consulate in Benghazi

[seasoned]

US slow to react...........


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/us_watched_as_terror_raged_AypAEEA9OK23rPf7Z5BHWO

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I'm beyond furious about the entire affair. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should be removed from her post at the minimum over this.

When the Marine barracks was blown up in Lebanon, President Reagan immediately stepped up and took responsibility for our strategic errors, although they happened at a variety of levels that did not involve him personally. That was correct; as the Commander in Chief, the buck stopped with him.

When this event happened, at first the Secretary of State refused to even talk about it in public. Then she denied all responsibility and apparently lied about what requests had been made by the Libyan consulate regarding security. Only now, as it begins to rub off on President Obama, does she step up and fall on her sword. Too little, too late.

It appears that this Administration does nothing but shift blame for everything to someone or something else. Name one time that our current President or any of his Cabinet or heads of various departments have said "THAT IS MY FAULT, I MESSED UP." Name one. Nobody does anything wrong, and if bad things happen, it's someone else's fault.

That is the dysfunctional federal government we have today. Incompetent, liars, obfuscators, and scape-goaters of the first water. They disgust me.

 

[seasoned]

I'm beyond furious about the entire affair. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should be removed from her post at the minimum over this.

I'm with you on this one, Bill. As a whole she has been very active as Secretary of State, but should not draw a pass on this one.

When the Marine barracks was blown up in Lebanon, President Reagan immediately stepped up and took responsibility for our strategic errors, although they happened at a variety of levels that did not involve him personally. That was correct; as the Commander in Chief, the buck stopped with him.

This is what Commander in Chief is all about. "The one in charge".

When this event happened, at first the Secretary of State refused to even talk about it in public. Then she denied all responsibility and apparently lied about what requests had been made by the Libyan consulate regarding security. Only now, as it begins to rub off on President Obama, does she step up and fall on her sword. Too little, too late.

I heard her make a comment about not running in 2016, and also perhaps dropping out of politics altogether after the Secretary job.

It appears that this Administration does nothing but shift blame for everything to someone or something else. Name one time that our current President or any of his Cabinet or heads of various departments have said "THAT IS MY FAULT, I MESSED UP." Name one. Nobody does anything wrong, and if bad things happen, it's someone else's fault.

Agreed

That is the dysfunctional federal government we have today. Incompetent, liars, obfuscation, and scape-goaters of the first water. They disgust me.

And agreed

 

[seasoned]

I guess my question for anyone interested would be, how do you think the investigation is going?

Libyan guards at the Benghazi compound and other witnesses told journalists working for The New York Times as early as Sept. 12 that the streets outside the mission were quiet in the moments before the attack had begun, without any prior protests.

Some insight below
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/world/africa/election-year-stakes-overshadow-nuances-of-benghazi-investigation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

[Bill Mattocks]

http://news.investors.com/photopopup.aspx?id=629942

Hehehehe. "The Benghazi attacks were because of the video..." Just keep saying it...

 

[seasoned]

I can't wait until tonight for the debates.

The next best thing is to try and convince the country that none of it happened, or, if it did happen, some how it was the US fault.

 

[billc]

Apparently, Chris Mathew's still believes it is "...All about the video..." as he makes fun of a Romney supporter...in the embedded video...

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-sh...porter-benghazi-was-all-youtube-video-read-ne

Going around the rope line at the bottom of his 7 p.m. Eastern edition of Monday's Hardball to ask folks whom they are supporting in the presidential race, Chris Matthews found a young man who said he was backing Romney because, unlike Obama, "he doesn't cover up scandals in the Middle East."
"What was the scandal? Get to it, nail it, what was the scandal?!" Matthews rudely barked at the Romney backer. Upon the young Romney supporter answering that he was referring to Benghazi and the administration's early dogged insistence that the fiasco was the result of a spontaneous demonstration over a YouTube video, Matthews barked back (emphasis mine), "Yeah, it was about the video. Read the newspaper. Thank you. Everybody knows it's about the video. It's all about the video." [video follows page break]

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-sh...i-was-all-youtube-video-read-ne#ixzz2A5iaCVIv

 

[billc]

New information on the attack...

