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Analyst's note:  Absolutely must read. This information just keeps pouring in.  It is clear that the American people have had enough of the lies coming from the man who calls himself Obama. 

"[....] It is reasonable to suspect that these activities were more dire than just your average “gun running” operation. Since the overthrow of Qaddafi, it is estimated that upwards of 40 million tons of weapons and arms were shipped out of Libya to Syria.

[....] Weapons, of course, that were shipped from Libya by the CIA in conjunction with various Muslim Brotherhood rebel groups. [....]"

It is soon time to vote ....

 


My Re-Election Is Too Important... Stay Where You Are... LET THEM DIE."

     If actions speak louder than words, then that's what Barack Obama said. 'Let Them Die.'

      And we're not just talking about the four Americans who were brutally killed in Benghazi, Libya.

     We're talking about the 20-30 other Americans who would have died if American heroes Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty had not DISOBEYED Team Obama's direct orders to stand down

      No matter how you slice it, Americans were left to die because saving their lives, to the thinking of some, might have threatened the re-election prospects of Barack Hussein Obama.

      And Barack Hussein Obama must be forced to answer the question: "Why were our troops told to stand down?" He must be forced to answer the question: "Why are you playing politics with the lives of Americans?"

      The American people will go to the polls in a matter of days and we need answers NOW... and only you can make that happen.



Use the button or the hyperlink below to send your urgent Blast Faxes to each and every one of the Republican Leaders of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.



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Help Was Always Less Than Two Hours Away.

     If you've been watching Fox News, you already know that the Obama White House had real-time video access to the events of that fateful night.

      You know that Team Obama watched the consulate attack begin at around 9:40 PM (local time). You know they watched events unfold for 7 hours at the consulate and that they had full knowledge of a second wave that hit the CIA Annex just a mile down the road that lasted well into dawn the next day.

      You know that they didn't see a spontaneous protest over an obscure YouTube video. They saw a terrorist attack and they failed to act.

      Sadly, help was always less than two hours away, but Team Obama was apparently too busy trying to concoct a cock-and-bull cover story that was designed to preserve a campaign narrative instead of doing what needed to be done to protect American lives.

      That's why the American people deserve to know all the sordid and dirty details BEFORE the election.

      Jennifer Griffin with Fox News reported: "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 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."

      Charles Woods, the father of slain ex-Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods said "it’s coming out right now that they actually had laser focused on the mortars that were being sent to kill my son. And they refused to pull the trigger. They refused to send in those C130s. To me... those people who made the decision and who knew about the decision and lied about it, are murderers of my son."

      But Woods' pleas for help weren't simply denied once... they were denied multiple times. Fox News again: "Officials denied military requests to provide assistance three separate times during the seven-hour attack on the consulate."

     
And this is important...

      We have that information because whistleblowers are coming forward with unclassified information and releasing it to Congressmen Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz and a handful of others on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and make no mistake, this information is only coming to light because Issa and Chaffetz are making a stink and whistleblowers feel secure in releasing information.

      But we have to ask, why are a handful of Republicans the only ones making a stink? It's not enough! It's far from enough and lack of moral outrage in Congress is shameful.

      Barack Hussein Obama isn't the only one who is AWOL, and if the American people are going to get the answers they need BEFORE THE ELECTION, some of our self-proclaimed Republican leaders need to step up to the plate NOW... and only you can make that happen.



Use the button or the hyperlink below to send your urgent Blast Faxes to each and every one of the Republican Leaders of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.



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The 'Protect Obama Train' Is Moving Out Of The Station And Cowardly Republicans Are On Board.

     Were Americans left to die to advance an Obama campaign narrative? As far as we're concerned, that's a rhetorical question.

     Barack Obama continually tells us that "Osama bin-Laden is dead and GM is alive," but the sad truth is that Osama bin-Laden's organization is alive and well and Americans are dead because Team Obama didn't want the American people to know the truth.

      And if you're asking yourself how Team Obama could have thought that they could get away with sweeping this terrorist attack under the rug to avoid contradicting their Osama-bin-Laden-is-dead narrative, understand that they ARE getting away with it.

      Frontpagemag.com reports: "The number of mentions of Charles Woods in any media outlet that isn’t FOX News is 1. A blog post on US News and World Report. The number of stories on 'Binders of Women'? 15,542."

