The CIA is not a military force. It’s an intelligence service.
Expecting them to “respond” and not only defend and rescue some 30 people and protect or retake a facility is utterly ridiculous.
Obama’s policy of sheltering the Islamists has knowingly left Americans and American interests undefended in all parts of the world, including the US (remember Fort Hood?).
There should have been an immediate military response to the attack on the consulate and the CIA “annex.” The CIA is not designed for this, military actions undertaken by its own members are not its purpose, and blaming the CIA for having been inadequate to deal with the attack is a cynical shifting of blame. But “Cynical” should be Barry’s middle name by now.
The ambassador had told the State Department that the compound was not able to be protected from a coordinated attack, which he had reason to believe was coming because AQ had training camps in the area and the mission there in Benghazi was the only diplomatic target left in the city. So the government had already been told 3 weeks in advance that CIA assets were NOT enough.
And anything that happened within the CIA or State Department doesn’t negate the fact that the military system and POTUS were both alerted so the standard protocols would begin. Christopher Stevens personally called the guy in charge of the mission and told him they were under attack. The guy activated the red alert, which automatically sends out messages to a bunch of people including the military and POTUS.
From what knowledgeable people have said here and elsewhere, I understand that a red alert requires somebody physically with the POTUS to physically tell the President within 10 minutes that there is a critical situation. The contingency plans, which the military practices continually to prepare for any type of situation, begin automatically and include gathering assets to be sent to the affected area so that when it is clear which assets are needed they are all readily available.
What kind of government “investigation” is being done into what really happened there, when the rubble at the compound included 2 letters expressing disappointment that previous requests for additional security for Stevens from the police and the Libyan regime had been ignored - letters which also mentioned that what little “security” had been sent had actually photographed the inside of the complex just that morning (Sept 11th)?
Sean Smith was on the computer conversing with his gaming friends when the attack hit; he had previously commented about not being sure he’d survive the night, since the “police” had taken photos of the inside of the complex that morning - expressing cynical (and well-placed) suspicion that the people sent to protect them were actually scoping out the place for attack.
Probably not rocket science for him to figure that out, because the guy the Libyan regime put in charge of local security for the city of Benghazi is associated with Al Qaeda, and (as Stevens pointed out in a secret cable 3 weeks before Sept 11th) Al Qaeda was training for an attack - with the US mission there being the only diplomatic target that AQ hadn’t already taken out.
Such is their legitimate charter, but since the mid 80's it became a clandestine military force. To get around the constraints of that charter, they trained foreign militias as force multipliers in larger campaigns. Think more in size of a brigade, multiplying itself with foreign battalions and regiments.
They most likely had force and power projection available.