The enemy: al-Qaida or the Republicans?

Gen. David Petraeus besmirched his reputation and so had to exit from the CIA [“Petraeus: CIA linked al-Qaida to attack,” page one, Nov. 17]. He is making himself look even more ridiculous by expecting us to believe that the administration didn't want to talk about terror because itmight tip the enemy off.

The whole Benghazi debacle was mishandled by the Obama administration from three months before (when requests were sent in for more protection) to the final, tragic end. They act now like a little dose of antacid will make the whole thing go away. They really don't want to be bothered with answering questions about timelines and what was done to help.

Since it was so close to the elections one wonders which enemy the administration was worried about tipping off.Was it al-Qaida? I think they already knew they were the enemy. Or was it the Republicans?

— Denny Andrews, Bellevue