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‘The Panetta Doctrine?’ Americans on their own if attacked
I think Goldberg has it about right:
It seems obvious that Panetta is trying protect Obama from responsibility for the administration’s Benghazi response. I don’t think that works. The decision to outsource the call is still a presidential decision.
But there are two problems bigger problems with the Panetta doctrine. First, Panetta says they didn’t have real-time information. Uh, if having a live video feed and real-time reports from assets on the ground for hours doesn’t count as real-time information, what does? And if, as rumors suggest, the drones monitoring the situation were armed, the idea that the administration was trying to avoid some kind of “black hawk down” situation seems incomprehensible.
Which brings us to the second, I think bigger, problem with the Panetta doctrine. If the circumstances in Libya didn’t meet the “enough information” threshold for a rescue attempt or some other form of intervention, then what does? And, note, Panetta & Co. make it sound as if the decision to let the Americans on the scene twist in the wind was sort of a no-brainer, not a difficult decision. So what happened in Libya didn’t even come close to the threshold for intervention.
Kevin R.
October 30th, 2012
“(The) basic principle is that you don’t deploy forces into harm’s way without knowing what’s going on; without having some real-time information about what’s taking place,”
That’s not just Leon Panetta’s idea, that sums up what General George McCelllan said to explain why he retreated in the face of the slightest resistence on the part of Confederate forces and always snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Lincoln didn’t see things that way.
Zonga
October 30th, 2012
Has jug ears been placed on house arrest yet?
Zonga
October 30th, 2012
Um I mean House and Senate arrest.
Hotlanta Mike
October 30th, 2012
Obama the Cowardly Lion? With the apparent resignation of
‘Courage was Lacking for Benghazi’
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/10/courage_was_lacking_for_benghazi.html
Dr. Tar
October 30th, 2012
Obumble and Pennetta proving the old adage “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
First wrong, putting our non-military assets in harms way with inadequate protection. Second wrong, taking no measures to respond when those assets are attacked.
These two wrongs = an invitation to any Muslim with dreams of jihad to try their faith in Allah and assault any and every American symbol, asset, property, and citizen they can get within mortar range.
It’s going to take a lot of years of killing amateur Jihadis to unlearn this lesson among our Muslim brothers. And the spilling of civilized blood in the process. This is “smart power” and “leading from behind.” More like “coward power” and “Bleeding from the behind.”
Hotlanta Mike
October 30th, 2012
Former Pacific Fleet chief: We need full disclosure on Benghazi — now
Here’s another curiosity, too. General Carter Han, who commanded AFRICOM on September 11th, had already been rotated back home. Now we find out he’s leaving the Army altogether:
General Carter F. Ham, the Combatant Commander of Africa Command (AFRICOM) and a key figure in the Benghazi-gate controversy, is leaving the Army. On October 18, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta had announced that General Ham would be succeeded at AFRICOM by General David Rodriguez. Later speculation tied this decision to the fallout from the September 11, 2012 attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. However on Monday October 29 a defense official told The Washington Times that “the decision [to leave AFRICOM] was made by General Ham. He ably served the nation for nearly forty years and retires after a distinguished career.” Previously all that was known was that General Ham would be rotating out of AFRICOM at some future date, but not that he was leaving the service. General Ham is a few years short of the mandatory retirement age of 64, but it is not unusual for someone of that rank to retire after serving in such a significant command.
James Robbins notes that the White House insisted that Ham took part in the decision not to supply assistance to the consulate, but Ham told Rep. Jason Chaffetz that no one had asked him about it. Ham’s retirement could mean that the Pentagon had some sort of disciplinary action pending against him over the incident (also the subject of much speculation, but little in the way of direct sourcing), or it could have a different meaning altogether. It would be inappropriate for Ham to criticize his Commander in Chief while still in uniform, although he could go to Congress to report any perceived malfeasance at any time.
http://hotair.com/archives/2012/10/30/former-pacific-fleet-chief-we-need-full-disclosure-on-benghazi-now/
Anonymous
October 30th, 2012
http://barnhardt.biz/
“Clinton, Obama, Panetta, Axelrod and THEIR HANDLERS, all of these people are coming straight out of Communism, which is really nothing more than a push for a global tyrannical oligarchy. It has little to do with any sort of economic theory per se, its only goal is to put a cadre of oligarchs in power, and to enrich them by any means necessary. We should probably stop calling it Communism and just call it neo-Stalinism.
