Why did Benghazi security fall short?

Seattle Times ^ | October 30, 2012 | MICHAEL R. GORDON, ERIC SCHMITT and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

[Cincinatus' Wife]

..............When it came to weapons, the U.S. security team was outgunned. The Americans were equipped with M4 rifles and side arms. But Libya was rife with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, mortars and AK-47s.

Much of the security depended on maintaining a low profile. At one point, Nordstrom, the regional security officer, proposed establishing guard towers, but the State Department rejected that on the grounds that it would make the compound more conspicuous.

There was no doubt, however, that there were many in Benghazi who knew the compound's location. On June 6, a bomb was planted near the American Mission's outer wall, blowing out a 12-foot-wide hole. No one was injured.

On June 11, the lead vehicle of the British ambassador's convoy was hit by an armor-piercing rocket-propelled grenade, wounding a British medic and driver. The British envoy left Benghazi the next day, and the British post in the city was closed June 17.

About the same time, the Red Cross pulled out after it was attacked a second time. "When that occurred, it was apparent to me that we were the last flag flying in Benghazi; we were the last thing on their target list to remove," said Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, the head of the military security team in Tripoli.

In the event of a significant attack, Oliveira noted, the Americans were counting on the February 17th Brigade to rush to their aid, as it had during the June 6 bombing. The embassy had also established a series of "trip wires," classified benchmarks about intelligence on attack preparations or escalating unrest that would prompt the United States to evacuate the Benghazi compound. But the trip wires were not set off.

New security cameras with night-vision capability were shipped to the Benghazi compound but were still sitting in crates when the September attack occurred.....................................

[Tulsa Ramjet]

“Why did the Benghazi Security Fall Short?”

The question should be:

“Why did the Benghazi Attack Response Fall Short?”

For a SECDEF to recommend to the president to not attempt a rescue of an American Ambassador being killed, along with three others is disturbing.

Future scenarios:

Ambassador to Indonesia: “Mr. President, we are being attacked!”
President (looks over at SECDEF who immediately looks up from political poll spreadsheet he was reading and then up to oval office ceiling at stress crack) “Uh,..Mr. Ambassador,..what ever happens after I hang up this phone,..I assure you, we will fix it. Forward!” (puts fist in air)
Communications Officer: “Nice body language sir, especially the fist.”
President: “Did you get that on a pic?”
Communications Officer: “Of course, sir.”
Scheduler: “Mr President,...Soros on line 2. About Wisconsin.”
(President sighs.)