by Ben Shapiro
They were both planning a cover-up. For the people responsible for taking the lives of those four brave Americans were not merely the Islamist terrorists of Benghazi, Libya. They were present in that Andrews Air Force Base hangar. They were speaking from the podium.
THE CHARGES
The crime of espionage is a difficult one to charge. Historically, the government has reserved espionage charges for agents of foreign countries acting in the interests of those countries. Kenneth Wayne Ford Jr. was sentenced under the Espionage Act for carrying six boxes of National Security Agency papers back to his house. Former CIA agent Jeffrey Alexander Sterling was charged under the Espionage Act for leaking national security information to New York Times reporter James Risen. And most famously, both Private First Class Bradley Manning of WikiLeaks fame and NSA leaker Edward Snowden were charged under the Espionage Act.
But these crimes pale in comparison to the espionage of the Obama administration itself. American law still places us at war with “nations, organizations, or persons [who] planned, authorized, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons.” Obviously, that would include al-Qaeda and other assorted terrorist groups. But, as we will see, the Obama administration has completely reversed field, not only backing such groups, but supplying them with weaponry. One consequence of that supply chain, which likely ran through Benghazi, Libya: the caskets at Andrews Air Force Base.
That isn’t just illegal under the Espionage Act. Gunrunning is banned under multiple provisions of American law, including the Arms Control Export Act, which calls for a maximum sentence of twenty years.
Failing to protect U.S. diplomats abroad by refusing to arm protective forces—a situation that ended with Ambassador Chris Stevens’s body being carried through the streets of Benghazi—wasn’t just negligence, but part of an overall policy plan. That makes his death involuntary manslaughter, also known as negligent homicide. Typically, negligent homicide is governed by state statute, which is where Obama administration officials would be charged. Conviction for the crime requires three elements: someone was killed, the act leading to the death was inherently dangerous or recklessly disregarded human life, and the defendant knew that the conduct threatened the lives of others. Those elements describe Benghazi to a T.
And then the administration covered all of this up by silencing witnesses and threatening agents. Those are all predicate offenses under the RICO Act.
In contradiction to what you see on Law & Order, motive is not a necessary element to convict someone of a crime. Motive does, however, increase the probability that a jury will find a defendant guilty: it is important to understand just why someone in a position of power would break the law.
In this case, the motive is clear: the Obama administration’s vision of foreign policy required a defenseless presence in Libya, gunrunning to enemies of America, and, by consequence, the death of four brave Americans that fiery night of September 11, 2012.
PRESIDENT OBAMA’S “ARAB SPRING”
Shortly after taking office, President Obama traveled to Cairo, Egypt, to tell the Islamic world that the United States was turning over a new leaf. Obama had already made clear to Muslims around the world that he was not merely comfortable with Islam, he had a cultural affinity toward it; in March 2007, sycophant New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reported, “Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated (it’ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as ‘one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.’ ” Obama campaigned, at least in part, on the basis of understanding Islam in a way that other candidates could not, given that he had studied the Koran while growing up in Indonesia.3
In Cairo, Obama took that cultural affinity to a whole new level. “I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles—principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings,” Obama stated. “There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Koran tells us, ‘Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.’ . . . I know civilization’s debt to Islam. . . . Islam has always been a part of America’s story.” Then he added, “I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”
In that speech, Obama also called for liberalization of rule in Muslim countries, regardless of who came to power. “America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them,” Obama said.4 To underscore that principle, the Obama administration reportedly coerced the Egyptian government, led by dictator and American ally General Hosni Mubarak, to invite members of the Muslim Brotherhood—the ideologically Islamist group that routinely works with terrorists around the Middle East—to the speech. “I can tell you that invitations have gone out to the full range of actors in Egyptian political society,” said Obama adviser Denis McDonough.5 Middle Eastern news networks reported that the administration actually told the Egyptian government that at least ten Muslim Brotherhood members had to be sitting in the audience for Obama’s rigmarole.6
Obama’s commitment to hitting the reset button with the Muslim world was accompanied by signals of American pullback from strategic alliances. Because he ran as an antiwar candidate, Obama now engaged in a precipitous pullout from Iraq that allowed the Iranian regime to fill the gap. He began making overtures to the Taliban in Afghanistan. “If you talk to Gen. [David] Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of al Qaeda in Iraq,” Obama said in March 2009 to the New York Times. “There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”7
When protests broke out in Iran in June 2009 over election fraud in the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, resulting in a mass crackdown allegedly including murder and rape, President Obama remained silent for several days before announcing that it was “up to Iranians to make decisions about who Iran’s leaders will be,” then stated that he believed that the Iranian government would “look into irregularities that have taken place.” Obama added that he was still seeking diplomacy with Iran. Even ten days later, Obama was still repeating that the United States had not decided on a real strategy for dealing with the protests in Iran.8 The United States had spent much of the Bush administration funneling money to antiregime groups in Iran. Obama undercut those groups.
