Mr. McClellan, in his letter that appeared in the Jan. 31 Inter Lake, stated Republicans should stop bringing up the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the diplomatic post at Benghazi as a means of attacking Hillary Clinton. He further stated that if Hillary does throw her hat in the ring and run for president that she would make mincemeat out of anyone seriously pointing out any culpability for Benghazi on her part.

In lieu of the facts already made public concerning the incident it seems almost incomprehensible that anyone would make such a statement and be so insensitive to the deaths of the four Americans murdered there while serving their country.

Then to imply that the one heading our State Department (Hillary) would bear no responsibility for the safety of the personnel serving under her is a concept almost impossible to accept. Especially when she herself stated that the buck, as head of the department, stopped with her. Yet she disclaimed any knowledge of the imminent danger her people faced at that Benghazi station.

As I pointed out in an earlier article, very real concerns for the safety of our people were being expressed. In the months before the attack, U.S. intelligence agencies issued reports on the escalating threats in Libya between February  2011 and September 11, 2012. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs issued a report dated Dec. 30, 2012. Part of the report noted that intelligence reports provided a clear and vivid picture of a rapidly deteriorating environment in eastern Libya. One that should have been sufficient to inform policymakers of the growing danger to U.S. facilities and personnel in that part of the country. That report noted the urgency of doing something about the situation.

The State Department was made aware of the situation in Libya and yet maintained the security there was sufficient. The Accountability Review Board found that the number of Bureau of Diplomatic Security staff in Benghazi on the day of the attack and in the months and weeks leading up to it was inadequate despite repeated requests from Special Mission Benghazi and Embassy Tripoli for additional staffing. Now again, just who was it that was the head of our State Department when all this was occurring? I believe it was none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Again, it is to be noted, that in that Dec. 30, 2012, report there was extreme urgency expressed for something to be done about dangerous situation in Benghazi.

Since the State Department was notified of that danger to our personnel there and insisted that our security was sufficient, it is almost inconceivable that Hillary was not notified. Yet she claimed that she had no knowledge of the situation in Benghazi. Was it not her responsibility to make sure that she was informed when danger threatened any of the people serving under her?

And let’s couple that with the story she and President Obama fed to the American people after the tragic event that occurred at Benghazi. They both lied and publicly claimed the tragedy that occurred at Benghazi was because of a videotape and that the violence that ensued was uncoordinated mob action, when in reality it was a well coordinated and planned terrorist attack.

Tell me, with all of this, how can Mr. McClellan even begin to imply that anyone could be made mincemeat out of for attempting to hold Mrs. Clinton responsible for not either reinforcing our position at Benghazi or pulling our people out of that danger as the British did theirs? How? The question remains, if Mrs. Clinton was incapable of running the State Department at that moment of crisis, how then is she capable of running the country as president? How? What will be her response if a crisis arises that demands presidential action if she were to become president? Inaction and disclaim any knowledge of the situation?

One other thought before I end this. If our health-care system was so dysfunctional, as Mr. McClellan implies, before the Affordable Care Act, how is it that 70 percent of Americans polled claimed satisfaction with the health-care plans they had?

I, for one, had to rely on the health plan my wife and I had when she was diagnosed with what was to become a catastrophic illness. I had just taken a position and that plan had just kicked in upon my being hired. For the next 11 years the insurance company paid for enormous medical costs without any questions. I do realize that our health-care system as it was needed improvements. For instance, prohibiting insurance companies from cancelling coverage when a catastrophic illness is diagnosed and providing some coverage for those unable to afford it. Ideas also need to be offered on ways to curb the rising cost of providing medical care.

But this could have been done without the fiasco of Obamacare.

Tebeau is a resident of Kalispell.