Panetta is just another Clinton era liberal retread.
He aided and abetted the lies and cover ups of Clinton and now does the same for Obama.Panetta cannot be trusted any more than any other democrat.
Posted on 10/27/2012 7:29:20 AM PDT by raptor22
Edited on 10/27/2012 8:13:21 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Despite real-time video, emails to the White House and desperate cries for help, our defense secretary says we didn't send rescue forces to our Benghazi consulate because we didn't know what was going on.
In a statement bordering on the Kafkaesque, Leon Panetta told a news conference Thursday that four Americans, including our Libyan ambassador Chris Stevens, were left to die without a rescue attempt by nearby U.S. military forces because there's "a basic principle here, and the basic principle is that you don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on, without having some real-time information about what's taking place."
That would seem to sum up the Obama administration's assessment of and story line about the Middle East — it has no real-time clue about what's going on. Osama bin Laden is dead, but Islamofascism is very much alive, and to send an ambassador and his diplomatic mission into harm's way without so much as a Marine security detachment with bayonets is unconscionable.
Excuse us, Mr. Secretary, but your administration had a drone over the consulate on Sept. 11...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Bullcrap Leon, you had military assets aloft (drones and AC-130 Spectre) on the scene!
Panetta is lying to cover his a$$. How do I know?
Long ago I was a SEAL officer and I attended many joint and combined operational planning meetings in the USA, abroad, and on ships at sea. This type of rescue mission is called a “NEO” operation, for Non-combatant Evacuation Operation. Every embassy and consulate has and practices all kinds of emergency evac plans, in concert with the US military.
For example, Marines and SEALs practice NEO ops prior to deploying on every float, as a VERY high priority mission. They involve full dress-rehearsals, with civilian role players, helos, landing craft, rounding up stranded stragglers, opfor ambushes, role-playing “angry mobs,” fighting your way to LZs or even beaches while protecting a gaggle of civilians down to babies etc. Conducting successful NEO ops is a TOP TOP TOP military and state department mission priority. I cannot emphasize this enough. NEO ops are planned and practiced over and over and over.
When the alarm goes off worldwide that an embassy or consulate is being attacked, the entire U.S. military swings into rescue mode, without waiting for any orders from the White House. The military does all of the operational planning and begins to execute the rescue op.
The one thing they CAN’T do is cross an international border without permission from POTUS. So the US Military will be inbound full-steam-ahead to make the rescue, and all they need from POTUS is a “proceed” order. In this case, they got a “stand down” instead.
This is at the POTUS level, it is not a decision taken at State. State and the military (JCS) should be in the Situation Room with POTUS soon after a critical incident like this begins, so all decisions can be made in real time. (I have heard nowhere that POTUS went into the Situation Room at all. Apparently he went to the Oval Office briefly, but not down to the Situation Room, where the “war planning” screens, full staffs and commo tools are all located for dealing with a major crisis.)
But if POTUS punts after a brief Oval Office meeting with Dempsey and Hillary and goes upstairs to the family quarters....the stranded Americans will die.
Only POTUS can give the order to cross international borders. Only POTUS can allow US warplanes to give air support to Americans battling on the ground in a foreign country. If POTUS makes himself unavailable, the Americans will die.
Even the VEEP or Secretary of State cannot make that call. The VEEP can only do it if the POTUS is determined to be medically unable to perform his functions. If the POTUS goes upstairs and turns off his phone, there is nothing anybody can do about it. Nothing. And the besieged Americans will die.
On Friday an anonymous Pentagon insider (”Doug”) called into Rush with a lot of new details about this disgraceful fiasco. But what we really need now is for a high-ranking officer with insider knowledge to go public, risk his pension and career, and tell the truth.
The blame for this humiliating and shameful national disgrace is pointing directly at the POTUS, and America needs to know why the inbound rescue operation was aborted.
Four Men Left Behind!
Wouldn’t the calls for help include a state we of the situation? Local militia types with AKs. About 30-50.
And the greatest military power in the world has to wait for more info? Go save the Americans in peril.
This was a stand down order by Obama and his top advisors because had the mission failed it’s Iran/Carter Round 2.
So they sat it out, let Americans die, and headed off to Vegas the next day.
Our new battle cry for these traitors should be “You Lie!”
