And what did Leap discuss after those? 13 Hours by Mitchell Zukoff, a book about the terrorist attacks in Benghazi in which four Americans were murdered. This book is discussed in the following episodes.
Episode 36, November 14.
Episode 37, November 21,
Episode 38, November 28.
Episode 39, December 5.
Episode 40, December 12.
Episode 41, December 19.
Why would Leap talk about this particular act of terrorism?
Unfortunately the terrorist attack in Benghazi was turned into a political talking point used to vilify Obama and Clinton. Even though unfortunately there had been numerous terrorist attacks against American embassies and consulates over the years there had been a bipartisan consensus to not use these terrorist attacks in a partisan manner against the political opponents. Below is a list of terrorist attacks during the Bush Administration which were not politicized as the terrorist attack in Benghazi.
June 14, 2002, U.S. consulate in Karachi, PakistanHere is another list of terrorist attacks against US embassies and consulates during the Reagan Administration. Again these attacks were not politicized as was done with the terrorist attack in Benghazi. (Please note the following quote is presented as it was written.)
Suicide bomber kills 12 and injures 51.
February 20, 2003, international diplomatic compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Truck bomb kills 17.
February 28, 2003, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Gunmen on motorcycles killed two consulate guards.
July 30, 2004, U.S. embassy in Taskkent [sic], Uzbekistan
Suicide bomber kills two.
December 6, 2004, U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Militants stormed and occupied perimeter wall. Five killed, 10 wounded.
March 2, 2006, U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan
Suicide car bomber killed four, including a U.S. diplomate [sic] directly targeted by the assailants.
September 12, 2006, U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syria
Gunmen attacked embassy with grenades, automatic weapons, and a car bomb (though second truck bomb failed to detonate). One killed and 13 wounded.
January 12, 2007, U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece
A rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the embassy building. No one was injured.
July 9, 2008, U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Armed men attacked consulate with pistols and shotguns. Three policemen killed.
March 18, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen
Mortar attack misses embassy, hits nearby girls' school instead.
September 17, 2008, U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen
Militants dressed as policemen attacked the embassy with RPGs, rifles, grenades and car bombs. Six Yemeni soldiers and seven civilians were killed. Sixteen more were injured. (Daily Kos.)
April 18 1983 Beirut Islamic Jihad car bomb destroys Embassy 63 killedThat bipartisan convention of not politicizing terrorist attacks against US embassies and consulates was ignored by Mitt Romney during the presidential campaign who used the terrorist attack against President Obama. Others followed his lead. Various minor officials were reprimanded for failures leading up the terrorist attack but nothing of a criminal nature was found against Obama or Clinton.
December 12 1983 Kuwait City al-Dawa truck bomb outside embassy 6 killed.
September 20 1984 Beirut Hezbollah truck bomb outside embassy 24 killed
November 1984 Bogotá Car bomb outside Embassy planted by drug cartel 1 killed
February 1986 Lisbon Popular Forces of 25 April car bomb outside Embassy
May 14 1986 Jakarta Japanese Red Army mortar barrage none
June 9 1987 Rome Japanese Red Army mortar barrage
That's 94 dead. (Source.)
Leap's decision to use his radio program to discuss the terrorist attack in Benghazi, a terrorist attack which unfortunately became politicized in an attempt to weaken Obama and Clinton, is yet further indication of how politically partisan PCG's leaders tend to be.
One has to ask the question, just how does anything the PCG presents these days even relate to redemption and reconciliation? How does any of this mud slinging finger pointing edify Christians and inspire non Christians to action to join with believers to work to bring peace to the world? Or even make it slightly better as there is opportunity?
ReplyDeleteIf Christianity is like building a house, where there are designers, engineers, architects, builders, furnishers, plumbers, electricians, inspectors, landscapers, then the place for the PCG rests in the realm of home wreckers.
Pull their tax exemption.
ReplyDeleteCOGs have turned the Great Commission into "scare everyone into wanting to join so they can get to the place of safety". But they would probably say, no, this is their "Ezekiel Watchman" role.
ReplyDeleteThey not only "built their house on the sand", they built it on quicksand.
Hoss, building on quicksand is so much better than building and then having to get a wrecking ball (and crane) to wreck what's been built.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!
Saves a lot of time, effort and money!
Books in so many cases today almost instantly take on an historic context. We live in times of instant electronic communication, where everything is swirling about and conatantly changing. Stuff the ACOGs exploit as definitive because it compliments their agenda and prophecy mold, is sometimes outdated by the time they can even manage to quote it.
ReplyDeleteDecades ago, you had your dictionary, your encyclopedia, and your newspaper, and if you used all regularly, you were fairly knowledgable, and could hold your own in conversation. However, as a child, I noticed a pronounced difference between our family encyclopedia, and my grandparents' set. There was most likely about 25 years of elapsed time between the two.
In reading their version's article on the automobile, I saw a picture of a radical custom car for which I immediately had an affinity. The problem is, the picture simply called it a "modern" automobile. There was no brand, year, make, or model further identifying it. But that picture remained in my mind. Decades later, as a Buick collector, I finally leaned that it was Harley Earl's Buick Y-Job, which still exists today, and I actually have a scale model of the car on my dresser, having bought it for a pittance at an antique shop because the seller obviously had no idea what it was. The instant availability of knowledge today has far removed us from the encyclopedia (unless we are speaking of the constantly revised "Wikipedia"), and has caused anyone who wishes to teach to be held to a much higher level of accountability.
I don't believe that Herbert W. Armstrong would be considered to be a fully functional human being today, let alone any sort of authority on the topics upon which he spoke. His imitators would do well to ponder that. They are entitled to their viewpoints, but there really is no excuse for those viewpoints.
BB