Free Republic

Panetta: Obama Absent Night of Benghazi Daniel Halper February 7, 2013 12:05 PM Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testified this morning on Capitol Hill that President Barack Obama was absent the night four Americans were murdered in Benghazi on September 11, 2012: Panetta said that Obama left operational details, including knowledge of what resources were available to help the Americans under siege, "up to us." In fact, Panetta says that the night of 9/11, he did not communicate with a single person at the White House. The attack resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Panetta said...

Former Pacific Fleet chief: We need full disclosure on Benghazi — now POSTED AT 9:31 AM ON OCTOBER 30, 2012 BY ED MORRISSEY Retired Admiral James A. Lyons likely pulled few punches as commander in chief of the US Pacific Fleet during his career … and he hasn’t started pulling punches now, either. In a blistering column at The Washington Times, the former commander blasts the lack of action from the US when the administration learned our consulate in Benghazi had come under attack, writing that “courage was lacking” that might have saved at least some of the four American...

For the first time the Obama administration has explicitly accused China’s military of hacking into computer systems of the U.S. government and its defense contractors. "The accusations relayed in the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress on Chinese military capabilities were remarkable in their directness," writes David Sanger of The New York Times.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Let's get to Benghazi.  Let's pick up where we left off yesterday.  Let's go to the audio sound bites starting at number nine.  Andrea Mitchell last night on the NBC Nightly News gave a report about the new hearings this week on the Benghazi attacks.  The hearings will feature testimony by the whistleblowers who say essentially there was a cover-up of what really happened.  You'll hear Hillary in this bite.  In fact, the whole thing is told through the prism of Hillary Clinton and how the Republicans are attacking her.  That's the focus of Andrea Mitchell's report...

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has offered up two contradictory explanations why there was no military operation to rescue U.S. officials who were under attack in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. During an October 2012 press briefing, Panetta claimed he was lacking real-time information at the time, and as a result of not having this information, he felt he couldn't send the FAST platoons, and other forces that were deployed in the region, into "harm's way" in "that situation". Hence, he made the decision not to send the forces to Benghazi. However, during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services...

Full title: Sean Smith’s Mom: Obama Didn’t Follow-Up on Personal Promise; Asks Congress: ‘Please, Please Help Me Find Out Who is Responsible’ (CNSNews.com) - Patricia Smith--the mother of Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, who was murdered by terrorists in Benghazi--says that President Barack Obama and other administration officials did not follow-up on promises they made to her personally when she traveled to Washington, D.C. last September to meet the return to the United States of her son’s casket. Mrs. Smith says she wants to know why her son and the others at the State Department compound in Benghazi on Sept....

Despite his 2008 campaign promise to close the U.S. government's detention center for suspected terrorists at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, President Barack Obama's administration last week announced plans to spend $195 million on renovation and new construction there—strongly implying that the nation’s taxpayers can expect to pay to imprison the center's 166 inmates, 86 of whom have been cleared of wrongdoing, for many years to come. Initially, on Wednesday, General John F. Kelly, Commander of the U.S. Southern Command, requested $150 million to $170 million for renovations to the prison complex, including $99 million for two barracks facilities, $12 million for...

CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson on Tuesday night reported that the Obama administration has turned over documents relating to the Benghazi terrorist attack to the Senate Intelligence Committee. She made a number of revelations that don’t bode well for the White House via her official Twitter account. “One source who viewed the docs says someone in federal agency ‘press shop’ was involved in changing the talking points to remove al Qaeda,” Attkisson wrote. She also reported that an “official familiar with the docs” said there were advanced warnings in the days leading up to the attack, including ones that...

The real war against women is the announced plan of the Obama administration, using outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta as the fall guy, to assign women for the first time in American history to fight our nation’s enemies in military ground combat. That’s real war, with real guns, real bullets and real deaths. This war doesn’t involve only women who have volunteered to serve in our military. It’s a real war against all 18-year-old American girls, because for the first time in our nation’s history they will be required to sign up for the draft and be ready for...

