If Romney Wins, Don’t Cheer: Remember The Price We Paid to Get There

Every now and then when I see a particularly promising piece of news in this election, I tweet it out with a half-joking line: “Must not get excited... must not get excited...”  Here’s an example:

Must not get excited... Must not get excited... gop.com/news/research/…
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) October 30, 2012

The joke is that I half-believe in Murphy’s Law and jinxes.  I carry an umbrella often to prevent it from raining (sadly it didn’t do anything about this hurricane).  It’s superstitious, but it’s just a harmless quirk I have.  And that tweet is ultimately riffing off the fact that I will stand up and cheer if Romney wins next Tuesday in the privacy of my own home, but I am afraid to get too excited because then it makes me that much more likely to be let down.  But I knew I was likely to jump up and down cheering if Romney won...

...until I came across a cartoon at Instapundit, and the price of that victory suddenly struck me.  Let me show you that cartoon:

Yeah, it’s not funny, but it is effective.  It is not humor but rage I feel looking at that image.  And it crystalized a thought that had been rattling around my head all day.  This Benghazi thing, is likely to cost Obama the election.  It is a daily drip-drip-drip of bad news that is fatally undermining this administration.  Let me quote to you from a piece I read today, in the Wall Street Journal, entitled Suddenly, A Credibility Gap:

There have been only two events that could be said to have caused significant movement by voters in the campaign. One was the Oct. 3 Denver debate in which Mitt Romney disinterred political skills that stunned the incumbent and woke up a sleeping electorate. Race on.

The other is Benghazi. The damage done to the Obama campaign by the Sept. 11 death in Benghazi of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three American colleagues has been more gradual than the sensation of the Denver debate, but its effect may have been deeper.

The incumbent president has a credibility gap.

It goes on and I do recommend that you read the whole thing.  But he is right.  The more we learn, the more horrific this story becomes.  First, there is the shoddy cover-up.  We now know that al Qaeda planned to find and assassinate our ambassador that day, and we know that all evidence pointed toward this as a planned terrorist attack, not some protest that got out of hand.

But instead of leveling with us and telling us that our enemies claimed the lives of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, and former navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, the President and his administration built a false narrative, where all of this was the spontaneous result of a protest over a crapulent movie:

And while people like Ken at Popehat defended the decision to revoke its creator, Nakoula Bassley Nakoula’s probation as honorable, and I don’t doubt the honor of the prosecutors involved, at the top the decision to come after this man was anything but honorable.  We know now that Hillary Clinton told Charles Woods, the father of Ty Woods, that they were going to get the person responsible for this: Mr. Nikoula.  Not the people who pulled the trigger, killing his son, not the people who ordered the raid.  No, the guy who allegedly pissed off the bad guys.

They promised to prosecute the filmmaker, because he made a film they didn’t approve of.

So they investigated this film.  Let me repeat this.  The Federal Government, which is established in party to protect your God-given right to Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion investigated the maker of a film for no other reason than his speech infuriated the religious sensibilities of others.  Don’t let the very real possibility that Mr. Nakoula committed a violation of his probation distract you from that fact that when they began this investigation they couldn’t possibly have known this.  No, they started this investigation with no probable cause, no suspicion even, that a crime had occurred, except the “crime” of having said something the administration didn’t like, of having said something offensive to a particular religion.  They started this investigation in order to find something, anything, with which to prosecute the film maker.

And then when they learned who he was, they outed him before the whole world.  From CBS News:

Feds ID anti-Islam Filmmaker Who Sparked Protests

(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - Federal authorities have identified a southern California man once convicted of financial crimes as the key figure behind the anti-Muslim film that ignited mob violence against U.S. embassies across the Mideast, a U.S. law enforcement official said Thursday.

Attorney General Eric Holder said that Justice Department officials had opened a criminal investigation into the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other diplomats killed during an attack on the American mission in Benghazi. It was not immediately clear whether authorities were focusing on the California filmmaker as part of that probe.

