mortar
Posted on 10/29/2012 2:41:51 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
If Obama ordered the military to “secure our personnel,” where is the order?
Ambassador to Libya was killed in our own consulate in Benghazi on the night of September 11. For the next six weeks, President Obama repeated the same talking point: The morning after the attack, he ordered increased security in our embassies in the region.
Suddenly, on the campaign trail in Denver on October 26, he changed his story. “The minute I found out what was happening . . . I gave the directive,” he said, “to make sure we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to do. I guarantee you everybody in the CIA and military knew the number-one priority was making sure our people are safe.”
Notice the repeated use of the present tense, implying that he gave the order during the attack. Mr. Obama met with his national-security team, including the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at 5:00 p.m. Washington time. For over an hour, the consulate staff had been constantly reporting that they were under assault by terrorists and Ambassador Chris Stevens was missing in action. In the White House, group-think leads to the mistaken assumption that the attackers are a spontaneous mob.
............[SNIP]............
Surely it is in the president’s best interests to release a copy of his order, which the military would have sent to hundreds in the chain of command. And if the president did not direct the NSC “to do whatever we need to do,” then who was in charge? When the American ambassador is attacked and remains out of American hands for over seven hours as a battle rages — and our military sends no aid — either the crisis-response system inside the White House is incompetent, or top officials are covering up.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Lack of Strike Force Impeded Benghazi Response "As U.S. Africa Command waited for any order to rescue Americans on Sept. 11 at the besieged consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, it was missing a key unit that the Pentagon gives every regional four-star commander — an emergency strike force.
The new command’s lack of such a unit is another piece in the unfolding Benghazi timeline that shows an overriding theme: As radical Islamic extremism swelled in the chaotic coastal city, U.S. security assets in Libya diminished................."
I have a question. This attack was on the embassy. Several reasons have been put forth as to why, BUT, the terrorists were firing on the annex with a gun that killed Tyrone Woods. C Herradge, of FOX, says that gun has a plate that has to be set in the ground in order to use the gun. She also said she had been told that plate has to be set in the daytime, which means they determined that they were going to be firing on not just the embassy but also the annex many hours before they attacked the embassy.
How does that square up?
Also, how did all those people get to the annex and what finally made the attack on the annex to stop?
...the only fog around is in Odungo’s head
Indeed!
mortar
So what are you saying? There is nothing to setting the plate? You could do it blind folder? or it does take some doing?:)
First question.....WHY was Stevens in Benghazi with NO security except Sean Smith???? And on 9-11 when the consulate had already been hit twice!!!
it takes time to get the range (set up)....but there were several at different locations, and they were moved....plus RPG’s
....might be another story there that won't be out until after THE ELECTION (think gun running)
This statement by Obama is his biggest mistake in the cover-up. I think it’s going to turn out to be an absolute LIE that he issued a directive. Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen until after the election.
That doesn't seem right. I'm pretty sure a typical infantry-portable mortar can be set up day or night. OTOH it's very helpful to conduct a survey of the target prior to and during the siting of a mortar in order to improve the accuracy of the targeting. The survey is more easily conducted during the day.
The ABSENCE of security implies Obama-the-Undocumented
ordered the hit on the Ambassador.
[”no loose ends” for Traitor Obama’s weapons transfer
to al Qaeda, of 20000 MANPADS to take out
all American jets in the future].
bfl
Who issued the order to “Stand Down” ?????
I have a question or two also. Why did the terrorists go to the second location? Was there some objective not reached at the first location, something they wanted (like maybe a live hostage?)
“In the White House, group-think leads to the mistaken assumption that the attackers are a spontaneous mob.”
Incidentally, in Newspeak, the word “spontaneous” has been drafted into new service. It now means “we didn’t see it coming.” And meanwhile, the word “investigation” is seeing use where once the word “stonewalling” was employed.
CROSS-BORDER AUTHORITY.
Everything I have read and seen so far is still confirming my initial thinking on the matter, going way back to my days as a NavSpecWar officer who took a SEAL det to Beirut a long time ago.
Once the alarm is sent from Benghazi, dozens of HQs are notified and are in the loop in real time, including AFRICOM and EURCOM, both located in Germany.
Without waiting for orders, they begin planning and executing rescue operations, including getting air support over Benghazi ASAP. But one thing they CANNOT DO without explicit orders from the POTUS is cross an international border. That is the big "red line."
All POTUS has to do is NOT grant cross-border authority, and the entire rescue (already in progress) must stop in its tracks. Ships can loiter on station, but planes fall out of the sky, so they must be redirected to an air base (Sigonella Sicily) to await the POTUS decision on granting CBA. If it never comes, the men in Behghazi must rely only on assets already "in country" in Libya, such as the Tripoli QRF and the Predators.
(And possibly AC-130s that might already have been in Libya: they were last year, but their location on 9-11-2012 is unknown. If they were "in country" but were prevented from firing, that is another situation.)
So if at the 5pm DC time meeting with Panetta and Biden, Obama said, "No outside military action," meaning no CBA will be granted, then THAT IS IT. Case closed.
That constitutes "standing orders" all the way down the chain of command via Panetta to Ham and the subordinate commands trying to rescue the men in Benghazi.
If Obama then goes upstairs to the family quarters to watch TV or sleep, or otherwise makes himself "unavailable," then his last standing orders will stand until he changes them, even if he goes to sleep until the morning of 9-12. Nobody in the chain of command below him can countermand his "standing orders" not to send military forces from outside of Libya into Libyan air space.
Nobody.
Personally, I think he left "no outside miltary intervention, no cross-border authority" standing orders, and then he went to bed. Damn him to hell.
(And to me, the most damning aspect of all is that Obama went to bed while his Ambassador was still missing and presumed kidnapped by Al Queda. Ambassador Stevens might have been on a Youtube video pleading for his life, ready to get the Nick Berg/Danny Pearl "intro to jihad" treatment, and Obama WENT TO BED to rest up for his much more important fund raiser in Las Vegas!)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.