Anonymous User
Clip Created Oct 18, 2012

Ladka Libya Question

Clipped from:Presidential Candidates Debate
Oct 16, 2012

Hofstra Pres. Debate

49 seconds | 173 views


Video Library clips and descriptions are created by MyC-SPAN users. These descriptions and clips are not the editorial selections of C-SPAN.
Click to report profane or abusive content.

00:00:00

-- I want you to talk to Carey Ladka (ph), who wants to switch the topic for us.

00:00:03

Okay. Hi, Carey.

00:00:04

Good evening, Mr. President.

00:00:06

I’m sorry, what’s your name?

00:00:11

It’s Carey. Carey Ladka (ph).

00:00:12

Great to see you, Carey.

00:00:13

This question actually comes from a brain trust of my friends at Global Telecom Supply in Mineola yesterday. We were sitting around talking about Libya, and we were reading and became aware of reports that the State Department refused extra security for our embassy in Benghazi, Libya, prior to the attacks that killed four Americans. Who was it that denied enhanced security, and why?

00:00:40

Well, let me, first of all, talk about our diplomats, because they serve all around the world and do an incredible job in a very dangerous situation. And these aren’t just representatives of the United States. They’re my representatives. I send them there, oftentimes into harm’s way. I know these folks, and I know these families. So nobody is more concerned about their safety and security than I am.

So as soon as we found out that the Benghazi consulate was being overrun, I was on the phone with my national security team, and I gave them three instructions. Number one, beef up our security and procedures not just in Libya but in every embassy and consulate in the region. Number two, investigate exactly what happened, regardless of where the facts lead us, to make sure that folks are held accountable and it doesn’t happen again. And number three, we are going to find out who did this and we are going to hunt them down, because one of the things that I’ve said throughout my presidency is when folks mess with Americans, we go after them.

Now, Governor Romney had a very different response. While we were still dealing with our diplomats being threatened, Governor Romney put out a press release, trying to make political points. And that's not how a Commander-in-Chief operates. You don't turn national security into a political issue, certainly not right when it’s happening.

And people -- not everybody agrees with some of the decisions I’ve made, but when it comes to our national security, I mean what I say. I said I’d end the war in Libya -- in Iraq, and I did. I said that we’d go after al Qaeda and bin Laden -- we have. I said we’d transition out of Afghanistan and start making sure that Afghans are responsible for their own security. That's what I’m doing.

And when it comes to this issue, when I say that we are going to find out exactly what happened, everybody will be held accountable -- and I am ultimately responsible for what’s taking place there, because these are my folks, and I’m the one who has to greet those coffins when they come home, you know that I mean what I say.