Posted on 10/31/2012 2:39:42 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
If you have serious questions about what happened in Benghazi on Sept. 11, you are not alone. Former admiral, congressman and Democrat Joe Sestak has questions, too.
There are questions the administration needs to answer, Sestak said Monday morning as Hurricane Sandy rolled into Delco. Put politics aside, something did go wrong.
That, of course, is the understatement of the year.
Four Americans are dead, including U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. They were killed in a terrorist attack that lasted seven hours and included several desperate calls for help. But no help came.
Why?
Months before the fatal attack, Stevens expressed deep concern about deteriorating security for U.S. personnel inside the African country.
There were enough indications that security was not very good there at all, Sestak said. When you have people ask for more security, you give it to them.
To Sestak, it is as simple as that. But that didnt happen either. Why?
Sestak is no novice when it comes to these matters. He worked with the National Security Council in the Clinton White House and was a chief strategist for Deep Blue, the Navys anti-terrorism unit.
He knows how these tough decisions get made (and not made) at the top of the military and civilian chains of command. He also knows how screwed up things can get in the fog of war. He is not one to quickly place blame before all the facts are in. And yet, this debacle has him shaking his head.
This hasnt been the most commanding of performances, is the way he put it to me.
His most pressing question: Why wasnt there a military response?
According to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, it was because the brass in Washington couldnt get a clear understanding of what was happening on the ground.
A basic principle, said Panetta, is that you dont deploy forces into harms way without knowing whats going on; without having some real-time information about whats taking place. And as a result of not having that kind of information, the commander who was on the ground in that area, Gen. (Carter) Ham, Gen. Dempsey and I felt very strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation.
But there was some real-time information. There were radio communications, emails and there were drones flying over the site. There were military assets within one or two hours of striking distance of the attack.
None were used.
Then there is the recent statement from President Obama, who said that the first thing he did when notified of the attack was to give a directive to make sure we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to do. I guarantee you everybody in the CIA and military knew the No. 1 priority was making sure our people are safe.
Was this order from the commander in chief disobeyed?
If that was the No. 1 priority as ordered by the president of the United States, somebody sure failed to accomplish it or even to try.
Gen. Ham has since been relieved as head of African Command for reasons that have not been made public.
Attempts by the administration to fob this all off on our intelligence agencies are being met with skepticism, if not downright cynicism.
Weeks after the event, White House officials cited intelligence briefings that called the attack spontaneous and motivated by an anti-Islamic video.
Sestak, for one, seems to think this a bit too convenient. He finds it hard to believe there wasnt a more inclusive assessment that mentioned organized jihadists as the leaders of a planned terrorist attack.
That is, after all, the accepted consensus now.
The president says that an investigation into this tragedy is under way and we will get to the bottom of what happened.
But who would know better what happened than the president himself?
And why hasnt he told us? Was he too distracted by his re-election campaign to perform his day job of protecting American lives?
If he gave a directive to secure the consulate, lets see it. It must be in writing somewhere. If his orders to protect embassy personnel and secure the consulate werent obeyed, who didnt obey them? And why?
Bing West, author, soldier and former assistant secretary of defense, has already come to one damning conclusion: For our top leadership, with all the technological and military tools at their disposal, to have done nothing for seven hours was a joint civilian and military failure of initiative and nerve.
Sestak wont go that far. But he did say he doesnt know of any practical reason why some more answers havent been given to the American people. Its been more than six weeks.
For the first two, intentionally or not, this administration misled the country about what happened in Libya that night and its still not clear why.
We need to have a thorough and quick investigation on this, Sestak said. And yet were not getting it. I cannot tell you why it is taking the amount of time they say it will.
But a reasonable guess is the administration is simply stonewalling until after the election.
If there is stonewalling, its not right, Sestak said. I believe in accountability and in transparency.
On this matter, from this administration, there has been precious little of either.
But this isnt going away, especially if this president is re-elected next week.
Best case scenario: A tragic embarrassment of misjudgments.
Worst? Criminal malfeasance at the highest level of government. And if that can be shown, Hurricane Sandy will have nothing on Hurricane Benghazi.
Yes, I agree with you there. Remember Benghazi.
Great...
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