World

Benghazi: What Really Matters

Nov. 1, 2012 12:06pm

Pete Scobell is a former Navy SEAL Officer.

When the initial reports of the Benghazi attacks began to surface along with reports detailing attacks on the Embassies in Cairo and Sanaa on September 11th, I wasn’t surprised. Like many other Americans, I assumed that those in the Embassies were prepared for this contingency given their locations and the symbolic date. I was saddened to hear of Ambassador Chris Stevens’s death as well as the “other Americans,” and my sadness was deepened when I learned that two of the Americans killed in the attack along with the Ambassador were former Navy SEALs, one of whom was a friend and former teammate. Little did I know that this would develop into the debacle it has since become.

All political drama aside, the piece of this story I choose to hang onto has nothing to do with the finger pointing or political side stepping aimed at preserving the integrity of the current administration long enough to get reelected. Men sacrificed themselves for one another and for their country. What kind of a man, in the face of overwhelming odds, knowingly and freely lays down his life for the man next to him? Glen Doherty and Ty Woods did just that. At that moment it didn’t matter that they had been Navy SEALs or that they were now contractors operating under different laws and rules of engagement. History doesn’t remember “Golgatha Gate” and the political fallout of crucifying Jesus. An entire religion was born from that simple act of suffering and sacrifice, not the reelection of Pontius Pilate.

I’m not implying that Glen and Ty were the sons of God and that President Obama is the fifth Perfect of the Judaea Providence. What I’m saying is that politics and bureaucracy trend towards failure, and that individuals have the capacity to instantaneously realize divine greatness despite being captives of a flawed and broken system led by individuals who do not possess comparable character.

Take their past and future out of the convoluted story and focus on the cold hard truths people face when in combat. You either fight or you run. What makes a person stand and fight to the death? Is it an oath to a piece of paper or a paycheck? No. People fight to the death for the respect and love of the individuals next to them. It’s their common lives, shared suffering, and love for one another’s unlimited futures that keeps them in the fight.

The actions of two Americans in battle and the character they displayed in the face of overwhelming odds should be what guilts this administration into letting the truth be told. When I learned that Glen and Ty engaged the enemy until the very last breath of air left their lungs, my sadness turned to pride, and my pride to envy. They were blessed with warrior’s deaths and they died fighting alongside one another. Their actions should make all of us ask ourselves hard questions. For those who understand what I’m talking about, no explanation is required, and for those who don’t, these are the only words I can find in a feeble attempt to describe it. My heart goes out to Glen and Ty’s families.

The confusion and grief that follows the loss is unbearable at times. However, I hope eventually the families can put aside the politics and the hate for those who should have and most likely could have acted in the aid of their loved ones.

When this all settles, I believe what will remain is the towering example of character these two men displayed. When this is all said and done, this event should not be remembered for the failure and lack of character displayed by the political leadership, but rather by the simple and powerful act of selfless sacrifice by individuals for one another.

The truth will come out, it always does. I know the truth is sitting in someone’s gut somewhere and it’s eating them up inside. The moral dilemma they are wrestling with will only continue to grow and consume them until they are compelled to act in order to preserve their own character and soul. I just hope it is not too late…

Even without hearing a formal explanation from the Obama Administration or the State Department , it seemed fairly apparent from the onset that given the location and the significance of the date (9/11), these attacks had to have been preplanned and coordinated. I was shocked to hear the “cause” identified by the Obama Administration was a video on YouTube. I actually laughed out loud when I heard that… It’s 9/11, we’ve been at war with Islamic Extremists for over a decade. The attacks came on the heels of the Arab Spring. Muslim Brotherhood influence is rapidly expanding along with anti-American rhetoric from the newly elected President of Egypt….nope, it was the result of a YouTube video. I was insulted. Does the Administration really believe the American people are that ignorant?

This mess was created by the administration in an attempt to minimize failures in leadership by their appointees. In truth, with all that is going on in the world, the American people may have just forgotten about the incident and written it off as an unfortunate result of American insensitivity. However, in an interesting twist of fate, it seems that the monster the administration created in the wake of the Bin Laden raid came back to bite them.

