Low hanging fruit (and other stuff)

Like many people, I found the capture of Ahmed Abu Khattala suddenly made the interview of Hillary Clinton on FOX a hell of a lot more interesting.  I had a few thoughts on that interview and have expanded my thinking on the capture.

Face it, this guy was low-hanging fruit by his own (and perhaps others) design.  Could that have been part of the plan?   I gather he showed up in the opening stages of the attack doing things that made great video.  For Al-Qaeda, no less,  who shot the video. His starring role could have been scripted either to provide a buffer for the true leaders or to spread misinformation when he was captured.  Or both.  Jihadists aren’t big on technology, but history leads me to believe that they are good and getting better at sneaky.  I find myself hoping that the Obama’s administration has taken that into account.  At the end of the day we didn’t pick that fruit, we tripped over it.  Multiple times.

The right encouragement from Clerics/Politicians (remember they can be the same thing in the Muslim world) could have easily persuaded Khattala to be a willing star of the movemnent.  A threat, a bribe or both, if it could be managed, could have overcome any reluctance on his part.  Or it could have even been on the spot improvisation that paid off, though that seems less likely.

During the Hillary’s interview one thing that stood out in my mind when Hillary was asked about the night of Benghazi was how she explained that she was not in the loop but was watching the loop. With respect, if you can watch that loop you are in it.

While I have come to believe that Obama is actually incapable of making a snap decision, that is not a problem that Hillary Clinton has ever had. Her snap decision was to cover her butt by producing excuses all around in textbook Clinton fashion.  Instead of attacking the problem and taking any action to relieve those on the ground she watched the loop.  That is not good enough.  The state department is expected to act, “fog of war” or no.  Hillary chose to blame or help blame somebody else. If she was overruled so-be it, but she will never escape the lack of action produced that night while she was, in-fact, in the loop.

I know she knows how to throw a lamp.  I always thought it was her highest qualification for Secretary of State. It would have been an improvement.

In general, her responses all seemed aimed at making herself the lone voice of sanity who was constantly overruled by the weak man that she worked for. But She never quite put it that way.  That probably appeals to somebody else…