Could assets have reached Benghazi in time to save lives? [Ret. Lt Gen Boykin-Huckabee]]

Huckabee with Mike Huckabee ^ | May 12, 2013 | Ret. Lt Gen Jerry Boykin

[Yosemitest]

Could assets have reached Benghazi in time to save lives?
Insiders assess US reaction to terror attack

[Gritty]

Had the orders been given to SCRAMBLE, I believe from many years of military experience, that they could have been over Benghazi within a maximum of 2 hours, at most.

True.

The problem is, it seems likely there were no aircraft (tankers, AC-130, or fighters) prepped for immediate use or on any sort of ALERT status. It seemed things were "business as usual, ho-hum!". As you know, one does not just jump into a military aircraft, turn the key, and launch without a good deal of preparation and coordination by a number of highly trained people - and none of that happens by accident.

If no air assets were ready - this being the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 and with the entire Middle East aflame - this was a fatal flaw in planning and oversight. Either it is military and political incompetence writ large (that sort of incompetence is not likely within the military community), or it was a deliberate political action taken to not seem "provocative" to our new best buddies, the burgeoning Muslim Brotherhood masters in the region.

The question is, why were we caught "sleeping" when every quick reaction asset in the Mediterranean basin should have been cocked and ready to launch immediately? Intel at all level should have been sounding RED ALERT everywhere all over the Med and in AFRICACOM. Embassies were being attacked all over the Middle East that day.

It's not like nobody knew something serious was going on. Everyone in a position of knowing it, knew it. It was deliberately ignored, and four people died and over thirty more people were left to die in Benghazi for as yet "unknown" reasons.

Somebody needs to swing, and swing high. This was either criminal negligence of the highest order or "giving aid and comfort" to our enemies. In a more sane American period, that used to be known as "treason".

[Yosemitest]

You're telling me

that WE NO LONGER HAVE BOMBERS AND TANKERS STANDING ALERT,

like SAC use to do?

[ripley]

“My reply to your entire post.”

I hope your reply really says you disagree.

(I was describing a nightmare of mine.)

IMHO

[Yosemitest]

I hope you appreciate how long it took me to do this.

May 12, 2013
Could assets have reached Benghazi in time to save lives?
Insiders assess US reaction to terror attack

Huckabee: Joining me now is retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, who is one of the original members of the Army's Delta Force, where he command elite warriors in combat operations.
He also commanded the Army's Green Beret.
He's participated in clandestine operations all over the world,
and NOBODY … knows more about special operations.

General Boykin organized a letter signed by more than 700 Special Operations veterans, asking the House to form a Special Select Committee on Benghazi.

Also with us today, former State Department Senior Advisor, during the Bush Administration,
and author of the forthcoming book "Smart Power: Between Diplomacy And War", Christian Whiton.

(applause)

Huckabee: General, I want to get right to … a burning question.
The Administration and military officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said
there were no assets that could have been moved, in place, for a rescue operation, to at least have intervened.
Is that … Is that a realistic, honest and an implausible answer?

Lt. Gen. Boykin: Governor, I don't believe so.
You know, when we created the Delta Force and Seal Team 6 back in the late 70s early 80s, to be able to respond to just this kind of thing.
And then in the early 90s we put in extremists forces in every theater, and their primary target was Embassies.
Then we have the 6th Fleet out in the Mediterranean, and we have a variety of other assets all across the Southern literals.
To say "We couldn't respond", I find incredible. Shame on us, but I don't believe that.

Huckabee: Well the … some, of the answers we that it might put some of these folks in danger.
I thought that's what they trained to do is to go into danger.

Lt. Gen. Boykin: Governor, when we stood these forces up, they were designed to rescue people, we knew that would never have all the intelligence we need.
We knew we would go at a higher risk, but it was an issue of "American Values" .
It was the value of "never leaving a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy."
When you are under attack, we're going to "be there."
That was the whole point of it, and so, to say that "we didn't know enough to put them in there", I don't buy that.
I think that that is incredible and I think that somebody needs to be taken to task over that.

Huckabee: Realistically, how long would it have likely taken to have put somebody on the ground,
or even put overhead, uh … just flying an F-16 at low altitude to scare the daylights out of somebody?
How long would that likely have taken in Benghazi?

Lt. Gen. Boykin: Yeah Governor, I thank that, first of all, we could have gotten an aircraft there in probably 3 to 4 hours.
Ah … and that certainly would have helped with the second attack.
Now to get boots on the ground, I think that we could have gotten them there in 5 to 6 hours.
If we had really scrambled, thrown caution to the wind, and made an all out effort to get boots on the ground to SAVE THESE PEOPLE,
if we couldn't save them, to bring their bodies home.

