Institutionalized Lying

Regarding "General disputes ex-diplomat’s claim" (Thursday Nation), Army Gen. Martin Dempsey supposedly refutes the claim of a diplomat that a military unit in Tripoli, Libya was ordered not to go to Benghazi to rescue our diplomats, who were eventually murdered by terrorists.  His narrative, though, is notable more for what it does not say than what it does.

 

Dempsey's explanation for not activating the unit was that the event was over, the casualties were coming in, and they were needed for first aid.  What he does not address is what these troops were told in the eight hours that went by from the start until the end of the attack, nor the disposition of numerous other units in the area. 

 

This is a masterpiece of obfuscation.  What Dempsey said was probably completely true, but only for this single unit, and only for the period of time after all the casualties had been incurred.  His non-response is part of a disturbing trend amongst administration officials to answer straightforward questions with evasive gobbledygook that has little to do with the question at hand.  Recent practitioners include Attorney Gen Eric Holder, former Sec State Hillary Clinton, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. 

 

We expect this kind of "lawyerly evasion" out of political appointees like the three mentioned above; but as a member of the military, General Dempsey ought to be ashamed for adopting the same tactics. 

 

Pete Smith

Cypress