During the weeks before U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died at the hands of terrorists in Libya, he warned of the increasing danger from Islamic militants. Yet the State Department pulled security forces out of Libya.
After the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked on Sept. 11, President Barack Obama insisted the deaths were at the hands of an unorganized mob infuriated by a video, produced by a California man, that was critical of the prophet Muhammed.
Within hours after Stevens died, it was clear to all that the attack was an organized one, including weapons no mob of angry Libyans would have been carrying.
What happened was clear to Libyan President Mohammed Magarief, who said it was obvious the assault was a terrorist attack. Magarief also noted the video in question had been in circulation for months before Sept. 11, with no mob violence among Libyans.
And then just last Thursday evening, Vice President Joe Biden compounded the Obama administration's arrogance in misleading the American public during his debate with Paul Ryan, the Republican nominee for vice president.
Although testimony during congressional hearings last week firmly established the fact that the Obama administration had been implored to beef up security at the U.S. Consulate before the deadly attack, Biden continued to deny it.
"We weren't told they wanted more security there," the vice president asserted flatly during the vice presidential debate Thursday evening.
But that is flatly not true.
As The Associated Press has reported, just the day before the debate, Charlene R. Lamb, a deputy assistant secretary for diplomatic security, told lawmakers she had refused requests for more security in Benghazi, saying the department wanted to train Libyans to protect the consulate.
Further, as the AP reports, Eric Nordstrom, who was the top security official in Libya earlier this year, testified he was criticized for seeking more security. He said conversations he had with people in Washington led him to believe that it was "abundantly clear we were not going to get resources until the aftermath of an incident. How thin does the ice have to get before someone falls through?"
This is no way for the United States to handle its affairs in other countries.
And it is shameful that the vice president plays so fast and loose in denying the deadly truth.