So, when will McCain be made to answer for arming the Benghazi rebels who attacked the US embassy?

[leveymg]

22. I read this to imply that Susan Rice wanted a direct US military intervention,

and was concerned about blow-back from more heavy weapons and SAMs going to the opposition. So, if we read between the lines of this article, there were really four camps in the White House: the covert war operators (Petraeus, Clinton); those who agreed in principle with arming the opposition, but saw problems in implementation (Dempsey, Panetta), the direct interventionist (Rice); and the skeptics of US involvement in arming the opposition (Donilon and Biden). In the end, the lead covert operators left the Administration, the humanitarian warrior wasn't promoted, and the President decided to try something different, a diplomatic track and an attempt to get the Russians to sign off on some sort of settlement that doesn't completely destroy the Syrian state and military:

But the president, who had campaigned on the theme that “the tide of war” was receding, was more skeptical, fearing that such a move would, in effect, draw the United States into a proxy war against the Syrian government and its Iranian and Russian backers, with uncertain results. His wariness was reinforced, officials said, by his closest advisers, including Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, both of whom advised against it.

Also skeptical, officials said, was Susan E. Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations. Her opposition was noteworthy, given that she had pushed for military intervention in Libya.

“In a situation as chaotic as Syria’s,” said an official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, “you don’t know where weapons might end up, and what the consequences are if those weapons are used against civilians, against Israel, against American interests.”

To avoid any risk of Israeli aircraft being targeted if weapons fell into the wrong hands, the plan would not have provided rebels with shoulder-fired missiles. But that meant that the operation would be less effective against Mr. Assad’s forces.

After Mr. Petraeus resigned because of an extramarital affair and Mrs. Clinton was sidelined with a concussion, the issue was shelved. Mr. Donilon convened few meetings of top officials after the election, which also limited the chance of revisiting the question.