by Cynthia McKinney
Hillary Clinton, who takes credit for the invasion and regime change in Libya, claims to be blameless for the war’s consequences, including the spread of Islamic jihad in the region. “Hillary’s War” expanded to claim hundreds of thousands more lives. “After destroying Libya, the US policy was to use that ‘success’ to roll right into Syria for that country’s destruction.”
Clinton and the Benghazi Committee: Dancing on a Tightrope
by Cynthia McKinney
This article previously appeared in Russia Today (RT).
“Why did so many Libyans have so many weapons, including portable shoulder-fired missiles and Toyota trucks?”
The one question that has not been answered during Hillary Clinton’s grilling before a US Congress committee over the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, was: “What was the policy that was being carried out that led to the deaths of these four men?”
The attack on the US consulate in Libya resulted in the deaths of four US citizens on September 11, 2012.
The four who were found dead in the aftermath of the Benghazi chaos of that night were the US Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens; Sean Smith who, significantly, was known as “Vile Rat” in his online gaming community; and two former US Navy SEALs and Central Intelligence Agency contractors (CIA), Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.
These four public servants answered the call to serve the policy of the US government. Their deaths in the service of their country are truly tragic. However, the question that has not been answered in all of the hoopla over the proceedings of the Select Committee are: “What was the policy that was being carried out that led to the deaths of these four men?” It is the avoidance of even asking that question in public, let alone answering it, that is the proverbial elephant in the room.
The top Democrat on the Select Committee is Representative Elijah Cummings from Maryland, who in a moment of selective outrage, exclaimed to rousing applause from the audience, “We’re better than that! We are so much better! We’re a better country! We’re better than using taxpayer dollars to try to destroy a campaign! That’s not what America is all about!” But, apparently, using taxpayer dollars to destroy one country and literally wipe another country off the map – that’s OK, I guess. Because, at the time of the televised hearings, U.S. Embassy in Libya personnel weren’t even in Libya! They’re operating from Malta, after President Obama’s policy to destroy Libya was so effective. How much questioning about that took place in the eleven-hour hearing?
“More than likely, the US Embassy personnel in Benghazi were murdered with the very same weapons that the US had transferred to the Libyans to carry out the serial regime.”
Another question that should have been addressed is, “What is the extent to which US policy in the aftermath of the US war against Libya directly led to the need for US personnel to evacuate the Embassy premises in Tripoli before it was taken over by rampant Libyans with guns?” What was really going on at the CIA compound at the Benghazi Consulate? Why did so many Libyans have so many weapons, including portable shoulder-fired missiles and Toyota trucks? After destroying Libya, the US policy was to use that “success” to roll right into Syria for that country’s destruction according to: Oded Yinon’s Plan, published in the World Zionist Organization’s KivunimJournal, that was a strategy for Israel to pursue in the 1980s; The Institute for Strategic and Political Studies’ “A Clean Break” strategy for Israel to pursue in the 1990s; the Pentagon’s General Ralph Peters “Blood Borders” map, and General Wesley Clark’s revelations about the Pentagon’s plans to overthrow governments in “seven countries in five years.” More than likely, the US Embassy personnel in Benghazi were murdered with the very same weapons that the US had transferred to the Libyans to carry out the serial regime change required by these various strategies that benefit Israel.
Wesley Clark calls it a “policy coup” that took place inside the US; this policy coup is using the US military to ensure Israel’s sovereignty, not by diplomacy, but by the destruction of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Israel’s neighbors. Clark said, “This country was taken over by a group of people with a policy coup: Wolfowitz and Cheney and Rumsfeld . . . from the Project for a New American Century.” Clark complains that there was neither US popular nor Congressional debate on this plan or the use of the US military to implement it.
So, the theatrics on Capitol Hill were in high gear, but the people of the United States and the victims of US policy in west Asia and north Africa were dealt a disservice once again. And the outrage over the possible harm done by the Select Committee Hearing to Secretary Clinton’s Presidential campaign pales in comparison to my outrage at the use of the US military machine and the total destruction that is being visited on the rest of the world with my tax dollars and in my name as a US citizen. For a sobering assessment of the current situation in Libya, thanks to President Obama and Secretary Clinton and all of the Members of Congress who remained and continue to remain silent, one need only visit the State Department’s own Libyan Embassy “Information for Travelers” section on its official website:
“The Libyan government has not been able to build its military and police forces and improve security following the 2011 revolution. Many military-grade weapons remain in the hands of private individuals, US and UN-designated terrorists, and other armed groups, including antiaircraft weapons that may be used against civilian aviation. Crime levels remain high in many parts of the country. In addition to the threat of crime, the threat of kidnapping is high and various groups have called for attacks against US citizens and US interests in Libya.”
For more information of the total destruction of Libya, please see my book, The Illegal War On Libya. For more information on the policy coup that took place in the US and its direct effect on me and the domestic as well as foreign policies of the U.S., please see my book, Ain’t Nothing Like Freedom.
“They only fooled those new to the deception.”
The Select Committee’s “dance on a tightrope” is nothing new. It’s like conducting an investigation into the Rwanda Genocide without touching the plane crash that murdered two democratically elected African Presidents (the US has blood on its hands for that). It’s like going to Sierra Leone and lamenting that babies don’t have arms without mentioning that the very militia that chopped off the babies’ arms were “armed” by the US.
Sadly, the Select Committee was dancing all over the rope – both Democrats and Republicans. It was on display for all to see. They only fooled those new to the deception. The tightrope dance has moves that are familiar to those who know about US bloody misdeeds, including the policy makers who are dancing the jig. It’s a kind of pornography – you know it when you see it, you know it when you dance it. It’s the dance that occurs when The Grand Wurlitzer starts playing.
I lament that people have written to me parroting the media’s assessment that Hillary’s performance was “presidential.” Unfortunately, that’s too true. The Select Committee’s Hearing confirmed that Hillary was eager to “take credit” for: the success of the destruction of Libya; the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi; and the destruction of a government that was moving forward on its commitment to create a United States of Africa with its own central bank issuing a currency backed by gold. While any one of these actions could disbar her or send her to The Hague for violation of US and international law, it is more likely that she will qualify for a Nobel Peace Prize, following in the ignominious footsteps of her former boss, President Barack Obama.
I’m asking the people of the United States to dare to dream again of the day when we can swear in a president who is not a war criminal; to dare to dream of the day when the US truly is a beacon of hope and democracy for its own residents as well as for the rest of the world. It is still possible.
After serving in the Georgia Legislature, in 1992, Cynthia McKinney won a seat in the US House of Representatives. She was the first African-American woman from Georgia in the US Congress. In 2005, McKinney was a vocal critic of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina and was the first member of Congress to file articles of impeachment against George W. Bush. In 2008, Cynthia McKinney won the Green Party nomination for the US presidency.
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