Huckabee: Alright, Christian, from the Department of State prospective, talk about the protocol that happens within the Department when the Embassy is under attack.
Who makes the call to the military to say "Help us. Come get us. Do something."?

Christian Whiton: Well it's primarily a military decision.
There are only 2 civilians in the chain of command, the President and the Secretary of Defense.
But you have something called "Chief of Mission Authority", where the Ambassador in a country is the head of all U.S. Government employees there.
Of course that "Chief of Mission" was incapacitated and his deputy was denied permission to act.
So really a breakdown from the beginning, but we don't really know who gave those "Stand Down Orders", although all the arrows seem to be getting closer and closer to the Obama White House.


Huckabee: Christian, are you concerned that there is a concerted effort to make this seem like it was just an unfortunate incident,
and that nobody really is responsible, that it is just one of those days that everything went wrong?

Christian Whiton: Well sure, if you look at Jay Carney's performance yesterday as the White House's spokesman, and where he explained away how … you know, the talking points that explained away that this was terrorism, this was Ansar al Sharia, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Libya,
this was clearly an attack on America's Ambassador by terrorists and Islamists, how that got changed, how he just tried to explain this all way.
Yes, clearly there's a coverup here, and clearly, just a fiction being written.I think the press, hopefully, is catching on to it, though.

Huckabee: Talk about what probably happens within the State Department and the people who work there, when they see people above them running for cover,
and essentially saying "well if there was any blame, it was those folks down there at the lower levels."
Does that lessen the confidence of our people there at the State Department, and make them thank that "Hey, I'm on my own down here." ?

Christian Whiton: I think so, and here's the interesting thing, that if you look at people like Mr. Hicks that was testifying before Congress, these are not people who you would presume that are hostile to the Obama Administration.
The foreign service, the career guild of diplomats that exists at the State Department is naturally Democratic and left-leaning.
These people never thought they would be at a hearing that's making the Democratic Administration squirm.
So to take that step, they really feel upset.
They really feel that they're being thrown under the bus by politicos at the White House.

Huckabee: When we come back, I'm going to talk to you both, more about what … what we can expect to see unfold for the next few months, and perhaps even years.
This could be a while before all the layers of the onion come forth.
Ah, General, and Christian Whiton, stay with us. Well be back with more.

TAPE OF MR. HICKs DEPOSITION TO CONGRESS PLAYS:
Mr. Hicks, how did the personnel act to being told to "Stand down" ?

Mr. Hicks: They were furious.


Huckabee: Back with General and Mr. Chistian Whiton, former State Department Official,
General, they were told to "Stand down". They were told not to go in .
I want you to describe "WHO has the authority, to tell that … uh … contingent … to "Stand down" ?
And HOW high up is that order likely to have come from?

Lt. Gen. Boykin: Well, that's WHY we need more hearings, Governor.
First of all, to the order to actually engage troops in a rescue operation, has to come from the President,
unless it's a military facility, and then the Commander has certain authority.
But it has to come from the President, to put troops in harm's way.
Now in that case, ah because we don't know enough of the details, that could have come from the Commander of the Africa Command, that told them to "Stand Down".
But play that all the way out.
WHO told him "Not to allow them to" ?
This hearing, and I applaud Mr. Issa, but this hearing has left us with an awful lot of questions that have to be answered in subsequent hearings.
Because the question you asked IS A QUESTION that needs to be answered by a responsible people.


Huckabee: And Christian, if these request were coming OUT OF Benghazi, and also out of Tripoli, because that's where Mr. Hicks was saying, you know, "We want to go."
Ah, his response was that personnel there wanted to be turned loose to respond and do what they could.
And when they were told they could not, they were furious.
Does that sort of indicate what your experience was with people who are career born service people,
that … when it comes down to it, that they are Americans First, and their ideology goes out the window.


Christian Whiton: Well I think, certainly, and if you look at some of the comments, some of the military folks,
the CIA folks were highly impressed with the diplomats were willing to take risk to help rescue, or at least tend to their comrades.
So this really was shocking, and you know, where did it come from?
If you look back at the White House in particular,
Denis McDonough is now the White House Chief of Staff, was at that time, the Deputy of National Security Counsel,
pulled together a meeting along with Ben Rhodes [Benjamin J. Rhodes] and others,
which is probably where this, where, uh,
you know, I think we don't have the proof yet, but we need to get it,
but where some of these very bad and dangerous decisions were made, and where the coverup really had its genesis.

