Who ordered US military to 'stand down' in Benghazi?
No, the biggest story is not that the incident was a terror attack and was not caused by a B-grade.
The biggest story is that someone ordered the US military to stand down when the embassy came under attack, and that someone's initials just might be BHO. Here's Fox News:
Fox News has learned from sources who were on the ground in Benghazi that an urgent request from the CIA annex for military back-up during the attack on the U.S. consulate and subsequent attack several hours later on the annex itself was denied by the CIA chain of command -- who also told the CIA operators twice to "stand down" rather than help the ambassador's team when shots were heard at approximately 9:40 p.m. in Benghazi on Sept. 11.
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.But the CIA says 'we weren't the ones who said no.'
Breaking news on Benghazi: the CIA spokesman, presumably at the direction of CIA director David Petraeus, has put out this statement: 'No one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate.'And because the commander on the ground tried to send in troops anyway, he's been relieved of his command.
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?
The information I heard today was that General Ham as head of Africom received the same e-mails the White House received requesting help/support as the attack was taking place. General Ham immediately had a rapid response unit ready and communicated to the Pentagon that he had a unit ready.
General Ham then received the order to stand down. His response was to screw it, he was going to help anyhow. Within 30 seconds to a minute after making the move to respond, his second in command apprehended General Ham and told him that he was now relieved of his command.
The story continues that now General Rodiguez would take General Ham’s place as the head of Africon.
Two trips ago, I had trouble connecting to WiFi in Madrid. So, on the way back from the US last week, when I knew I was going to have to spend seven hours in Madrid in my torn clothes and without shoes, I decided I needed some reading material. I bought two books in London Heathrow to read during my seven hours in Madrid. One of them was Seal Team Six, which is the story of how the Seals train. Those guys aren't going to leave anyone behind. Even if the President they (and I) consider a traitor tells them to.
Maybe this has something to do with the fact that Gallup shows Obama's approval ratings dropping seven percent in three days.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Benghazi, Islamic terrorism, Libya
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:44 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home