Who’s Minding The Military?: Obama abandons his post by Daniel Clark If outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s testimony on the Benghazi attack is to be believed, President Obama abandoned his post as Commander-in-Chief, even as the lives of ambassador Chris Stevens and several others hung in the balance. Panetta met with Obama and Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, around 5 o’clock on the day of the attack, which would continue until about seven hours later. He says the president told the two of them, “to do everything we needed to do to try to protect...

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says Hillary Clinton inspired his decision to allow women in combat. “And in many ways, I have to tell you, it was her inspiration that encouraged me to move forward to be able to bring down the last barriers for women in the Department of Defense and to give them the ability to have a chance to engage in combat. I thank you for that inspiration,” Panetta told Clinton at a Pentagon ceremony on Thursday. …

Of all of the characteristics one might ascribe to Susan Rice, prescience is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. Surprisingly however, five years ago she said something that demonstrated a momentary clarity of vision that is staggering. In a March 2008 interview she said the following: “Clinton hasn’t had to answer the phone at 3:00 in the morning, and yet she attacked Barack Obama for not being ready. They’re both not ready to have that 3 AM phone call.” If the events immediately following Benghazi showed Ambassador Rice to be a hapless marionette of the administration, the...

(CNSNews.com) – The White House isn’t saying where President Barack Obama was, what he did or whom he spoke to between 5:30 p.m. Sept. 11, 2012—when he finished a meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, which took place while the Benghazi terrorist attacks were unfolding—and 11:26 p.m. that night, which is approximately the time former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed in the attacks.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced today he would extend certain benefits to the same-sex partners of U.S military service members. Panetta's statement reads as follows: “Seventeen months ago, the United States military ended the policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” We have implemented the repeal of that policy and made clear that discrimination based on sexual orientation has no place in the Department of Defense. “At the time of repeal, I committed to reviewing benefits that had not previously been available to same-sex partners based on existing law and policy. It is a matter of fundamental equity that we...

A new administration policy? Barack Obama disarmed the US Marines at the Inaugural parade this year. Dishonored and disarmed: Bolts are clearly missing from these Marine rifles during President Obama’s inauguration parade. This is an unmistakable insult to the honor of the Marine Corps ... It’s not the first time the Obama Administration disarmed US Marines at an event. In March 2012, US Marines were told to leave their weapons outside the tent during Leon Panetta’s speech in Afghanistan.

We all remember when Bill Clinton argued that it all depends on what the meaning of 'is' is. We were all disgusted that the office of the President had become so low that we were deciphering legalistic terms and arguing about sex acts. Oh for the good ole days. President Obama's disregard for the truth has made Bill Clinton seem like a novice. His statements are always riddled with inconsistency. Many could easily have been dissected with a curious media, but that hasn't happen. Very few people can lie as well. Leon Panetta testified yesterday before congress that the President...

Finally, we have the answer, thanks to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. In his reluctant Senate testimony, he provided the missing piece of the puzzle: The commander in chief was MIA. The coverup was created to protect his absence. According to Panetta, President Obama checked in with his military team early on during the attack, then checked out for the rest of the night. The next day, we already knew, he blamed the video maker and flew to Las Vegas for a campaign event. Meanwhile, half a world away, Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans had been slaughtered by Islamists....

While the NBC and CBS morning shows on Friday both covered troubling Thursday testimony from outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that revealed President Obama's lack of engagement during the Benghazi terrorist attack, ABC's Good Morning America completely ignored the story. In addition, none of the networks mentioned the testimony on their Thursday evening newscasts.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testified this morning on Capitol Hill that President Barack Obama was absent the night four Americans were murdered in Benghazi on September 11, 2012:Panetta said, though he did meet with Obama at a 5 o'clock prescheduled gathering, the president left operational details, including knowledge of what resources were available to help the Americans under siege, "up to us." In fact, Panetta says that the night of 9/11, he did not communicate with a single person at the White House. The attack resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. [snip],a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/petraeus-and-panetta-speak-not-president_659902.html">(As Bill Kristol)...

Can you say 'Dereliction of Duty'? So Senator Ted Cruz (TP-R, Texas) is the man who FINALLY got to the bottom of what the White House/MSM have worked so hard -for months- to obfuscate: yesterday the GOP risingsoaring star forced Leon Panetta to admit in sworn testimony that SoS Hillary Clinton was simply not available on the day the Benghazi consulate was attacked... nowhere to be found. Yes, the US Secretary of Defense had ZERO contact with US Secretary of State Clinton until long after four American heroes were dead. Where the hell was she all day, partying with Huma?...