Huckabee: And we don't know where the President really was.
He had one phone call that night, but otherwise, no photos of him in the Situation Room, no indication,
no uh, even a White House Official coming and saying that the President is monitoring this from the Situation Room, or from the Oval Office, or even from the Residence.
We have no ideal what his engagement and involvement was.

Now General, a lot of accusations have come from Democrats saying that this is all about politics, just to embarrass the President.
You're a military guy, and you lead an effort … 700 Special Forces people to sign a letter.
Was that a political statement on your part and those of the 700 Special Forces individuals?

Lt. Gen. Boykin: No Governor. It wasn't.
Um, these people are people who have spent their military careers preparing for and launching operations to rescue Americans, or to recover their bodies.
Ah, it only took us a few days to get those 700 retired and operative Special Forces people, because their passion runs deep.
There is NO WAY that we could have watched 4 diplomats die, without launching a military attack, unless something broke down in the system,
and I think what we will find ultimately is, that the decision making system broke down.
But we feel passionately about it, and we don't care about the memo that was changed.
We don't care about what Susan Rice said.
What we care about is "WHY did we leave 4 Americans on their own?" because there's a message to every man, woman, in the future that we put on in harm's way, that if you get int a tight spot, we're not going to come and get you.
And remember this, William Tecumseh Sherman said to Ulysses S. Grant in a letter in 1864,
"I knew where ever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight spot, you would come, if alive."
That's a national ethos.

Huckabee: I understand that there's a lot of anger within the military and within the Intelligence Community, feeling like they had in essence been blamed for everything for the rewriting of the memos.
Does this mean that at some point, these folks are going to break their silence, come forward, and start telling the story,
because they want to preserve their honor, and their dignity, and especially I think, these CIA guys, who I respect so much, because they … they put their lives on the line.
They risk everything, and they don't get the opportunity to go home and tell their families what they've done for America, today.
And they're being blamed for all of this.
Will some of them start breaking and telling their stories?

Lt. Gen. Boykin: I think the next set of hearings need to start bringing in several set of people, the military people as well, and some of the CIA people, and ask these questions as you asked.
You see, I have spent 2 years at the CIA. I'm tired of seeing the CIA get beat up.
They seem to be the whipping boy in this, because they live under such a cloud of secrecy that … you can't know what's going on there.
But these are good people. They're honorable people.
The CIA would never would have left those people behind.
I … I know them too well.
But there's got to be more hearings, and we're calling for a bi-partisan commission with subpoena power, to bring in these military and CIA people, and get to the bottom of this.

Huckabee: Well I hope it happens.
General, thank you very much for your prospective.
Christiasn, for your's, both of you having first hand knowledge of what happens behind the scene.

(Applause)

I suggest you copy this and save it to a notepad, before it gets deleted.

[Cap Huff]

Wow! That is far more than anyone could have hoped for. I really do appreciate the time that must have taken. I’ve tried making short transcripts and I know they are not easy.

I never did get the link to load. It may be my computer, but almost all video links work for me. I also wonder whether it may be because I live outside the U.S. Some web sites don’t allow me to view some content - not many but a once in a while.

Again thanks. That was far above and beyond a freeper’s duty.

[Yosemitest]

Right mouse click.
Click source.
Find copy and paste the comment to a notepad and name it what you want.

[Yosemitest]

It could be living outside the U.S., or it could be your internet download upload speed.
I use Opera Web Browser.

[Cap Huff]

Yes, I saved it and then read it. I’ve been focused more on the before and after attack aspects of the scandal, and I think this is an excellent rundown on the potential “rescue” phase.

I use firefox and have only rarely had video link problems. I just might try opera. I won’t touch IE.

[Yosemitest]

You might want to read and copy comment #39 of another thread, if you haven't read it already.

[Old Sarge]

Nightmare? You see through a glass clearly.

As opposed to the pollyana’s of the eGOP, who can’t wait for Lucy to yank the football away once again.

[Yosemitest]

And these will help.
In short, the GOP is full of VILE members who'll sell us out in a heartbeat!

Here are the ones that I know about.
What do we do when our side is full of TRAITORS?
I submit the following for proof.

"The Republican leadership did not allow the amendment to be considered. "
Here's the Republicans Leadership Internet Page.

Republican Leadership


John Boehner
Speaker of the House





Eric Cantor
Majority Leader





Kevin McCarthy
Majority Whip





Cathy McMorris Rodgers
House Republican Conference Chair





Greg Walden
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman





Lynn Jenkins
House Republican Conference Vice Chair





Virginia Foxx
House Republican Conference Secretary





James Lankford
Republican Policy Committee Chairman




Click on the links to tell them what you think!

