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Panetta says he personally told Obama about Benghazi attack
wash times ^ | 2/7/13 | g taylor

Posted on 02/07/2013 11:24:17 AM PST by bestintxas

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta revealed on Thursday that he personally broke the news to President Obama that an attack was unfolding on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012.

Mr. Panetta said he was given an alert about the attack just before arriving at the White House for an unrelated and prescheduled meeting with the president.

“It’s something I introduced to the president,” the defense secretary said, acknowledging for the first time that he and Mr. Obama were well aware that the attack was occurring while they met at the White House that day.

Mr. Panetta, who appeared on Capitol Hill on Thursday beside Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asserted that the U.S. military “spared no effort to save” the lives of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and the three other Americans who were killed in the Benghazi attack.

“In the months since the tragedy at the Temporary Mission Facility and nearby Annex in Benghazhi, we’ve learned these were actually two short duration attacks that occurred some six hours apart,” Mr. Panetta testified before the Senate Committee on Armed Services.

“The bottom line is this: We were not dealing with a prolonged assault that could have been brought to an end by a U.S. military response,” Mr. Panetta said.

Furthermore, the defense secretary said, while the Pentagon was “prepared for a wide range” of possible attacks on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, “unfortunately there were no specific indications of an imminent attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: benghazi; benghazigunrunning; benghazihearing; impeach; impeachobama; leonpanetta; libya; navyseals; obama; obamaawol; panettahearing; terrorism; threatmatrix; waronterror
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I bet if Pannetta was the Liyban Ambassador at the time he would have thought otherwise about

"..there was not enough time, given the speed of the attack, for armed military assets to respond,” Mr. Panetta said."

1 posted on 02/07/2013 11:24:29 AM PST by bestintxas
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To: bestintxas

0bama should be impeached for ‘dereliction of duty’ as Commander-In-Chief. He willfully turned his back on a terrorist attack out of concern that a failed rescue attempt would HURT HIS RE-ELECTION BID. DISGUSTING.


2 posted on 02/07/2013 11:30:19 AM PST by Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America (PRISON AT BENGHAZI?????)
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To: bestintxas
Mr. Panetta, who appeared on Capitol Hill on Thursday beside Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asserted that the U.S. military “spared no effort to save” the lives of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and the three other Americans who were killed in the Benghazi attack

PATENT BULLSHIT! He told Obama, he never spoke to Clinton, yet he went back to the Pentagon and "spared no effort". They did exactly f@cking nothing.

A reminder, crass as it is, from the late 1990s. I remember Leon on all the TV Sunday panel shows admonishing all comers that "a blow job does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense." This man, his associates, the President he works for, the former Secretary of State he interacted with are all the lowest of the low slime that oozes out the keester of the lowest snake in Mother Nature's Earth.

3 posted on 02/07/2013 11:31:24 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: bestintxas
"..there was not enough time, given the speed of the attack, for armed military assets to respond,” Mr. Panetta said."

Total BS! I'm not buying that for one minute! If there was a lack of time, it is because Barry, Hilly and Leon couldn't make a decision, but I think the real reason is that it ruined Barry's naive notion that you can be nice to terrorist and they will reciprocate.

4 posted on 02/07/2013 11:31:35 AM PST by The Sons of Liberty (It's not "GUN CONTROL"! It's "PEOPLE CONTROL"!)
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To: bestintxas

This should be the lead story on CNN tonight.

Probably won’t be, though.


5 posted on 02/07/2013 11:33:45 AM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America

Any rescue attempt had to wait until all weapons being trafficked thru our Benghazi Fast & Furious warehouses had to be gone along with any paper trails burned or destroyed. IOW, they had to make sure the attackers could finish waht they started before any outside witnesses could show up like soldiers. It was the job of the local police to torch anything left before the FBI was allowed to arrive a month later.


6 posted on 02/07/2013 11:35:00 AM PST by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: bestintxas

IMHO...

Those who know the truth about the stand down order are no doubt in fear for the lives of their loved ones and themselves, given that nwo does not want this leaked.

Numerous whistleblowers need to blow the whistle simultaneously.

They need to provide their evidence and testimony, sealed, to multiple close confidants prior to releasing it so that it is guaranteed to be released upon their death.


7 posted on 02/07/2013 11:35:26 AM PST by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)
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To: bestintxas

As President, you’re a busy fella.

However, there are certain events that would make you put down your ribs and make a couple of phone calls. (Heck, Pres. doesn’t even have to dial for himself)

I would rate an attack on a Consulate/CIA station as one of those event.

All that you need to know about Obama is that he (A) didn’t think it was important because he had a fundraiser coming up, and (B) he didn’t bother to call and ask how things were going.

Pretty much “traitorous” in the spirit of the law, if not the letter of the law.

At a min. > This is a really big deal.


