For something that was old news, we sure learned a lot of new stuff today.
[Update a while later]
So Hicks was demoted because he wouldn’t toe the party line. And now, because he’s been demoted, he’s “got an axe to grind,” so we must not believe him. Funny how that works.
Apparently retaliation against whistleblowers is perfectly fine under certain Administrations.
Also, outting a DC sociallite as a CIA operative, so bad it requires a Congressional hearing and independent prosecutor to do nothing about the person who committed the “crime”, but punish anyone who tried to cover it up. This because the sociallite’s life was supposedly put in danger by the outting.
But, if the first Ambassador in 30 years is killed, along with a few other of his courageous staff. People are told not to talk to Congress, and Congress is derided for having the temerity to ask, “What happened?”
Interestingly, Jed Babbin in his recent American Spectator column says there WERE F-15’s (not -16’s) at Sigonella.
That will have to be checked.
But Gerrib said he checked on all the available assets in the area, and apparently they are all using F-16s from the 1980s, rather than any built since 1991. He should know too, because he has resources.
“But Gerrib said he checked on all the available assets in the area, and apparently they are all using F-16s from the 1980s, rather than any built since 1991. He should know too, because he has resources.”
Too bad his resources failed him with regard to tankers…Signorella has KC-135’s and KC-10’s there all the time. So while the F-16’s flew from Aviano down to Signorella (if they really had to…) the Tankers could have left Sig and headed South.
A/c could have been put over Benghazi in a timely fashion.
According to the 31st FW stationed at Aviano, it’s the only Fighter Wing South of the Alps. So I think Babbin is wrong.
Maybe they were ferrying with a RON in Sigonella. If so, they wouldn’t be called up for such an operation.
I’m hoping someone will step forward and say they at least called some nearby ally and asked for assistance. You’d think the Nobel Peace Prize Administration would have enough good will to get one NATO or European ally willing to help out a member of the Diplomatic Corps under attack.
Tankers would have been nice to have, but if there weren’t any (a fact as yet undetermined – and did we even ask about the Italian ones?) they aren’t the only refueling option; airports work just fine.
Also, regarding range; the oft cited range of the F-16 is wrong. Does anyone remember the Israeli raid on the Iraqi reactor at Osirak in 1981? That was done with F-16’s, using a straight-line range of over 600 miles (the actual route was longer) and did not use a tanker.
The long and the short of it is, you get a hell of a range boost with the F-16 (like most anything else) be carrying a smaller weapons load. There is absolutely no reason why F-16’s out of Aviano couldn’t have headed for our base in Sicily to refuel. Even if it hadn’t been decided to send them into action, there was no reason whatsoever not to get them underway to Sicily, putting them in a position where they would be of use in case of need.
That’s the thing that bothers me the most about all this; we weren’t even trying to get assets into position, at a time when we were under attack and had no clue how long it would last.
There were many other options, including using the C-130’s at Sigonella to transport a scratch force. What the military excels at is improvising. Somebody stopped them. I want to know who. Above all, I want to know why.
CJ,
Sigonella has tankers in place on that base as part of their TO&E. So they could have been used. But as you say (and as I said in a different thread) tankers were not required..you stage form Aviano to Sigonella, you gas up you fly to Benghazi, make runs, land at the international airport there, refuel, repeat.
And yes..they didn’t even try.
Thanks for the info! I had no idea there were tankers in Sigonella. If they were flight ready, then this is another Benghazi lie: we’ve been told there were no tankers available. I found it odd that there would be no tankers available anywhere in the region (including elsewhere in Europe).
I’d be a bit leery on using the airport in Benghazi for fighter refueling; they could not know for sure that they could hold it in a safe condition. If they had no other option, yes, but the thing is, they did. The F-16s could operate out of Sigonella and still have adequate loiter time over the target with no problem, provided they carried a reduced bomb load.
Or, better yet, go from the base in northern Italy to the Greek base in Crete, which is far closer to Benghazi. However, doing that would have required a State Department that was actually doing its job (via making a request)
Same with the Libyan overflight issue. One of the excuses given was that we couldn’t send air power over Benghazi without permission from the Libyans (baloney!) and we didn’t have it. Turns out, we didn’t, because State never bothered to ask for it.
What Signaloa absolutely did have was a large security force, plus transport planes to carry them. Some of the security detail could have been transported to Benghazi airport, or at the very least prepped for the flight. Instead, nothing was done.
Mark Feldt (sp?) had a ax to grind too. He’s still revered by some as “Deep Throat”.