Chris Stevens was tortured, gang ass raped, killed, and his dead body was gang ass raped again because the initial order came from Washington D.C. to kill him. The details really didn’t concern the murderers sitting in Washington watching it happen via drone-cam, nor did the collateral damage in the form of the other three men killed. Stevens thought he was “in the club”, but the poor fool was just another “stupid faggot” in the eyes of the Obama regime who was used and then killed because he was worth less than nothing to them. But then, all human life is worth less than nothing to these people.”
Reality Check
October 30th, 2012
Longtime political hack Panetta isn’t trying to cover Obama’s ass.
For as long as he is able to do so, he is trying to cover his own ass – covering up and deflecting attention away from his own complicity in the current administration’s disgraceful misbehavior.
He owes his position to his maniacal devotion to the party, though, not to any qualifications that he has to have such a job, which he doesn’t have.
123321123321
October 30th, 2012
Hey, maybe the Government can “outsource” the protection of Americans overseas to foreigners (maybe even Islamists) and then if Americans die, it’s not our Government’s fault!
Jerry Manderin
October 30th, 2012
Panetta is Indian for “River Runs Through Big Nose.”
Defend
October 30th, 2012
The protection of our Benghazi assets WAS outsourced…with members of the same jihadist sect as the attackers hired by our govt to protect the gates.
Gene Husky
October 30th, 2012
I think I may live to see the american people having to take up arms against government.his plot to subdue america has been in the works for a lot of years.Maybe someday the president will tell us who he is working for,and who give him permission to run.Where are the buildenburgers.I don’t know if I have a correct spelling or not,but it is close enough.We are so in the dark….Please vote the Bible come election time…..
Geoff C. The Saltine
October 30th, 2012
Here are two good articles with more insight on why boo will not tell us anything.
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/arnold-ahlert/arming-jihadists-backfires-in-benghazi/
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfield/why-our-forces-were-told-to-stand-down-in-benghazi/ .
Sadie
October 30th, 2012
Panetta, the very same Panetta that calls the murders of 13 at Ft. Hood “workplace violence”
Panetta, who flies home every friggin’ weekend to his 10 acre farm in Carmel Valley, Ca. on our tax dollars.
Panetta is a POS.
Carlos The Jackal
October 30th, 2012
Not surprised; it’s also the Bloomberg Doctrine in NYC.
Mountain Dog
October 30th, 2012
0bama is the lead traitor. He is the one out to weaken our military so that our enemies will have a better chance of defeating us.
We start solving the problem by getting rid of the traitors from the top down.
Anonymous
October 30th, 2012
…AND PROSECUTING THEM .
Tim
October 30th, 2012
Panetta was a lying, worthless, snivelling cur when he was pimping for the Clintons – that’s exactly why BO took him on.
He’d allow BO to fornicate his ass on national TV.
Cuzin Brucie
October 30th, 2012
Panetta put together tha insane Rules Of Engagement which are getting our troops killed. He is worse than MacNamara was. I’d piss on their graves.
Ten Megaton
October 30th, 2012
If I was in the military I would be calling Obama’s sorry ass out on this one. You know every soldier(God bless them)is wondering if it’s going to be them “twisting in the wind” one of these days.I hope they are thinking military coup if the bum happens to be reelected.
Annie
October 31st, 2012
Panetta Panders to the U.N.Apparently he didn’t have permission from the U.N. Treason. See C-span.