Benghazi-Gate: Where was Obama?

Wasn't I saying this?

While giving Senate testimony regarding Benghazi on Feb. 7, Sec. of Defense Leon Panetta said Obama was not present nor did he communicate with the Sec. of Defense during the Benghazi attack.

Panetta was answering questions from Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) when he made it clear he had no communication with Obama outside the normal, "pre-scheduled" 5 p.m. meeting on September 11. 

When asked if Obama at least called to check in as the attack unfolded Panetta said "No." 

When asked if anyone from the White House called that night, Panetta said "No." 

According to Panetta, the President trusted that the Sec. of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCOS) Chairman General Martin Dempsey were aware of what military assets were and weren't near Benghazi, so he left it "up to us."

Also:

Under direct questioning by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Panetta admitted that he had no communication with President Obama after their “pre-scheduled” meeting at 5:00 p.m. EDT. The attack on the consulate had already been under way for 90 minutes at that time. Neither the president nor anyone else from the White House called afterwards to check what was happening; the Commander-in-Chief had left it “up to us,” said Panetta.

Panetta’s testimony directly contradicts President Obama’s own claim to have issued “three directives” as soon as he learned “what was going on” in Benghazi. As he told a Denver reporter in October: 

I gave three very clear directives. Number one, make sure we are securing our personnel and that we are doing whatever we need to. Number two, we are going to investigate exactly what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again. Number three, find out who did this so we can bring them to justice.

That same claim was subsequently repeated by other Democrats, including Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, who came to the president’s defense. But if those directives were indeed given--and proof has never been produced--they were given long after the attack, not while the attack was going on, during which time the president did nothing.

Panetta and Dempsey also admitted, under questioning by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), that they were not in touch with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the attacks, and did not receive a request for help from the State Department. Dempsey also testified that he had been “surprised” at Clinton’s testimony last month that she did not know of an urgent cable from Ambassador Stevens last August about the dire security situation.

So I guess Obama watched four men die afterwards and then constructed a vague, transparent and gradually released lie. As for Hillary Clinton lying, well, there is no surprise there.