More on Benghazi

It becomes more and more clear that the "cover-up scandal" of Benghazi was nothing of the sort.   Under the pressure of time about getting information to the public and deciding how much to tell, the inter-bureau struggles between CIA and State Department were far more important than any political considerations.   Political advisers were not part of the email chain;  nor was the White House staff.

Here are a few facts that weren't known at first:

1.  Benghazi was not a State Department mission except as a cover for a CIA station.  There were 37 CIA personnel stationed there and only about 5 State Department employees.    State was really not in charge of providing security for a CIA operation.

2.  The secrecy of CIA missions and the desire to protect undercover operatives was a factor in the confusion about how much to tell the public.

3.  Now that the email exchanges have been released, it seems that the CIA was wanting to make it look like a State mission (how much to protect secret operations and how much to avoid blame is not clear).   And State was resisting being made to take the rap for something it was not responsible for.

4.  However, the email summary leaked by some Republican staff a week ago appears to have been deliberately altered by them to make it appear that State was trying to cover up its role.  Even though it was a paraphrasing summary, erroneous at that, it was put in quotations marks.   Now the emails seem to show more that State was resisting being blamed for something that was not their responsibility.   And -- why were Republican staff distorting the meaning in the leaked emails?

5.  Susan Rice, who was the delegated face of the administration on the Sunday morning talk shows, had nothing to do with crafting the message.    Her name does not appear in any of these email exchanges.   She was merely given the compromise list of "talking points" that had finally been crafted by the emailing factions.   But she took the heat, and it probably cost her being named to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.    That's very very unfortunate, because none of this was her fault. 

6.  It seems that President Obama is right about the "cover-up":   "There is no there, there."   (We forget that this memorable phrase originated with Gertrude Stein, speaking about her home town of Oakland, California).

7.  Republicans who demagogued this thing now have a bunch of egg on their faces.   Impeachment?  Worse than Watergate?   Really, John Boehner?   Really? 

Ralph