Rand Paul Was Right to Get Tough on Hillary Clinton

On Wednesday, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took to tending the fires of accountability in regard to the Benghazi attacks.

Several pundits have written articles calling Paul a grand stander and accusing him of asking unrelated questions. This tells me that many of our "pundits" don't understand the Benghazi attack beyond the "facts" as Rachel Maddow presents them. Paul did have precedent in the questions he asked, ranging from America's involvement in the Syrian civil war, to a complete administrative failure at the hands of the State Department regarding Ambassador Chris Stevens' death.

Here are some basic facts on the issue:

1. The compound in Benghazi that was attacked was not an embassy, or consulate. It was a Temporary Mission Facility.

2. As a TMF, the compound fell down the list when funding was appropriated, as is standard.

3. Chris Stevens requested additional funding directly through the Department of State several times before the attacks.

4. Chris Stevens' last meetings were with Turkish officials regarding then undisclosed topics. An unnamed source says those meetings were regarding the removal of heavy weapons systems from Libya - specifically SA-7 missiles.

5. Syrian rebels received a large shipment of humanitarian supplies, and apparently, SA-7 missiles. These Were the same anti-air missles used in Libya, and may point to a relationship between the American-supported Libyan rebels and the Syrian rebels. Could the Libya weapons have found their way to Syria? This was at the crux of the "Turkey" question Paul asked Clinton.

6. In May 2012 while the president was campaigning, "White House press secretary Jay Carney warned that (arming the Syrian rebels) would lead to more “chaos and carnage” and was “not the right course.”

So what can we glean from all of this?

Senator Paul was trying to get down to the million-dollar answer today when he asked about any Libyan ships transferring heavy arms via Turkey. He was trying to get the outgoing Secretary of State to admit that she knew about the weapons and the CIA action that was ongoing.

What did he get instead? More lies. Clinton acted aghast at the mere thought of the question and attempted to play it off as grandstanding. Paul followed it up including any country, not just Turkey, but still nothing from Hillary. He opted to let it go, and in doing so showed much more restraint than I would have. I'd have had all of these links printed and posted to the media at the time of my questioning. I'd have called her on the carpet in front of the world.

To say that the secretary of state and even the president had no idea that the CIA was conducting a covert mission to route heavy arms out of Libya and into the hands of Syrian rebels via Turkey is an insult to those of us that are still capable of cognizant thought.

On Wednesday, Paul sent an e-mail to all of his constituents.

It read:

Dear Christopher, 

If asking tough questions makes you a grand stander ... well, that says more about the state of this nation than anything else possibly could. It's no wonder that journalists like Amber Lyon and Ben Swann are crucified by their "peers." They ask tough questions too. When will you start asking tough questions America?