"Did he, Secretary Panetta, tell you it was a terrorist attack?"
In red text below are Obama words that are pure spin, have nothing to do with the question, wasted words, such as: is, that, Bill, what is, you know, no, folks, focused, happened, happens, the fact of the matter, the question ends up being, you see, how can we, do we, who in fact," and no answer comes forth -- exactly, no answer. Obama's words in black text generously give him the benefit of the doubt. They were not counted. This is how a dishonorable president gets out of answering questions, out of relaying information, and is how he misleads the country and avoids the truth. To know the truth, you have to interrupt him, shut-him up or a few seconds and focus on the question -- ask it again, and when he bloviates, shut him up again. O'Reilly's words totaled 192. The entire interview consisted of 741 words.
Before the transcript, here is a reminder of what General Carter Ham and Panetta have said, relating to O'Reilly's question:
“Secretary Panetta, do you believe that unequivocally at that time we knew that this was a terrorist attack?” asked Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla. “There was no question in my mind that this was a terrorist attack,” Panetta replied. Source: Hot Air
Gen. Carter Ham, who at the time was head of AFRICOM, the Defense Department combatant command with jurisdiction over Libya, told the House in classified testimony last year that it was him who broke the news about the unfolding situation in Benghazi to then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...According to declassified testimony obtained by Fox News, Ham -- who was working out of his Pentagon office on the afternoon of Sept. 11 -- said he learned about the assault on the consulate compound within 15 minutes of its commencement, at 9:42 p.m. Libya time, through a call he received from the AFRICOM Command Center."My first call was to General Dempsey, General Dempsey's office, to say, 'Hey, I am headed down the hall. I need to see him right away,'" Ham told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation on June 26 of last year. "I told him what I knew. We immediately walked upstairs to meet with Secretary Panetta." Source: Fox News
At about 3:10-into the video, the Benghazi discussion begins (remember that the red text has, in my opinion, nothing to do with the question, "Did he tell you, Secretary Panetta, that it was a terrorist attack?):
O'REILLY: Libya, a House Armed Services testimony -- General Carter Ham, you know the General, security in Africa, he testified that on the day the Ambassador was murdered, and three other Americans, he told Secretary Panetta it was a terrorist attack. Shortly after General Ham said that, Secretary Panetta came in to you. Did he tell you, Secretary Panetta, that it was a terrorist attack?OBAMA: You know, what he told me was there was an attack on our compound...O'REILLY: He didn't use the word "terror?"OBAMA: You know, in the heat of the moment, Bill, what folks are focused on is what's happening on the ground, do we have eyes on it, how can we make sure our folks are safe [inaudible]O'REILLY: I just want to get this straight. Did he tell you it was a terrorist attack?OBAMA: Bill, and what I'm, and I'm answering your question. What he said to me was, we've got an attack on our compound...O'REILLY: No terror attack?OBAMA: we don't know yet who's doing it. Understand by definition, that when somebody is attacking our compound, that's an act of terror, which is how I characterized it the day after it happened, so, and, so the question ends up being, who in fact, was attacking us...O'REILLY: But it's more than that because of Susan Rice.OBAMA: No...O'REILLY: It's more than that because Susan Rice goes out and tells the world that it was a spontaneous demonstration of a video tape, but your Commanders and the Secretary of Defense know it's a terror attack.OBAMA: No, no, Bill, Bill.O'REILLY: I'm just an American. I'm confused.OBAMA: and I'm trying to explain it to you if you want to listen. The fact of the matter is that people understood at the time, something very dangerous was happening, that we were focused on making sure that we did everything that we could to protect them. In the aftermath, what became clear was that the security was lax, that not all the precautions that needed to be taken were taken, and both myself and Secretary Clinton, and others indicated as much. But at the moment, when these things happen, Bill, on the other side of the world, people don't know at the very moment exactly why something like this happens, and when you look at the video tape of this whole thing unfolding, this is not some systematic, well-organized process. You see...O'REILLY: There were heavy weapons used, and ...OBAMA: Bill...O'REILLY: Heavy weapons coming in...OBAMA: Bill, listen, I've gone through this and we have had multiple hearings on it. What happens is, you have an attack like this taking place and you have a mix of folks who are just trouble-makers, you have folks who have an ideological agenda...O'REILLY: all right.OBAMA: You have some who are affiliated with terrorist organizations, you have some who are not...O'REILLY: but...OBAMA: The main thing that all of us have to take away from this is that our diplomats are serving in some very dangerous places, and...O'REILLY: It's more than that...OBAMA: and we've got to make sure that not only have we implemented all the reforms that were recommended by the independent agency, but we also have to make sure that we understand that our folks out there are in a hazardous, dangerous situation.O'REILLY: I think everybody understands that, Mr. President.OBAMA: No, not everybody does, because what ends up happening, what ends up happening is we end up creating a political agenda on something...O'REILLY: Absolutely, that's my next question.OBAMA: Democrats and Republicans should be unified in trying to figure out how are we going to protect people, ...O'REILLY: I've got to get to the IRS, but I just want to say, your detractors believe that you did not tell the world it was a terror attack because your campaign did not want that out...OBAMA: Bill...O'REILLY: That's what they believe...OBAMA: and, and they believe it because folks like you are telling them that.O'REILLY: I'm not telling them that. I'm asking you whether you were told it was a terror attack.OBAMA: The thing is, that is inaccurate. We revealed to the American people exactly what we understood at the time. The notion that we would hide the ball for political purposes, when a week later, we all said, in fact, there was a terrorist attack taking place the day after, I said it was an act of terror, that wouldn't be a very good cover-upO'REILLY: All right. I have to get to the IRS.
How arrogant for Obama to say, "The main thing that all of us have to take away from this is that our diplomats are serving in some very dangerous places, and and we've got to make sure that not only have we implemented all the reforms that were recommended by the independent agency, but we also have to make sure that we understand that our folks out there are in a hazardous, dangerous situation."
How much do we pay the thousands of State Department and Defense Department employees, every year, to tend to the details. Who are the "all of us," that he wants to wake-up now that the worst has happened. You and I have no control over anything.
That "independent agency" Obama refers to? The chairman was appointed by Hillary Clinton. Thomas Pickering is a close personal friend of hers and Bills. Bill appointed Pickering to the post of Ambassador to Russia and he was the Under Secretary of State for Political Affiars from 1997 - 2001 (Clinton's presidency). Hillary was not interviewed. Hillary's chief of staff was not interviewed. It was a sham investigation.
One more thing, when Obama says "when you look at the video tape of this whole thing unfolding, this is not some systematic, well-organized process...." 1) we should see that video, has Congress seen the video? and 2) I would say the attack was well-organized. The attackers had diesel fuel with them, and plenty of it. They knew where the safe room was in the embassy compound and as O'Reilly said, the terrorists had heavy weapons.
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