http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2950889/posts
September 14, CIA Chief Petraeus Tells Congress Benghazi Attack Started As Movie Protest
Pat Dollard ^ | 10/17/2012 | Pat Dollard
Posted on Friday, October 26, 2012 11:19:12 PM by vbmoneyspender
The attack that killed four Americans in the Libyan consulate began as a spontaneous protest against the film “The Innocence of Muslims,” but Islamic militants who may have links to Al Qaeda used the opportunity to launch an attack, CIA Director David Petreaus told the House Intelligence Committee today according to one lawmaker who attended a closed-door briefing.
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House Intel committee, said Petraeus laid out “a chronological order exactly what we felt happened, how it happened, and where we’re going in the future.”
“In the Benghazi area, in the beginning we feel that it was spontaneous – the protest- because it went on for two or three hours, which is very relevant because if it was something that was planned, then they could have come and attacked right away,” Ruppersberger, D-Md., said following the hour-long briefing by Petraeus. “At this point it looks as if there was a spontaneous situation that occurred and that as a result of that, the extreme groups that were probably connected to al Qaeda took advantage of that situation and then the attack started.”
Post I made in response to thread (now for documentation on TM):
US Troops Would Not Have Been Painting Targets on Ground Unless There Was Air Support Overhead
ALSO, [as refutation of Panetta excuses] Lt Col Tony Shaffer was interviewed today on Fox "Happening Now."
INTERVIEWER: ...One of the justifications for not sending in a AC130 gunship, which can put an incredible amount of lead on the ground. One reason for not doing that is because they didn't know whether the folks out on the street were friendly or not friendly...."
Shaffer: Let me hit that in two parts. You should have done something. You should have flown F16s at full afterburner to disperse people, if nothing else. And, more importantly, according to the information that came out today, these CIA guys did have---I can't go into detail---ways of identifying where the good guys were. There's ways to see, on the ground, where the good guys are. And more importantly, these guys had laser designators....
Also, Lt Col Tony Shaffer: "Let me be very clear on this. Panetta is wrong, and let me defend my brothers in the CIA. It was not CIA who said "no," CIA did not deny this (help). Panetta said something telling yesterday---horrific---"It didn't fit within our 24-hour planning capability." Are you kidding me?"
*****************************
The exact quote is even worse, but it is not attributed to Panetta: [All articles pig-tailing off Attkisson's report omit this quote]
The State Department, White House and Pentagon declined to say what military options were available. A White House official told CBS News that, at the start of the attack, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta "looked at available options, and the ones we exercised had our military forces arrive in less than 24 hours, well ahead of timelines laid out in established policies."
"Horrific" is spot on. Tony Shaffer is the only person in all of media that I have heard pick up on the statement by an unnamed "WH official." Lawyer-ly weasel words if I have ever heard any.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another point Tony Shaffer made, not mentioned elsewhere:
"One last inconvenient point. The ambassador was missing at that point in time. You would have thought everything that could be done should be done to figure out what was going on by the fact that he was not known to be dead yet. These guys were in a firefight trying to recover people, and someone made a decision to sit on their hands."
Thinking back on Petreaeus..and how masterfully he did work with Sunni jihadists in Iraq to bring about some level of cooperation during the insurgency in Iraq...might be a clue to how he could have been lull by the so called Arabist Mind. Many liberals and conservatives have been lulled by it. Our military use to use a book called; ‘The Arab Mind’ in the navy...required reading. I have it on my bookshelf. I am sure it is banned by now...lol.
Anyway..it appears that Petraeus is most interested in his own future...making lots of money in cushy positions that only butt kissing politicians and crony capitalists can bring. I pray that our country’s citizens wake up in time to save this country from traitors like him and Mr. Obama.
He speaks...