Fox News Poll: 69 Percent of People Wish the Troops Had Been Sent Into Benghazi

It’s the Benghazi paradox, and it’s the most emotionally raw fact about the September 2012 attack on the American consulate in that city. The American ambassador was killed. American diplomats were in danger. Two security consultants rushed into the fray to save them; they were killed as a rescue team arrived. The victims’ family members and friends remain furious that backup wasn’t sent immediately, that somebody told somebody else to “stand down.” Even though the outgoing secretary of defense explained the decision (“the basic principle here is that you don’t deploy forces into harm’s way without knowing what’s going on”), it hurts. And via Fox News, it polls quite poorly.
The polling’s barely changed since May’s Benghazi hearings, when the House (and TV viewers) heard testimony from diplomats angry that no one jumped in to save the people under fire. “Of course I’m sure the question included the fact that it wasn’t physically possible to get USMIL there before end of attack,” sighed Tommy Vietor, a former administration spokesman, after I tweeted the poll.