By Mark Baisley
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Most members of the White House press corps have been
more comfortable talking to their children about sex than reporting to the
American public on the topic of Benghazi.
But suddenly this week, the matter rose to the level of a joke in Jay
Leno’s Tonight Show monologue: “Today at a press conference, even a non-Fox
reporter asked about Benghazi.”
Eight months of information is now being unloaded all at
once to the conventional media audience.
And those of us who are old enough to remember the good old days of
Watergate realize just how confusing these things can be. So to bring everyone up to speed, I offer the
following three levels of explanation.
CliffsNotes Summary
On September 11, 2012, a Muslim terrorist group stormed
the American embassy outpost in Benghazi, Libya. Four Americans were killed, including the
United States Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. On the day of the year that radical Islamists
are known to celebrate jihad against the United States, the Ambassador was
curiously 400 miles away from the fortified American Embassy to Libya in the
capital city of Tripoli.
During the eight-hour siege, the only military asset that
was afforded to the outpost in Benghazi was a loitering drone that could stream
live video back to the Commander-in-chief.
A special forces team, anxious to respond, was ordered twice to “Stand
down.”
In the days following the attack, the Obama
Administration enlisted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and United States
Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice in an international publicity
spin. The attack was depicted as a
spontaneous and righteous uprising in direct response to an amateur video from
California called Innocence of Muslims, which can still be seen on YouTube.
While the video has long been dismissed as unrelated to
the Benghazi assault, the Obama Administration has curiously imprisoned the
filmmaker and punished every government employee who challenges this odd cover
story. The American public,
Congressional Republicans and now, finally, the White House press corps are
asking “What the Hell?”
Wonkish Narrative
According to testimony, Ambassador Stevens had traveled
to Benghazi at the direction of his boss, Secretary Hillary Clinton. This Benghazi “consulate” also provided cover
for the nearby covert CIA “annex” that monitored local Islamist militant
operations. The most powerful of those
local Islamist militant groups is Ansar al-Shariah, which wields more control
over the Benghazi area than does the Libyan government. At 8:00PM, about 150 members of Ansar
al-Shariah began the process of isolating the compound with roadblocks enforced
by truck-mounted machine guns.
At 9:40PM, seven Americans were in the compound when it
was attacked. The five American
diplomatic security agents assigned to the consulate used small arms against
the overwhelming assault by Ansar al-Shariah fighters. Agent David Ubben quickly ushered Ambassador
Stevens and Information Management Officer Sean Smith to a caged safe room
inside the residence building.
At about 9:45PM, the Embassy in Tripoli receives word of
the attack in Benghazi. Greg Hicks, the
second-highest ranking American diplomat in Libya, spoke via cell phone with
his boss, Ambassador Stevens who described the attack underway. After the cell phone connection with Stevens
drops, Hicks notifies the State Department Operations Center in Washington and
communicates with the CIA Annex in Benghazi.
He then telephones the Libyan government to request military help.
Frustrated by the locked metal bars, Ansar al-Shariah
fighters doused the residence building with diesel fuel and set it ablaze. A U.S. Predator drone was quickly reassigned
to observe the events from above. The
drone arrived overhead at 11:11PM.
Within the first hour of the assault, six Americans security agents
supported by sixteen Libyan militants from the CIA annex arrived at the
compound to engage the Ansar al-Shariah fighters.
With the Libyan militants forming a protective perimeter
around the residence, the American security agents heroically crawled through
the burning building in an attempt to rescue the Ambassador and his Information
Management Officer. Sean Smith is
discovered dead, but Christopher Stevens could not be found. As the militants’ perimeter collapsed, the
American agents fled towards the annex one mile away through a hail of gunfire
and explosions.
In a bullet-ridden car on two flat tires, the Americans
made their way through the obstacles set up by Ansar al-Shariah. While they carried the body of Information
Management Officer Sean Smith, the whereabouts of Ambassador Stevens remained
unknown. The Ansar al-Shariah fighters
followed the Americans to the CIA annex compound where some American agents
took positions on the roofs. The CIA
facility was attacked sporadically with gun fire and a rocket propelled grenade
until about 1:30AM when the fighting seemed to end.
At 12:30AM, intercepted Twitter feeds revealed that Ansar
al-Shariah is not only leading the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, but
also conveyed their intent to attack the Embassy in Tripoli. This information prompts Hicks to initiate
the process of evacuating the Embassy and destroying communications equipment.
Back in Washington, D.C., a former Marine named Mark
Thompson was analyzing the situation from his desk at the State
Department. Thompson’s title is Bureau
of Counter Terrorism, Leader Foreign Emergency Support Team. Thompson conveyed to the White House his
recommendation to deploy his team to Libya using a standby aircraft designed
for just this type of emergency. The
response to Thompson was that such a mission was, “not the right time and it was
not the team that needed to go right then.”
Greg Hicks requested military air support, recommending
that a fighter jet flyover may disperse those who were attacking the
annex. The response to Hicks’ request
was that the nearest fighter jets were too far away to make the trip on a
single tank of fuel and that no tankers were available for in-flight refueling.
