It was incredibly disgusting on Tuesday when some on the left and in media (is that redundant?) seemed to almost wish for a disaster or wish harm on Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad if it could prove “Orange Man Bad.”
Many called it “Trump’s Benghazi” as though they were wishing for Americans to be killed. They still didn’t seem to get what made Benghazi such a scandal – not that an embassy was attacked, but all the lies surrounding it.
But President Donald Trump made it clear from the outset that this would not be another Benghazi.
Unlike Hillary Clinton who ignored threats and actual prior attacks, the Trump administration anticipated and most of the staff had already been evacuated.
From the beginning, Trump truthfully called the attack what it was. While media was calling the people “protesters,” even “mourners,” Trump said they were backed by Iran. He didn’t make up some phony story about a video or lie to the American public.
Then, he sent in an immediate response, with 100 Marines and Apache helicopters. People didn’t get killed waiting thirteen hours for anyone to respond.
So Trump noted in response to the Democrats and media who were saying it was his Benghazi, that in fact, it was the “anti-Benghazi.”
Most Americans would respond to that saying “thankfully!” or something to that effect, glad that our troops were on the ground to protect the embassy and its personnel.
But CNN analyst and Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin dropped this instead.
What kind of a response is that?
Trump didn’t say “mission accomplished,” but he is noting, appropriately, that it isn’t the same.
The president also showed a quick and force-appropriate response, protecting personnel of the embassy without igniting the situation further, not leaving people to die.
Because of that, no one was injured and the militia members have now withdrawn. The embassy is no longer under immediate threat.
Now, maybe that’s not “mission accomplished” because it’s still in a dangerous area with all kinds of threats. But it’s about as close as you’re going to get with the best possible result.
Which makes it as “anti-Benghazi” as you can get.