Barack Obama has been president for over three years. The President is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The President conducts U.S. foreign policy with the advice and consent of the Senate.
On Saturday the White House issued this statement:
"'Neither the president nor anyone in the White House denied any requests for assistance in Benghazi,' National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Yahoo News by email."
There have been no reports of the President ordering U.S. forces to assist those in in danger during the Benghazi attack which resulted in the murder of four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador. As Commander in Chief and in executing his duties to conduct foreign policy, only the President could order the military to go to the aid of Americans under attack in a foreign country. The President's refusal to issue orders directing U.S. military forces to go to the aid of the ambassador and others under attack is a denial of requests for help.
Command is sometimes a heavy burden. You do not advise and consent. You must make the decisions. Not making a decision is always the worst decision you can make. There is no voting "present." For some reason, on Sept. 11, 2012, while Americans were under sustained attack in a foreign country, with little hope of assistance from the host country, President Barack Obama chose to vote "Present!" then go to bed. His decision not to decide, his attempts at blaming subordinate commanders, and his refusal to answer for those decisions demonstrates Barack Obama is unfit for command.
What we know now is no one ordered U.S. forces to go to the assistance of those under attack in Benghazi. Everyone is denying they denied calls for help. But such a denial from the Commander in Chief is pathetic. Obama had only two choices that day, either issue orders sending help or not. Not denying pleas for help passes the buck to someone else, but when you are the Commander in Chief, there is no one else. Who could order American troops and aircraft to intervene in the face of White House silence on the requests? If not the President of the United States, Barack Obama, then who?
As the President of the United States must have moral authority to command as well as the Constitutional authority and Barack Obama has abdicated his responsibility to command while Americans were in harms way, we, the American people, have to relieve Barack Obama of his command and let him go.
Jeff Brown
Georgetown
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Relax with all of the Monday morning quarterbacking. Romney has Tennessee in the bag.
I've never seen so much angst over four deaths and so little concern over a war with a country that didn't attack us, resulting in over 4,000 U.S. soldiers dying.
Herb Montgomery
Hixson