Poin-cettia is a slimy little tur...er...slimy little Obama with the IQ of a slime mold.
And those are his good points.
BOMBSHELL: US Troops Wouldn’t Have Been Painting Targets on Ground Unless There Was Air Support..
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2950841/posts
Obama, Panetta are callous cowards.
(and not the civil side)
Leon: it’s called MOVEMENT TO CONTACT. I know the Army trains for it. Evidently, those Army generals never learned this.
They DID know what was going on. People were telling them there were going to die SOON and they needed help. So, what did they tell them, "Sorry, we need some REAL-TIME information."?
The ex-military guy who called in to Rush’s show yesterday, explained it very well. The Situation Room knew immediately, from classified communications that haven’t even been mentioned by the WH, what was going on. Special Ops teams were ready to go and they were not given the orders by the CIC.
Damn him!
Panetta is just another Clinton era liberal retread.
He aided and abetted the lies and cover ups of Clinton and now does the same for Obama.Panetta cannot be trusted any more than any other democrat.
Panetta is a liar for the commander-in-chief. He will do anything and say anything to protect his boss. He is disgusting.
There was an armed predator zone. Would that be laser sighted?
Hour after hour these heroes fought expecting their nation would have their back.
I had a “what did he say” moment the other day on Fox News, when O’Reilly made a statement giving Panetta credit as a good and honest man. Did O’Reilly forget this was Clinton’s Chief of Staff?
Panetta is full of baloney. One of those deadly unarmed, World War Two era, propellor driven State Department DC-3s flew into the Benghazi airport during the flight. They couldn’t send in our multi-million dollar heavily armed jets? Maybe we should buy some Cessnas for the really tough missions.
"But what we really need now is for a high-ranking officer with insider knowledge to go public, risk his pension and career, and tell the truth."
Exactly the point of a vanity article I posted and pinged you to.
What pisses me off about all of this is someone like Putin would have had a Spetznatz team on the ground, there would have been air strikes, the entire village surrounding the compound would have been leveled, the leader of the attack captured, his head chopped off after being tortured to tell who set this up and then that person and his entire staff wiped out. And maybe they got the Ambassador and his staff out of there.
If it was George Bush, a SEAL team would have gone in, rescued the Ambassador and his team, after Spooky finished up, there would have been a bunch of dead terrorists with minimal collateral damage and the only way anyone would have known this took place would be because 2 days later, CNN would be reporting that an American assassination squad was sent to Benghazi to murder innocent civilians having a wedding and firing off weapons in celebration.
Then there would have been a call for Bush and Rumsfeld to resign and the NY Times would run stories above the fold for the next 3 weeks stating why Condi and the CIA didn’t stop the SEAL team from murdering civilians.
So what Panetta is basically saying is that you don’t send in the rescue squad until after you are absolutely, positively sure everyone that needs to be rescued is sufficiently dead.
You don’t want any live witnesses.
just remember his pal Valerie J. had great security
Poin-cettia is a slimy little tur...er...slimy little Obama with the IQ of a slime mold.
He also has a history of commie friends. Kinda like someone else we all wish we didn’t know.
That was a great call.
It was also noted that standing orders (enshrined in law) require the chain of command be physically contact. Obama’s comment: “I wasn’t aware of requests” ...that just doesn’t fly, you can’t say the ringer volume was turned down on your I-Pad. /sarc.
What an absolute liar.
NEVER have Americans been so ashamed of their “Leaders”.
Middle of a rotation on 9/11? Really? So the defense here is that "we weren't cowards just hopelessly incompetent" and that's supposed to satisfy everyone? I don't buy it.
Travis —
Thank you for your service, patriotism, and knowledge. If you ever get to Oklahoma (the state in which Obama did not carry a single county in 2008) please let me know and I will see that you are greeted, and treated with the respect you deserve. Again, thank you for your service.
I’m the Uncle that “tabbed” an Army Ranger. He has always, despite the rivalry between services, maintained that SEAL training is far in excess than that of a Ranger.
I do have a question for you, if you will indulge me. I have for years read/heard that one of the major differences between the US military and the Red Army was the ability of American commanders to adapt to situations without direct superior order. True? Could that be why, if correct, that General Ham was relieved? Perhaps that is why the two hero SEALs (yes, they remain SEALs after leaving the services) took heroic action? I was assured by my Nephew when I “tabbed” him, that military leaders would not countenance a fool in the White House. Do you agree?