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/10/26/breaking-fox-news-reports-cia-command-refused-to-help-benghazi-consulate-during-attack/

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin now reports that the CIA got at least three requests for support from the annex in the city to help fend off the attack — and that the chain of command not only refused the requests, but ordered its personnel to “stand down.” Two of the Americans killed in the terrorist attack disobeyed orders and attempted to rescue their fellow Americans:

Former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were part of a small team who were at the CIA annex about a mile from the U.S. Consulate where Ambassador Chris Stevens and his team came under attack. When they heard the shots fired, they radioed to inform their higher-ups to tell them what they were hearing. They were told to “stand down,” according to sources familiar with the exchange. An hour later, they called again to headquarters and were again told to “stand down.”

Woods, Doherty and at least two others ignored those orders and made their way to the Consulate which at that point was on fire. Shots were exchanged. The quick reaction force from the CIA annex evacuated those who remained at the Consulate and Sean Smith, who had been killed in the initial attack. They could not find the ambassador and returned to the CIA annex at about midnight.
At that point, they called again for military support and help because they were taking fire at the CIA safe house, or annex. The request was denied. There were no communications problems at the annex, according those present at the compound. The team was in constant radio contact with their headquarters. In fact, at least one member of the team was on the roof of the annex manning a heavy machine gun when mortars were fired at the CIA compound. The security officer had a laser on the target that was firing and repeatedly requested back-up support from a Specter gunship, which is commonly used by U.S. Special Operations forces to provide support to Special Operations teams on the ground involved in intense firefights. The fighting at the CIA annex went on for more than four hours — enough time for any planes based in Sigonella Air base, just 480 miles away, to arrive. Fox News has also learned that two separate Tier One Special operations forces were told to wait, among them Delta Force operators.

It’s not as if there was no resources to respond, either:

A Special Operations team, or CIF which stands for Commanders in Extremis Force, operating in Central Europe had been moved to Sigonella, Italy, but they too were told to stand down. A second force that specializes in counterterrorism rescues was on hand at Sigonella, according to senior military and intelligence sources. According to those sources, they could have flown to Benghazi in less than two hours. They were the same distance to Benghazi as those that were sent from Tripoli. Specter gunships are commonly used by the Special Operations community to provide close air support.

​

 

[Bill Mattocks]

You will notice that President Obama's supporters are going silent now that new information is coming out. It's clear that the Administration lied, obfuscated, and foot-dragged, in addition to flat-out blowing it with regard to events leading up to the attack in Benghazi. They ignored pleas for help from the Embassy itself, they watched the attacks take place LIVE on TV via drones as it was happening, and they did nothing; then they stalled and lied that it was due to some other cause.

Frankly, I think if it was not a week before the election, say mid-cycle, we'd be talking impeachment hearings.

 

[Tgace]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/intern...rs_were_denied_request_nrrlX4LgmkNPh1xjhzte7L

Woods and at least two others ignored those orders and made their way to the Consulate which at that point was on fire. Shots were exchanged. The quick reaction force from the CIA annex evacuated those who remained at the Consulate and Sean Smith, who had been killed in the initial attack. They could not find the ambassador and returned to the CIA annex at about midnight.
At that point, they called again for military support and help because they were taking fire at the annex. The request was denied. There were no communications problems at the annex, according those present at the compound. The team was in constant radio contact with their headquarters. In fact, at least one member of the team was on the roof of the annex manning a heavy machine gun when mortars were fired at the CIA compound. The security officer had a laser on the target that was firing and repeatedly requested back-up support from a Specter gunship, which is commonly used by US Special Operations forces to provide support to Special Operations teams on the ground involved in intense firefights. The fighting at the CIA annex went on for more than four hours -- enough time for any planes based in Sigonella Air base, just 480 miles away, to arrive. Fox News has also learned that two separate Tier One Special operations forces were told to wait, among them Delta Force operators.

SPECOP's personnel have started coming forward saying that an attack on an embassy would have gone IMMEDIATELY to the WH situation room and military HQ at AFRICOM would have known and "Should have" deployed forces on their standing orders...orders that appear to have been countermanded by someone. Either the President himself or some quibbling 4 star who was more worried about his career than being a warrior for our country.

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2012/...at-the-president-is-lying-about-benghazi.html

Having spent a good bit of time nursing a GLD (ground Laser Designator) in several garden spots around the world, something from the report jumped out at me.

One of the former SEALs was actively painting the target. That means that Specter WAS ON STATION! Probably an AC130U. A ground laser designator is not a briefing pointer laser. You do not "paint" a target until the weapons system/designator is synched; which means that the AC130 was on station.


