The weekend’s media coverage on Benghazi brought in some notable quotes and points of interest:
Petraeus: talking points “essentially useless”
When the Benghazi talking points were being reviewed and revised by other agencies after the September 2012 attack, former CIA Director David Petraeus indicated that the revised talking points were “essentially useless.”
In emails obtained by ABC News, Petraeus is also quoted as saying, “I would just as soon not use them. But it’s their [the White House’s] call.” h/t HotAir
NY Times’ Dowd: admin’s behavior before and during Benghazi “unworthy of the greatest power on earth”
In a Sunday Op-Ed in the NY Times entitled When Myths Collide in the Capital, Maureen Dowd opines on Benghazi and it includes some harsh criticism for the White House:
The administration’s behavior before and during the attack in Benghazi, in which four Americans died, was unworthy of the greatest power on earth.
She describes the competing narratives as Déjà Vu reminiscent of the Clinton years. h/t Breitbart
THE capital is in the throes of déjà vu and preview as it plunges back into Clinton Rules, defined by a presidential aide on the hit ABC show “Scandal” as damage control that goes like this: “It’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true, it’s old news.”
NBC’s David Gregory: Carney’s explanation on revised Benghazi talking points “not accurate”
In an earlier post here at Legal Insurrection, we also noted that NBC’s David Gregory Called Carney’s Explanation on Revised Benghazi Talking Points “Not Accurate”. Gregory asks Ambassador Thomas Pickering, who has led the state department’s review of Benghazi, “is the administration guilty of playing politics with terrorism?” Watch the video.
Rep. Mike Rogers: “I do think we’re going to see more whistle-blowers”
Congressional Republicans called Sunday for depositions of high-ranking officials and more testimony from whistle-blowers, indicating that additional whistle-blowers have contacted congressional committees since three others testified last week. From FOX News:
Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told “Fox News Sunday” that more potential and self-proclaimed “whistle-blowers” might come forward after three of them – career State Department foreign service employees – testified last week before the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee.“We have had people come forward because of the (hearing) and say we would also like to talk,” the Michigan Republican told “Fox News Sunday.” “I do think we’re going to see more whistle-blowers. Certainly my committee has been contacted; I think other committees as well.”Rogers’ remarks came as Thomas Pickering, the former U.S. ambassador who helped write a report on security at a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, defended his assessment but absolved Clinton.
Robert Gates: some Benghazi critics have “cartoonish” view of military capability
Meanwhile, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates described some critics of Benghazi as having a “cartoonish” view of military capability. He scoffed at critics’ suggestions that the presence of an aircraft overhead might have served as a deterrent or that a small number of special forces could have been sent in to assist during the 2012 attack.
“It’s sort of a cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces,” he said. “The one thing that our forces are noted for is planning and preparation before we send people in harm’s way, and there just wasn’t time to do that.”
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