New Benghazi details should add to outrage

On Oct. 8, 2012, this editorial page asked, “When will President Obama and his administration come clean?” about the events of Sept. 11-12, 2012, that led to the deaths of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three Americans with San Diego ties, security contractors Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods and information officer Sean Smith, at U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya. We speculated that information was being kept from the public to help the president’s re-election campaign.

That campaign is long over. But there is still cause to ask, “When will the president come clean?” New information keeps coming out — but never from the Obama administration. On Sunday, a CBS “60 Minutes” report provided fresh evidence that the administration knew for months beforehand that a premeditated, well-organized terrorist attack was likely in Benghazi. That came on top of a CNN report in August that depicted the CIA as working frantically to keep details on the attack hidden with “pure intimidation” via “frequent, even monthly” polygraph tests of individuals aware of what happened in Benghazi.

The White House, however, continues to ignore or dismiss the mounting evidence that it has been selling a dishonest narrative — even though the evidence is now well-documented in reports in the national media. The families of Stevens, Doherty, Woods and Smith deserve much better from their president.

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This article was written by the editorial board of the U-T San Diego.