The biggest stench is that it is beginning to look like Obama went nighty-night to rest up for Las Vegas, instead of seeing the crisis through and (had he been awake) ordering a rescue mission.
In Behghazi, after 6-8 hours in a few “Fort Apaches” with running street battles between, like a mini Blackhawk Down, the living Americans must have been thinking, “Any minute now, here come the helicopters.”
But they didn’t. So even though Delta had forward staged to Sigonella Sicily (rumint) from base in Germany, nobody was willing or able to pull the trigger and send a rescue force. Or even a few F-18 supersonic flybys, to bust windows and warn, “Here comes American airpower, and you camel jockeys know what that means.” Just as a morale booster it would have helped the besieged staffers.
But it was never sent, not even a lousy supersonic low-level flyby.
Here is the deal. The military automatically does a lot on its own, under standing orders and SOPs. The minute they see that the consulate is under attack, and the ambassador and others are in a "safe room" hiding, it becomes TOP priority. Every other mission aborts or slaves over to support any possible rescue.
At that moment when the alarm messages come in, things happen on autopilot in real time. Everybody in the Navy and USAF chain of command swings into a crisis contingency plan mode. What ships are closest? Helicopters? Marines? Delta is in Germany? Get them moving right now. Where is closest? Sigonella, for now. It’s NATO, no permission needed, just fly. En route in C-17s, the D-boys would even be prepping for an immediate action raid, that is, the C-17s will fly directly to some desert road outside of Benghazi, and here comes “The Raid On Entebbe,” crisis mode, canned actions, but they would do it. If they were ordered to. They would coordinate with fighters out of Italy, mid-air-refueling platforms start shifting, it's a huge show that swings into action for thousands of miles around Behghazi. The ongoing consulate attack is JOB ONE, the only job. VIPs will be tossed off of planes at remote runways if they need that platform.
Or Marines on amphib ships in the central Med, if any were available, would also be put on the real-time options board. We used to have a "Amphibious Ready Group" of about 3-5 USN gator freighters, including a helo carrier like a Tarawa class. They carry an entire battalion of USMC, plus SEALs etc, with helos and Ospreys to carry them all. (But not at once.) Where was our ARG? Does our Navy have enough ships for that mission any more?
But while all of that military staging would have happened/did happen during the battle at the consulate, what they cannot do on their own say-so is cross an international border without an order from the NCA, the National Command Authority, and that means POTUS, Obama.
Only POTUS can authorize a cross-border hostile mission. That is, guns clear, no official permission from the Tripoli govt (if it really exists outside State Dept fantasies.)
Only one man can pull that trigger and say, "GO!" Obama.
(But for America to act "unilaterally" would have meant the bogus Libyan Arab Spring and so-called new govt. that we were propping up didn’t really exist. Libyan sovereignty must be held sacrosanct, even the false image of one, where in reality, Al Queda is top dog in Libya. Even when an Al Queda offshoot is your external "security," namely, "The 17th of February Martyrs Brigade." (IOW, the White House thought they had a "deal" with AQ in Behghazi, since we were helping to run weaponry from Libya to their pals in Syria. So there was an "institutional bias" at State against crossing the border on a rescue operation sin permisso.)
Anyway, be that as it may, no General or Admiral will order the Marines ashore, or a Delta raid or even an F-18 low-level supersonic flyby. They can not and will not cross a border without an order from POTUS via the NCA. Not even Hillary can make that decision. Only Obama.
But no order came, as of midnight in DC. And then none would come. Because the POTUS retired for the night with a “do not disturb” sign on his door, punted, and went to bed, to be well rested for Las Vegas.
While his ambassador was off the U.S. radar, missing, at that moment possibly being dragged down a Benghazi street or even raped. But that is when Obama went to bed. Midnight in DC is 0600 in Beghazi.
That is the greatest scandal of Benghazi. The POTUS slept through it, while all around the world, military forces were poised for the Raid on Entebbe or any other damn thing the POTUS ordered them to do. (And the were raring to go, believe me.)
But the POTUS said, “We’ll discuss it further in the morning,” and then he went to bed around midnight in DC, 0600 in Benghazi, with a missing ambassador and a crisis in full mega flap process.
He punted. He went to bed.
God help us. I think that’s the big secret they are keeping. The President went to bed, with his lost Ambassador being dragged through streets.
