By Bill O'Reilly
Today, retired Brigadier General Robert Lovell testified before the house oversight committee about why the U.S. military did not respond at all to the terror attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya.
General Lovell was in Germany awaiting orders to strike at the terrorists, orders that never came.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOVELL: what we did know quite early on was that this was a hostile action. This was no demonstration gone terribly awry. To the point of what happened, the facts led to the conclusion of a terrorist attack. The AFRICOM J2 was focused on attribution. The attacks became attributable very soon after the event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: So that means the U.S. military, the CIA on the ground in Libya and pretty much everyone else directly involved with the Benghazi attack knew it was not a spontaneous demonstrations within hours. Yet, as we proved yesterday, the Obama administration created a fiction that the attack was a reaction to an anti-Muslim videotape.
The cover was blown off that deception this week when a memo by White House advisor Ben Rhodes was released through the Freedom of Information Act. The memo clearly says that Ambassador Susan Rice was prepped to tell the world on television that a videotape incited the murders in Benghazi.
Incredibly, incredibly, even after the memo became public, White House spokesman Jay Carney denied it was even about Benghazi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN KARL: Why did it take a court case for you to release this?
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Jon, I can say again and again and I know you can keep asking again and again, this document was not about Benghazi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: But that's not true. The Freedom of Information filing, which produced the memo finally, specifically cited correspondence about Benghazi. The "Wall Street Journal" editorialized today, quote: "Mr. Carney still insisted Ms. Rice had relied on points about the Benghazi attack that were produced by the CIA. He must think the press corps is stupid."
Well Carney may think the press corps is stupid. He knows the press corps doesn't care and that's why he says these outrageous things. He knows the coverage will be minimal, except on Fox News.
Last night, CBS Evening News didn't cover Benghazi. NBC did a 30-second reader. ABC did a report with Jonathan Karl, the man you saw there, who gave Carney a hard time. That was 10 minutes into the broadcast. ABC should have led with it. Most newspapers today either ignored or minimized the story, same thing yesterday.
So let me break it down again. According to General Lovell's testimony today the U.S. military made no attempt to defend the Americans under siege because they were not asked to do so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What specifically did the State Department, what have they done or what prevented you from doing that.
LOVELL: It's not what -- well, it's not what they did in that particular situation, it's what they didn't do. They didn't come forward with stronger requests for action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: That means then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has some explaining to do. But so does President Obama. Remember, he is the Commander-in-Chief. The military cannot move without his order. And he obviously didn't give it. Why? The general is as confused as I am.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LOVELL: We didn't know how long this would last when we became aware of the distress nor did we completely understand what we had in front of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: So that means that the attack could have been larger. The military didn't know. And forces didn't mobilize to save the people under siege? That's shocking. See, that's what this story is all about -- the failure of the U.S. government to protect Americans under fire in Benghazi. And then after the fact trying to say oh the killers weren't organized terrorists.
Are we all getting this? But, again, the national media won't cover it. Does it get any worse than that in our democracy? "Talking Points" is angry. The Obama administration was completely derelict in the Benghazi terror attack and was dishonest in the aftermath. And the national press doesn't give a damn? Disgraceful.
And that's "The Memo."
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