The one organization that did respond with reinforcements
was the CIA. A “hastily chartered
aircraft” leaves Tripoli after midnight carrying a CIA case officer who is
accompanied by four contract security personnel and two American military
personnel. They arrive at Benghazi
International Airport at 1:15AM, but do not depart for the CIA annex until
4:30AM. According to the published CIA
timeline, “The delay is caused by negotiations with Libyan authorities over permission
to leave the airport.”
Hicks persuaded the Libyan government to add one of their
military transport planes from Tripoli to Benghazi to assist in the evacuation
of Americans holed up at the annex. The
plane would carry Libyan troops, as well as the four American special forces
personnel from the Embassy in Tripoli.
That plane left without the Americans when an order was received from
military higher-ups that the special forces were not authorized to leave
Tripoli.
At 2:00AM, Greg Hicks provides an update to Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton and her staff.
Unbeknownst to Hicks, Ambassador Christopher Stevens had already been
found dead by locals who sought to loot the embassy compound. Thinking he may yet be alive, they drove him
to a medical center where doctors tried unsuccessfully to revive him from the
effects of smoke asphyxiation. At
3:00AM, Hicks receives a call from the Libyan Prime Minister, informing him of
Stevens’ death. Hicks forwards the bad news
to Washington.
When the Tripoli team finally arrives at the annex, it is
5:00AM. While there has been no weapon
fire for four hours, the Ansar al-Shariah fighters have taken advantage of the
lull to position rifles and mortars. The
attack resumes and former Navy Seals Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods are killed
in their positions on the roof by well-placed mortars. By 5:26AM, the battle ends. Thirty-five minutes later, according to the
CIA timeline, “Libyan forces from the military intelligence service finally
arrive, now with 50 vehicles. They escort the Americans to the airport… and
then the long flight back to America.”
Beginning September 16, 2012, the Obama Administration
fielded Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, on five national
television interviews including Face The Nation. The Benghazi attack was depicted as a
spontaneous and righteous Muslim response to the amateur video from
California. When asked for his reaction
to the televised assertions from Rice, Greg Hicks responded, “I was stunned. My jaw dropped and I was embarrassed.”
In the weeks that followed, the Obama Administration’s
open praise of acting Ambassador Greg Hicks turned into paranoid disdain. During a phone call with Secretary Clinton’s
attorney and Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, Hicks expressed his concerns
regarding the video cover story. Mills
made it clear that Hicks ought not to be asking such questions.
Soon after, a congressional delegation visited Libya to
investigate the events of September 11. Cheryl Mills gave specific instructions
to Hicks that he and others were not to allow themselves to be interviewed by
the congressional delegation. Mills sent a State Department lawyer along with
the delegation to keep an eye on things.
When the lawyer was disinvited from the delegation for a classified
briefing, Mills was infuriated. Greg
Hicks was quickly demoted and reassigned stateside.
Conspiracy Theories
The September 11 attacks took place in the heat of the
presidential election season. Most
Republicans and zero Democrats believe that the video cover was intended to
convince voters that George W’s war with Islam had been long ago settled by the
panache of Barack Obama.
While the Obama / Clinton machines set about
propagandizing the California video story, the President of Libya and Assistant
Secretary of State Beth Jones both posted communications that the incident was
actually a terrorist attack by Ansar al-Shariah.
Whitehouse Spokesman Jay Carney recently spent the most
miserable 90 minutes of his career trying to explain to a rejuvenated White
House press corps exactly how the original public talking points were edited
down to an abridged paragraph that could accommodate the Obama campaign’s cover
story.
CIA Director David Petraeus at first seemed to concur
with the California video story. Soon
after, however, his agency published timelines that only supported a planned
and effective terrorist attack. Within
weeks, Petraeus resigns over the news of an extramarital affair. Some rumor that the Administration held this
information over Petraeus’ head. Others
contend that Petraeus outed himself and intends to play one more chess move
under congressional oath.
The most elaborate conspiracy theory is that Ambassador
Stevens was set up to die or get kidnapped.
He was directed by Assistant Secretary of State Beth Jones to work out
of the consulate on a flare-up day like September 11. Only the Secretary of State has the authority
to approve occupancy of a consulate like Benghazi that did not meet the legal
security standards.
Until July of 2012, the Embassy in Tripoli was defended
by fourteen American Special Forces personnel.
In a curious statement during congressional testimony, Greg Hicks
described how that presence was drawn down to four troops in response to a
carjack attempt. And while those four
specialists were ordered twice to not respond to the Benghazi attack, the
Pentagon maintains to this day, through Spokesman Major Robert Firman that,
“There was never any kind of stand-down order to anybody.”
The reason given for never attempting to send military
air power is that they would not arrive in Benghazi in time to make a
difference. This would only make sense
if they knew in advance how long the attack would last.
Four Americans died, several others were injured, a
crucial CIA watch post was abandoned, and Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton have
risked their political futures. But
Obama did get re-elected, so I guess the investment paid off as planned. Sure, there is an extraordinary amount of
clean up now. But Hillary Clinton
conveyed the revealing attitude for Congress with her insightful question,
“What difference, at this point, does it make?”
This was followed by Jay Carney’s telling perspective on the Benghazi attack,
“That was a long time ago.” Until the
Democrats come clean with the truth, the conspiracies will continue to
germinate.
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