The United States is at risk of becoming a second-rate power if automatic budget cuts go into effect, plunging the U.S. armed forces into the most significant readiness crisis they’ve faced in more than a decade, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Thursday. Panetta, who is retiring soon from his post, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that if the reductions are allowed to stand he would have to throw the country’s national defense strategy “out the window.” But Panetta also assured lawmakers the Pentagon would take the steps necessary to deal with possible threats in the Persian Gulf region after...

(CNSNews.com) - Retired Army Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin--formerly commander of U.S. Special Forces Command and deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence—told CNSNews.com that, if it had been asked, the Defense Department could have sent a plane to Libya on Sept. 11, 2012, to transport a rescue team of U.S. security personnel that instead ended up taking a chartered private plane from Tripoli to Benghazi that night. “There is no question that we could have moved an airplane in there and we could have also put boots on the ground at the embassy,” Gen. Boykin told CNSNews.com. “State should have...

Today's hearing on Benghazi is just sad. We have the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the outgoing Secretary of Defense testifying to the Senate hearing that even though it was 9/11, who everyone and their mother understood is the anniversary of the worst attack on American soil...even though, due in no small part to Obama's actions, Libya had become a hotbed of al-Qaeda activity, AND even though the ambassador to Libya had sent warning of impending threats, they did nothing to ensure the security of the embassy and our citizens. Their excuse? “The United States military is...

Panetta being questioned by Congress regarding Benghzi.

Just days before he leaves office, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is recommending military pay be limited, effectively decreasing troop salaries next year. Panetta will recommend to Congress that military salaries be limited to a 1% increase in 2014. The Pentagon has calculated that the Labor Department's 2014 Employment Cost Index is expected to be above 1% but wants to still cut back on pay because of "budget uncertainties," a department official told CNN. In 2013, a 1.7% increase was approved, based on the index, which has been the basis for military pay for the last several years. Three Pentagon officials...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials say Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is poised to extend some benefits to the same-sex partners of military members. The policy change would come about 16 months after the Pentagon repealed its ban on openly gay service. Officials say Panetta has not made a final decision on which benefits will be included, but the Pentagon is likely to allow same-sex partners to have access to the on-base commissary and other military subsidized stores, as well as health and welfare programs.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says it would “really be a shameful and irresponsible act” for Congress to allow sequestration to happen. “We have to prepare for it, because, you know, there are members up on the Capitol Hill that are saying, ‘Oh no, we're gonna stand back and let sequester happen,’” Panetta said in an interview aired Sunday on NBC’s "Meet the Press." “Let me tell you: If sequester happens, it is gonna badly damage the readiness of the United States of America. We have the most powerful military force on the face of the earth right now.” If sequester...

Panetta: Iranian Threat Spreads By JULIAN E. BARNES and ADAM ENTOUS In an exclusive interview with the Wall Street Journal Thursday, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta sited illicit arms trafficking by Iran for what he called a "dangerous escalation" of tensions. WSJ's Julian Barnes shares his take-aways from the exit interview. WASHINGTON—Defense Secretary Leon Panetta accused Iran's paramilitary force of an intensified campaign to destabilize the Middle East by smuggling antiaircraft weapons to its militant allies. Iran's export of so-called manpads—antiaircraft missiles that can be carried by a single person—represent what Mr. Panetta called a dangerous escalation. "There is no...

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday that whether they are male or female "everyone is entitled to a chance" to become a combat soldier in a military that will now adopt "gender netural" standards. “If members of our military can meet the qualifications for a job--and let me be clear, we’re not talking about reducing the qualifications for a job--if they can meet the qualifications for the job then they should have the right to serve,” Panetta said at a Pentagon press conference. The Defense Department announced today that it would rescind its 1994 policy restricting women

Military-readiness advocate Elaine Donnelly warns that the Obama administration’s decision to put women in ground-combat roles amounts to “social engineering to achieve a political end in the name of diversity.” She adds that the policy shift means “lives could be lost unnecessarily, not just women, but men.” Donnelly’s organization, the Center for Military Readiness, released a 42-page report earlier this week exploring the unintended consequences of putting women on the front lines. “It will do great harm to women in the military, especially those who will find themselves in the infantry—something there’s no indication they wanted,” Donnelly said Wednesday in...

