A Question of Honor
On September 11, 2012, I lost four members of my family, two of them brothers -- though I would not know of it at the time. So, I did what most people do. I went about my life.
It was not until the next day I learned that four Americans had fallen in an heroic but needless battle against overwhelming odds from an evil group of terrorists at our U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya -- and no one came to help them. No helicopter gunships with Marines. No incursion by a stealthy SEAL team. No smart bombs. No armed drones. Nothing. Except, of course, three cold and calculated orders from someone high up in the chain of command to "stand down." On our own soil!
You see, not only am I a proud, patriotic American and a loving and protective husband, I'm also a former U.S. Marine -- son of a father who fought with distinction in World War II on the bloody beaches of Normandy, brother to a Marine, and Uncle to both a Marine and active duty Navy SEAL. The two brothers I alluded to, Ty Woods and Glen Doherty, who courageously gave their lives to save others, were former Navy SEALs.
In truth, each of the four brave souls who perished in Benghazi were members of more than just my family. They were members of your family, too. In fact, they were in every respect part of our family -- our American family!
Now, after almost two months of government stonewalling -- obviously an effort to push the issue off until after the election -- you have to ask yourself one simple question. During those long and difficult hours of the Benghazi attack, when bullets were flying in all directions, when the fire became so thick you'd swear the Devil had gripped your throat, when everyone's life was on the line and all hope was hanging by a thread, when desperate calls for backup were denied time and time again, do you really think for one minute that any of those responsible for this fiasco cared more about the fate of four Americans than the negative impact it might have on their own political careers?
Luckily, news of the event, and surprisingly even some of the truth surrounding it, has steadily leaked out. In spite of the president making no less than three television appearances after the attack in efforts to spin things, little by little it has become apparent that everything emanating from the White House has been, as one infamous Iraqi put it during the Gulf War, a "false lie." And from the State Department, more of the same. It's no wonder why many now feel they've been duped into watching another State sponsored rerun of the administration's favorite show -- Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
But recently, with new stories of whistleblowers, secret White House emails, official State Department and Pentagon communications, video from two separate drones, and more -- all pointing to the fact that the president knew what was going on in realtime, it has become obvious to anyone with eyes and ears that a massive coverup is at hand. A coverup more egregious than even the historic Watergate scandal that brought down President Nixon. After all, no one died in Watergate!
Clearly, the Benghazi event has all the signature of a president who was, at the very least, derelict in his duty to his country. Couple this with his recent declaration of executive privilege on all matters concerning his administration's well-documented involvement in the gun running scandal known as "Fast and Furious," where thousands of illegal arms were intentionally sold to Mexican drug dealers and the bloody results sold to, and blamed on, an unsuspecting American public in efforts to turn public opinion and enhance the chances of passing new anti-Second Amendment legislation, what you get is a perfect vision of what a coward in the Oval Office looks like. There are, of course, other deceitful acts by the president also worthy of mention. His well known bribery and coercion of members of congress for votes to pass his massive and oppressive 2009 healthcare legislation instantly comes to mind. All are worthy of impeachment. However, these and other offenses pale by comparison to any culpable involvement in the death of American citizens.
For me, after all that's been said and done, in light of all the transgressions perpetrated by this administration on the American public, there's still one question that lingers in the back of my mind. That one nagging question that never seems to go away. The one I often hear mentioned in public, if only whispered about in select company. It's the question that, for me, underscores the very essence of all that's wrong with American politics, the President, and others like him. The same question, I'm sure, that now haunts the spirit of Ty Woods and Glen Doherty as they take their rightful place among the Archangels of Heaven.
Where's the honor?
Jack Eldon Jackson is a former U.S. Marine who actively writes on government overreach issues. He's currently completing his first book about America's constitutional crisis.