Marines.Together We Served

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Benghazi Redux

              It has been just over eight months since the travesty in Benghazi. I remain sickened by what took place there, saddened for the devastation this event has brought on my country.

The unnecessary deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith, and two former Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, hang now over the American conscience with the unanswered question, “Why?”.

Immediately following the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, a friend who is related to one of the SEALs called me with information that was contradictory to what was coming from the White House and the media. Because my friend is an honest person, with permission, I wrote an article entitled, Courageous, for the October 3, 2012 edition of Roots in Ripon. My purpose in writing this particular article was to eulogize the brave former SEALs. It was first reported that they saved the lives of as many as 20 American personnel, but in the process they killed a bunch of the bad guys. The report I first received from my friend was that Glen and Ty managed to wipe out 60 of the attacking force.

Recently I was contacted by a gentleman who told me he had previously served with one of the SEALs. He had read my article and wanted to update my earlier information. Glen and Ty, through their actions and bravery, killed as many as 100 of the attackers, not the 60 I had first been told. And they affected the safe rescue of some 40 or more American personnel before they themselves were killed, not the 20 first reported.

Because the information I wrote about was not in the main stream media, I received numerous e-mails and phone calls asking me where I had obtained my information. Of course, I could not reveal my sources without compromising my friend and the job he holds. I heard from quite a few special operations folks who appreciated my writing about this story since the media was not willing to do so. One of the more interesting e-mails I received was from someone in the State Department who was irate that I would dare to write about something that I had no knowledge of, and took me to task over my article. My reaction was to trust the information I received from my friend. I told folks to watch the news and wait to see if the things I wrote about were not proven correct eventually. I just didn’t know it would take this long, nor did I see this becoming a major scandal.

What is so troubling to me is knowing that within our government we have contingency plans in place virtually everywhere in the world, yet they were not implemented for these men in Benghazi. Why? I don’t know. With all that is taking place with Congressional inquiries, and the main stream media seemingly coming awake, this story is not going away. Nor should it.

There are those who are saying the Benghazi debacle is much to do about nothing. Or as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “What difference does it make?”

I would like to answer Mrs. Clinton’s question. The difference it makes is that the four Americans died needlessly. Help was ready willing and able to come to the rescue. But that help was told to stand down. That decision has sent a chill through the soul of every single member of the military. Anyone who has signed on the dotted line to serve knows there are situations where you may not have help coming. Well, so be it. But this was not one of those instances.

Will our young people coming of age want to serve in our military if they have doubts as to whether their government has their back? I suspect they will. But our nation will rebound from this.

This is a painful chapter in our history, but the travesty of Benghazi does not define us as Americans. We yet remain the home of the free because of the brave.

At the end of the day terrorists are nothing more than thugs and are no match for our freedom-loving American military men and women.

God Bless America!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

So if your friend was wrong about the number of "bad guys" who were killed by at least 40, why should we believe anything else in your report? Are we to just trust you, and keep waiting for your report to be corroborated?

Anonymous said...

Agreed! Where are your "facts"? I'm sick and tired of the right-wing spin machine spewing out BS in the name of information

Anonymous said...

He can't provide facts for his statements because they are lies. He is a sinner. He's a tool of the political right wing. Psalms 101:7, "He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight."

Unknown said...

My name is Joel Spealman, I am not anonymous, yet. Thank you, Pastor Roots for publishing what you know to be true. I really do not have a political spin on this, but I relish the truth which has been hidden for the last 6 years by deceit and blatant lies. God bless you and all of us trying to survive with our faith and our beliefs.
Joel

Anonymous said...

It would be interesting to get a verbatim dialogue of all that was said and who said it before Clinton responded to questions in that dialogue, "What difference does it make." Since that statement was uttered no one has put it all in proper context to fully understand why the response was made.

Anonymous said...

How could Doherty be fighting along side Woods at the embassy when he was in Tripoli? Doherty was part of the backup team that arrived at the CIA station early in the morning after the attack. He was killed along with woods in the attack on the CIA station, not at the embassy. Only Stevens and Smith were killed at the embassy. This is not disputed in any of the 8 investigations nor in the book.

D J Nelson said...

Anonymous responses are worth next to nothing here. If a person doesn't have the guts say something without accepting the responses, they are cowards.
Dr. Roots is an honored retired US Navy Chaplain with no reason to lie, unlike our state department.
Thank you Dr. Roots, for your standing up for those 4 men.

Anonymous said...

i can believe your story either pastor

unicorn blanket and pillow set said...

Will our young people coming of age want to serve in our military if they have doubts as to whether their government has their back? I suspect they will. But our nation will rebound from this.
lawn dresses wholesale
pakistani lawn suits wholesale in pakistan

Unknown said...

imp sourcemy sources this pageclick for more find more infobrowse this site

Unknown said...

address replica designer bags wholesale look here high quality replica bags published here replica gucci handbags