A federal law enforcement official said Thursday that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was the man behind "Innocence of Muslims," a film denigrating Islam and the Prophet Muhammad that sparked protests earlier in the week in Egypt and Libya and now in Yemen. U.S. authorities are investigating whether the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya came during a terrorist attack.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, said Nakoula was connected to the persona of Sam Bacile, a figure who initially claimed to be the writer and director of the film. But Bacile quickly turned out to a false identity.

A Christian activist involved in the film project, Steve Klein, told CBS News that Bacile was a pseudonym, and he told The Associated Press that Bacile was Christian. Klein had told the AP on Tuesday that the filmmaker was an Israeli Jew who was concerned for family members who live in Egypt.

So they not only investigated a man for no other reason than he had exercised his right to freedom of speech and religion (which includes the right to criticize other faiths, even harshly) and determined his true identity, but they even identified him before the whole world.  When I read this, I wondered darkly if we would get a fair share of the $100K fatwa placed on Nakoula’s head, should he be killed by a terrorist.

(Did I mention that sometimes I have a dark sense of humor?)

The point of that admittedly dark joke was that our government had placed this man’s life in danger, as well as his family and his neighbors.  There was no reason to identify him publicly.  And then of course this happened:

That was a “voluntary” discussion, in the middle of the night.  But soon he found himself under arrest and remains in custody tonight.  And whatever justification the prosecutors tell themselves there is one undeniable truth here: he would not be facing prison time if he didn’t say the wrong thing.  And that should be frightening in any democracy.

And the most savage fact of all, is it was based on a lie.  They knew from the beginning that the Benghazi attack was not caused by the video at all.  They knew from the beginning that this was a planned al Qaeda operation.  But for one reason or another, they decided they needed a scapegoat and Mr. Nakoula would do just fine.

And like the bravery of our soldiers at Ft. Hood was a savage indictment on the idiots in command who failed them, the bravery of Ty Woods and Glen Doherty is an indictment on our command.  Via Phineas Farquar I learned about their heroic last hours:

A well-organized attack by radical Muslims was planned specifically targeting the temporary U.S. embassy building. The Libyan security force that was in place to protect our people deserted their post, or joined the attacking force. Either way, our people were in a real fix. And it should be noted that Ambassador Stevens had mentioned on more than one occasion to Secretary of State, “Hillary Clinton”, that he was quite concerned for his personal safety and the welfare of his people. It is thought that Ambassador Stevens was on a “hit list.”

A short distance from the American compound, two Americans were sleeping. They were in Libya as independent contractors working an assignment totally unrelated to our embassy. They also happened to be former Navy SEALs. When they heard the noise coming from the attack on our embassy, as you would expect from highly trained warriors, they ran to the fight. Apparently, they had no weapons, but seeing the Libyan guards dropping their guns in their haste in fleeing the scene, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty snatched up several of these discarded weapons and prepared to defend the American compound.

Not knowing exactly what was taking place, the two SEALs set up a defensive perimeter. Unfortunately Ambassador Stevens was already gravely injured, and Foreign Service officer, Sean Smith, was dead. However, due to their quick action and suppressive fire, twenty administrative personnel in the embassy were able to escape to safety. Eventually, these two courageous men were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers brought against them, an enemy force numbering between 100 to 200 attackers which came in two waves. But the stunning part of the story is that Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty killed 60 of the attacking force. Once the compound was overrun, the attackers were incensed to discover that just two men had inflicted so much death and destruction.

If two former SEALs could inflict that much misery on the terrorists, imagine what might have happened if the quick response teams that were only forty five minutes away had been sent in?  Think of the lives that might have been saved.

Instead we find out that those who could have save their lives were told to stand down.  And we find out a detail that breaks your heart if you understand the significance of it:

A Special Operations team, or CIF which stands for Commanders in Extremis Force, operating in Central Europe had been moved to Sigonella, Italy, but they were never told to deploy. In fact, a Pentagon official says there were never any requests to deploy assets from outside the country. A second force that specializes in counterterrorism rescues was on hand at Sigonella, according to senior military and intelligence sources. According to those sources, they could have flown to Benghazi in less than two hours. They were the same distance to Benghazi as those that were sent from Tripoli. Spectre gunships are commonly used by the Special Operations community to provide close air support.

