Report: CIA Officers in Libya Made Key Decisions During Benghazi Attacks

[bsteadman]

Report: CIA Officers in Libya Made Key Decisions During Benghazi Attacks

Newsmax
11/2/2012

Excerpt:

CIA officials on the ground in Libya dispatched security forces to the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi within 25 minutes and made other key decisions about how to respond to the waves of attacks on U.S. installations on Sept. 11, a senior American intelligence official said on Thursday.

Officials in Washington monitored events through message traffic and a hovering U.S. military drone but did not interfere with or reject requests for help from officials in the line of fire, the official said.

The information emerged as officials made available on Thursday a timeline chronicling the U.S. response to the Benghazi attacks in which Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other American officials died. The material appears to refute claims by critics that officials in Washington delayed sending help to the besieged personnel.

The handling of the attack by the Obama administration and CIA has come under sharp criticism by supporters of Republican challenger Mitt Romney during the campaign ahead of the presidential election on Nov. 6.

The senior intelligence official said that CIA officers in Benghazi, "responded to the situation on the night of 11 and 12 September as quickly and as effectively as possible.

"The security officers in particular were genuine heroes. They quickly tried to rally additional local support and heavier weapons, and when that could not be accomplished within minutes, they still moved in and put their own lives on the line to save their comrades," the official said.

"At every level in the chain of command, from the senior officers in Libya to the most senior officials in Washington, everyone was fully engaged in trying to provide whatever help they could," the official said.
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© 2012 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

View the complete article at:

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/cia...#axzz2B4MYDFBc

[bsteadman]

Free Republic is running a thread titled, 'New Detailed Account of Benghazi Attack Notes CIAÂ’s Quick Response (Raddatz does CYA for O)', which was started 11/2/2012 by 'SeafoodGumbo'

The thread references a 11/1/2012 ABC News article, with video, by Martha Raddatz - http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...uick-response/

View the complete Free Republic thread at:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2953724/posts


The following is COMMENT #4, by 'livius' in the thread:


The CIA is not a military force. It’s an intelligence service.

Expecting them to “respond” and not only defend and rescue some 30 people and protect or retake a facility is utterly ridiculous.

Obama’s policy of sheltering the Islamists has knowingly left Americans and American interests undefended in all parts of the world, including the US (remember Fort Hood?).

There should have been an immediate military response to the attack on the consulate and the CIA “annex.” The CIA is not designed for this, military actions undertaken by its own members are not its purpose, and blaming the CIA for having been inadequate to deal with the attack is a cynical shifting of blame. But “Cynical” should be Barry’s middle name by now.


The following is COMMENT #12, by 'butterdezillion' in the thread:

The ambassador had told the State Department that the compound was not able to be protected from a coordinated attack, which he had reason to believe was coming because AQ had training camps in the area and the mission there in Benghazi was the only diplomatic target left in the city. So the government had already been told 3 weeks in advance that CIA assets were NOT enough.

And anything that happened within the CIA or State Department doesn’t negate the fact that the military system and POTUS were both alerted so the standard protocols would begin. Christopher Stevens personally called the guy in charge of the mission and told him they were under attack. The guy activated the red alert, which automatically sends out messages to a bunch of people including the military and POTUS.

From what knowledgeable people have said here and elsewhere, I understand that a red alert requires somebody physically with the POTUS to physically tell the President within 10 minutes that there is a critical situation. The contingency plans, which the military practices continually to prepare for any type of situation, begin automatically and include gathering assets to be sent to the affected area so that when it is clear which assets are needed they are all readily available.

What kind of government “investigation” is being done into what really happened there, when the rubble at the compound included 2 letters expressing disappointment that previous requests for additional security for Stevens from the police and the Libyan regime had been ignored - letters which also mentioned that what little “security” had been sent had actually photographed the inside of the complex just that morning (Sept 11th)?

Sean Smith was on the computer conversing with his gaming friends when the attack hit; he had previously commented about not being sure he’d survive the night, since the “police” had taken photos of the inside of the complex that morning - expressing cynical (and well-placed) suspicion that the people sent to protect them were actually scoping out the place for attack.

Probably not rocket science for him to figure that out, because the guy the Libyan regime put in charge of local security for the city of Benghazi is associated with Al Qaeda, and (as Stevens pointed out in a secret cable 3 weeks before Sept 11th) Al Qaeda was training for an attack - with the US mission there being the only diplomatic target that AQ hadn’t already taken out.