      Left-wing "news outlets" are calling the events at Benghazi a "faux scandal." One of Fox News' resident leftists. Geraldo Rivera, swaggered onto the set of Fox And Friends and pontificated: "I think we have to stop this politicizing."

      Rivera went on to castigate Darrell Issa for pursuing the matter and said that Republican Senators John Barrasso, James Inhofe and Bob Corker, who all sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “all agree that the supercharged atmosphere around the story – prudence dictates that these hearings be postponed until" after the election.

      You read that right. Republican Senators are helping Obama cover-up this shocking scandal. Why? Because they're listening to people like Geraldo Rivera: "Do we want to try and influence the election with a tragedy that happened in North Africa?" and that's UNACCEPTABLE.

      Newsflash Geraldo; Barack Hussein Obama has already "politicized" this tragic event and Americans are dead as a result.

      He politicized it when he paraded members of his team before the television cameras and advanced a stupid YouTube video cover story.

      He politicized it when he went in front of the UN and APOLOGIZED to the thugs and tin-pot dictators of the world.

      He's still politicizing it by covering it up and matter-of-factly saying that the deaths of innocent Americans is "not optimal."

      And by holding back on getting answers before the election, Republicans in Congress are politicizing the issue as well.

      Did Barack Obama let brave Americans die because saving them would have hurt his re-election campaign? You'd better believe the American people need the answer to that question right now.

      But our Republican leaders aren't listening to you. They're listening to the elite media and the Washington establishment.

      You can make that change if you act now, but the clock is ticking.



Use the button or the hyperlink below to send your urgent Blast Faxes to each and every one of the Republican Leaders of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.



If button above does not work, please use this hyperlink.

 

 

 

 

==============================================

DON'T MISS READING THIS ONE

 

The Mosaic of lies, deceits and state-sponsored terrorism:

The hidden real truth about Benghazi

Author

- Doug Hagmann (Bio and Archives) Sunday, October 28, 2012
(36) Comments 


Most people know that we’ve been lied to about the attacks in Benghazi, but few realize the extent of those lies or the hidden secrets they cover. After all, the lie is different at every level. Thanks to a well placed source with extensive knowledge about the attack, the disturbing truth is slowly beginning to emerge and is lining up with information contained in my previous articles published here weeks ago (Here, Here and Here). The truth reveals the most serious situation in the world today as it involves the interests and destinies of us all.

 

A mosaic of lies

According to the U.S. government, Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed during a spontaneous protest at the consulate office in Benghazi by a frenzied crowd of Muslims outraged over an obscure internet video. Recently released “sensitive but not classified e-mails” from Stevens to the U.S. Department of State painted a picture of poor security for U.S. personnel and the embassy, which was obviously true but had little to do with the events of September 11, 2012. The failure to dispatch an extraction team or otherwise rescue the men during a firefight that lasted upwards of nine grueling and tortuous hours was not the result of any intelligence failure, but caused by our unwillingness to widen the conflict and expose the nature and scale of our true mission in Benghazi.

Based on information provided by my source and corroborated elsewhere, the official account by administration officials is a mosaic of lies that were necessary to cover the unpalatable truth of covert actions taking place in Libya, Syria, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. The primary objective of our covert actions was to secretly arm anti-Assad “rebels” in Syria by funneling arms from Libya to Syria via Turkey, with other destinations that included Jordan and Lebanon. Regarding the threat to Stevens and the other murdered Americans, the truth will reformat the persistent question posed to government officials, from UN Ambassador Susan Rice to White House Spokesman Jay Carney and others from “how could you not have known” to “how could you have done these things?”

 

First, it is important to understand that Ambassador Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Dougherty and Tyrone Woods were not killed at a consulate office in Benghazi—as there is not such office there. They died at one of the largest CIA operations centers in the Middle East, which was located in Benghazi and served as the logistics headquarters for arms and weapons being shipped out of the post-Qaddafi Libya.

Although the U.S. government insisted that Stevens was involved in securing and destroying the numerous caches of arms and weapons once under the control of Qaddafi, the operation was more complex than that. The visual accounts of weapons being destroyed were indeed real, but those weapons were not operational. The working weapons were actually separated and transported to holding facilities for their eventual use in Syria. Russia was fully aware of this operation and warned the U.S. not to engage in the destabilization of Syria, as doing so would endanger their national security interests. Deposing Assad, as despotic as he might be, and replacing him with a Muslim Brotherhood-led regime would likely lead to unrestrained Islamic chaos across the region.