According to sources on the ground during the attack, the special operator on the roof of the CIA annex had visual contact and a laser pointing at the Libyan mortar team that was targeting the CIA annex. The operators were calling in coordinates of where the Libyan forces were firing from. 

So as the bad guys were firing mortars at our people.  Think of them as miniature artillery for those who are not militarily-inclined.  And we had CIA agents painting the targets.  A laser designator is used in order to guide others to the target.  It’s like someone else has the gun and the laser is the means by which it is aimed.  It is much more than a generalized call for help, it’s them pointing at a very specific target and saying “hit this, now!”  And the hit never came.

Blackfive is correct to point out that this means that more than likely there was someone right there ready to shoot if they were only allowed to.  You should read this entire piece.  But the dispiriting thing is that as Woods and Doherty was killing their enemies on a scale that would be deemed too unrealistic for a Stallone movie, these CIA operatives were pointing right at the enemy, and saying (in essence), “fire on this target!  Now!”  And no one pulled that trigger.

To grasp the horror of that situation fully, think of it this way.  Imagine you see a man approaching a loved one with a gun and murder in his heart.  Imagine you have a gun and you raise it, and pull the trigger to defend that person... only to hear an impotent click, because it was not loaded.  That is exactly what it was like.  They were pointing at that target and trying to get a giant gun on a platform (such as an AC130) to fire and save American lives and all they were hearing was click, click, click…

Even in the middle of this hurricane Sandy, this story is much bigger than that one.  It is bigger than all this mess with Brett Kimberlin.  There are many good reasons to replace Barack Obama, but it is that damning story, from the scapegoating of Nikoula to the death of these four American patriots that is killing the Obama campaign.  If we win we will have paid for this victory with their blood.

So make it count, damn it.  Do everything you can to end the Presidency that let these good men down.  Volunteer, call your friends, borrow my links and email them around, or find other links.  Show them these pictures.  Get around the big media firewall.  Get the story out.  And armed with that information, get them to the polls.

Make Mitt Romney President.  And make Barack Obama an ex-president.

And if election night comes and you are told that Romney has won, do not cheer, do not shout, do not dance around the room in celebration.  Instead, spare a moment to remember the man who is rotting in jail because he said the wrong thing, and the four men whose deaths made it possible.

Tell them in prayer that their sacrifice is horrible, but it was not in vain.

And if God forbid Obama is victorious, still make it count.  Demand that Nikoula be freed, and keep pushing until we find out why these men really died and make the Obama administration pay for the mistakes it clearly made and for the cheap cover up it engaged in.

When faced with around 200 terrorists, Woods and Doherty found in themselves enough piss and vinegar to take out around sixty of the bad guys before they died.  We only need to show a fraction of that grit to make that sacrifice count.

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My wife and I have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years.  I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video evidence.  If you would like to help in the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin accountable, please hit the Blogger’s Defense Team button on the right.  And thank you.

Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for snark and site updates.  And you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent History here.  And you can read a little more about my novel, here.

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Disclaimer:

I have accused some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct.  In some cases, the conduct is even criminal.  In all cases, the only justice I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system.  I do not want to see vigilante violence against any person or any threat of such violence.  This kind of conduct is not only morally wrong, but it is counter-productive.

In the particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him.  Do not call him.  Do not write him a letter.  Do not write him an email.  Do not text-message him.  Do not engage in any kind of directed communication.  I say this in part because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want that to happen to him.

And for that matter, don’t go on his property.  Don’t sneak around and try to photograph him.  Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision.  Your behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).

And do not contact his organizations, either.  And most of all, leave his family alone.

The only exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might report.  And even then if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request.  That this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you refuse.

And let me say something else.  In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above.  But if any of you have, stop it, and if you haven’t don’t start.