Obama's September 11 Phone Call

Obama's September 11 Phone Call

10:53 AM, Oct 28, 2012 •
By WILLIAM KRISTOL
newsbusters.com

What was President Obama doing Tuesday evening, September 11, while
Americans were under assault in Benghazi? Which of his national
security team did he meet with, whom did he speak with, what
directives did he issue? So far, the White House won't say.

But we do know one thing the president found time to do that evening:
He placed a call to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in order
to defuse a controversy about President Obama's refusal to meet with
Netanyahu two weeks later at the U.N. General Assembly, and, according
to the White House announcement that evening, spent an hour on the
phone with him:

Obama, Netanyahu: Hour phone call Tuesday night; White House denies
snub

By Lynn Sweet on September 11, 2012 8:18 PM |

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
discussed Iran and other issues in a hour-long phone call on Tuesday
night, the White House announced--along with a statement that
Netanyahu, contrary to news reports, never asked for a meeting with
the president.

The White House briefed on the call between the two leaders as
tensions with Iran are growing--talk of an Israeli pre-emptive strike
on Iran nuclear facilities is escalating--and stories about Obama
snubbing Netanyahu--now denied--present a political problem to a
president who is wooing the Jewish vote. In a statement issued Tuesday
evening, the White House said, "President Obama spoke with Prime
Minister Netanyahu for an hour tonight as a part of their ongoing
consultations. The two leaders discussed the threat posed by Iran's
nuclear program, and our close cooperation on Iran and other security
issues...

While Americans were under assault in Benghazi, the president found
time for a non-urgent, politically useful, hour-long call to Prime
Minister Netanyahu. And his senior national staff had to find time to
arrange the call, brief the president for the call, monitor it, and
provide an immediate read-out to the media. I suspect Prime Minister
Netanyahu, of all people, would have understood the need to postpone
or shorten the phone call if he were told that Americans were under
attack as the president chatted. But for President Obama, a
politically useful telephone call—and the ability to have his aides
rush out and tell the media about that phone call—came first.

So here are a few more questions for the White House: While President
Obama was on the phone for an hour, did his national security advisor
Tom Donilon or any other aide interrupt the call or slip him a piece
of paper to inform him about what was happening in Benghazi? Or was
President Obama out of the loop for at least an hour as events
unfolded and decisions were made? On the other hand, national security
staff were obviously with the president during and immediately after
the phone call—otherwise how could they have put out their statement
right away? Surely his aides told the president about what was
happening in Benghazi. Was there then no discussion of what was or
what wasn't being done to help, pursuant to the president's first
directive that everything possible be done?

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