The story in Benghazi is heating up and it is hitting the main stream media. McClatchy just released a story saying the “CIA sent security team to the Benghazi consulate 25 minutes after attack, refuting claims of delay.”
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/01/173372/us-says-help-was-sent-to-benghazi.html
This is a major development. It means the White House’s efforts to stonewall this story has totally collapsed. This story just hit the main stream media. No news outlet can continue to ignore this.
You would think from the headline that the White House has now explained everything and there was no delay in providing assistance. That certainly is the spin being provided by the main stream media. But there is a lot more to this story then how long it took the CIA compound to respond.
At 9:40 p.m. the CIA compound in Benghazi received an urgent request for help from the Benghazi Consulate. This was only a mile away and CIA personnel could hear gun shots and sirens wailing. The few trained military personnel available immediately gathered up their weapons and were ready to roll. This was probably the last chance to save Ambassador Stevens life. But they were delayed in leaving for 24 long minutes. The reason for the delay was that the station chief was on the phone trying to call the “February 17 Brigade, other militias and the Libyan intelligence service seeking vehicles with .50-caliber machine guns.” No one responded so the base chief reluctantly let the rescue mission proceed. It was under the leadership of a career CIA officer.
The team consisted of six members. They only get a few blocks before they are stopped. The scene must have been beyond chaotic. Our Consulate was under attack and here is our make-shift rescue squad, a couple of blocks away, reduced to begging the local militia to kindly lend them a .50 cal machine gun. They don’t get the gun, but they do pick up three volunteers. The CIA team arrives at the Consulate at 10:20. They are engaged in a fire fight for 15 minutes and do not get into the main Consulate building until 10:40 p.m., one hour after the first call for help. Odds are that Ambassador Stevens was already dead.
They cannot find Ambassador Stevens. An unarmed drone shows up at 11:11 p.m., but it cannot provide much help. At 11:30 the CIA team leaves the Consulate with those State Department personnel still alive. It takes them six minutes to get from the Consulate to the CIA Compound.
At 11:56 p.m. the CIA compound comes under fire. Eventually a 7 person rescue team is dispatched from Tripoli. They have to charter a plane. The plane arrives at the Benghazi Airport at 1:15 a.m., after a 45 minute flight. They then spend the next three hours at the airport trying to negotiate permission to leave while frantically developing a game plan. They finally leave the airport at 4:30 a.m. and arrive at the CIA compound at 5:04 a.m. There is a major fire fight and this is when the two former Navy seals are killed. Finally, at 6:00 a.m. a Libyan rescue team arrives, with 50 vehicles and escorts our survivors to the airport. The first group of Americans leaves Benghazi for Tripoli at 7:00 a.m. The final group leaves at 10:00 a.m. From Tripoli they depart for the U.S.
It is easy to see why the White House was desperately hoping this story would not break before the election. This is nothing short of embarrassing. The most powerful nation on this earth comes under assault from terrorists and this is the best we can do? Are you kidding me? We have a CIA compound that didn’t even have a vehicle with a .50 caliber machine gun. There were only six people available to provide any kind of military support. Benghazi was one of the most dangerous places on earth, but our Consulate fell so far short of the minimum security standards that someone had to sign a waiver to allow us to use it. Ambassador Stevens had sent cables pleading for help, but nothing was done. Actually, that is not true. It was worse than that. Security had been reduced. The National Guard Special Forces unit that might have saved the day wasn’t available because it had been ordered back to the United States.
The local heroes who tried desperately to save the day should be praised. The leaders who put them in this impossible situation must be held accountable.
The White House did not even convene the Counter Terrorism Security Group (“CSG”) during this event. That is the whole point of the CSG. The purpose of the CSG is to coordinate a response to a terrorist attack. This is probably why General Ham and Admiral Gaouette were so angry. The White House and the CIA were trying to handle this with a key stone cop’s response while the greatest military force in the history of the world was apparently kept in the dark.
My prior blog, “Send in the Drones” unfortunately may have been accurate. The following article shows that there are drones and Special Forces teams in Libya desperately trying to find “someone.” There is still a potential that they will kill or capture someone giving President Obama once last chance to spike the football.
http://freebeacon.com/post/34820407527/pentagon-secret-u-s-military-commandos-deployed-to
The White House is now claiming there was no delay in response because:
Instead, they said the often outmanned and outgunned team members made all the key decisions on the ground, with no second-guessing from senior officials monitoring the situation from afar.
Let me word that a little differently. The White House sat on its collective ass and watched our local personnel engage in a desperate life and death struggle without even considering offering guidance or assistance. Our local people were put in this position as a direct consequence of the gross incompetence and dereliction of duty by the State Department, the Defense Department, the CIA and the White House. I wonder if anyone in the main stream media will notice. If they do notice, will they care?
TDM