Benghazi thread..[up-to-date-info here]

[JohnBrowdie]

apples, you have done a great job setting down all of the benghazi events into a single thread.

[apples]

apples, you have done a great job setting down all of the benghazi events into a single thread.

[apples]

BOMBSHELL: US Security Forces Would Not Have Been Painting Targets on Ground Unless There Was Air Support Overhead – But White House Called It Off

How much more information did they need?

* * * * *

Then there’s this bombshell at BlackFive from a former Delta operator:

    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 is HUGE.
It should be obvious by now that someone is not telling the truth.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/10/bombshell-us-troops-would-not-have-been-painting-assets-on-ground-unless-their-was-air-support-overhead-but-white-house-called-off-attack/

[apples]

Admin. rejects new claim about Libya attack

The new claims come as Republican senators demanded that the Obama administration make public the surveillance video taken during and just after the attacks.

Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire wrote to the defense secretary, CIA director and attorney general demanding that the video from Sept. 11 and 12 be declassified. Pentagon and CIA officials declined to comment on the senators' request. Justice Department officials did not respond to requests for comment.

U.S. intelligence officials this week turned over intelligence reports to Congress showing what officials at the CIA and other agencies knew and when. U.S. officials who have reviewed the material say it shows confusion during and in the days following the attack. Members of Congress have complained that the White House and the intelligence community stuck to the analysis that an angry mob started the attack long after it had become more clear that it was an organized militant operation.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_LIBYA_SURVEILLANCE_VIDEO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-10-26-20-18-22

[apples]

The Incredible Shrinking President

We’re going to have that person arrested and prosecuted that did the video,” said Hillary Clinton. No, not the person who made the video saying that voting for Barack Obama is like losing your virginity to a really cool guy. I’ll get to that in a moment. But Secretary Clinton was talking about the fellow who made the supposedly Islamophobic video that supposedly set off the sacking of the Benghazi consulate. And, indeed, she did “have that person arrested.” By happy coincidence, his bail hearing has been set for three days after the election, by which time he will have served his purpose. These two videos — the Islamophobic one and the Obamosexual one — bookend the remarkable but wholly deserved collapse of the president’s reelection campaign.

You’ll recall that a near-month-long attempt to blame an obscure YouTube video for the murder of four Americans and the destruction of U.S. sovereign territory climaxed in the vice-presidential debate with Joe Biden’s bald assertion that the administration had been going on the best intelligence it had at the time. By then, it had been confirmed that there never had been any protest against the video, and that the Obama line that Benghazi had been a spontaneous movie review that just got a little out of hand was utterly false. The only remaining question was whether the administration had knowingly lied or was merely innocently stupid. The innocent-stupidity line became harder to maintain this week after Fox News obtained State Department e-mails revealing that shortly after 4 p.m. Eastern, less than a half hour after the assault in Benghazi began, the White House situation room knew the exact nature of it.

We also learned that, in those first moments of the attack, a request for military back-up was made by U.S. staff on the ground but was denied by Washington. It had planes and special forces less than 500 miles away in southern Italy — or about the same distance as Washington to Boston. They could have been there in less than two hours. Yet the commander-in-chief declined to give the order. So Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods fought all night against overwhelming odds, and died on a rooftop in a benighted jihadist hellhole while Obama retired early to rest up before his big Vegas campaign stop. “Within minutes of the first bullet being fired the White House knew these heroes would be slaughtered if immediate air support was denied,” said Ty Woods’s father, Charles. “In less than an hour, the perimeters could have been secured and American lives could have been saved. After seven hours fighting numerically superior forces, my son’s life was sacrificed because of the White House’s decision.”

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Why would Obama and Biden do such a thing? Because to launch a military operation against an al-Qaeda affiliate on the anniversary of 9/11 would have exposed the hollowness of their boast through convention week and the days thereafter — that Osama was dead and al-Qaeda was finished. And so Ty Woods, Glen Doherty, Sean Smith, and Chris Stevens were left to die, and a decision taken to blame an entirely irrelevant video and, as Secretary Clinton threatened, “have that person arrested.” And, in the weeks that followed, the government of the United States lied to its own citizens as thoroughly and energetically as any totalitarian state, complete with the midnight knock on the door from not-so-secret policemen sent to haul the designated fall-guy into custody.

This goes far beyond the instinctive secretiveness to which even democratic governments are prone. The Obama administration created a wholly fictional story line, and devoted its full resources to maintaining it. I understand why Mitt Romney chose not to pursue this line of argument in the final debate. The voters who will determine this election are those who voted for Obama four years ago and this time round either switch to the other fellow or sit on their hands. In electoral terms, it’s probably prudent of Mitt not to rub their faces in their 2008 votes. Nevertheless, when the president and other prominent officials stand by as four Americans die and then abuse their sacrifice as contemptuously as this administration did, decency requires that they be voted out of office as an act of urgent political hygiene.

