Posts

APNewsBreak: Different Attackers in Benghazi?

Photo Credit: TownHall Newly revealed testimony from top military commanders involved in the U.S. response to the Benghazi attacks suggests that the perpetrators of a second, dawn attack on a CIA complex probably were different from those who penetrated the U.S. diplomatic mission the evening before and set it ablaze, killing Ambassador Chris Stevens and another American.

The second attack, which killed two security contractors, showed clear military training, retired Gen. Carter Ham told Congress in closed-door testimony released late Wednesday. The assault probably was the work of a new team of militants, seizing on reports of violence at the diplomatic mission the night before and hitting the Americans while they were most vulnerable.

The testimony, which The Associated Press was able to read ahead of its release, could clarify for the first time the events of Sept. 11, 2012, that have stirred bitter recriminations in the U.S., including Republican-led congressional investigations and campaign-season denunciations of the Obama administration, which made inaccurate statements about the Libyan attacks. The testimony underscores a key detail that sometimes has been lost in the debate: that the attacks were two distinct events over two days on two different buildings, perhaps by unrelated groups.

The U.S. government still has not fully characterized the first attack in which, according to Ham and eight other military officers, men who seemed familiar with the lightly protected diplomatic compound breached it and set it on fire, killing Stevens and communications specialist Sean Smith. A disorganized mob of looters then overran the facility.

In testimony to two House panels earlier this year, the officers said that commanders didn’t have the information they needed to understand the nature of the attack, that they were unaware of the extent of the U.S. presence in Benghazi at the time and they were convinced erroneously for a time that they were facing a hostage crisis without the ability to move military assets into place that would be of any use.

Read more from this story HERE.

CIA Witnesses Offer More Evidence Benghazi Attack Planned

Photo Credit: REUTERSCIA personnel who testified Tuesday on the Benghazi attack provided new evidence that it was premeditated, telling lawmakers that the deadly mortar strike on the CIA annex began within minutes of a rescue team’s arrival, Fox News has learned.

According to the closed-door testimony on the Hill by two CIA personnel, a small team was sent on the night of the attack from Tripoli and got held up at the Benghazi airport. After they were eventually cleared, they arrived at the annex. Witnesses testified that it did not seem coincidental that the mortar attack began soon after.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., told Fox News after the closed, classified session that all of the witnesses (eight total witnesses have now testified in these sessions) were on the same page about the nature of the mortar attack, which killed former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty on the annex roof.

“These were trained people and … it was an attack. It wasn’t over any type of film or propaganda,” Westmoreland emphasized, referring to the administration’s initial claims that an anti-Islam film triggered protests that led to the attack.

“We don’t know why the administration would have ever thought any differently,” Westmoreland said. “Other than that them and the State Department were trying to make sure that they were covered because of the unpreparedness they were in.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Fox News Poll: 65 Percent Want Congress to Keep Investigating Benghazi Attack

Photo Credit: REUTERSAs the House Select Committee on Intelligence meets with witnesses to the Benghazi attack, Americans by a two-to-one margin want Congress to continue to investigate the Obama administration’s handling of the terrorist attack that killed four Americans including a U.S. ambassador.

A just-released Fox News poll finds 65 percent of voters want lawmakers to keep investigating what happened in Benghazi. While that’s still a majority, support is down from 71 percent who felt that way six months ago (June 22-24, 2013).

Click here for the poll results.

About one third oppose Congress continuing to investigate the attack (31 percent).

The 2012 attack took place at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on the anniversary of September 11.

Witnesses to the attack are expected to meet behind closed doors this week with members of the House Select Committee on Intelligence.

Read more from this story HERE.

GOP Rep Reveals Why He Believes Benghazi Attack & US Syria Policy Likely “Intimately Related Issues”

Picture Frank-Wolf-APA top congressional appropriator suggested on Monday evening that the State Department and CIA might have been stockpiling weapons for Syrian opposition fighters when they came under attack by jihadists in Benghazi, Libya.

“I firmly believe that whatever the State Department and CIA were doing in Benghazi had a direct connection to U.S. policy in Syria—a policy that to date has not been fully revealed to the American people or Congress,” Rep. Frank Wolf (R., Va.) said on Monday evening during a discussion focusing on “unanswered questions” surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that killed four Americans.

“Were these rebels being armed with weapons collected in Benghazi?” Wolf asked, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. “Again, there is reason to believe this may be the case and a clear explanation is warranted.”

Congress cannot “make an informed decision” about Syria before the circumstances surrounding the Benghazi attack are “more fully understood,” said Wolf, who sent a pair of letters to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday to reveal whether weapons in Benghazi could have reached Syrian rebels and “jihadist fighters.”

A public hearing would help “determine what was going on at the CIA annex in Benghazi and what role it played in the collection and disbursement of weapons collected in Libya, specifically with the focus of trying to understand how the annex may have supported CIA efforts to arm and train Syrian rebels,” Wolf explained.

Read more from this story HERE.

Benghazi Makes Watergate ‘Look Like Kindergarten’

Revelations in Wednesday’s congressional hearings on the Benghazi terrorist attacks prove it is a massive scandal that will carry significant consequences for those involved in the cover-up, according to retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney.

McInerney served at the highest levels in the Air Force, including time as assistant vice chief of staff and vice commander in chief of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe. He believes the Obama administration deliberately misled the American people on the motivation for the attack and is now covering its tracks on decisions to prevent a military rescue in Benghazi. He told WND that is more clear than ever following Wednesday’s testimony of former Deputy Chief of Mission Gregory Hicks and two others before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

“This is going to be the biggest scandal. It is going to make Watergate look like kindergarten because Watergate was primarily limited to the Oval Office. This cuts across the whole national security apparatus, where people were lying and covering up,” McInerney said. “It is a dereliction of duty that this nation has never seen before.”

