Gen. Ham said nobody ever gave him the order to go:
Such an order could only have come from the top. The units within reach of Benghazi all knew what was happening and I cannot believe that every commander who was relevant did not request immediate permission to respond.
Cowarly lyin’ ping
Everything I have read and seen so far on Benghazi is still confirming my initial thinking on the matter, going way back to my days as a NavSpecWar officer who took a SEAL det to Beirut a long time ago.
Once the alarm is sent from Benghazi, dozens of HQs are notified and are in the loop in real time, including AFRICOM and EURCOM, both located in Germany.
Without waiting for orders, they begin planning and executing rescue operations, including getting air support over Benghazi ASAP. But one thing they CANNOT DO without explicit orders from the POTUS is cross an international border. That is the big “red line.”
All POTUS has to do is NOT grant cross-border authority, and the entire air-armada of military rescue (already in progress) must stop in its tracks. Ships can loiter on station, but planes fall out of the sky, so they must be redirected to an air base (Sigonella Sicily) to await the POTUS decision on granting CBA. If it never comes, the men in Behghazi must rely only on assets already “in country” in Libya, such as the Tripoli QRF and the Predators.
(And possibly AC-130s that might already have been in Libya: they were last year, but their location on 9-11-2012 is unknown. If they were “in country” but were prevented from firing, that is another situation.)
So if at the 5 pm DC-time meeting with Panetta and Biden, Obama said, “No outside military action,” meaning no CBA will be granted, then THAT IS IT. Case closed.
That constitutes “standing orders” all the way down the chain of command via Panetta and Dempsey to Ham and the subordinate commands trying to rescue the men in Benghazi.
If Obama then goes upstairs to the family quarters to watch TV or sleep, or otherwise makes himself “unavailable,” then his last standing orders will stand until he changes them, even if he goes to sleep until the morning of 9-12.
Nobody in the chain of command below him can countermand his “standing orders” not to send military forces from outside of Libya into Libyan air space.
Nobody.
Personally, I think he left “no outside miltary intervention, no cross-border authority” standing orders, and then he went to bed. Damn him to hell.
(And to me, the most damning aspect of all is that Obama went to bed while his Ambassador was still missing and presumed kidnapped by Al Queda. Ambassador Stevens might have been on a Youtube video pleading for his life, ready to get the Nick Berg/Danny Pearl “intro to jihad” treatment, and Obama WENT TO BED to rest up for his much more important fund raiser in Las Vegas!)
What we are sure of is that the stand down order was a political calculation that four (or more if the SEAL’s had not rescued them) American’s lives were worth less that Obastard’s political future.
Obama sent 'em the blue pill.
They can concern their collective azzes all they want. Americans, and the families of the fallen, want and deserve answers.
0bama was notified immediately and automatically when the Benghazi consulate triggered the "Imminent Danger Notification System" alert. He did nothing.
There are three scandals here...
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Denial of requests for security were a dereliction of duty. The lies and misdirection about the "video" after the attack were fraud and malfeasance under the color of authority. The inaction during the attack was something more than that.
The failure to act during the attack is the direct equivalent of desertion IMO.
ONE man had the authority to act that night.
ONE man deserted his post!
EXCLUSIVE: CIA operators were denied request for help during Benghazi attack, sources say
0bama Is A Deserter!
This had everything Black Hawk Down had - including the American dragged through the streets and soldiers dying. Except for the brave guys defying the orders they were given, there would presumably have been about 30 other lives lost as well since it was a PLANNED ATTACK and not a protest.
It was only because of somebody else’s heroism that Obama didn’t get the same kind of casualty numbers as Black Hawk Down (if we go with the official story line that it wasn’t a staged kidnapping so Obama could heroically rescue Stevens and the 30 others).
So the argument that they are using is more like we already had 2 Black Hawks down and the people of Benghazi were about to kill them all, and Obama had the capability of dispersing the crowd but refused - even though that would be the only thing that WOULD prevent Black Hawk Down levels of casualties.
That whole story doesn’t wash.
I’m going to watch Black Hawk Down tonight because it is the only thing that fits my mood right now. I want to remember the brave caliber of men who fight for us, and remember that no matter how the a-hole-in-chief tramples these guys, he can never comprehend or defeat the honor of who they are.
“Muslim sensibilities first and American lives last.”
Heaven forbid, we might upset the muzzies.
Why did we overthrow the government in Libya? Think about it! Gaddafi was a bad guy, but if Obama wants to take out bad guys, Fidel Castro is what, 90 miles away? Obama is a grifter. He’s out for himself and Democrat campaign funds. What was in it for him? Look at illinoispaytoplay.com and read the three part story. It was for money! Obama overthrew governments and started wars to make himself some money. People died because he wanted money.
OBL, I mean BHO is the ONLY one that can make the stand down order.
My @$$ he ever approved that mission. Show us the orders if he did.
We’ll find out who gave the “Stand down” order right after we find out who hired Craig Livingstone and what documents Sandy Burgler stole.
I don’t believe there’s any mystery about the stand down order. Just becuz the traitor or his accomplices don’t admit it doesn’t mean people can’t see the truth.
If this were any other person or any other crime, there would be no doubt that there is probable cause to arrest the traitor. It is obvious that he is the person who originated the stand down order.
He should be in custody behind bars already! What is the hold up ??!!