I’m sorry, I asked more than one question.
Again, if you come to Oklahoma, you will be honored.
Gwjack
If the predator was armed (they might not have armed because if it was just being used for surveillance, it would be able to stay in the air longer without a couple heavy hellfire missiles on board). IF the predator was armed, I am not positive they can be guided by laser from the ground, but that is irrelevant because predators have infra red cameras. The laser sighting from Tyrone Woods would have at least given the operator of the drone the co-ordinates of the mortar team and he could have taken them out with the click of a mouse.
Thank you, Travis for explaining the “why didn’t we go?” so exquisitely. That is the bottom line. Right now, and ultimately, all that matters is that he didn’t send help. That’s what needs to be broadcast to every American. He could have sent help but did nothing. Somehow this needs to break through the media embargo before Nov. 6.
‘Maybe we should buy some Cessnas for the really tough missions.’
If this situation were not so damn tragic that would have been funny.
In my opinion, Bam Bam and Panetta are self-serving, lying scum responsible for the murders of four American heroes.
I call it....
Panetta.
These people are pathetic.
Thanks. The mortar fire is what killed them.
I agree with them on one point. They lacked intelligence. And still do.
People sneer at the name of Richard Nixon, but can anyone here imagine him abandoning a US ambassador to savages? Even Jimmy Carter sent an (admittedly too small) rescue mission in a similar situation. When you make Jimmy Carter look like John Wayne, you’re doin’ it wrong, Barack!
You called it correctly.
The media is the true enemy of the state.
Leon Panetta left his walnuts back at the farm. Hope he flies back to the farm and stays, we don’t need to pay for a single trip more.
mark
There has been some “conspiracy talk” out there about how perhaps it was intended that the ambassador was to be taken hostage and exchanged for the blind sheik. While I was originally ready to excuse that as just unsubstantiated chatter, it might explain why the CIA assets one mile away were told to stand down, because Obama knew they would fire on the attackers. It also explains why Obama didn’t send anyone else.
Whatever the reason, we cannot let this investigation stop even if Romney wins the election. We owe it to the four that died. Remember, Hillary will be running in 2016, and Panetta and others will be ready to re-cycle themselves in the next Democratic administration.
I am incredibly disappointed with General Petraus. I have always considered him an honorable man, and sometimes honor means resigning your post when you see the evil your boss is doing, with your record of integrity and honesty providing him the cover to do it.
The same real time intel videos that got all these stooges a photo op for the Bin Laden issue and allowed them to take credit for his death, doesn’t also hold them responsible for Libya and make them share the same responsibility.
During the “blue dress” scandal Panetta was one of Clinton's chief apologists and liars.... Even after it had become a clear fact even to the media, Panetta continued to lie for Clinton. I have always considered him to be our equivalent of “Baghdad Bob”, there is even a physical resemblance. He's a coward as his “no guns when I have meetings in Afghanistan” posture shows. Kind of like Valerie Jarrett taking 6 SS agents with her everywhere she goes....
Thank you sir, for your service and for this information. I heard that caller Doug on Rush’s show. My question is...why was the security detail pulled out just weeks before? Why was our ambassator left defenseless?
Ambassator=ambassador
No official has acknowledged the AC130 to the best of my knowledge. However, one of the Seals was lasing the bad guys. You do not use a laser unless you have someone in the air to destroy the bad guys. Otherwise the laser just gives your position away. This President is a despicable man and not a patriot of our great nation.
Colonel: “General, its time to rotate the AC130s. How does next Tuesday sound?” General: “ Great idea. If we can get this started on Sept 11 we should have them up again in no time.” Darth, please let me know who your trusted source is. I have some very, very valuable real estate in Florida I would like to sell him. The essential truth of what happened in Benghazi will come out. There are just to many people who know what was happening. How long has General Ham’s replacement been in the works? If this is a new development it may be an indication that Ham has had enough.
Yeah!.... that laser designation that the Seal Team members were pointing at that “SUSPECTED” mortar team could not be verified as a legitimate target.
It could have been pointing anywhere, to include our own consolate!
So stop blaming Obama for not acting when we should be pointing our fingers at the military!
(/s)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