What the administration failed to take into consideration is that right now (good or bad) America is obsessed with Navy SEALs. I’m sure that none of the official intel briefings contained that information, because prior to the Bin Laden raid it held little or no weight. Glen and Ty were working as civilian contractors and contractors have been sufficiently demonized by the press throughout the Iraq war to the point that the administration probably assumed they could brush this off without much of a backlash. Who cares about a couple mercenaries who murder women and children getting killed?

Glen and Ty were members of the SEAL community which has received much more press than it should have gotten in the past few months. They fought and died just as they would have when they were on active duty. They were civilians on a contract, but somehow the SEAL ethos has taken precedence over the mercenary label previously given. The fact of the matter is that they were not on active duty serving as Navy SEALs. They were civilians working on a 1099. What’s the difference? Ask a lawyer…it’s a big difference. I’m betting the administration was hoping to minimize this event and their plans were foiled by America’s love affair with the SEAL Teams. They fought and died by the SEAL ethos in defense of their beloved country. They did what every warrior would have done. They stood between the sheep and the wolves. It was the right thing to do.

The situation they found themselves in is one that many former SOF operators turned contractors have found themselves in…high and dry. In this case their past didn’t come back to haunt them. Instead, Glenn and Ty’s past is coming back to haunt those in the administration who wished for their own leadership failures to pass under the American public’s radar.

When you take the spin out of the equation, remove the election, and look at this from an objective standpoint, you see a slow bureaucracy,a lack of contingency planning constrained by a complex legal justification for overt military action in a sovereign nation on a compressed timeline with less than optimal real time intelligence. In short, a recipe for disaster. This complex mixture of politics, inner agency struggle, lawyering and failure to act will eventually be pinpointed somewhere within the middle of the State Department where politics and nuance trumps action, where management is trying to save their own asses in order to get ahead. Secretary Clinton’s blanket acceptance of responsibility is evidence of this failure.

Could this have happened under anybody’s watch? Of course. What is telling is how the administration handled the incident. There was a blatant failure in leadership somewhere in the chain and instead of admitting it, identifying it, and taking steps toward fixing it, they instantaneously moved to deflect the entire event. Since that didn’t work , they are attempting to use any and all events as a platform to move past the event.

It is not the failure and the loss of life that bothers me. That’s a cold thing to say, but anyone who has spent time working within our Government bureaucracy understands how poorly it operates and that these events will happen regardless of who is at the helm. What’s extremely troublesome is that the character and valor being displayed at the lowest levels consistantly and without exception outshines the “leaders” at the top of the chain. This is not a recipe for success. Transparency is what we need as a nation right now and we need to face some painful truths. Glen and Ty were just two Americans trying to do the right thing and in the pursuit of what they believed to be right they sacrificed their lives without concern for their own fate. Isn’t that the kind of character we should demand of our elected leaders? Glen and Ty died for one another in the defense of their country and they didn’t even have an election right around the corner. I would hope that someone in middle management at the State Department sees the example these two men set and choses to tell the truth and shed some light on the graveyard of integrity that is their leadership.

Comments (44)

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  • Renderus
    Nov. 2, 2012 at 8:46pm

    kansas senator pat roberts with Greta last night.

    See the video on Greta’s Link at Fox.

    The most dangerous outcome is DESTABILIZING THE MILITARY, perhaps a purposeful act by OBAMA et al.

    After Benghazi, a soldier at the point might say, “Who has my back?”

    The Code of Honor, never leaving tour fellow soldier has been breached at the highest level. What President? What country is safe? If the Military Code has been breached?

    Expect General David Petraeus to come forward for full 2 hour interviews by all interested military, citizens, press and Senators and Congressmen.

    Gentlemen: this is no longer about this particular election.

    The Question: Shall the USA Republic survive?

    Who stands guard on the Wall for us tonight, knowing that help is close at hand????

    God save the Republic.

    Report this comment

    Renderus  
  • Grace1798
    Nov. 2, 2012 at 12:01am

    Obama needed to see Beyonce and David Letterman first and visit Las Vegas before he had time to be concerned about Ambassador Stevens begging for his life. Of course the Libs all say it’s a lie but four men are dead. Guess that’s a lie too or……….guess to the Libs their lives meant nothing. That’s how they are treating it. It means nothing to them. Now a storm has hit New York and New Jersey and now that something has hit them……….it’s all different isn’t it? Oh, but now it’s Global Warming. How insane they all are. Even when they are down they cannot see the truth or any facts, they follow whatever whim, whatever fool spits out something that makes sense to them. What the heck are they on anyway? The point is, Obama is destroying this country and had made them all dependent on the government. Next is the TAKEOVER. Your rights are gone and you’ll have no power to speak up, no say so. AND THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE VOTING FOR when you put Obama back in power fools.

