PRESS RELEASE
Pelosi Appoints Five Democrats to the Select Committee to Investigate Benghazi
May 21, 2014 (EIRNS)—Today, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who had previously considered boycotting the House Select Committee to Investigate Benghazi, finally decided to appoint five Democrats to the committee.
The issue posed for both Republicans and Democrats now is whether they will pursue the truth. Some Republicans have wanted to pursue the investigation for partisan electoral reasons focussing blame on Hillary Clinton. Democrats have argued that they are interested in finding the truth, but have engaged in an embarrassingly blind defense of Barack Obama.
Some Democrats have argued that Benghazi has been investigated enough and that there are no unanswered questions. Some have even compared the Select Committee to a "lynch mob."
As a result, the truth has been the biggest victim of the investigation conducted thus far.
The really important questions have never been addressed in any of the reports issued by numerous Congressional committees:
Did Obama violate the U.S. Constitution by waging war against Qaddafi without Congressional approval?
Why did Obama ally with the al-Qaeda affiliated Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and the Muslim Brotherhood to overthrow Qaddafi, when Qaddafi was working with the U.S. to fight al-Qaeda?
What was the purpose of the CIA annex in Benghazi? Was it involved in running guns to the Syrian opposition?
As revealed in a hacked Feb. 16, 2013 e-mail from Sidney Blumenthal to Hillary Clinton, did "wealthy Sunni Islamists from Saudi Arabia" fund the al-Qaeda assault on the mission and annex as the Saudis are believed to have funded the original 9/11? According to that e-mail, French, Algerian and Libyan intelligence agencies are aware of the reported Saudi funding. Has any committee ever contacted them?
Did Obama violate international law by approving the shipment of weapons to the opposition in Libya by Qatar and the UAE in violation of the UN embargo as reported by the UN panel of experts?
Did Obama violate international law by shipping weapons to Syria from Libya in collaboration with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey? Was the U.S. company Jeppesen subcontracted by the Obama administration for this purpose?
Why was the Benghazi airport put under the control of Turkey before and after the overthrow of Qaddafi as reported by the Turkish press? Was Turkish control of the Benghazi airport used to facilitate arms shipments?
Which agencies of the U.S. government knew about the video produced by the head of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, released on Sept. 10, 2012, calling on Libyans to exact revenge against Americans for the drone killing of al Yahya al-Libi in Pakistan in June 2012. When did they know about it? Whom did they tell? Why has no committee which has investigated Benghazi mentioned this video?
What was the role of John Brennan in Libya? Brennan made the decision along with Obama to kill al Yahya al-Libi, as assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism he was the person responsible for reviewing security measures in place prior to the 11th anniversary of 9/11/2001, and as head of the National Security Staff he was involved in okaying the final version of the talking points. As General David Petraeus pointed out, the final version was "the NSS’s call."
These are just a sampling of the questions which must be answered.
No Democrat or Republican can argue that these questions are illegimate. No Democrat or Republican can argue that these questions have been answered.
The answers to these and similar questions will decide whether Obama is impeachable or not.
If the truth is truly pursued and the answers show that Obama should be impeached, then the issue becomes: Is there a Howard Baker in the Democratic Party? For example, would Elijah Cummings (one of the Dems on the committee) be willing to play such a role? Would he have the courage to buck all of the pressure that is placed on his shoulders to defend Obama no matter what?
Rep. Elijah Cummings has stated: "I believe we need someone in the room to simply defend the truth." The fact is that the truth must be pursued and discovered before it can be defended—the whole truth. And until answers are presented to the American people to the above questions, then the whole truth has not been told.
The five Democrats who will be joining the committee are Reps. Elijah Cummings (Md.), Adam Smith (Wash.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), Linda Sanchez (Calif.), and Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) Smith, Schiff and Duckworth have responsibilities related to defense and foreign service as part of their other committee assignments.
The committee will have its first meeting, a planning session, on Thursday May 22.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, who is the chairman of the committed said on today: "The Republican members of the committee welcome our colleagues. I respect Mr. Cummings and his work in Congress. I look forward to working with him and the members of the committee toward an investigation and a process worthy of the American people and the four brave Americans who lost their lives."