Obama’s strategy of leading from behind while spouting platitudes about democracy culminated in the so-called Arab Spring—a massive Islamist uprising resulting in the overthrow of several pro-American regimes in favor of popular Islamist ones. The Islamist Winter led off with a self-immolation by a fruit vendor in Tunisia, which culminated in an uprising resulting in the ouster of dictator and American ally President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. The United States had provided Ben Ali some $347 million in aid since his rise to power in 1987. Ali had imposed stability and market reforms, despite his repressive regime.9
Initially, the United States said nothing about the protests in Tunisia, with Hillary Clinton announcing just three days before Ben Ali’s ouster, “We are not taking sides, but we are saying we hope that there can be a peaceful resolution.”10 Behind the scenes, though, the United States was signaling that Ben Ali should go. Internal U.S. government documents regarding Ben Ali had been released by WikiLeaks, and they showed that America wasn’t keen on its erstwhile ally. R
ecognizing the signals, the Tunisian revolutionaries seized their moment.
The left reacted to the news as though Ben Ali’s deposing were an unfettered good. Christopher Alexander of Foreign Policy wrote, “Once it became clear that the Islamists no longer posed a serious threat, many Tunisians became less willing to accept the government’s heavy-handedness.”11 Now the Obama administration responded with sunny optimism; Obama released a statement explaining that Americans “applaud the courage and dignity of the Tunisian people” and called for the new authorities “to respect human rights, and to hold free and fair elections in the near future that reflect the true will and aspirations of the Tunisian people.”12
Tunisia promptly elected an Islamist government led by the Ennahda Party, which had been banned by Ben Ali. Islamists began assassinating opposition leaders.13
The Arab Spring was under way.
A similar scenario played itself out in Egypt, where protests against longtime American ally Mubarak ended in the United States supporting his ouster. After initially doing nothing to support the protesters—Hillary simply called for restraint from “all parties,” and actually called the Egyptian government “stable,” saying it was “looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people”14—the United States ended up joyfully celebrating Mubarak’s resignation. Ignoring the rise of the Islamist role in the opposition, the rapes in Tahrir Square, the hints at repressions of Christians, Obama began applauding. “There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege to witness history taking place,” Obama cheered. “This is one of those moments; this is one of those times. The people of Egypt have spoken. Their voices have been heard and Egypt will never be the same. By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people’s hunger for change.”15
Mubarak’s government was quickly replaced with an elected Islamist government under the oversight of Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi, a terrorist supporter and ally. Later, certain reports would link Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood directly to the attacks in Benghazi.16
The Obama administration was finally getting the hang of this thing. And so they helped bring the Islamist traveling road show to Syria, where thug Iranian ally Bashar Assad was in power. Up until the Syrian civil war broke out, the Obama administration had done its best to prop up Assad. Hillary Clinton appeared on national television on March 27, 2011, explaining, “There’s a different leader in Syria now. Many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer.” Two days later, she reversed course, stating, “I referenced opinions of others. That was not speaking either for myself or for the administration.”17
The United States began debating the wisdom of arming the opposition to Assad. Ignoring all the evidence that the Syrian opposition was heavily in league with al-Qaeda, the United States eventually jumped in with one foot, deciding to arm the rebels. And as later events would show, one of the key links in the arms chain to Syria was in Benghazi—in violation of the Arms Control Export Act, and the Espionage Act.
“WE CAME, WE SAW, HE DIED”
If the Obama administration was willing to let allied dictators like Ben Ali and Mubarak fall on behalf of Islamists around the Middle East, it had no qualms about the uprising in Libya against neutered dictator Muammar Qaddafi. After the United States’ invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Qaddafi—a man with a history of ties to terrorism, including the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, and who had been bombed by the Reagan administration—decided to abandon his pursuit of nuclear weapons. He also renounced support for terrorism.18
In February 2011, an uprising against Qaddafi began. Qaddafi cracked down violently, using snipers and helicopter gunships, prompting British prime minister David Cameron to condemn his actions as “appalling and unacceptable.” President Obama waited eight days to say that the violence was outrageous—at which point the United States jumped into the fray with both feet. On February 26, the United Nations imposed sanctions on Qaddafi, and on March 17, voted to authorize a no-fly zone against Qaddafi’s air force. The rebels began gaining ground steadily, until on September 20, Obama called for Qaddafi’s forces to surrender, and announced the return of a U.S. ambassador to Tripoli.19
On October 9, 2011, Hillary visited Tripoli, where she pledged millions to the Libyan opposition. She told the leaders of the National Transitional Council, “I am proud to stand here on the soil of a free Libya. The United States was proud to stand for you in your fight for freedom and we will continue to stand with you as you continue this journey. This is Libya’s moment. This is Libya’s victory and the future belongs to you.”
