Over half a year later, the truth continues to drip out:
Former Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods was part of a small team who was at the CIA annex about a mile from the U.S. consulate where Ambassador Chris Stevens and his team came under attack. When he and others heard the shots fired, they informed their higher-ups at the annex to tell them what they were hearing and requested permission to go to the consulate and help out. They were told to “stand down,” according to sources familiar with the exchange. Soon after, they were again told to “stand down.”
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 rescue team 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 Spectre 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.
CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood, though, denied the claims that requests for support were turned down.
Of course she did. That doesn’t make them untrue.
“John Kerry is sick of allegations that the administration lied about Benghazi.
Pressed for more information about the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in September 2012, the still-new Secretary of State told Republican lawmakers at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing today that he’s happy to provide them any information they need, and that the State Department has already provided them with quite a bit.
His overriding point: Let’s move on.
“Let’s get this done with, folks,” Kerry said at the hearing. “I don’t think anybody lied to anybody.””
We’ll remember you said that.
“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.
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 were never told to deploy. In fact, a Pentagon official says there were never any requests to deploy assets from outside the country. 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. Spectre gunships are commonly used by the Special Operations community to provide close air support. ”
Cue the Grand Admiral of the Fleet assuring us there was no way any forces could have gotten to them in time to help.
“U.S. officials argue that there was a period of several hours when the fighting stopped before the mortars were fired at the annex, leading officials to believe the attack was over. ”
In a sane world with sane leaders, THAT is EXACTLY the time you move forces in, if you hadn’t already.
It could be that after the death of our ambassador that Obama decided the worst had happened and there was nothing that needed to be done to help the other 20-30 people so he didn’t order any support. This turned out to be the wrong decision because the sporadic battle continued for many hours after he went to bed at which time it was too late to send help.
You think Obama would have learned his lesson about arming, training, and funding Islamist militias but here we are in Syria doing just that and in support of groups that fought us in Iraq no less.
If that was Obama’s logic, impeachment articles are long overdue.
Even if there were a Senate that would remove him, Joe Biden is impeachment insurance. Unless they were both culpable and removed simultaneously, in which case Boehner would become president. But it will never happen.
impeachment articles
What’s the charge? Making an incorrect-in-hindsight tactical decision? You could impeach any president on that basis.
“Even if there were a Senate that would remove him, Joe Biden is impeachment insurance. ”
According to the original Constitution it takes 2/3’s:
“The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.”
Or were you talking about something other than vote count?
I would think leaving American citizens to die when he was told that a defense could at LEAST have been attempted with a decent chance of helping is quite enough.
I still want to know what happened, and why we didn’t react like we are at war. But that article linked IS half a year old …