At the photo-op staged for the returning caskets, Obama et al. seem to have been too focused on their campaign needs to observe even the minimal courtesies. Charles Woods says that at the ceremony Joe Biden strolled over to him and by way of condolence said in a “loud and boisterous” voice, “Did your son always have balls the size of cue balls?” One assumes charitably that the vice president is acknowledging in his own inept and blundering way the remarkable courage of a man called upon to die for his country on some worthless sod halfway across the planet. But the near-parodic locker-room coarseness is grotesque both in its inaptness and in its lack of basic human

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/331806/incredible-shrinking-president-mark-steyn

[apples]

BUSTED… Former Top Defense Official: If Obama Gave Order to Protect Benghazi Heroes There’d Be Paper Trail (There Was No Order)

Obama Fiddled While Benghazi Burned–
Earlier today Barack Obama told Denver’s WUSA TV this in regard to the Benghazi 9-11 terror attack,

    “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 to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Number three, find out who did this so we can bring them to justice.”

Tonight however, Bing West, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense, told Greta Van Susteren,

    “If that actually happened the way President Obama said it happened, there’s a paper trail and I think people reasonably enough can say, “Can we see the order?” because hundreds of others supposedly saw this order.

Obama just got caught. He lied about his securing our personnel in Benghazi. And now the world will know about it.
There was no order to protect our men on the ground.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/10/obama-is-busted-former-top-defense-official-if-obama-gave-order-to-protect-benghazi-personnel-theres-a-paper-trail-video/

[apples]

Special Report Investigates: Benghazi -- New Revelations

Saturday, October 27 at 1 p.m. ET

Sunday, October 28 at 3 p.m, and 10 p.m. ET

Hosted by Bret Baier

On Sept. 11, 2012, terrorists overran the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya and murdered our ambassador along with three other Americans.

Now, more than six weeks after the attack, some of the most important questions remain unanswered:

Who did this and why?

Could the attack have been prevented or repelled after it began?

What did the White House know and when?

And, as we enter the final stretch of the race for the White House, which side is closer to the truth: Those who argue this terrible tragedy was largely unforeseeable or those who say we're seeing President Obama's foreign policy unraveling right on our TV screens?

Fox News has been on this story from the very beginning. Tune in this weekend, Bret Baier reveals explosive new details that you haven't heard.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-reporting/transcript/special-report-investigates-benghazi-new-revelations#ixzz2AWaf6PMM

[apples]

Libyan witnesses recount organized Benghazi attack

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — It began around nightfall on Sept. 11 with around 150 bearded gunmen, some wearing the Afghan-style tunics favored by Islamic militants, sealing off the streets leading to the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. They set up roadblocks with pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns, according to witnesses.

The trucks bore the logo of Ansar al-Shariah, a powerful local group of Islamist militants who worked with the municipal government to manage security in Benghazi, the main city in eastern Libya and birthplace of the uprising last year that ousted Moammar Gadhafi after a 42-year dictatorship.

There was no sign of a spontaneous protest against an American-made movie denigrating Islam's Prophet Muhammad. But a lawyer passing by the scene said he saw the militants gathering around 20 youths from nearby to chant against the film. Within an hour or so, the assault began, guns blazing as the militants blasted into the compound.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/politics/article/Libyan-witnesses-recount-organized-Benghazi-attack-3987075.php#ixzz2AXnHHbqr

[apples]

Obama did not deny requests for help in Benghazi: Aide

The White House on Saturday flatly denied that President Barack Obama withheld requests for help from the besieged American compound in Benghazi, Libya, as it came under on attack by suspected terrorists on September 11th.

"Neither the president nor anyone in the White House denied any requests for assistance in Benghazi," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Yahoo News by email.

Fox News Channel reported Friday that American officials in the compound repeatedly asked for military help during the assault but were rebuffed by CIA higher-ups. At a press briefing one day earlier, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, asked why there had not been a quicker, more forceful response to the assault, complained of "Monday-morning quarterbacking." Panetta said he and top military commanders had judged it too dangerous to send troops to the eastern Libyan city without a clearer picture of events on the ground.

The "basic principle is that you don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on; without having some real-time information about what's taking place," he said during a joint question-and-answer session with Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey.

"As a result of not having that kind of information, the commander who was on the ground in that area, General Ham, General Dempsey and I felt very strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation," Panetta said. General Carter Ham commands the U.S. Africa Command.

And the CIA has denied that anyone in its chain of command rejected requests for help from the besieged Americans.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-did-not-deny-requests-help-benghazi-aide-182415488--election.html

[apples]

Obama did not deny requests for help in Benghazi: Aide

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-did-not-deny-requests-help-benghazi-aide-182415488--election.html

the night of the Biden Ryan debate Biden said the White House didn't know at thing about the attack...now they say they didn't deny requests for help?

[apples]

Obama Administration Replaces Top Generals Following Benghazi Disaster

The latest rumor making the rounds is that Barack Obama replaced General Carter Ham at Africom after the general made a move to help the US security officials at the Benghazi consulate and annex. Ham was replaced by Gen. David Rodriquez on October 18.
Tiger Droppings reported:

    The information I heard today was that General [Carter] 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 Africom.