The Turkish warning

According to my source, Ambassador Stevens was in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 to meet with his Turkish counterpart, who reportedly warned Stevens that the operation was compromised. They met in person so that Stevens could be shown overhead satellite images, taken by the Russians, of nefarious activities taking place in Turkey. But just what were these nefarious activities?

It is reasonable to suspect that these activities were more dire than just your average “gun running” operation. Since the overthrow of Qaddafi, it is estimated that upwards of 40 million tons of weapons and arms were shipped out of Libya to Syria. But it was also known inside intelligence circles that Qaddafi possessed chemical weapons in addition to numerous surface-to-air missiles. Could it be that Russia obtained unmistakable surveillance footage of the anti-Assad “rebels” being shown how to load chemical payloads onto missiles inside Turkey near the border of Syria? Weapons, of course, that were shipped from Libya by the CIA in conjunction with various Muslim Brotherhood rebel groups. If so, such weapons could be used as a “false flag” type of operation—one that would be implemented to “set-up” Assad by making it appear that he was using these weapons on forces dedicated to his overthrow.

The blowback by the international community would be swift and punishing, and the entirety of the civilized world would be demanding his overthrow. NATO would then be used to expedite his ouster, and Russia’s moral position within the international community would be weakened. Was the meeting held to show Stevens that the operation was compromised and that they had to stop?

A Nation/State sponsored attack?

While the administration asserts that the attack in Benghazi was conducted by a group of rebels acting alone, the facts seem to indicate otherwise. The level of coordination was such that we did not deploy military assets, located just an hour or two away by air, to rescue Stevens and the others at the CIA operations center in their time of need. If, as the administration contends, that the attack was perpetuated by a group of frenzied rebels, our military could have easily handled them in short order. So why was there no rescue operation?

Perhaps the statements made yesterday by Leon Panetta, U.S. Secretary of Defense provides some insight if one analyzes the essence of those statements. Among other things, Panetta said that “...the basic principle is that you don’t deploy forces into harm’s way without knowing what’s going on…” Well, it has been confirmed we did know what was taking place on the ground in Benghazi, so exactly what did Panetta mean by this statement?

Against the backdrop of the official story, it makes little sense. If, however, one considers the alternative, that the attack was coordinated and was a nation/state sponsored attack, then it becomes clearer. Panetta and the highest levels of this administration likely knew exactly what we were doing, and knew that the operation was compromised. They knew, or had reason to believe, that the attack was being conducted at a nation/state level in response to our covert operation in Libya and arming the anti-Assad Syrian opposition.

Although Russia figures prominently here, Iran now comes into focus as Russia is not likely to directly engage U.S. forces. They must, however, protect their interests. Much like we were using anti-Assad forces to advance our objectives in Syria, Russia was using Iranian-backed forces to protect theirs. It appears that the attacks were conducted or facilitated by Iranian assets—perhaps as many as three teams of assets in Benghazi.

As the White House and other agencies monitored intelligence in real-time, they faced a dilemma. They knew that the nation/state sponsored attack teams were lying in wait for U.S. rescue forces to arrive, which is the reason the fight did not conclusively end sooner. They did not know exactly where all of the attack teams were, but knew they were present based on signal communication intercepts. Could they risk such exposure by deploying a rescue team to Benghazi, only to end up with another Black Hawk down type scenario? In addition to that scenario, the entire operation now becomes exposed for what it is. Take another look at Panetta’s statement in that context. Does it now make more sense? Bad PR in an election year, no?

As daylight approached with no response from the U.S. and no aid to the Americans under fire, the attack teams had to disperse into the cover of the remaining darkness, but not before their mission was accomplished. And sadly, it was.

Fallout


From the day of attack in Benghazi, Iran has been engaged in a full spectrum attack on the U.S. and NATO across the board involving embassies, bombing and even cyber attacks. All of this is the fallout from the arms and weapons smuggling operation, which was far greater than understood by the Western media.

Russia has now moved their contingent of S-400 missiles into much of Syria in anticipation of NATO establishing an “air cap” over Syria. A ten-mile “buffer zone” along Syria’s border has been created for Syrian refugees, but it also acts as a catalyst for the encroachment into Syrian territory. It sets the stage for further advancement and erosion of Syrian land, incrementally, of course.