8 posted on 02/07/2013 11:36:13 AM PST by Noamie
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To: bestintxas

So the POTUS is lying - Hillary is lying - Kerry conveniently is now the Sec of State...and still 4 US Citizens are murdered and what is being done about it - or will anything ever be done??? These jerk offs in Wash DC think that who ever must die to promote their agenda are not causalities - but martyrs —uhm....who else thinks like this???


9 posted on 02/07/2013 11:37:57 AM PST by BCW (http://babylonscovertwar.com/index.html)
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To: The Sons of Liberty

At Airliner speed it is 1 hour 14 minutes from Sig to Benghazi. AC-130 would be longer, a Fighter much less. Assuming there was a Ready alert , the could be up in less than an hour. Add the time ans we could have helped.

Whatever happened to the story of an ADM and a Gen being relieved for attempting to help? Some body ordered all these stand down, who?


10 posted on 02/07/2013 11:45:29 AM PST by mortal19440
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To: bestintxas

Everybody protect the communist in chief!

The truth is that he didn’t give a $h!t about the ambassador or the military. He didn’t want to annoy his co-religionists and was willing to sacrifice Americans on the altar of political correctness.


11 posted on 02/07/2013 11:55:17 AM PST by I want the USA back
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To: The Sons of Liberty
Davy Crockett, at the Alamo, and his men held out 13 days agains 15,000 pissed off Mexicans. How could Panetta have known how long the Americans would be able to hold out? Is he able to 'tell the future'? At 5:00 obama was told. Then he left the meeting and did what he did best...he called David Axlerod to get the political assessment. The best they hoped for was all Americans at the annex would be killed. Dead people cannot tell a story. But the SEALS stepped in and queered his hopes. So, after Obama, complicitous with al Quaeda in killing only 4 Americans, he decided to take the 2nd best choice. Transport to Germany and sequester them away from prying eyes for MONTHS. At least until after he steals the election. The lies continue. The democrat senators on the panel, I thought, were going to felate Panetta.

That is about it.

We, I fear, will never know the full story in this life.

12 posted on 02/07/2013 11:55:48 AM PST by Texas Songwriter (THA)
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To: mortal19440
Whatever happened to the story of an ADM and a Gen being relieved for attempting to help? Some body ordered all these stand down, who?

You are absolutely correct! If congress really wanted to find the facts they would've asked this question, but I don't think they want the truth, besides neither they, nor any of their staff underlings are smart enough to recall these facts.

13 posted on 02/07/2013 11:57:20 AM PST by The Sons of Liberty (It's not "GUN CONTROL"! It's "PEOPLE CONTROL"!)
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To: mortal19440

“these were actually two short duration attacks that occurred some six hours apart,”

So,,,, THE A_HOLES HAD 6 HOURS TO GET HELP THERE.


14 posted on 02/07/2013 11:57:20 AM PST by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
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To: The Sons of Liberty
No Liberal on the face of the earth is capable of decisive action. NONE!

The inept, spineless, equivocal and “that depends on what the definition of ‘is’, is generation” have NO business whatsoever in positions of responsibility and authority!!! Period.

These old stoners are so attached to their irresolute character, noncommittal and ‘damn the absolute’ mind-set that they are instantaneously paralyzed by circumstances one inch out of the ordinary!

YES character counts! THEIR lack of it cost our ambassador his life.... and it bodes the same and more to come for the rest of us.

15 posted on 02/07/2013 12:03:32 PM PST by SMARTY ("The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings. "Henri Frederic Amiel)
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To: bestintxas

U.S. reinforcements, however, were on the way. Around 2 a.m., eight Marines sent from the embassy in Tripoli landed at the Benghazi airport. But Libyan officials there initially prevented them from pushing ahead with their rescue mission. “[The Americans] wanted all eight to go to the annex,” said Faruq, a leader of the Libyan Shield Brigade, one of numerous local brigades and tasked that night with coordinating the arrival of the Marines. “But we were told to only allow two.”

The Libyans apparently did not want a bunch of U.S. military men running around their country for fear of causing an uproar among citizens. But the Marines were adamant they would go as a team. After several back and forth conversations with Libya Shield’s commander, the Libyans finally relented.

But as soon as the Marines solved one problem, they encountered another — they had only GPS coordinates and no address for the annex, which was supposed to be hush-hush in any case. “We couldn’t arrange our forces to go to a place we didn’t know about,” Faruq said, explaining his reluctance to send his own soldiers with the Marines. After another round of logistical squabbling, the Marines finally departed the airport around 2:30 a.m. in two Toyota Land Cruisers. An additional 10-to-15 Libyan security vehicles accompanied them to the annex, which turned out to be approximately 20 minutes away.