Sure enough Obama nominated Gen. David Rodriguez to replace Gen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. Africa Command.
The Stars and Stripes reported:

    President Barack Obama will nominate Army Gen. David Rodriguez to succeed Gen. Carter Ham as commander of U.S. Africa Command and Marine Lt. Gen. John Paxton to succeed Gen. Joseph Dunford as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Thursday.

    Both appointments must be confirmed by the Senate.

    Rodriguez is the commander of U.S. Army Forces Command and has served in a “variety of key leadership roles on the battlefield,” Panetta said.

    He’s “a proven leader” who oversaw coalition and Afghan forces during the surge in Afghanistan, and “was the key architect of the successful campaign plan that we are now implementing,” Panetta said.

    In announcing Ham’s successor, Panetta also praised the work Ham has done with Africa Command.

    “Gen. Ham has really brought AFRICOM into a very pivotal role in that challenging region,” Panetta said. “I and the nation are deeply grateful for his outstanding service.”

Hat Tip Tom

More…
The Obama Administration also relieved the admiral in command of an aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East, Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette. It is highly unusual for the Navy to replace a carrier strike group commander during its deployment.
The Stars and Stripes reported:

    The Navy said Saturday it is replacing the admiral in command of an aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East, pending the outcome of an internal investigation into undisclosed allegations of inappropriate judgment.

    Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette is being sent back to the USS John C. Stennis’ home port at Bremerton, Wash., in what the Navy called a temporary reassignment. The

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/10/was-africom-general-replaced-for-his-efforts-to-save-benghazi-security-officials/

[GeronL]

great job putting it on one thread

[apples]

great job putting it on one thread

Thank you!

[apples]

Obama on Benghazi: 'Ultimately ... I am responsible'

"What my attitude on this is is if we find out there was a big breakdown and somebody didn’t do their job, they’ll be held accountable," he said in an interview with "Morning Joe

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/10/obama-on-benghazi-ultimately-i-am-responsible-147482.html

THEY'LL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLEright sure it ain't your fault.........again.

quotes from the politico thread...

He is responsible? That's a laugh. What was he doing during the 7 hour fight in Libya? Was he even notified or did he outsource it like he does everything else? Who made the decision to do nothing? We know he lied on the 12th and flew off to Vegas. Looked solemn at the photo op with the coffins but when the cameras went down reverted back to cant be bothered routine. He continued to perpetuate the lie with the media's assistance and now it's unraveling. He is a selfish, cold, hard politician who puts his political survival ahead of everything else. He lied to protect his bumper sticker. He blamed this tragedy on am American citizen who sits in jail on a simple parole violation after being outed by the United States govt. as the man who caused the death of 4 Americans. The president knew this to be untrue but repeated it to the world for 2 weeks putting this man's life at risk. This should put fear in every citizen, that the govt. could abuse it's power in that way. If Obama is re elected look for hearings where more damaging information is found. Obama could and should be impeached. ...


They Drag a United States Ambassadors lifeless body down the pavement.three other americans that were seal or military BEG THE WHITE HOUSE LEADERSHIP FOR HELP.Who really believes that the president was not made aware of this attack minutes after the Navy Seal or other now dead American Begged them for help? WHO? Answer No one, because they need to cover there asses.The response Teams were ORDERED NOT to HELP or Stand down.ALL THESE MEN WANTED TO GET OVER THERE AND HELP THEM.
What's wrong with people these days? If This were BUSH they media WOULD CRUCIFY HIM, Hell maybe in real time.I tell you the men in this country need to stand up Now.If this guy gets in there again maybe we deserve Sharia law lifestyle...

This is the first article on Benghazi in POLITICO in the past 3 days, and all Jennifer does is to parrot Obama's lame excuses. If this were a Republican President, 50% of POLITICO's articles would have been on the new revelations that the White House situation room was aware this was an organized terrorist attack on the ground in real time, that requests for relief were denied 3 times, that the Administration lied or obscured the real events for weeks, that Hillary told the father of one of the slain that the Administration would arrest and prosecute the movie maker (who was only exercising freedom of speech) but said nary a word about finding and killing the terrorists. They took 3 weeks to just send in FBI agents while CNN reporters and others were wandering around the destroyed consulate and safe house picking up evidence like the ambassador's private journal. A NY Times reporter interviewed one of the leaders of the attack who was sipping on a strawberry frappe at a local restaurant. And was the Ambassador in Benghazi to secretly meet with a Turkish diplomat to continue an IRAN-CONTRA type exchange of Libyan arms for Syrian rebels? Jennifer - if you ever want to be a journalist, you won't get there just creating a smokescreen for your favorite Liberal politician.''

 

[apples]

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer: My sources tell me Obama was in the room watching Benghazi attack

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer said tonight that his sources tell him that Obama was one of the people in the room watching the Benghazi attack go down and both he and Col. David Hunt agree it would have taken an order by the president to intervene. Further, Col. Hunt said that we were only 20 min away by jet and a couple of hours away by AC-130 gunships and special forces, and the decision not to intervene had to be political.

Watch:

video at link