It is also of critical importance to note that last weekend, Russia completed large-scale exercises of their Strategic Nuclear Forces under the watchful command of President Vladimir Putin. These were the first such nuclear exercises conducted since the fall of the Soviet Union.

To those with discernment,
it is obvious that we are at the precipice of World War III. Putin himself stated as much, noting that WW III will not start in Iran but Syria, his own “red line in the sand.”

 

===============================================

 

OBAMA WENT TO BED
Matt Bracken 10-25-2012

The biggest stench from the Benghazi fiasco is that it is beginning to smell like Obama went "nighty-night" to rest up for Las Vegas, instead of manning up in the Situation Room and seeing the crisis through and (had he only been awake) ordering a rescue mission.

In Benghazi, after 6-8 hours enduring a few “Fort Apaches,” with running street battles in between, (like a mini Blackhawk Down), the living Americans must have been thinking, “Any minute now, here come the helicopters! Just hang on!”

But they didn’t. So even though Delta had forward staged to Sigonella Sicily (rumint) from base in Germany, nobody was willing or able to pull the trigger and send a rescue force. Or even a few F-18 supersonic flybys, to bust windows and warn, “Here comes American airpower, and you camel jockeys know what that means.” Just as a morale booster it would have helped the besieged staffers.

But it was never sent, not even a lousy supersonic low-level flyby. One hour from bases in Italy, max.

Here is the deal. The military automatically does a lot on its own, under standing orders and SOPs. The minute they see that the consulate is under attack, and the ambassador and others are in a "safe room" hiding, it becomes TOP priority. Every other mission aborts or slaves over to support any possible rescue.

At that moment when the critical incident alarm messages start ringing, military steps happen on autopilot in real time. Everybody in the Navy and USAF chain of command swings into a crisis contingency plan mode. What ships are closest? Helicopters? Marines? Delta is in Germany? Get them moving right now. Where is closest? Sigonella, for now. It’s NATO, no permission needed, just fly.

En route in C-17s, the D-boys would even be prepping for an immediate action rescue mission, that is, the C-17s will fly directly to some desert road outside of Benghazi, and here comes “The Raid On Entebbe,” done in crisis mode, canned actions, but they would do it. They practice for these exact scenarios, and leave gear staged for them.

They would coordinate with fighters out of Italy, mid-air-refueling platforms start shifting, it's a huge show that swings into action for thousands of miles around Behghazi. The ongoing consulate attack is JOB ONE, the only job. VIPs will be tossed off of planes at remote runways if they need that platform.

Or Marines on amphibious ships in the central Med, (if any were available), would also be put on the real-time options board. We used to have a "Amphibious Ready Group" of about 3-5 USN gator freighters, including a helo carrier like a Tarawa class. They carry an entire battalion of USMC, plus SEALs etc, with helos and Ospreys to carry them all. (But not at once.) Where was our ARG? Does our Navy have enough ships for that mission any more?

But while all of that military staging would have happened/did happen during the 6-8 hour battle at the consulate and annex, what the military cannot do on their own say-so is cross an international border without an order from the NCA, the National Command Authority, and that means POTUS, Obama.

Only POTUS can authorize a cross-border hostile mission. That is, guns clear, no official permission from the Tripoli govt (if it really exists outside State Dept fantasies.)

Only one man can pull that trigger and say, "GO!" Obama.

(But for America to act "unilaterally" would have meant the bogus Libyan Arab Spring and so-called new Libyan Unity Govt. that we were propping up didn’t really exist. Libyan sovereignty must be held sacrosanct, even the false image of one, where in reality, Al Queda is top dog in Libya. Even when an Al Queda offshoot is your external "security," namely, "The 17th of February Martyrs Brigade." IOW, the White House thought they had a "deal" with AQ in Behghazi, since we were helping to run weaponry from Libya to their pals in Syria. So there was an "institutional bias" at State against crossing the border on a rescue operation sin permisso.)

Anyway, be that as it may, no General or Admiral will order the Marines ashore, or a Delta raid or even an F-18 or F-16 low-level supersonic flyby. They can not and will not cross a border without a clear-cut order from POTUS via the NCA. Not even Hillary can make that decision. Only Obama.

But no order came, as of midnight in DC. And then none would come. Because the POTUS retired for the night with a “do not disturb” sign on his door, punted, and went to bed, to be well rested for Las Vegas.

While his ambassador was off the U.S. radar, missing, at that moment possibly being dragged down a Benghazi street or even raped. But that is when Obama went to bed. Midnight in DC is 0600 in Beghazi.

