Drones Watched Entire Benghazi Attack. Could We Have Helped?

www.nypost.com...

US drones were in the skies over Benghazi during last month’s fatal attack on US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, a new report claims. Defense Department officials weighed sending troops to rescue Stevens and more than 30 other Americans whose compound was surrounded by an angry mob on Sept. 11, says the report by CBS News. But no US counterattack or rescue effort was carried out.

The drone and other reconnaissance aircraft observed the final hours of the protracted, seven-hour battle at the US Consulate. 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.”

A team of “special operators” was moved from central Europe to a US naval base in Sigonella, Italy, an hour’s flight from Libya, CBS said, citing Pentagon sources. Fighter jets and Specter AC-130 gunships were also available at nearby bases, military sources told CBS. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought clearances from Libya to fly in their airspace, CBS reports.

But the Obama administration won’t reveal further details on that front. Retired CIA officer Gary Berntsen tells CBS that help could have arrived sooner. “You find a way to make this happen,” Berntsen told the network. “There isn’t a plan for every single engagement. Sometimes you have to be able to make adjustments. They made zero adjustments in this. They stood and they watched and our people died.”

This is such a disgrace.

There was a time when we would have done something.

It would have been quick, decisive and unpleasant.

And we would not have felt compelled to take over another country and waste trillions of dollars and decades to do it.

Of course, after repeatedly denying the occupants of the embassy requested increases in security, the administration couldn't just admit they were wrong and actually DO SOMETHING.

Commander in chief ?
Really?

Same story, our people are being killed and we do nothing! We are The United States of America, our people are under attack, and we need to get permission from Libya to fly though their airspace? I have that answer, but I can't post it. People in Washington are watching this happen in "real time" and they don't do ANYTHING, they need their asses FIRED! We have a bunch of damm P***ys in charge of our government and military and it's time to "clean house".

reply to post by MadhatterTheGreat


The stand down order could only have come from the President.
Who else has that authority once it is deemed possible to do something?

reply to post by Aliensun


No, it's not just him. There are a lot of links in the chain up to him. Someone along the way just had to say"standby" and do nothing. Or the commander above the theater commander can deny the request, or anyone up the chain. The President is ultimately responsible for the military, but he's not the only one that could have kept something from being done.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Aliensun

 

No, it's not just him. There are a lot of links in the chain up to him. Someone along the way just had to say"standby" and do nothing. Or the commander above the theater commander can deny the request, or anyone up the chain. The President is ultimately responsible for the military, but he's not the only one that could have kept something from being done.

That is wrong unless you say someone purposely did not pass the data along. Good Lord! We had the live feed from the ground and now the drone info. If the relay was stopped at some point, Obama will need to tell us precisely where that happened to get the WH off the hook.

I'll settle for possibly someone in the WH stopped the info, but, regardless, Obama said the buck stops there with him. Of course, it it did get to the WH, we will never know if he did or did not make the decision. Past actions says he probably deferred to someone else's decision. Still, it's his baby.

reply to post by Aliensun


I've seen and heard of a number of times when some general along the way got a request, and either delayed it until it was too late, or flat out denied the request. It happens.