Mona Charen Reviews "13 Hours"

Mona Charen Reviews "13 Hours"

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The film is somewhat... oblique.

Hillary Clinton's name is... not mentioned.

The infamous Susan Rice clips blaming the attack on a video do not appear (though the film does mention, slightly mordantly, that "press reports" are citing a video).

Yet even for those coming to the question for the first time, the film very clearly conveys filmmaker Michael Bay's outrage that a tiny band of unbelievably brave Americans was left to fight off a company of al-Qaida-linked terrorists for, yes, 13 hours, while the vast land, sea and air resources of the U.S. military were not sent to their rescue.

* "MICHAEL BAY'S OUTRAGE..." MY OUTRAGE! BUT... THE OUTRAGE OF THE AMERICAN SHEEPLE? NOPE. NOT LIKELY. OBAMA AND THE CLINTONS COULD DOUSE PUPPIES IN GASOLINE AND SET THEM ABLAZE AND MILLIONS OF COMMITTED DEMOCRATS WOULD STILL STAND BY "THEIR" LEADERS.

* WE ARE A SICK... SICK... SICK COUNTRY... AND EVEN THOUGH MOST OF YOU READING THIS TEND TO SHARE MY VIEWS... YOU ALL HAVE FRIENDS, RELATIVES, COLLEAGUES, AND OTHERS YOU EITHER KNOW OR KNOW OF WHO FIT THE DESCRIPTION OF THE "COMMITTED DEMOCRAT" I JUST PENNED ABOVE.

(*SIGH*)

Recent history would suggest that "13 Hours" will be a commercial success. Hollywood's anti-war and anti-American films (there have been many) have had lukewarm ("Body of Lies") to dismal ("War, Inc.") receptions. But films portraying American courage and fortitude, especially "Lone Survivor" and "American Sniper," have been huge hits.

As the subtitle suggests, "13 Hours" is the story of the tough men who fight our battles.

They are portrayed lovingly in this film.

They are men who adore their families, who have each other's backs, and who are careful about when and how they use the force they are so very skilled at deploying. Even after wave upon wave of brutal attacks, these former Navy Seals don't fire reflexively when cars approach the compound or the annex in Benghazi; they wait until they see aggressive moves.

That they risked and in some cases lost their lives was a matter of heroism, not duty.

* AS I READ THIS MY THOUGHTS STRAY TO GENERAL PATRAEUS. HE KNOWS THE TRUTH. HE MADE HIS CHOICE... TOOK "THEIR" DEAL. I WONDER IF HIS LIFE WILL END BY HIS OWN HAND ONE DAY?

(*SHRUG*)

The CIA officer in charge countermanded their effort to leave the CIA annex and head to the consulate, a mile away, when it first came under attack.

* WE KNOW THIS. THE MEN ON THE GROUND HAVE SWORN TO IT. THE FACT THAT NO RESCUE TOOK PLACE IS PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE CONTENTION... BUT, STILL... THE MSM WILL CARRY WATER FOR OBAMA, CLINTON, PANETTA, AND PATRAEUS TO THE END. IT'S SAD. IT'S SICK. IT'S PATHETIC.

Twenty-five minutes later, half a dozen men disobeyed and headed to the consulate anyway.

* AGAIN... THIS IS FACT. IT HAPPENED. PERIOD.

The scene there was harrowing. Smoke inhalation is a terrible death. But the night was young. Apparently, the al-Qaida-linked terrorists were well-briefed on the location of the secret CIA annex, and the fight continued when the contractors retreated to that location.

The warriors took up positions on the roof, protecting the 26 people inside.

There is the suggestion throughout the movie that some Libyans betrayed their American allies, while others proved reliable. Whether that is evidence of the treachery of the Middle East or just the nature of war is a matter for the viewer to decide.

* NOT SO MUCH THE MIDDLE EAST AS THE THIRD WORLD...

(*SHRUG*)

* BOTTOM LINE, THOUGH... MANY OF OUR "ALLIES" BETRAYED US... SOLD US OUT... THIS WE KNOW. AGAIN... THIS IS FACT... THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED.

There are three questions about Benghazi that have never been satisfactorily answered by Clinton or the Obama administration
1) Why was security so inadequate?

* HEY FOLKS... REMEMBER AMBASSADOR STEVEN'S DIARY? WHERE IS IT NOW? WHY WASN'T IT PUBLISHED AS DIRECT SOURCE MATERIAL?