Just a couple minutes ago, presidential advisor Valerie Jarrett, who is personally close to President Barack Obama, tweeted, that "If there's one thing we should all agree on, it's protecting women from violence." Jarrett's tweet comes the same hour Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that the Obama administration would allow women to serve in combat. The AP reports: Senior defense officials say Pentagon chief Leon Panetta is removing the military's ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war. The groundbreaking move recommended by...

Panetta removes military ban on women in combat, opening thousands of front line positions.

<p>No place to hide: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, pictured today in London, said there was 'no justification for the kidnapping and murder of innocent people' in Algeria and warned militants there was 'no place to hide'</p> <p>Islamist militants have today offered to free two American hostages held captive at an Algerian gas field in exchange for the release of two renowned terrorists jailed in the United States.</p>

Islamist militants attacked a gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, claiming to have kidnapped up to 41 foreigners including seven Americans in a dawn raid in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, according to regional media reports. The raiders were also reported to have killed three people, including a Briton and a French national. An al Qaeda affiliated group said the raid had been carried out because of Algeria's decision to allow France to use its air space for attacks against Islamists in Mali, where French forces have been in action against al Qaeda-linked militants since last week. The attack...

The Obama administration is condemning an Islamist attack on a natural gas field in southern Algeria and confirming that Americans are among those being held hostage. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters in Italy that Americans were among the hostages and called the incident a "terrorist attack."

VATICAN CITY – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta took a break Wednesday from war planning and leading the world’s most powerful military to pay his respects to Pope Benedict XVI, a champion of peace.Panetta, a devout Catholic who proudly wears his Italian American heritage on his sleeve, was beaming as he sat in a front row reserved for VIPs during the pope’s weekly general audience in a Vatican auditorium. After listening to a papal address in several languages, Panetta and three of his military aides — along with dozens of other Catholics — lined up to meet Benedict and receive...

Via the Daily Caller, Newt Gingrich thinks that the Benghazi scandal might blow wide open over the next two days, thanks to e-mails that he claims two networks now possess from the office of the National Security Advisor, Tom Donilon. According to a "reliable Senator" who tipped him to the information, Gingrich says that the e-mails came in response to the request to aid the consulate in Benghazi after the attack began, and asserted that the attack wasn't a terrorist action and therefore didn't need a response:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO “There is a rumor — I want to...

WASHINGTON—Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has permitted a three-star Army general accused of bullying subordinates to retire without a demotion in rank, the Pentagon said Wednesday. ... A Pentagon inspector general's investigation last year found that O'Reilly regularly yelled and screamed at subordinates, often in public, demeaned and belittled employees and behaved in such a way as to result in the departure of at least six senior staffers from the Missile Defense Agency during his time as its director. ... However, Panetta also placed in O'Reilly's permanent file a letter of reprimand, according to a senior defense official. The official, who...

Republic of Korea: For the record. Pak Ku'n-hye (Park Geun-hye) of the New Frontier Party won South Korea's presidential election on 19 December, media reported. She is the daughter of Park Chung-hee and the first woman elected to be president of the Republic of Korea. That should confound the North! North Korea-Iran: According to a Japanese news service, an Iranian lawmaker told the service that North Korea informed Iran in October of its plan to launch a satellite. The head of an Iranian parliamentary delegation to North Korea, Hamid Reza Taraghi, revealed talks took place mid-October with the North's delegates...

On paper, it was a promotion. But Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta turned down a White House offer to become the next director of national intelligence anyway. President Barack Obama last week fired his intelligence chief, Dennis Blair, without an immediate successor teed up. People familiar with the matter said the White House had expected Mr. Blair would stick around until a replacement was found. Mr Blair declined. The struggle to find a successor has highlighted the challenges of filling an ill-defined job fraught with political tripwires. Mr. Panetta is one of a number of people who have turned...