Only two places could have called off the attack at that point; the WH situation command (based on POTUS direction) or AFRICOM commander based on information directly from the target area.


If the AC130 never left Sigonella (as Penetta says) that means that the Predator that was filming the whole thing was armed.


If that SEAL was actively "painting" a target; something was on station to engage! And the decision to stand down goes directly to POTUS!

This should be a scandal of Watergate proportions IMO.

 

[Tgace]

I dont give a **** what you think about Rush..you need to listen to what this caller is saying.

 

[Tgace]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/glob...ackup-benghazi-were-repeatedly-denied/58419/#

The CIA is not someone to throw under the bus....

“We can say with confidence that the Agency reacted quickly to aid our colleagues during that terrible evening in Benghazi. Moreover, no one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate. In fact, it is important to remember how many lives were saved by courageous Americans who put their own safety at risk that night—and that some of those selfless Americans gave their lives in the effort to rescue their comrades.”

 

[Bill Mattocks]

This thing is unfolding even now. Getting worse for President Obama.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politic...ns-in-benghazi-were-denied-requests-for-help/

Oct 26, 2012 6:31pm
President Obama Begs Off Answering Whether Americans in Benghazi Were Denied Requests for Help
In an interview with a Denver TV reporter Friday, President Obama twice refused to answer questions as to whether the Americans under siege in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012, were denied requests for help, saying he’s waiting for the results of investigations before making any conclusions about what went wrong.
After being asked about possible denials of requests for aid, and whether it’s fair to tell Americans that what happened is under investigation and won’t be released until after the election, the president said, “the election has nothing to do with four brave Americans getting killed and us wanting to find out exactly what happened. These are folks who served under me who I had sent to some very dangerous places. Nobody wants to find out more what happened than I do.”
President Obama told KUSA-TV’s Kyle Clarke large that “we want to make sure we get it right, particularly because I have made a commitment to the families impacted as well as to the American people, we’re going to bring those folks to justice. So, we’re going to gather all the facts, find out exactly what happened, and make sure that it doesn’t happen again but we’re also going to make sure that we bring to justice those who carried out these attacks.”
Clark pressed again.
“Were they denied requests for help during the attack?” he asked.
“Well, we are finding out exactly what happened,” the president again said. “I can tell you, as I’ve said over the last couple of months since this happened, the minute I found out what was happening, I gave three very clear directives. Number one, make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to. Number two, we’re going to investigate exactly what happened so that it doesn’t happen again. Number three, find out who did this so we can bring them to justice. And I guarantee you that everyone in the state department, our military, the CIA, you name it, had number one priority making sure that people were safe. These were our folks and we’re going to find out exactly what happened, but what we’re also going to do it make sure that we are identifying those who carried out these terrible attacks.”
Earlier today, Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported that CIA agents in the second U.S. compound in Benghazi were denied requests for help.

No, Mister President. You said exactly what happened. You said it was a reaction to a Youtube video. Your Administration insisted on it. You had a narrative and you maintained it until it fell apart, now you're saying something else. That's called 'lying' Mister President.

And the Democrats will not stand up for you on this. They will not dare.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Even the New York Times has thrown Obama under the bus. It's over.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/o...ystery-of-benghazi.html?_r=2&ref=rossdouthat&

When Mitt Romney reacted to the attack with a partisan broadside, portraying a news release sent out by the Cairo embassy before any violence began as a White House apology to the attackers, the president’s path forward seemed clear. He would be disciplined and careful, show anger and steel but also coolness under pressure, and let the rally-round-the-flag effect do its natural work.

What happened instead was very strange. Having first repudiated the embassy’s apology to Muslims offended by a movie impugning their prophet, the Obama administration decided to embrace that apology’s premise, and insist that the movie was the crucial ingredient in the Sept. 11 anniversary violence.

For days after the attack, as it became clearer that the Benghazi violence was a Qaeda operation rather than a protest, White House officials continued to stress the importance of the “hateful” and “disgusting” video, and its supposed role as a catalyst for what Susan Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations, insisted was a spontaneous attack.

This narrative was pushed on Sunday morning programs, on late-night talk shows and at news conferences, by everyone from Rice to Hillary Clinton to the president himself. When Obama spoke at the United Nations shortly after the attacks, the video was referenced six times in the text; Al Qaeda was referenced only once.