2) Why was no military help dispatched as the battle unfolded?

* I'LL REPEAT THE SCENARIO I ALWAYS THROW OUT: WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN AIR FORCE ONE WHICH HAD CRASHED WITHIN BENGHAZI? WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN AIR FORCE TWO? WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN A PLANE CARRYING SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON OR FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON... OR FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH... OR FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH... OR MICHELLE OBAMA...

(*SHRUG*)

* PICK A BIG-SHOT; ANY BIG SHOT! DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD RESCUE/RECOVERY TEAMS - BOOTS ON THE GROUND - TO THE SITE WITHIN AN HOUR OR LESS?

(*RUEFUL SMIRK*)

* HOW F--KING DETERMINED TO IGNORE THE TRUTH DOES ONE HAVE TO BE TO IGNORE EVERYTHING WE KNOW?! HOW PARTISAN... HOW "COMMITTED"... DOES ONE HAVE TO BE TO BUY INTO THE ADMINISTRATION NARRATIVE?!

* FOLKS... SAY WE COULDN'T PHYSICALLY GET AMERICAN BOOTS ON THE GROUND WITHIN AN HOUR; BUT ALSO VISUALIZE... IF IT WAS A PLANE CARRING MICHELLE OBAMA, MALIA OBAMA, AND NATASHA OBAMA WHICH HAD CRASHED WITHIN BENGHAZI. YOU DON'T THINK THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA, HILLARY CLINTON, JOE BIDEN, LEON PANETTA, AND DAVID PATRAEUS WOULD HAVE SPENT EVERY SECOND CALLING EVERY WORLD LEADER - PARTICULARLY OUR ALLIES... AND PROBABLY OUR ENEMIES AS WELL - IN THE REGION OR THE WORLD WITH FORCES NEARBY WITH URGENT REQUESTS... NAY, DEMANDS... THAT THEY SEND THEIR PEOPLE IN TO SAVE AND PROTECT THE FIRST FAMILY MEMBERS UNTIL U.S. FORCES COULD ARRIVE ON THE SCENE? PLEASE...!!!

3) Why did the administration lie to the American people about the nature of the attack, blaming an anti-Islam video rather than al-Qaida?

* THE ANSWER: THE THEN-UPCOMING ELECTION. (IT'S AS SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD AS THAT.)

This film focuses chiefly on number two - and rightly so in my judgment.

While the other questions are serious, for me, it has always been the failure to attempt a rescue of Americans under fire that was the most unforgivable and nearly inexplicable aspect of the story.

(*NOD*)

The administration issued bland denials that any rescue was possible. Yet recently released emails, such as that from Jeremy Bash, aide to then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, to Clinton aides on Sept. 11, 2012, revealed the opposite: "After consulting with General Dempsey, General Ham and the Joint Staff, we have identified the forces that could move to Benghazi. They are spinning up as we speak."

* AGAIN, FOLKS... JUST CONSIDER THE SCENARIOS I'VE LAID OUT. DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE WE COULDN'T GET FORCES THERE QUICKLY ENOUGH TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE? DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE NONE OF OUR ALLIES - NOT ISRAEL... NOT OUR ARAB ALLIES - COULD HAVE GOTTEN "BOOTS ON THE GROUND" OR AT LEAST AIR ASSETS IN PLACE WITHIN AN HOUR... TWO HOURS AT MOST?

(*SIGH*)

There were F-18s at the Sigonella Naval Air Station in Italy, about a one-hour flight from Benghazi. As Popular Mechanics explained: "Jet warplanes can do more than fight and frighten. They can look at the conditions below. Air Force and Navy warplanes are equipped with targeting systems that pilots use to launch precision strikes and assess the damage after they attack. ... F-18s have LITENING pods ... that can pick out individuals on the ground, day or night, and through clouds. The system can also see laser designators used by troops on the ground, and some reports ... claim the team at Benghazi had such a designator on the roof of the CIA safe house."

* FOLKS. OBAMA - THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF - LET OUR PEOPLE FACE THEIR FATE ALONE; LET THEM DIE. HE - LITERALLY - WENT TO BED AS THEY WERE FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES. AGAIN... THIS IS HISTORY. THIS IS FACT. AND YOU SHOULD CARE!

For whatever reason, President Obama was not moved enough by the plight of besieged Americans to send in the cavalry. That, more than the post-hoc confection about an anti-Islam Internet video, was the crime, and that is what "13 Hours" depicts unflinchingly.