So what consequences could that mean for the highest levels of the administration?

“Well, just see what the consequences were in Watergate. If it’s far worse than Watergate, the consequences will go right into the Oval Office,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

They Say Success has Many Fathers, but Benghazi Libya is the Orphan on the White House Step

Photo Credit: Irish CentralThis snippet from a CNN feature story after the fall of Libya’s strongman Moammar Gadhafi put the whole gambit in Libya into proper political perspective:

“The fall of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is a significant foreign policy triumph for U.S. President Barrack Obama.” It further went on to say “Gadhafi’s utter defeat seemingly put new wind in the sails of humanitarian intervention.”

This was to be the “good” foreign policy military intervention for the administration to show us how it’s done.

Hillary Clinton sealed the deal for the removal of Gadahfi when she stated: “left unchecked, Gadahfi will commit unspeakable atrocities.”

National Security Council Senior Director Samantha Power, led the drafting of PSD-10, the Presidential Study Directive on Mass Atrocities, used as the policy justification to topple Gadahfi.

So there was a lot of prestige riding on the decision to remove Gadahfi by the Obama administration and see a triumphant Libya blossom under a new government.

Although Gadahfi was brutal in his attempts to stifle dissension, there were also many reasons to leave the country alone and let it settle its own differences without interfering.

Gadahfi had become an ally in the terror war and was providing valuable intelligence to us …He had even given up his nuclear ambitions to show his sincerity. Under Gadahfis 40 year rule, Libya became one of the most prosperous and peaceful countries in Africa.

But the decision was made to get rid of Gadahfi by the Obama administration. After his regime collapsed, his arsenals were left unguarded and an estimated 20 thousand shoulder launched missiles and countless high powered weapons, were let into the hands of terrorists and extremists. Israel reported these missiles were right on their border.

Military experts say to leave these arsenals unguarded was a grievous error in planning and should have been taken into account by the Obama administration when they moved to help topple Gadahfi.

The looting of the arsenals was downplayed and ominously, so was the emergence of strong militant groups linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic radicals, evidently unforeseen by the Obama administration.

But to give the air of success and normalcy, especially with a presidential election on the horizon, evidently it was felt best to keep a low profile for embassy security in Libya….In spite of repeated requests by the soon to be murdered ambassador Stevens for more force to protect him.

Eight months after the attack on our consulate, many of the key players involved in the decisions on Libya have distanced themselves from the administration. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has retired, so have Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and CIA Director David Petraeus. Senior National Security Advisor, Samantha Power & UN Ambassador Susan Rice, both resigned to “spend more time with their families.” Many of the top military commanders in that region of the world have been replaced.

Eight months after the murder of our ambassador and 3 other Americans, no one has been brought to justice, as President Obama promised.

With the announcement of new Congressional hearings on Benghazi coming at the beginning of May and the promise whistle blowers will be testifying, perhaps we will be seeing someone brought to justice soon.

_____________________________________

Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

Obama Made No Phone Calls On Night Of Benghazi Attack, White House Says

President Obama didn’t make any phone calls the night of the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, the White House said in a letter to Congress released Thursday. “During the entire attack, the president of the United States never picked up the phone to put the weight of his office in the mix,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, who had held up Mr. Obama’s defense secretary nominee to force the information to be released.

Mr. Graham said that if Mr. Obama had picked up the phone, at least two of the Americans killed in the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi might still be alive because he might have been able to push U.S. aid to get to the scene faster.

The White House has said Mr. Obama was kept up to date on the attack by his staff, though after being alerted to the attack in a pre-scheduled afternoon meeting he never spoke again with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin E. Dempsey or then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Mr. Panetta told Congress last week that he knew immediately the attacks were a terrorist assault, though the White House downplayed that notion in the first five days after the attack.

Republican senators said they will still push for more information on who changed the talking points given to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who went on the Sunday talk shows after the attacks and blamed protests against an anti-Islam video.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Senator Graham Exposes Military Leaders On Benghazi Response

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham grilled Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Joint Chiefs General Dempsey on the President’s involvement, or lack thereof.

Apparently, Senior Military Leaders only spoke with the President one time for a period of about 30 minutes. According to this Senate testimony, the President never made further inquiry about the status of the Consulate, or State Department personnel, until after the fact.

Graham also exposed the fact that there was no military response whatsoever during the 7-8 hour siege of the Consulate in Benghazi.

This is an extremely important piece of the Benghazi puzzle, and the senator should be applauded for bringing this information out.

See video:

Panetta: Sequestration Would Make U.S. ‘Second-Rate Power’

Photo Credit: U.S. Army AfricaSecretary of Defense Leon Panetta used a hearing on the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on Benghazi to plead with Congress for a budget agreement that would prevent sequestration cuts to the Department of Defense.

During his testimony before the Senate Armed Forces Committee on Thursday, Panetta said his greatest concern as defense secretary is the fiscal uncertainty hanging over Washington.

“I cannot imagine that people would stand by and deliberately hurt this country, in terms of our national defense, by letting this happen,” he said.

Ultimately, sequestration cuts would erode the military’s capabilities and threaten its world standing, Panetta asserted.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Panetta Reveals Obama Absent on Night of Benghazi

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 seize, “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.

Read more from this story HERE.