Posted on 11/14/2012 3:48:06 AM PST by Kaslin
While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boozes it up in Australia and the Pentagon grapples with more floozy eruptions, outraged military families are still waiting for answers about the forgotten 9/14 attack on Camp Bastion.
Muckrakers and distraction engineers are having a front-page field day with the so-called "sex scandal." But for surviving relatives and colleagues of heroic Marine Lt. Col. Christopher Raible and Sgt. Bradley Atwell, it's the national security scandal at Afghanistan's Camp Bastion that deserves headline coverage.
There's been a virtual blackout of the alarming story in the national press. As I reported last month, the meticulously coordinated siege by 15 Taliban infiltrators -- dressed in American combat fatigues and armed with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons -- resulted not only in two deaths, but also in the most devastating loss of U.S. airpower since Vietnam. Six Harrier jets were destroyed; three refueling stations were wiped out; six hangars were damaged.
The attack came exactly six months after a failed suicide attack targeting Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and three days after the deadly attack on our consulate in Benghazi.
Yet, on Tuesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced that President Obama is standing by beleaguered Marine Gen. John Allen. He's the four-star general and lead U.S. commander in Afghanistan who is now entangled in former CIA Director David Petraeus' sexcapades soap opera. Allen reportedly exchanged hundreds of "flirtatious" emails with Petraeus family friend and married Florida socialite Jill Kelley. Kelley is the alleged "other other woman" who told the FBI she was harassed by alleged Petraeus mistress and biographer Paula Broadwell.
While Petraeus stepped down, Obama "has faith in Gen. Allen, believes he's doing and has done an excellent job" overseeing security in Afghanistan, Carney said.
Are families of our Marines at Camp Bastion happy with Allen and the Obama administration? Donella Raible, widow of Lt. Col. Raible, was blunt. "I'm not," she told me Tuesday afternoon by phone. "I'm mortified. It shows the corruption in the whole Washington/Arlington culture." Mrs. Raible, who is now raising three children (ages 11, 9 and 2) on her own, said, "I couldn't sleep at night if I were (Obama). If they're happy with things in Afghanistan, they should come look at the faces of those left behind."
If not for the heroism of Lt. Col. Raible, Sgt. Atwell and their fellow brothers-in-arms, the entire Harrier squadron and a barracks-full of sleeping Marines could have been lost. Another Camp Bastion Marine wife and mother of two told me: "My husband survived, and I am so grateful, but I am also heartbroken for those who died. ... There is no excuse for this. We are the United States of America and supposed to be the badass of all badasses, and we are constantly made out to be fools and caught off guard. ... I blame this administration for these recent preventable losses of life."
Deborah Hatheway, aunt of Sgt. Atwell, said the family received a standard-issue condolence letter from the White House last week. "That means nothing. This was not supposed to happen," Hatheway told me. She blasted the "negligence, irresponsibility, incompetence and plain ignorance" that led to her nephew's murder, and she believes the failures in Benghazi are tied to the fate of the fallen at Camp Bastion.
Off the record, several family members of Camp Bastion Marines have voiced persistent concerns about security in what was touted as one of the safest places to be in Afghanistan. "It is not a matter of if, but when" the compound is attacked again, one told me. Another relayed how a few weeks before the 9/14 attack, razor wire on the perimeter kept disappearing -- but Marine sentries were barred from firing on suspected thieves to avoid causing civilian casualties. Others wondered why security hadn't been stepped up given the public threat by the Taliban on September 10 to kill Prince Harry, who was stationed at Camp Bastion.
"And after the incident with Panetta, the security should have been so tight there that even a suicide mouse couldn't get through," Hatheway told me. "How could they let this happen? Someone has to speak up."
Obama's military leaders were asleep on the job -- or sleeping with others instead of doing their jobs. Who will answer for this deadly disgrace?
pathetic
Hadn’t heard or read a peep about this before. Unbelievable.
Hillery is in Australia for a reason. US entrepreneurs whose income happens to be more than $250,000.00 USD per year are moving to Oz, to avoid the coming anti-wealth Obama taxation schemes, AKA class warfare.
Hillery is talking to Australia.gov to stem the tide of US ex pats, and to tighten OZ Tax Dept prosecution ties with the US IRS.
Australia and its growing trade with China attract thousands of US entrepreneurs, and China and Oz will lead the recovery from the world wide recession, while the US continues its economic debacle of being “Obamafied.”
Hopefully the down under liberals will know a skank when they see one.
Kaslin, thanks. I, too, had forgot about this due to the media blackout.
This story should be bumped each day and pushed out into the news world.
So sad.
“Who will answer for this deadly disgrace?”
Unfortunately, no one. This Administration could care less about the rule of law and makes a mockery of our Constitution. Who will hold the administration accountable? The Republicans? The courts? Yea right, when pigs fly. Absolutely disgusting and its only going to get worse.
Who will answer for this deadly disgrace?”
And the same goes for the masacre at Ft. Hood.
What’s going on with that???
Leni
I hadn’t either, and the majority probably did neither
You said it
They managed to whisk this one right out of the news immediately, although there was a lot of shock about it in military circles. One of the men killed was the second highest ranking officer killed in the entire war, and of course there is also the loss of six high-tech and very important planes - all because security was so lax that the enemy was able to get close enough to bomb a weak point in the fence and then simply cut their way through.
The reason security was so lax was that nobody wanted to offend the noble Afghan Muslims by monitoring them very closely and appearing not to trust them. Apparently the attack was prepared at a “farm” within eyesight of the base, which the US had allowed to remain within the perimeter as a sort of normalization gesture (a big part of the failed Afghanistan approach), so that the terrorists were conducting their “farming” activities literally watched every day from the base. And of course it was an Afghan employee of the base who gave the enemy information on the weak point in the fence.
That’s been the policy under all of the FOUR different generals Obama has appointed in just 4 years there. I think it’s when they begin to object to sacrificing their troops that he removes and replaces them with another one who will do his evil, America-hating bidding. So that’s why you’ve never seen it covered.
If it hadn’t been for Michelle Malkin, we probably would never found out about it.
If I were a military commander and I saw that razor wire was being stolen, I would ask myself why.
I don’t suppose there is a big market in the Afghani scrap metal business for used razor wire.
I would figure that they were either stealing it to use on their own compound or for taking it away from mine so they could sneak in.
I would order more guards on the razor wire, and a shoot to kill order to prevent it’s happening.If a civilian was killed it would be a civilian thief and his death would be tough luck.
The MSM sees it's job is to print the news that helps democrats - and punishes Republicans. First the MSM has to be held accountable...
I was just thinking the same thing. This is the first I've heard of this! This is unbelievable! I don't know how anyone holds anything but contempt for this administration!
I completely loathe the US media.
I heard of it at the time on FR. I have seen it no where else in the so-called “news”. Disgraceful! But what’s new with this anti-American administration of pin-headed, asshat LIBs?
” Hopefully the down under liberals will know a skank when they see one.”
Hillary, Obama et al, are personna non grata down under.
FBI seizes data of retired general related to Qatar lobbying effort
Just the News ^ | 6/8/22 | Sophie Mann
Posted on 6/8/2022, 7:16:24 PM by markomalley
Retired four-star Marine Gen. John Allen, is on administrative leave from his role as president of the Brookings Institute D.C. think tank after the FBI seized his electronic data on suspicion of lying to investigators and withholding evidence about his role in secretly lobbying for the government of Qatar.
As a general, he commanded all U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan in the Obama administration....
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