The U.S. Military is capable of taking on several missions simultaneously. Multiple units train for these types of missions, including navy battle groups and amphibious assault groups with their embedded marine component, who have to be certified for NEO. The exact disposition of relief forces has not been disclosed. However, if the reports that General Ham and others had forces ready to go and he was seeking final approval are correct, then this assertion does not hold water. Neither the Pentagon nor the Obama administration has claimed that the forces need to provide relief in Benghazi were employed elsewhere.
This went on for 7 hours, which allowed for plenty of opportunity to respond.
I was referring to the two types of rapid reaction forces General Ham had at hand.
One was not mission qualified and the other was committed to two embassies that had already been overrun and were a far higher priority than the Mission Station in Benghazi.
It has been misreported that General Ham was turned down or countermanded, that never happened. He is the CinC in that theater and was stretched to thin. It was agreed that CIA personnel in Benghazi could accomplish all that could be done and extract any assets that could be recovered which they did except for Stevens.
Again, this was not a 7 hour firefight, it was 3 firefights within that 7 hour period. Our tactical decisions and responses were different each time that hostiles attacked, and different, irregular units were chosen for each relief.