THE FOG OF THE COVER UP

DATELINE: Fibberville, Jan 16 – In October 2012, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blamed the “fog of war” for the Administration’s spin-the-bottle explanation of the Benghazi attack. She described it as, “the confusion you get in any type of combat situation.” She went on to explain, “Remember, this was an attack that went on for hours. There had to be a lot of sorting out….Everyone said, here’s what we know, subject to change.”

After the revelations this week about the origins of the attack, what we really know is 180 degrees off of Hillary’s hokum. Minutes after the action began, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, among others, informed President Obama in person that the consulate was under a terrorist attack. There was no sorting out for hours. There were no qualified opinions. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind. And there were no protestors at the compound.

The anti-Muslim video protest nonsense spun by the hapless Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton and the President himself was done to cover up terrorist involvement. One of the kudos Obama lavished on himself during his re-election campaign was putting Al Qaeda on the run. The terrorist organization’s link to the Benghazi attack was one of those inconvenient truths that required cloaking. The anti-video demonstrations that were actually sweeping through other locals in the Middle East and North Africa at the time provided the perfect cover.

President Obama, Secretary Clinton and other pols in the Administration had to know that, sooner or later, the jig would be up. As one observer noted this week, half of Washington knew the truth. But, the point was later, of course, after the presidential election was in the books. And, if you’re good at it like Obama’s people, it’s not that big a deal, once a lie is discovered, to soften the blow.

You delay inevitability as long as possible by creating as much uncertainty as you can for as long as you can. You accuse anyone who seeks answers of bad motives. Every inquiry is biased. No matter where the investigation leads, the results are distorted. Statements are taken out of context and shredded. Catchy phrases are used such as labeling the investigation merely another in a long line of phony scandals.

You begin introducing tidbits of truth along the way and claim them as part of your story from the beginning. The fog machine churns overtime until a big wind comes along and clears the thick layers of mist away. But, by then, if you’re lucky, interest has waned. People are simply worn out, or irrevocably confused, by the protracted controversy.

Clinton was right about one thing. There can be confusion in combat situations like presidential election campaigns. But, in those cases, disarray is a weapon deliberately aimed at the opposition. Too often, the best shooter wins.