When they arrived, they found the Americans at the annex tired and nervous. Then, around 3 a.m., bullets began hitting just outside the annex. “Mortars started landing. They hit the roof. There were several and we were all confused,” said Faruq of the Libyan Shield brigade. “The Marines put on their night vision goggles and took up positions,” said Faruq. “Some positioned themselves in the doorway and some set up inside.” It was during this attack that former Navy SEAL commandos Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed.

Faruq had decided against bringing a large contingent with him to the annex. The site “was supposed to be a light foot print and no one thought it was dangerous because it was an unknown safe house,” he said. But gunfire was sending everyone for cover. At about 3:20 a.m., Faruq called the Joint Operations Room at the February 17th Brigade that coordinates the activities of several military and security organizations. Within 15 minutes, more than a hundred security officials arrived at the annex to help secure the area. Some set up a perimeter one kilometer from the annex. Others occupied the villas around the residence. Finally, a Libyan colonel showed up outside and the Americans prepared to evacuate. They placed the bodies of Doherty, Smith and Woods in a Mercedes and headed to the airport. But the plane that brought the Marines was too small to carry all the Americans back to Tripoli. The Marines stayed behind with the three corpses.

http://world.time.com/2012/10/21/the-other-911-libyan-guards-recount-what-happened-in-benghazi/#ixzz2KFI1h8iQ


16 posted on 02/07/2013 12:11:24 PM PST by kcvl
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

And they did send a drone, but it couldn’t be armed because Obama was AWOL and wouldn’t give any order. My understanding is that an armed drone could hit from an altitude higher than what anybody down below would even necessarily know about - especially it being the middle of the night there with everybody but the attackers presumably in bed. No reason to not at least allow an armed drone to be there in case.

They might say they feared a “Black Hawk Down” situation, but if that’s what they were thinking then they should have known that the annex wouldn’t be safe either. The contingency plan is to be ready for ANYTHING.


17 posted on 02/07/2013 12:12:18 PM PST by butterdezillion
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To: bestintxas

In phone interviews on Wednesday, some Libyans describe the investigation into the attack on Sept. 11 as haphazard, inept and in parts half-hearted. There was a sense among some of those reached that an investigation that went too deeply could set off unwanted recriminations. “I’m not sure there is any progress right now,” says Ali Tarhouni, a secular politician, speaking after he landed in Tripoli from a visit to Benghazi. “Nothing has really happened. There is no credible source of information.” Despite government assurances last month that some arrests had been made, “there are none that I can authenticate,” he says.

El-Obeidi, however, has examined the details and believes the assault was a sophisticated, preplanned operation and that Ambassador Christopher Stevens might himself have been the target. Stevens, who was popular among rebel leaders as the sole American diplomat stationed in Benghazi during the revolution, was initially believed to have been caught in the attack through sheer bad luck. But el-Obeidi says he believes armed militant groups had scoped out the consulate and knew of Stevens’ whereabouts.

Part of the problem in the Benghazi investigation, to be sure, is the general upheaval of postwar Libya, which is still digging out from 42 years of dictatorship. The country has barely a functional government, and its security forces comprise a patchwork of armed militias, some of whom are locked in lethal rivalries between one another.

But besides the possible ineptitude of some officials, el-Obeidi believes some elements of Libya’s law-enforcement structures were themselves involved in the attack, essentially compromising any probe of the details. The lack of investigation, he says, is “because of the suspected implication of some of the members of Benghazi’s law-enforcement and security services who belong to or sympathize with extremist movements.” The man named as the main suspect, Ahmed Abu Khattala, leader of the Islamist organization Ansar al-Shari‘a, has not been arrested, and in October, conducted interviews in a Benghazi hotel with the New York Times and Reuters. When a reporter from McClatchy Newspapers this week asked a militia commander in Benghazi why Khattala had not been arrested, he said if he arrested Khattala, “a member of his forces will get him out.”

http://world.time.com/2012/11/15/benghazis-real-scandal-why-is-the-libyan-investigation-such-a-mess/#ixzz2KFIj59k6


18 posted on 02/07/2013 12:14:32 PM PST by kcvl
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To: bestintxas
Testimony today reveals that neither Barack nor Hillary were engaged in the terrorist attack & events happening at our Consulate in Libya where 4 Americans were murdered.

This goes a long way in explaining why "The Movie Did It" was so forcefully put forward.


19 posted on 02/07/2013 1:03:16 PM PST by TexasCajun
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To: The Sons of Liberty; annieokie; penelopesire; maggief; Protect the Bill of Rights; thouworm; ...
No one seems to remember that AFTER panetta and company left the WH, obama had time to call Netanyahu and talk for an hour...with photos yet.

I keep saying it, and as time goes on, there is more and more proof that this was supposed to be a 'no one left alive' operation to be blamed on Israel. Connect the dots!

Anyone wanting on or off this ping list, please advise.


Benghazi Index

20 posted on 02/07/2013 1:13:56 PM PST by MestaMachine (Sometimes the smartest man in the room is standing in the midst of imbeciles.)
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