Fox News Suggests Torture Is the Perfect Way To Investigate Benghazi

Last updated on February 7th, 2013 at 10:21 pm


How crazy is Fox News?

After supporting the Republicans who outed the CIA base in Libya and outed several Libyans working with America, Fox News is now criticizing the slowness of the investigation into the Benghazi attacks. Two months out and we’re “nowhere”, so it’s time to use extraordinary rendition to put the suspects in Gitmo and try a little “gentle persuasion.”

Watch the November 20 edition of Fox News’ America’s Newsroom here via Media Matters:

John Botlon said, “It’s been over two months and there’s been no retribution…”

Republicans like nothing more than primitive retribution. Hang them in the square!

Bolton explains how we are most likely to get the bad guys, “Do that terrible thing that the Obama administration doesn’t like to do, use rendition, to get these people to Guantanamo Bay and try a little gentle persuasion to see what might have happened.”

Bolton, who was the only foreign policy adviser Mitt Romney actually listened to (that should tell you all you need to know about Bolton’s competence), was also the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security under Bush in 2001, and his main job was preventing the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. He has a well earned reputation for politicizing intelligence and being a very bad diplomat.

You would think that the party that finds itself so concerned with Susan Rice’s approved talking points would have an issue with Bolton, who withheld information that ran counter to his goals from both Secretary of States Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. But then, if you thought that you would also have to believe that Republicans have values other than politicizing terrorism for profit.

Talk about a different reality. We waited seven years for the Bush administration to get bin Laden and they never did. Bush never got him, wasn’t even that interested in getting him. In fact, Fox supported our invasion of a country unrelated to the 9/11 attacks. We didn’t get Osama until President Barack Hussein Obama took office and finally went after Osama. Bin Laden is now dead, thanks to President Obama, and thousands did not have to die in order to take care of that business.

But now according to Fox, it’s outrageous that it’s been two whole months. Also outrageous: Allegedly, according to Fox, the matter is being treated as a “criminal” matter instead of terrorism, when we all know how well Gitmo works for getting good intel. Bolton suggests that what we really need is some good old torture so we can get the kind of bad intel we got under Bush.

Benghazi gate is dead (as predicted). CBS is reporting, “(T)he Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) cut specific references to “al Qaeda” and “terrorism” from the unclassified talking points given to Ambassador Susan Rice on the Benghazi consulate attack – with the agreement of the CIA and FBI. The White House or State Department did not make those changes.”

It never occurs to Fox/Republicans that they are the people still pushing for the CIA to have released classified information about the attack. The Intelligence community said they deliberately kept the talking points vague because they didn’t know who did the attacks yet and there appeared to be two different attacks (one spontaneous and one planned perhaps). They said it was an act of terror (same as the President said) but that they did not want to say who did it until they had more information.

By all means, let’s imagine how this would have gone under Republican control. Day One: Republican President would have named an unrelated terror group as responsible, most likely one he/she could tie to Iran. Day Two: We invade Iran. Day Three: We out CIA agents, base, and citizens working with the CIA. Day Four: We round up anyone who might know something and commence torturing them. Day Five: Based on the bad intel received via torture, we spend millions of taxpayer money funding our contractor buddies’ “surge” into areas unrelated to the attacks. Year Two: Republican President declares victory prematurely. Eight years later: Republican President announces that the actual terrorists, who are still at large, are not our main concern.

While I’m not against treating terrorists like the scum they are, I am against doing stupid things that don’t work and also violate international law. Torture just happens to be both. Furthermore, the land of the “free” should not have to resort to behaving like the terrorists it allegedly abhors. But of course, we can’t expect the Fox News drones to get that. Gitmo is their idea of “small government.”

The primitive, greedy, nasty nature of Fox News represents well what the Republican Party has become: A cult of knuckle draggers slobbering over the distraction techniques of the elite, including putting a (faux) “Christian” stamp on torturing other human beings for revenge and just plain good times.

Why are they talking when clearly Republicans know NOTHING about going after the actual terrorists? Oh, that’s right — they’re still pretending they are the foreign policy/national security party. The party that brought you Mission Accomplished, WMDs, Valerie Plame, and never got Osama wants to tell this administration how to do things.

The guy who withheld information from both Powell and Condi Rice is now the front man for the attacks on the Obama administration over Rice’s talking points and how to get a terrorist.

Thanks, but no thanks, Republicans.

Note: It’s been three years and seven months since Hannity promised to be waterboarded.

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Sarah Jones

Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here. Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump. Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Connect with Sarah on Post,  Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.

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