Eventually, the White House let the video slip quietly out of its public rhetoric, and refocused on terrorism instead. But everything else that’s come out about Benghazi has seemed much more damning because the administration practiced a strange denial at the outset. The missed warnings, the weaknesses in security, the drip-drip of detail unspigoted by reporting and Congressional hearings — all of it would have been received differently if the White House hadn’t spent a week acting as if it had something big to lose by calling terrorism terrorism.

And where have all the Obama supporters gone all of a sudden? I think it's safe to say they're not exactly rushing in to 'correct' this 'misinformation' here. Hmmm?

 

[Tgace]

And where have all the Obama supporters gone all of a sudden?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Still developing...Panetta has been ordered to fall on his sword now...

http://world.time.com/2012/10/26/panetta-us-lacked-early-info-on-benghazi-attack/

Panetta: US Lacked Early Info on Benghazi Attack

By Associated PressOct. 26, 2012
As the events were unfolding, the Pentagon began to move special operations forces from Europe to Sigonella Naval Air Station in Sicily. U.S. aircraft routinely fly in and out of Sigonella and there are also fighter jets based in Aviano, Italy. But while the U.S. military was at a heightened state of alert because of 9/11, there were no American forces poised and ready to move immediately into Benghazi when the attack began.

Also, the Pentagon would not send forces or aircraft into Libya — a sovereign country — without a request from the State Department and the knowledge or consent of the host nation.

Lies. We're now being told that the Embassy asked again and again for help and were told 'no'. We are being told that the White House watched the attack on live TV via drones watching it as it happened.

 

[Tgace]

http://www.9news.com/news/article/2...-on-Libya-attack?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large


Listen to this....pathetic.

 

[billc]

Some questions...

What was the ambassador doing in Bhengazi, and who was he with before the attack? Did the White House hesitate to provide assistance because they didn't want to draw attention to what was going on at the embassy? Did they think the attack might not be a big deal since the consulate had been attacked twice before, and nothing bad came of it, and therefore sending in military aid might have brought undue attention to the consulate and what was going on there? Yes, or no, did someone bring the attack to the President before he left for Las Vegas? From what the caller on Rush described, this attack would have been top priority and would have gone to the State Department, the White House, the C.I.A. in langley, the African Command in the military, because anytime an ambassador is attacked it goes to the top of the chain of command. Who knew, and who refused to send in help?

Keep in mind, Fox news and the conservative radio hosts are the ones actually investigating what happened in Bhengazi. None of the other networks are pursuing what actually happened. The washington post reporter on the Fox news round table on the Brett Bair show supported the White House line about not putting in help because they didn't know what was going on.

Imagine if a Republican was President and how different the coverage would be...

 

[billc]

Just saw this...I was wondering where Patreus was on this...apparently he didn't refuse aid...who did?

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/10/26/Petraeus-on-Benghazi-It-Wasnt-Me

Central Intelligence Agency director David Petraeus has emphatically denied that he or anyone else at the CIA refused assistance to the former Navy SEALs who requested it three times as terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on the night of Sep. 11. The Weekly Standard and ABC News report that Petraeus's denial effectively implicates President Barack Obama, since a refusal to assist "would have been a presidential decision."

Earlier today, Denver local reporter Kyle Clarke of KUSA-TV did what the national media largely refuses to do, asking Obama directly whether the Americans in Benghazi were denied requests for aid. Obama dodged the question, but implied that he had known about the attacks as they were "happening."
Emails released earlier this week indicated that the White House had been informed almost immediately that a terror group had taken responsibility for the attack in Benghazi, and Fox News reported this morning that the two former Navy SEALs, Ty Woods and Glen Doherty, had been refused in requests for assistance they had made from the CIA annex.
Jake Tapper quoted Petraeus this afternoon denying that the CIA was responsible for the refusal: "No one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate."
As William Kristol of the Weekly Standard notes, that leaves only President Obama himself to blame:

So who in the government did tell “anybody” not to help those in need? Someone decided not to send in military assets to help those Agency operators. Would the secretary of defense make such a decision on his own? No.
It would have been a presidential decision. There was presumably a rationale for such a decision. What was it? When and why—and based on whose counsel obtained in what meetings or conversations—did President Obama decide against sending in military assets to help the Americans in need?
​

 

[Bill Mattocks]

This isn't a Fox news story anymore. What started as a typical-sounding rightwing attack has been discovered to be truthful for a change. I do not love the rightwing noise machine, but this is something real. The liberal media is also getting onto it. The New York Times has already condemned the Administration's lies. This is going to make noise.