Posted on 01/14/2016 4:34:20 AM PST by Kaslin
A new movie that touches upon the election prospects of one female candidate for president debuts this week. Will "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" provoke thousands of angry viewers to march on Hillary Clinton's home with torchlights and pitchforks? Doubtful. The film is somewhat oblique. Hillary Clinton's name is not mentioned. The infamous Susan Rice clips blaming the attack on a video do not appear (though the film does mention, slightly mordantly, that "press reports" are citing a video). Yet even for those coming to the question for the first time, the film very clearly conveys filmmaker Michael Bay's outrage that a tiny band of unbelievably brave Americans was left to fight off a company of al-Qaida-linked terrorists for, yes, 13 hours, while the vast land, sea and air resources of the U.S. military were not sent to their rescue.
Recent history would suggest that "13 Hours" will be a commercial success. Hollywood's anti-war and anti-American films (there have been many) have had lukewarm ("Body of Lies") to dismal ("War, Inc.") receptions. But films portraying American courage and fortitude, especially "Lone Survivor" and "American Sniper," have been huge hits.
As the subtitle suggests, "13 Hours" is the story of the tough men who fight our battles. They are portrayed lovingly in this film. They are men who adore their families, who have each other's backs, and who are careful about when and how they use the force they are so very skilled at deploying. Even after wave upon wave of brutal attacks, these former Navy Seals don't fire reflexively when cars approach the compound or the annex in Benghazi; they wait until they see aggressive moves.
That they risked and in some cases lost their lives was a matter of heroism, not duty. The CIA officer in charge countermanded their effort to leave the CIA annex and head to the consulate, a mile away, when it first came under attack. Twenty-five minutes later, half a dozen men disobeyed and headed to the consulate anyway. The scene there was harrowing. Smoke inhalation is a terrible death.
But the night was young. Apparently, the al-Qaida-linked terrorists were well-briefed on the location of the secret CIA annex, and the fight continued when the contractors retreated to that location. The warriors took up positions on the roof, protecting the 26 people inside. There is the suggestion throughout the movie that some Libyans betrayed their American allies, while others proved reliable. Whether that is evidence of the treachery of the Middle East or just the nature of war is a matter for the viewer to decide.
There are three questions about Benghazi that have never been satisfactorily answered by Clinton or the Obama administration. One: Why was security so inadequate? Two: Why was no military help dispatched as the battle unfolded? And three: Why did the administration lie to the American people about the nature of the attack, blaming an anti-Islam video rather than al-Qaida? This film focuses chiefly on No. 2 -- and rightly so, in my judgment. While the other questions are serious, for me, it has always been the failure to attempt a rescue of Americans under fire that was the most unforgivable and nearly inexplicable aspect of the story.
The administration issued bland denials that any rescue was possible. Yet recently released emails, such as that from Jeremy Bash, aide to then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, to Clinton aides on Sept. 11, 2012, revealed the opposite: "After consulting with General Dempsey, General Ham and the Joint Staff, we have identified the forces that could move to Benghazi. They are spinning up as we speak."
There were F-18s at the Sigonella Naval Air Station in Italy, about a one-hour flight from Benghazi. As Popular Mechanics explained: "Jet warplanes can do more than fight and frighten. They can look at the conditions below. Air Force and Navy warplanes are equipped with targeting systems that pilots use to launch precision strikes and assess the damage after they attack. ... F-18s have LITENING pods ... that can pick out individuals on the ground, day or night, and through clouds. The system can also see laser designators used by troops on the ground, and some reports ... claim the team at Benghazi had such a designator on the roof of the CIA safe house."
For whatever reason, President Obama was not moved enough by the plight of besieged Americans to send in the cavalry. That, more than the post-hoc confection about an anti-Islam Internet video, was the crime, and that is what "13 Hours" depicts unflinchingly.
I met ‘Tonto’ last spring.....
...he came to our little burg and gave a stirring account
That intervening might have blown the lid off of his Muslim Brotherhood-inspired "Arms to ISIS" plot was reason enough.
We .. of some years .. who post so patriotically here in FR grew up with and cut our teeth on John Wayne and the like
Japs were Japs and Krauts were Krauts and they all "killed Joe" and we were gonn'a kill THEM !
If we can inundate our kids with this brand of video ... we might have a chance.
This should have been easy for a Congressional Select Committee to establish.
bttt
Benghazi’s Smoking Gun? Only President Can Give ‘Cross-Border Authority’
https://pjmedia.com/blog/benghazis-smoking-gun-only-president-can-give-%e2%80%98cross-border-authority%e2%80%99/
Thanks.
I have been paying attention to this, but I don’t remember a name or what happened to the CIA officer who ordered the four who died not to go before they went.
And what about the 36 survivors?
I understand they have been threatened not to disclose details of the event. If HRC is not punished for disclosing classified information, why should they?
Everyone is missing the key point.
Why was there a CIA annex nearby? What were they doing there? Where did the weapons they were collecting go?
I cannot believe there wasn’t an inventory of equipment. Where is that, and where are they now?
I know people want to pin this all on Hillary. I never stand that. Che is a small part of this story.
My guess is the equipment left Libya and ended up in Syria, where it eventually ended up in the hands of ISIL.
Someone needs to as Hillary and Obama that question and not stop until it is answered.
Obama and Clinton were willing to sacrifice them too. A bunch of war mongering CIA operators got in the way of their plans. /s of course.
Thank God for the heroes who saved those 36 Americans
He was not "not moved" by the plight of the besieged Americans; he enjoyed the plight of the besieged Americans.
He wanted them to die.
He, and the barbarians who run his teleprompter want the rest of us either dead or in chains.
That to me is the under reported story.Who were the people that were saved? Why have they brave men who saved them never been acknowledged for their actions?Because the Dems want this off the front page and the press is happy to oblige.Disgusting.So a movie maker had to tell their story.Good for him.
Obviously this administration didn’t care about the lives of the Americans, but cared more about the feelings of their best buddies.
That is factual
I hope you're right. My grandkids will see it and they'll hear my take on the disaster from their dad.
“My guess is the equipment left Libya and ended up in Syria, where it eventually ended up in the hands of ISIL.”
Well, there you go again.
Why would a Libyan-based Al Qaeda affiliate, engaged in the Libyan civil war, send munitions 1,000 miles away to their ISIS rivals in Syria? And how would those weapons get to Syria? Please check a map.
This was a Libyan civil war incident. Someone chose favorites and the local, out-of-favor Al Qaeda forces took exception. I believe it’s referred to as blow-back.
1. Where are the shoulder launched anti-air missiles that were staged in Libya?
2. Why were they there in the first place?
3. What happened to Qadaffi’s 143 tons of gold?
4. Is Hildabeast and the Clinton (crime) Foundation willing to submit to an audit?
They were not.
We were.
We paid them for the collection of the arms. What happened to them?
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