Two days later, as video broke across the Internet of Qaddafi being sodomized with a knife and then murdered, and written reports hit the Web, Clinton was caught on camera reacting: “Wow!” Later, Hillary appeared laughing hysterically on camera, her thumbs up, crowing, “We came, we saw, he died!” The reporter questioning her laughed along with her.20
Hillary missed a step. The truth was far more sinister than her triumphalist guffawing. America came. We saw. We gave arms to the rebels. Qaddafi died. Then, so did four Americans in Benghazi.
It was all fun and games for Hillary, appearing on national television to chortle over Qaddafi’s demise. But the same actions taken by the Obama administration that resulted in one dead dictator would lead to the deaths of four Americans in Libya, and the deaths of thousands more around the Middle East. For while Qaddafi’s death was undoubtedly good news for the world, those who had opposed him were openly associated with al-Qaeda. And the Obama administration ensured they were armed.
In late February 2011, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a statement: “We declare our support for the legitimate demands of the Libyan revolution. We assert to our people in Libya that we are with you and will not let you down, God willing. We will give everything we have to support you, with God’s grace.”21
The Libyan rebel leader Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi told Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore that some members of the core of his jihadist movement sprang from those who had fought American troops in Iraq. His soldiers, he claimed, were “patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists,” but he also stated that “members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader.” Al-Hasidi said he had fought Americans in Afghanistan, then was captured in Pakistan, handed over to the United States, and held in Libya until his release in 2008. The United States said that al-Hasidi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which is a group cooperative with al-Qaeda.22 Admiral James Stavridis, NATO supreme commander for Europe, said, “We have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al Qaeda, Hezbollah.” Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel said, “There is no question that al Qaeda’s Libyan franchise, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is a part of the opposition. It has always been Qaddafi’s biggest enemy and its stronghold is Benghazi.”23
The rebel leader Abdel Hakim Belhadj, who would eventually become commander of security in the Libyan capitol of Tripoli, was captured by the CIA and given to Qaddafi in 2004. He admitted to Time that he “was a member of the Islamic Fighting Group”—in other words, a jihadist, although he denied that he was a member of al-Qaeda.24 Other reports suggested that Belhadj was lying—he was the “emir” of the LIFG, and reportedly became close to al-Qaeda leader Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. Overall, LIFG members became security leaders in virtually all major Libyan cities, including Tripoli, Benghazi, and Derna.25
While the Obama administration was reaching out to Libyan rebel groups and al-Qaeda affiliates across the Middle East in an attempt to move beyond the Bush presidency, the al-Qaeda-affiliated groups were happy to take the West’s help in ousting Qaddafi in order to consolidate power, weapons, and cash for that war. In essence, the Obama administration began arming America’s enemies in order to get rid of repressive regimes that had historically quashed those enemies.
Many in Congre
ss opposed action on behalf of the Libyan rebels. Obama never bothered to get authorization at all. Democratic representative Jerrold Nadler of New York said, “Briefing Congress is not the same as authorization. Briefing is nice, but authorization is required under law.” Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) added, “I can’t think of a time in our nation’s history where we put our men and women in combat like this without an administration of either party coming to Congress first.” But the Obama administration didn’t really care. Representative Geoff Davis (R-KY) said, “The implication was very strong that they saw no need for any authorization at any time regardless of how long this were to continue.”26
Even President Obama himself, when he was a U.S. senator, opposed attacking foreign forces without congressional authorization: “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”27 Libya was no such threat, of course. Congress declared as much when, after sixty days, a bipartisan resolution passed with three-quarters of the House of Representatives condemning Obama for not even bothering to ask for authorization for his action, in direct contravention of the War Powers Act.28
Probably thanks to the public’s tepid original approval of the Libyan action—tepid approval that turned to heavy disapproval over time29—the Obama administration never got specific about defining its public position on arming the Libyan rebels. In testimony before Congress, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that the United States would provide communications, surveillance, and nonlethal support to the rebels, but would allow other countries to ship such weapons in. Even that position was arguably illegal under international law, according to NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who told reporters that he believed the UN resolution authorizing an air campaign to help the rebels did not allow weapons shipments directly to the Libyan rebels.30
