight. They asked for assistance three times and were denied. They were brave and heroic men who provided enough time for some 30 people to be saved. There are just a lot of unanswered questions. If story is kept alive, the truth will come out.
Posted by: JohnQC   2012-10-29 11:19  

#9  That picture - of the 'blood-streaked' Obama flag and the blood-streaked wall - should be on the front page of every paper in America.

Should be. But the media has steadfastly ignored it.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2012-10-29 10:47  

#8  Once again, the Pred feeds have a clock. DTG (Date-Time-Group) found at the margin. We'll likely never see any of them.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-10-29 09:45  

#7  The more that comes out, the sicker I get. Fox did an interesting timeline, not sure how accurate it is, but these guys held off a well coordinated attack. Had to be QUD, no one else could put this together.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2012-10-29 09:10  

#6  But, a question: if a Spectre, armed Predator, or other air assets were on site, I cannot imagine how the guys at the controls could have just watched, regardless of what orders from a distance may have been.

The current Rules of Engagement (ROE) for kinetic action drilled into pilots and troops on the ground over the past 10 years, leave little room for second guessing or independent action.
This was not part of a broader campaign here all players knew the tactical situation on the ground. When you are told "weapons free" will come directly from the White House, you hold your fire. I cannot blame Special Operations Wing (SOW) pilots or pred operators.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-10-29 08:29  

#5  Joe Biden's demented comment to the dead SEAL's father seems to make sense only if he eat ate popcorn and watched the fire-fight in real time - which would be pretty twisted.

I had the same thought. However, I would add "despicable" and "outrageous."

But, a question: if a Spectre, armed Predator, or other air assets were on site, I cannot imagine how the guys at the controls could have just watched, regardless of what orders from a distance may have been. I know I would have said F it and gladly answered for it later. That help never came suggests that such assets were not on site. Are there possibilities I am not accounting for?
Posted by: RandomJD   2012-10-29 07:02  

#4  Wait! While Obama was apologizing for the video, brave Libyans Freedom Fighters were dying? You're right, B! More apologies are coming up! [Is it snark if you're worried it might come true?]
Posted by: Bobby   2012-10-29 05:54  

#3  I kept wondering when we might see the Benghazi terrorist death toll from the actions of former Navy SEAL's Woods and Doherty. An undocumented number and total of 60 was rolled out on a blog yesterday.

How long must we now wait for the Champ's apology to the brave, freedom loving Libyan Islamist for their loss? [sark off]
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-10-29 02:58  

#2  Joe Biden's demented comment to the dead SEAL's father seems to make sense only if he ate popcorn and watched the fire-fight in real time - which would be pretty twisted.

Obama's failure to look the man in the eye also seems to indicate that he watched the part of the video but wasn't interested enough to stay for the end.

Hillary was just happy to console the father with assurance that an innocent dude was headed for a rat mask session in Room 101.
Posted by: Super Hose   2012-10-29 01:05  

#1  This story shows he will just blame the Jooos for his non-response to Benghazi
Posted by: Penguin   2012-10-29 00:04  

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