Posted on 10/31/2012 11:09:46 PM PDT by Katechon
“There were around 24 people at the safe house.”
The safe house, aka CIA annex, was a VERY high-value target. That’s why it was much more protected than the so-called “Main” compound.
“...there was a CIA post in Benghazi, located 1.2 miles from the U.S. consulate, used as “a base for, among other things, collecting information on the proliferation of weaponry looted from Libyan government arsenals, including surface-to-air missiles”.
source: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-syria-heavy-weapons-jihadists-2012-10
This CIA “annexe” is in fact ONE OF THE LARGEST CIA OPERATIONS CENTERS in the Middle East: http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50586
It served as the logistics headquarters for running arms and weapons in and out of post-Gaddafi Libya.
The “Main” compound was not much. Yet the State Department seems to be willing to spin it the other way around:
“The [main] compound is roughly 300 yards long – that’s three football fields long – and a hundred yards wide. [...]
...In addition to all those, there is an additional security force at another U.S. compound two kilometers away. It serves as a rapid reaction force, a quick reaction security team – a quick reaction security team, okay?”
Source: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/10/198791.htm
If they were laying in wait for AC130 or helicopters they wouldn't have squandered the prize shot on the two unarmed drones. Getting in an armed drone from Italy might have taken couple hours while not adding enough sustained firepower to turn the tables in the battle. F18s could have arrived in under an hour, but due to unknown SA missile risks they would have had hard time providing close ground support from high up and in an urban environment where they wish to avoid large civilian casualties.
I am not saying that nothing could have or should have been done. But any quick, decisive action would have required entirely different kind of generals and leaders than the risk averse types in the situation room that day. You have seen how long it took them to make up their minds to hit Osama, many months after they knew where he was.
I can only conclude that Barry Hussein Soetoro didn’t authorize our assets to go help our guys is because he didn’t want to offend the Muslims,period.
How would they have known the drones weren’t armed?
No, he dithered, unable to make a decision in a timely manner.
He is just plain old incompetent. He is not now and never has been an executive capable of making a decision.
They didn't need to know that. If they were waiting for the big prize, I don't think they would have bothered firing SA missiles at the drone of any kind. RPGs and machine guns would have sufficed against drones if they were fired at.
The list, Ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
By safe house, I meant the compound that was separate and away from the consulate.
You have done a good job putting together all of this stuff. I have been reading the news accounts of this from the beginning and have tried to figure out fact from fiction. This was a fubar. If this were a military operation, someone would be held responsible. In this case, the only one who could have put an end to this by using the readily available military assets was unwilling to do so. He watched them die. And then he lied to the families of these heroic men. His Cabinet members lied to their families. And they did it all on the world stage. How insulting and reprehensible!
I am hanging my hat on people like you because I am so outraged and am beginning to feel like a trapped animal because I can’t do a blasted thing about it.
If Romney should win, I am still going to want answers to this just as badly as I do now. The only thing his election has to do with it is that it would be nice if people actually knew what they are voting for.
If only this were true.
My pessimist self wonders how many of these people are liberals, who would put zero above the law, and thus remain quiet and refuse to testify?
Outstanding work. Thank you very much for the post and the ping.
The Battling Bastards of Benghazi
We’re the Battling Bastards of Benghazi,
no fame, no glory, no paparazzi.
Just a fiery death in a blazing hell,
defending the country we loved so well.
It wasn’t our job, but we answered the call,
fought to the consulate, ‘n scaled th’ wall.
We pulled twenty countrymen from the jaws of fate,
led them to safety, ‘n stood at th’ gate.
Just the two of us, ‘n foe by th’ score,
but we stood fast to bar th’ door.
We called for reinforcement, but it was denied,
so we fought, ‘n we fought, ‘n we fought, ‘n we died.
We gave our all for our Uncle Sam,
‘n Obama didn’t give a damn,
Just two dead SEALS, who carried the load,
no thanks to us, we were bumps in the road.
Please join the Navy SEAL Foundation in taking a moment of silent reflection today to honor the sacrifice of these warriors and their families here at home.
5.56mm
That too.
sfl
The Annex was the target.
The attack on the “consulate” was a diversion, and the death of Stevens was an accident.
Thanks for posting it on this thread.
Those two heroes deserve the Medal of Honor! I hope that retired Navy SEAL veterans will make sure they get it!
Several accounts say another American was severely injured when the mortar hit the roof of the Annex, killing the 2 ex-Seals. (There are actually 4 substantial buildings there, exactly which was hit I do not know.) Almost all the reports refer to 30 or so Americans leaving from the airport later that morning. Given the evident intensity and duration of the fighting, other injuries would almost seem to be certain.
Could be. Or, the attack on the Consulate was designed to lead the attackers (following the escaping Americans from the Consulate) back to the (supposedly secret location) Annex.
Note that the attackers did not hit the Annex quickly after they hit the Consulate: It took them until after all the Americans had reached the Annex to begin the attack on the Annex.
Um, then what do the planned ambush points show, since these ambush points were in place before the returning Americans?
It appears to be a bit of a stretch to say that there were planned ambush points. I’m not ruling that out, but, the Americans were fighting their way out, against attackers armed with (at that point) light arms including grenades, who would have been quite mobile. So the attackers could easily keep abreast of the Americans.
If the attackers had REALLY planned to set up for an ambush, they could have used heavier weapons, such as IED’s, heavy machine guns, or RPG’s, and the Americans would have been toast. There certainly is no shortage of such weapons in Libya.
The Annex, BTW, unless Google Maps is completely “off”, was actually only about 1000 meters driving distance from the “Consulate”. I do NOT get the impression that the Americans got to the Annex in under a minute...
That all said, I try to keep in mind that this is almost all conjecture, at this point. There are many possibilities. The truth may be something none of us can dream up.
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