That is the greatest scandal of Benghazi. The POTUS slept through it, while all around the world, military forces were poised for the Raid on Entebbe or any other damn thing the POTUS ordered them to do. (And the were raring to go, believe me.)

But the POTUS said, “We’ll discuss it further in the morning,” and then he went to bed around midnight in DC, 0600 in Benghazi, with a missing ambassador and a full-blown crisis in full mega flap.

He punted. He went to bed.

God help us.


I think that’s the big secret they are keeping. The President went to bed, with his lost Ambassador being dragged through streets.


Obama went to bed.

 

==============================================================

 

SEALs AND DEATH AT BENGHAZI


by Andy Weddington
Monday, 29 October 2012


"I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." Nathan Hale 


A friend of mine is a Navy SEAL. He also proudly claims the title "Marine."

We've been friends for 29 years. And retired from active service about the same time. For the past few years we've been able to get together every few months for dinner - to visit, to talk about days long ago in the Marine Corps, and to swap thoughts about troubling current events in our military and politics. It's probably not too difficult to figure out what a Marine colonel and Navy Captain with combat arms backgrounds have to say.

This morning my friend sent me a short email. Considering a third commentary about Benghazi, I replied asking if I could use the content of his note. His immediate reply - "USE IT!!! Send it to Limbaugh and Fox News!!!" 

The SEAL community is small. It's a tight group of extraordinary men. Tough men. Men you do not want to fight if you can help it.

The two SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, killed during the terrorist attack in Benghazi were not in country to protect Ambassador Chris Stevens and his team. They were on a mission to track down and recover thousands of man-portable shoulder-fired missiles (capable of taking out an airliner). Reports are that these weapons were initially supplied to the Muslim Brotherhood by the current White House Administration. 

Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods heard the attack from their location a mile or so away, and disobeying orders to stand down - to not engage, they did what highly trained, skilled warriors of moral conscience do - they rushed to the sound of gunfire.

My friend has it on good authority from a SEAL teammate that Doherty and Woods killed some sixty of the terrorists before they were killed by mortar fire. No question their brave, selfless actions saved the lives of many.

A SEAL teammate, known as John (BUD/S Class #36), wrote the following poem honoring his fallen mates...


The Battling Bastards of Benghazi

We're the Battling Bastards of Benghazi,
no fame, no glory, no paparazzi.
Just a fiery death in a blazing hell,
defending the country we loved so well.
It wasn't our job,
but we answered the call,
fought to the consulate, 'n scalled th' wall.

We pulled twenty countrymen from the jaws of fate,
led them to safety, 'n stood at th' gate.
Just the two of us, 'n foe by th' score,
but we stood fast to bar th' door.
We called for reinforcement, but it was denied,
so we fought, 'n we fought, 'n we fought, 'n we died.

We gave our all for our Uncle Sam,
'n Obama didn't give a damn,
just two dead SEALS, who carried the load,
no thanks to us, we were bumps in the road.

 

               Glen Doherty - Navy SEAL

 

                           Tyrone Woods - Navy SEAL
 
 


I defer to others to forward to Limbaugh, Fox News, or elsewhere. Anyone so inclined has my approval, absolutely.

In closing, the two recent commentaries about Benghazi have been well-received and are enjoying a massive readership not expected but appreciated. I guess folks are paying attention. Here are the links:

Lies Fall to the Paper Trail Truth
http://acoloneloftruth.blogspot.com/2012/10/lies-fall-to-paper-trail-truth.html

Benghazi - Battlefield Crime Scene
http://acoloneloftruth.blogspot.com/2012/10/benghazi-battlefield-crime-scene.html


Honor our fallen SEALs, the other two Americans - Sean Smith and Chris Stevens - killed in Benghazi, and all who have so courageously served and sacrificed for our country. Please, re-post and pass along by whatever means available, help inform America. Indeed one man or one woman can make a difference.

Keep the faith!

=============================================

Leadership in Crisis by Bud McFarlane

 

_______________________

 

Below is a draft of an article submitted to the Wall Street Journal by Bud McFarlane.  Bud has said, "It may - or may not - be published."   

Bud is a classmate and friend from the Naval Academy.  The article also mentions Bing West.  I was privileged to take two courses from Bing when I was a student at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.    

Knowing both of the above individuals, who are both former U. S. Marines, I will let you draw your own conclusions!!!