Check out this link, "Senate Republicans Willfully and Knowingly Lie to Their Constituents (vote to fund Obamacare)".

The following Senators voted to pass the continuing resolution even though it still funds Obamacare.
• Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
  
  
• Sen. JohnBarrasso (R-WY)
  
  
• Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
  
  
• Sen. John N. Boozman (R-AR)
  
  
• Sen. Clarence Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
  
  
• Sen. Daniel R. Coats (R-IN)
  
  
• Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
  
  
• Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
  
  
• Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
  
  
• Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
  
  
• Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
  
  
• Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND)
  
  
• Sen. John “Johnny” Isakson (R-GA)
  
  
• Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE)
  
  
• Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
  
  
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
  
  
• Sen. Jefferson “Jeff” Sessions (R-AL)
  
  
• Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
  
  
• Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
  
  
• Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
  
  
If any one of those senators tells you they did not vote to fund Obamacare or, in fact, voted against funding Obamacare,
they are being mendacious.
They may have voted for Ted Cruz’s amendment,
but after it failed,
they still knowingly and willingly voted to fund Obamacare.
And now they are lying to their constituents who call them out on it.

Many of these same Senators are also supporting separate legislation to foist a massive tax increase on the American people.

And let's not forget Sen. John McCain, one of Conservatives worst enemies, saying 'I don't understand' GOP filibuster on guns.

Sen. John McCain

Thanks to Cyropaedia for this:

And the Gang of 8 will try to tell you that this is just one more reason we need to pass amnesty, -NOW.

[onyx]

PREFECT ©

[onyx]

Wake Up America!

It's essential to Keep Free Republic Alive!

PLEASE Contribute Today, Monthly if you can.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITHOUT FREE REPUBLIC????

[Gritty]

You're telling me that WE NO LONGER HAVE BOMBERS AND TANKERS STANDING ALERT,like SAC use to do?

That is correct. Most of the bombers and tankers were taken off ALERT in the '90s, after the Soviet Union fell. Our enemies were gone, right?

However, it is possible to bring forces up to a rapid launch ALERT status on most bases on a case by case basis. But it does require prior planning and positioning the assets ahead of time.

For example, Sigonella is just across the pond from Benghazi (and Egypt, and Tunisia, and Algeria), and could and should have had air assets set up to go and support forward operations in the area, like AC-130s and maybe tankers. Apparently Rota, Spain had one of the assault teams ready to go, and there was a team in Croatia that could have launched as well. What air assets were available in the region is unknown, but Aviano certainly had fighter assets that could be easily set up and used. There are other satisfactory bases (Italian, NATO, but with US basing agreements) even further south in Italy from which aircraft could have been staged and put on alert with a little planning and effort. Apparently, there was none of that done we know of.

Of course, maybe there were assets ready to go but they were refused launch. That contradicts what Panetta and Dempsey have publicly claimed, but it is quite possible there were assets which they didn't want to talk about available close by, so they denied they were there because of diplomatic or security reasons.

Or, maybe the President just ordered them to lie their azzes off about it to cover His?

Nevertheless, what should have been possible was never done, Those unfortunates left naked in Benghazi were left to fight their own way out of the deadly trap and find their own way home with whatever help could be hastily scraped up in Tripoli by Mr. Hicks and his heroic embassy staff. They are darned lucky most escaped with their lives.

"Shameful" does not describe what happened here.

[superfries]

Is there not a carrier in the Med? Didn’t we use to have one there all the time?

[Yosemitest]

Thanks for the info.

[Yosemitest]

According to Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, Retired:

Huckabee: General, I want to get right to … a burning question.
The Administration and military officials, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said
there were no assets that could have been moved, in place, for a rescue operation, to at least have intervened.
Is that … Is that a realistic, honest and an implausible answer?

Lt. Gen. Boykin: Governor, I don't believe so.
You know, when we created the Delta Force and Seal Team 6 back in the late 70s early 80s, to be able to respond to just this kind of thing.
And then in the early 90s we put in extremists forces in every theater, and their primary target was Embassies.
Then we have the 6th Fleet out in the Mediterranean, and we have a variety of other assets all across the Southern literals.
To say "We couldn't respond", I find incredible. Shame on us, but I don't believe that.

But I can't confirm that.

[SilverMine]

Now that hillary, by letting the former SEALS get slaughtered, has proved her hatred for the US military, she has all but assured her nomination in 2014.