Obama went to bed.
Yes, he went to bed. He slept while Americans were literally being hunted for hours and hours.
http://asspos.blogspot.com/2012/10/politics-of-terror-attack-cover-up-no.html
I have never been so pissed by the (in)action of a politician as this. These guys made a deal with the devils, and now they are doing everything they can to hide it.
Thanks for the ping.
Obama dragged his feet on killing Osama Bin Ladin. Supposedly the mission was aborted twice. Another story is Lean Panetta authorized it and Obama wasn’t told about it until it was too late to be stopped.
We can see Obama cannot act decisively and the same applied to a rescue at Benghazi. Plus Obama was not going to risk a fiasco that would hurt his election chances. Plus just a bunch of foolish white boys (four of them) who might get killed at Benghazi.
Obama knew that Jimmy Carter’s attempt at rescuing the Iranian hostages (Operation Eagle Claw) had greatly hurt his election chances
BTTT .... Thanks for the info.
Stay safe ..
But then, what else would you expect from someone who spent his entire legislative career "Voting 'Present'"?
OBAMA WENT TO BED. While he slept, Americans died. Then, he lied about what happened with his fellow Bozos.
Eyes out!
Bigger than Watergate: Proof that the President is Lying about Benghazi?
Having a back and forth with a former legendary Delta operator. Here is the gist of what he is implying:
The news is breaking today but there is a small bit that is being overlooked. According to the statements from Fox News:
The security officer had a laser on the target that was firing and repeatedly requested back-up support from a Specter gunship, which is commonly used by U.S. Special Operations forces to provide support to Special Operations teams on the ground involved in intense firefights. The fighting at the CIA annex went on for more than four hours — enough time for any planes based in Sigonella Air base, just 480 miles away, to arrive. Fox News has also learned that two separate Tier One Special operations forces were told to wait, among them Delta Force operators.
Everyone is reporting this but they are missing a key point. From the retired Delta operator:
Having spent a good bit of time nursing a GLD (ground Laser Designator) in several garden spots around the world, something from the report jumped out at me.
One of the former SEALs was actively painting the target. That means that Specter WAS ON STATION! Probably an AC130U. A ground laser designator is not a briefing pointer laser. You do not “paint” a target until the weapons system/designator is synched; which means that the AC130 was on station.
Only two places could have called off the attack at that point; the WH situation command (based on POTUS direction) or AFRICOM commander based on information directly from the target area.
If the AC130 never left Sigonella (as Penetta says) that means that the Predator that was filming the whole thing was armed.
If that SEAL was actively “painting” a target; something was on station to engage! And the decision to stand down goes directly to POTUS!
This is far bigger than Watergate.
The second worst feeling in the world has to be the platform crew being desperately asked for help, given a clear target and then having to stand down and watch your fellow Americans die.
The worst has to be the team on the ground knowing that the President just left you to die.
Update: Even with two Predators on station, one unarmed and filming and one armed, the call to stand down comes from the same sources. Earlier today, Bob Owens at PJ Media posts about the responsibility of the order to call off the mission as well as some good info about the AC130s on station.
Update 2: From Adam Baldwin and many of you, here is an audio interview between Rush Limbaugh and a caller identifying as a retired SF Lieutenant Colonel and Special Operations planner for 15 years.
Update 3: Jeff Emanuel thinks that we might be jumping to conclusions and that Jennifer Griffin at FoxNews might have misreported a statement about active laser on a target. I highly respect Jeff and Jennifer. And either could be correct right now. Hopefully, we’ll get some clarification.
Update 4: From quoted retired Delta operator, “Jeff is correct (about lasing without air asset) but the only reason you would do that is to determine a specific grid for indirect fire which the SEAL did not have available. You are in an active firefight against mortars and MGs; there is only one reason to cease returning fire and paint a target and it ain’t because you thought it was a good time to pull a PMCS on your f@*$$(%g GLD.”
Update 5: The only way I buy that the former SEAL was lasing the target without an active asset to synch to and destroy the target...maybe, just maybe, it was a last stand move. Maybe he did that to give the inbounds a target if he didn’t make it...
Update 6: Another (very very trusted) source is saying that the AC130 resources were in the middle of a rotation and that the new resources weren’t ready yet so no help would come from Sigonella. So that confirms Panetta’s statement.