 

Thanks.

 

Buzz 

 

Leadership in Crisis 

 

After six weeks of willful distortion of the facts concerning the organized terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, we’ve learned this week that the President knew what was going on from the outset of the seven-hour battle -- and did nothing.  Thanks to the work of former Assistant Secretary of Defense Bing West ("First, Aid the Living" , National Review Oct 22), we now know that President Obama was receiving photo and signals intelligence from a drone flying over the compound as well as reporting cables from the staff members who were under attack in near real time -- yet did nothing.   

US Special Operations troops and fighter/attack aircraft were within an hour’s flight time at the NATO base in Sigonella, Italy.  The attack lasted for more than seven hours, yet these troops were never called upon to help Americans under assault by known terrorist elements.  

Having served at the White House for nine years and been involved in many efforts to prevent or to respond to attacks on Americans, I’m astonished by this failure to come to the aid of Americans under fire.   Consider the following.  In October, 1985, a cruise ship (i.e. the Achille Lauro) was taken by terrorists in the Mediterranean and Leon Klinghoffer, an American, was killed and pitched overboard.  President Reagan immediately focused our full intelligence and military resources on responding and capturing the terrorists.  As they made their way to Cairo we learned of their plan to board a chartered aircraft and flee to Tunisia.  The Joint Chiefs developed options within hours and when the terrorists took off from Cairo the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs recommended that Sixth Fleet aircraft intercept the aircraft and direct it to land at the NATO base in Sigonella.  In approving the plan, President Reagan added, “If they refuse to land, shoot it down.”  He acted as a Commander in Chief must.  We cannot allow terrorists to conclude that they can kill Americans with impunity.  That crisis ended with the terrorists being captured and turned over to Italian authorities.  

Three conclusions can be drawn from this tawdry episode:  

First, on September 11, being aware that Americans, including our Ambassador, were under attack, President Obama did nothing to send nearby forces to their aid.  

Second, on the following morning, notwithstanding the mounting evidence of what had happened and knowing that Ambassador Chris Stevens had been killed, he directed his press spokesman to withhold the facts and willfully deliver a portrayal of events that he knew to be false – as he left on a campaign trip to Las Vegas.  

Third, this tragic loss of Chris Stevens and others serving our country in Libya, might well have been avoided had the president responded to the Ambassadors earlier requests for better security in the run-up to 9-11, and threats from known terrorists groups to attack Americans.

Finally, and more broadly, this terrible loss demonstrates that the President has yet to come to grips with the nature of the radical Islamist threat we must face and overcome.  Surely one can acknowledge the benign attitude and religious tolerance that characterizes most Muslims while concurrently naming and developing a strategy to eliminate the well-armed, well-financed, intolerant Al Qaeda affiliates that have spread to more than 30 countries during his administration.  

On September 11 th , of this year President Obama’s incompetent performance – faced with an urgent need, and the opportunity to send help and perhaps to save lives of Americans under fire-- represents the most egregious dereliction of duty by an American official I’ve ever heard of.  I cannot imagine a more serious abrogation of his responsibility as president.  

Robert McFarlane served as President Reagan’s national security advisor, co-authored Crisis Resolution, Westview Press, 1978, and is currently a Senior Advisor to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies

=======================================================

 

American Heroes, American Cowards

By Terry Garlock

“All of them.”

That was the answer to a question we posed to each other over coffee at Mimi’s last week. The question was, “How many of the Americans you know who have ever worn a military uniform would have volunteered to go into harm’s way to help our diplomats under attack in Benghazi?”

All of them.

All of the old fart veterans like me, and we think all who wear the uniform now, would rush to help, whatever the obstacles, whatever the consequences. Protecting American non-combatants from foreign aggression is our military’s highest duty.

So, what happened? Our armed forces did nothing while American diplomatic soil was overrun and four Americans were killed.

A few days ago Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta dismissed criticism that our armed forces did nothing while the White House, Pentagon and State Department observed the battle in real time, even while military assets were grounded in Italy and elsewhere within the theatre, assets that could have been scrambled in time to help.

Panetta said, "There's a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on here. But the basic principle here ... is that you don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on." Accordingly, Panetta and two high ranking commanders decided not to send in special ops teams, not to send close air support gunships, not to send . . . anything.

WHAT?

