What it’s like for one Middle East reporter to watch the Benghazi hearings
Have you ever felt like this? (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
They also offer an opportunity for a national discussion about some of the most difficult issues facing U.S. policymakers in the Middle East today: post-authoritarian political fragmentation, the rising power of militias, small-arms proliferation, the push-pull between security and diplomacy in conflict zones and even the legacy of the U.S.-backed Libya intervention.
Hersh’s Twitter feed since the hearings began, and his clear slide from bemusement to bafflement, provide something of a microcosm of the way some foreign correspondents, in my anecdotal experience, react when they first hear how the District talks about the foreign policy that so matters for the world. Hersh writes at one point, in obvious frustration, “These hearings are a sorry coda to an actually very important situation: trivial questions abound while substantive ones go unasked.”
- Clinton mentions calling families of Stevens and Smith (only). Maybe closest she can come to reminding cmte that, hey, there was CIA there!
I will never get over how in Congress, five minutes for questions means three minutes to lecture, two minutes to query.-
Clinton on post-Bengh haze: it's possible to be both a terrorist attack and have varied motivations (incl, unsaid, a video)
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Casey: We don't have time to list all your achievements, but I'll go through two or three (or four or five)
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"Our other friends" is now my favorite euphemism for CIA.
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Clinton is probably going to regret losing her cool but you can see how infuriating this line of attack has been to people inside.
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Clinton can expect a lot more questions on talking points at the House this afternoon. Bet she doesn't yell again.
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Clinton is relying heavily on finding of (apparently classified) ARB that there is *still* uncertainty about causes of attack.
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McCain, still got it. Making up for everyone else's non-questions with a litany of 'em.
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Rand Paul is raising a right-wing conspiracy theory that Stevens was involved with shuttling weapons to Syria via Turkey.
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At Clinton hearing, an interesting q/a from @ChrisMurphyCT about the limits of American influence youtube.com/watch?v=Q7XaBIU...
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Ok, big question: did any members of HFAC watch the Senate hearing?
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-30mins for opening stmts MT @jaketapper House Foreign Affairs Committee has 46 members. Hearing is supposed to last only 90 minutes.
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Clinton's opening remarks on House side much longer than Senate. Wonder if she's trying to cut into questions.
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Or am I wrong? Seems longer.
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Or great, given that they don't really want to hear the answers RT @blakehounshell Kind of amazing how bad Congress is at holding hearings.
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Especially galling given how many people have clamored for "answers" on Benghazi.
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why do i keep falling for this?
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Interesting that House GOP is citing as evidence that funding did not matter the word of Charlene Lamb, who resigned after Benghazi.
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Also, fwiw, Charlene Lamb did NOT say there was live video in her testimony. She said she monitored events, but via indirect audio mainly.
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Why are members allowed to request answers in writing after they use all their time to ask the questions?
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These hearings are a sorry coda to an actually very important situation: trivial questions abound while substantive ones go unasked.
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What if in a trial every juror got five minutes to question every witness, instead of one lawyer on each side?
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Oh great, now we're talking about Fast and Furious. Can we go back to the Challenger instead?
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Whyyyyyyyyy wasn't there more security in Tripoli during the attack?
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