(CNN) -- The United States is to deploy 400 troops and two Patriot air-defense missile batteries to Turkey in the coming weeks to defend against potential threats from Syria, defense officials said Friday. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed the order en route to Turkey, where he is visiting Incirlik Air Base, Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.

The U.S. is at war, a cyber war. And businesses and government are at risk, said Eric Rosenbach, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy in an interview with CNBC. "I read my intel brief every morning at 5:30 a.m. and it's never a very good news story at all," Rosenbach said. "There are a lot more attacks, and I hate to admit it but I fear that there will be some type of spectacular attack against the United States or one of our allies before there is comprehensive legislation and real appreciation to take this seriously." Just one...

BANGKOK — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has ordered the Pentagon to find out why so many generals and admirals have become embroiled in legal and ethical problems, a trend exacerbated by recent investigations of two of the military’s best-known commanders. The Pentagon disclosed Panetta’s directive on Thursday after he arrived in Thailand as part of a visit to Asia. But aides insisted that he had been considering the review for some time and that it was not prompted by revelations that the FBI has been investigating former CIA director David H. Petraeus, a retired Army general, and Marine Gen....

During a press conference following a wreath laying ceremony at Punchbowl National Cemetery in Hawaii, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta responded to a reporter’s question regarding the whole issue of sequestration. "Sequestration" is a fiscal policy procedure adopted by Congress to deal with the federal budget deficit. It first appeared in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act of 1985. Simply put, sequestration is the cancellation of budgetary resources - an "automatic" form of spending cutback. ---------- And, you know, as you know from my own history dealing with budget deficits, in order to do it on a fair and effective...

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta seemed not to have extensive knowledge of the Petraeus affair when talking to the press earlier today on board a flight to Australia. "You know, I don’t know the answer to that," Panetta said in response to a question about when the affair started and whether the CIA director would be prosecuted. "I guess, I’m reading the papers like you are to determine just what the committees finds out, what the ultimate investigation determines on that issue. We obviously are going to watch this closely to determine just exactly when that took place. But I think...

The FBI probe into the sex scandal that prompted CIA Director David Petraeus to resign has expanded to ensnare Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced early Tuesday. According to a senior U.S. defense official, the FBI has uncovered between 20,000 and 30,000 documents — most of them e-mails — of “potentially inappropriate” communications between Allen and Jill Kelley, a 37-year-old Tampa woman whose close relationship with Petraeus ultimately led to his downfall. Allen, a Marine, succeeded Petraeus as the top allied commander in Afghanistan in July 2011. He also served...

President Obama is considering asking Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) to serve as his next defense secretary, part of an extensive rearrangement of his national security team that will include a permanent replacement for former CIA director David H. Petraeus. Although Kerry is thought to covet the job of secretary of state, senior administration officials familiar with transition planning said that nomination will almost certainly go to Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. John O. Brennan, Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, is a leading contender for the CIA job if he wants it, officials said. If Brennan...

Panetta: DOD moved quickly on Libya consulate attackBy KATE BRANNEN and DARREN SAMUELSOHN | 11/11/12 9:58 AM EST Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says the U.S. military “did everything they were in position to do” about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya. In a letter and timeline sent to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Panetta said the Sept. 11 attack on the consulate and nearby annex in Benghazi were over before U.S. forces could arrive. **SNIP** As Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey has noted, “It was 9/11 everywhere...

The Pentagon has just released their version of the 9/11 timeline and I think it is very interesting and damning to Obama. Specifically, we know that Panetta, Obama, Biden, and Donilon were at the White House for a previously scheduled 5 pm meeting. The attack had been going on for 50 minutes before Panetta was notified, and he was aware it was ongoing ..........................Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his top military adviser were notified of the attack about 50 minutes after it began and were about to head into a previously scheduled meeting with President Barack Obama. The meeting quickly...

WASHINGTON – New Pentagon details show that the first U.S. military unit arrived in Libya more than 14 hours after the attack on the consulate in Benghazi was over and four Americans, including the ambassador, were dead. A Defense Department timeline obtained by The Associated Press underscores how far the military response lagged behind the Sept. 11 attack, due largely to the long distances the commando teams had to travel to get to Libya. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his top military adviser were notified of the attack about 50 minutes after it began and were about to head into...