American civilians, representatives of our government, were under lethal attack for seven hours, but our Secretary of Defense says we must first seek guarantees of the safety of our armed forces before we act? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

You don’t need combat experience to know instinctively that combat intel is rarely good, usually murky and often faulty. Combat is chaos, very risky, often with boldness trumping caution, especially where civilian lives are threatened. Special ops units stand by for the really ugly missions – perhaps like Benghazi.

But this time our government had the advantage of overhead eyes on the attack, real-time, with voice reports and pleas from the ground for help that never came. Not enough intel to act? What a breathtakingly pathetic excuse! Panetta is blowing smoke at you, America!

Ask a vet you know from any war if they would stand idly by knowing for hours our diplomats were under attack. They would not.

Greg Dunn of Fayetteville was an Infantry Lt. in Vietnam in 1968 when the enemy arranged a cease-fire for their Tet New Year holiday, then attacked on that holiday all over the country. His commander told him of a small American unit pinned down in the bush, that Lt. Dunn needed to round up some volunteers to go get them. Greg says he needed 40 grunts at most but when he asked for volunteers for a dangerous mission, every one of them - about 100 grunts - immediately stepped up, volunteering to risk their lives for other grunts they did not know. They were ultimately able to bring the stranded troops back with just one wounded and one lost jeep.

I have bored you with my own story of two guys risking their neck to rescue me when I was shot down in Vietnam in 1969. There are a million stories out there of American troops taking extraordinary risks in a struggle to bring each other home alive.

Imagine what our currently deployed troops must think of their commanders who did not order – and did not allow – rescue operations to commence while the Benghazi attack went on for seven hours. Imagine the chagrin of Navy SEALs, Rangers, Green Berets, Delta Force or other highly trained Special Ops troops. In fact, we can compare the heroism of one of those guys to the cowardice of the high-level command.

When the attack was initiated, former Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods was a mile away in a CIA annex. He was not involved with the Embassy, the Consulate or the diplomatic mission in any way. Woods was a security contractor for a CIA project to track down large numbers of missing MANPADs, missiles even an uneducated man preoccupied with thoughts of Allah and herds of virgins can fire from his shoulder to bring down an airliner.

When Mr. Woods heard the gunfire and deduced what was under way, he radioed his higher-ups for clearance to go help and was told to “stand down,” which means "no". There was a second request and denial, but Woods and at least two others disobeyed orders and went to help at the burning Consulate anyway. They placed the lives of our diplomatic staff at a higher priority than their own safety, and their own job. Our President, Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense could learn a few things from Mr. Woods.

Woods was able to maneuver 20-30 people out of the burning Consulate and back to relative safety to the CIA annex a mile away. Imagine Mr. Woods’ frustration up on the roof, getting a laser fix on the enemy mortar site that was firing at them, asking for air support by radio and. . . denied. In fact, that’s where Woods and others died, by a mortar round.

Another of those killed with Woods was also a former Navy SEAL, Glen Doherty, who arrived late in the fight with a few others, a poorly-armed contingent sent from Tripoli, about the same distance away as the air support assets never scrambled from a US base in Sicily.

A highly regarded combat correspondent named Bing West, who was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan Administration, constructed a timeline of the event and concluded there was plenty of time to scramble forces from Sigonella, Sicily. He says fighter jets could have been on site in an hour. West calls our leadership response “. . . a joint civilian and military failure of initiative and nerve,” a "kind understatement" if you ask me.

I would imagine every bomber and gunship crew, every special ops team within reach, is heartsick their considerable talent and firepower was held in abeyance, not unleashed, while our diplomatic mission was violated with impunity and our people killed. I don’t blame them, they can’t act without orders and that is as it should be.

But I will tell you my personal thoughts of our top leadership. I am speculating here, but I would guess the decision to hold our forces instead of unleashing them was politically-motivated to take no chances of combat casualties so close to the election. I would guess that decision came from Obama, and the spin machine surrounding him, including Panetta, has been trying to cover it ever since.

If the truth ever comes out we’ll see whether I am wrong, but I’m willing to bet anyone a cup of coffee. Truth might emerge if one of the shiny-starred generals or admirals has a hard time looking in the mirror to shave and decides his remaining career is not as important as revealing that our Oval Office is occupied by a worm.

Meanwhile, this national shame smells worse than Watergate. Too bad we didn’t have Tyrone Woods in the Oval Office to decide what is right, not what would cover the president’s hiney and make him look good.

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