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Posted on 10/26/2012 9:53:11 AM PDT by chessplayer
One of the unanswered questions about the terrorist attack on our consulate in Benghazi is why the US military didn’t intervene. Rumors had swirled that the US asked the Libyan government in Tripoli for permission to fly into Benghazi to break up the attack but had been refused, although no one has claimed that on the record. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta put that rumor to rest yesterday by telling reporters that the US never planned to intervene at all, thanks to a lack of intel on the ground:
US military leaders ruled out sending in forces during the attack on an American consulate in Libya last month because of a lack of reliable intelligence, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday.
Although forces were on alert and ready to launch an operation if needed, the US military commander for Africa, General Carter Ham, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, and Panetta all decided against any intervention as they had no clear picture of events unfolding in Benghazi, he said.
“There’s a basic principle here, and the basic principle is that you don’t deploy forces into harm’s way without knowing what’s going on, without having some real-time information about what’s taking place,” Panetta told a news conference.
“And as a result of not having that kind of information, the commander who’s …in that area, General Ham, General Dempsey and I felt very strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation.”
American citizens pay for a military to deal with dangerous crisis situations... if Panetta's people can't handle that, they're useless. And they need to resign.
If true this means the WH and CIA kept Panetta and DoD out of the loop on this operation
This is entirely plausible
Leon’s comments show the WH and Agency he is not going under any bus because he wasn’t driving ... h@ll, he didn’t even have a bus ticket
So in exactly what variety of “3:00 a.m. call” crisis would these bozos have sufficient intel to use our assets, which cost us taxpayers a whole lot, to protect American lives and property? Would they need the product of a months’ long investigation if Russia launched a limited nuke strike at us? What if it was a misfire or launched by rogue elements? What if George W. Bush infilitrated his way to the red button in Moscow and launched the missiles? We’re still not being given the straight story on Benghazi and they’re still supposedly waiting a clearer picture of events from their “investigation.” Amphibious Ready Group in med, units in Sicily and in North Africa. The former seals “lit up” the mortar that took them out! Obviously they took gear with them expecting to get air support at least if they could hold out. How many hours did they last while the WH et. al. watched? The attacks spanned seven hours.
America still produces heros, thank God. And they’re not the folks who assured the world they’d mete out justice against the youtube trailer guy assuring millions of Muslims would view it who otherwise would never have heard of it.
LOVING THESE POLLS!
Sounds like cowardice to me or a lack of leadership. They needed to make a critical decision quickly in an election year. They didn’t have time to wait until after the election to do it. So, they just let these people be cut down. I feel a little sick by all this.
I’m hearing on FOX:
-—The CIA guys asked for help and it was explicitly denied.
-—The CIA guys disobeyed orders and went on the rescue to the consulate.
-—The CIA guys had a laser on the mortar ready for a specter gunship.
-—Obama, Clinton, and Panetta all knew, real time.
I despise anyone who supports Obama. They are simply not American. They are Socialists, or they are insane. They are my mortal enemies.
Leon’s on the clown bus, Barry’s on the short bus.
Weakness appointed to high office.. especially in the military is what democrats do.. SO weak it took them a month to come up with this excuse.. The Libyans are a mob.. all the mercenarys left a good while ago.. Libya has no army..
Panetta lacks intelligence....as in basic intelligence.
He is a tool of the party.
Here's the 'clear picture' - our embassy was under attack. Our people were outnumbered, were calling for backup and would be murdered without help. THAT'S the clear picture.
Maybe Panetta's better at cocktail parties and smoky back rooms with Obama and Putin ...
Petraeus won’t say anything since he was on the engineering of this fiasco. He overlooked the two former SEALS becoming loose cannons and throwing a wrench into the works.
With all the SOF teams in Sigonella already on the airstrip, I’d guess that it was set up to be a false flag to showcase how Obama can properly flex muscle to rescue hotages.
We didn’t save a drowning man, because we didn’t know how deep the water was.
Liars, every damn one of them. Those brave guys were fighting for their lives and they needed back up and what do you political cowards send.....fricking cameras.
Suddenly, we look like the weakest country of cowards on the freaking planet..... and our guys are dead.
“Mr. Panetta, we’re getting killed here!” - CIA
“It depends on what the meaning of the word killed is.” - Leon
Hamm Dempsey fired NOW!
This is yet another tragic example of why members of the Democrat (Socialist) Party — specifically but not limited to obama, Clinton and Panetta — must never, ever again be given control over the military. They have proven time and again they do not have the competence, wisdom or willingness (read, guts) to use military force even when our people and sovereignty are threatened directly by the enemies of liberty.
A caller on Rush gave a play-by-play run down that shreds the lying Panetta.
At some point he will.
At the point when it’s become quite evident to everyone that Obama is going down in flames..........................
Our citizens were being murdered - what more “intel” did they need? I heard some General saying they couldn’t fire indiscriminatley into a crowd of innocents and I say, “Why NOT?”. When we start caring more for the “bystanders” who show up to watch our people get murrdered, than we do for the people, we are lost. If anyone, anywhere dares commit an act of terror/war against us, I say we level the area so even cockroaches won’t survive and promise more to any nation/city/town/$h—hole that dares test us.
You are watching a live video feed of the attack, you have assets on the ground a mile away, and aircraft in the air, but you didn’t have any intelligence? BS
I agree with the basic premise don’t send folks in blind, but the idea we were completely blind is a lie.
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