    Report this comment

    Grace1798  
  • dano22
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 8:58pm

    Just tell us the TRUTH.

    Report this comment

    dano22  
  • Mullet Man
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 8:41pm

    Since we now know that Obama watched what was going down live two things come to mind. If we are to believe Obama did not give the order to stand down then why hasn’t he fired the person who did give the order instead of the General who violated the order to stand down. Also, what kind of sociopath can watch an Ambassador, who generally are persons appointed by the president and mostly likely a friend of his, is murdered in the most brutal way, and he takes off and heads to a fundraiser? I guess these folks were just a bump in the road. Something really stinks because being the consummate politician you would think that he would say to himself, “Hey I got Bin Laden and now I can coming riding to the rescue like the Cavalry and float on that to an easy reelection”.

    Report this comment

    Mullet Man  
  • proudtobearepublicanwoman
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 6:39pm

     GOD BLESS JENNIFER GRIFFIN, CATHERINE HERRIDGE, BRETT BAIR and FOX NEWS

    Report this comment

    proudtobearepublicanwoman  
  • Garman1
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 6:21pm

    If the Beck team knows that there are 2 organizations that have the evidence that the WH told people to stand down, and you are afraid to compromise your resources aren’t you being like the other MSM? Besides if Obama gets re-elected and we lose freedom of speech and he controls the news then those relationships you are protecting will not matter. Glenn–give them an ultimatum by 12:00 midnight tomorrow to come clean or rat them out. Be John Galt!

    Report this comment

    Garman1  
  • mdman
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 5:37pm

    Those two men are heros in every way… RIP.

    Report this comment

    mdman  
  • SamIAm1000
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 4:29pm

    May God bless you Glenn and your staff for the courage to call it what it is. Treason. As frightened as I am for America my only solice is in people such as yourself. Obama is pure evil.
    What surprises me is that all four families have not made statements. It is not my intention to judge but if that were my husband, or grandson Obama would surely be dealing with my verbal wrath.
    Hillary’s aspirations to become president are now non existent. Nothing like standing up in defense of the devil. Great campaign slogan. Elect me and we can all go to hell.

    Report this comment

    SamIAm1000  
  • LVNPATRIOT
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 4:24pm

    Mr Scobell, thank you for writing this article and thank you for your service to our country.

    Report this comment

    LVNPATRIOT  
  • Guitar Master
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 3:59pm

    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
    From THE REPORTER
    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

    Attentioni: SavingShepard – I read an article concerning Admiral Gaouette on a web-site named http://www.pjmedia.com. I tried to find it for you but could not. I know it is there, however.

    With all do respect to Seal Scobell, I think it is naive to think that out of the goodness of their heart someone in the administration is going to “find Jesus” and decide to cleanse their guilty soul by coming forward. . . no way, it ain’t gonna happen.

    Unfortunately, this whole tragedy will just go away because no one in congress has the nerve and fortitude to do the right thing and find the guilty parties. They are all too concerned about their own political careers. Sad, oh so sad. America is in her death throws whether you want to face it or not – I wish it weren’t true.

    Report this comment

    Guitar Master  
  • psadie
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 3:56pm

    The military needs to step forward NOW. Where is the General that receives the order from Obama? Come forward the American people stand with you. You cannot let this happen; it is truly frightening that an unAmerican President can have such power with no repercussions. Congress should be allowed to have their say with these kind of requests for help. It is disgusting. You all watched a man being tortured, raped, sodomized and murdered. How in the hell can you live with yourselves?

    Report this comment

    psadie  
  • jack_s
    Nov. 1, 2012 at 3:48pm

    The October/November surprise is in our hands we just need to make sure we voice it out ourselves because unless we do it the media is sure not doing anything about it unless we force them to. We need to spread out the word on social media on a planned demonstration everywhere demanding for the truth on this issue. It’s so shocking to talk to so many people that don’t have a clue on what happened in Benghazi. And if we come out to the streets in mass numbers before Tuesday we could shed a light on this. Specially with signs demanding the President to tell us the truth.

    Report this comment

    jack_s  
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