The following is COMMENT #13, by 'Fitzy_888' in the thread:

You had an ambassador and communication professional (Smith) who were guarded by the ‘February 17th Martyrs Brigade’.

Were they trafficking heavy arms to Syria? Probably. We’re they doing something hinky? Definitely.

Was what they were doing likely the province of the CIA? Most definitely.

Had people, including Stevens, raised alarm bells about the lack of security? Yup!

Was the CIA looking in on outright incompetence, while literally within earshot of rifle fire? Yes!

This all display Obama’s ideology, long held paranoia and bias world view. I’m sure Obama and his people thought what Steven’s was doing was sexy, because it was risky. Of coarse, a leftist can’t trust rank and file CIA, right? The CIA killed Che, Obama’s hero, Obama is the self styled Che of the new Islamic caliphate.

Again, you can’t trust the CIA, that is until your getting your ass shot off in a third world hell hole and your leftist party friends leave you for dead.

Stevens and Smith were expendable to Obama, but they weren’t expendable to Woods and Doherty.


The following is COMMENT #14, by 'livius' in the thread:

Yes, blaming this on the CIA does nothing to help Obama. There was way too much going on for weeks and even months in advance to justify leaving personnel and a sensitive facility sitting there virtually unguarded (except for Libyan personnel connected to Al Qaeda, something that I imagine must have been known to the CIA).

It was all part of Obama’s either starry-eyed and incompetent or well-thought out and evil plan to “normalize” relations with our enemies, open our hands to show them that we came in peace and trusted them implicitly, and hand over our power to them.

This goes way beyond just the “botched operation” that Obama is trying to portray now, and that’s what he is desperately trying to cover up. Well, he only has a couple of more days to do it, so unless somebody - such as Romney - starts asking questions about Obama’s whole strategy and intention in the first place, he’ll probably get away with it.


The following is COMMENT #15, by 'livius' in the thread:

BTW, I know that Romney is not going to touch this issue or get into the nuts and bolts of it at this point in the game, but it would be nice if he at least said that our entire policy approach should be reviewed in light of it, and that he would address this issue immediately upon taking office.

[bsteadman]

Exclusive: Security officials on the ground in Libya challenge CIA account

FOX News
Adam Housley
11/3/2012

Excerpt:

Despite a carefully narrated version of events rolled out late this week by the CIA claiming agents jumped into action as soon as they were notified of calls for help in Benghazi, security officials on the ground say calls for help went out considerably earlier -- and signs of an attack were mounting even before that.

The accounts, from foreign and American security officials in and around Benghazi at the time of the attack, indicate there was in fact a significant lag between when the threat started to show itself and help started to arrive.

According to the CIA, the first calls for assistance came at 9:40 p.m. local time from a senior State Department official at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, to the CIA annex about a mile away.

But according to multiple people on the ground that night, the Blue Mountain Security manager, who was in charge of the local force hired to guard the consulate perimeter, made calls on both two-way radios and cell phones to colleagues in Benghazi warning of problems at least an hour earlier. Those calls allegedly went to local security contractors who say that the CIA annex was also notified much earlier than 9:40 p.m. U.S. military intelligence also told Fox News that armed militia was gathering up to three hours before the attack began.

One source said the Blue Mountain Security chief seemed "distraught" and said "the situation here is very serious, we have a problem." He also said that even without these phone and radio calls, it was clear to everyone in the security community on the ground in Benghazi much earlier than 9:40 p.m. that fighters were gathering in preparation for an attack.

Many of these security contractors and intelligence sources on the ground in Benghazi met twice a week for informal meetings at the consulate with Blue Mountain and consulate staff, and at times other international officials. They were all very familiar with security at the consulate -- and said the staff seemed "complacent" and "didn't seem to follow the normal American way of securing a facility."

Both American and British sources say multiple roadblocks set up by fighters believed to be with Ansar al-Sharia were in place in Benghazi several hours before the 9:40 p.m. timeline and that communications also alluded to "heavily armed troops showing up with artillery." Fox News was told by both American and British contacts who were in Benghazi that night that the CIA timeline rolled out this past week is only "loosely based on the truth" and "doesn't quite add up."

Fox News was also told that the local guard force meant to protect the consulate perimeter "panicked" and didn't know what to do as the attackers took up positions. Sources say other guards simply "walked away".

One former Special Op now employed by a private company in Benghazi said that even the safe room wasn't properly set up. He said "the safe room is one of the first measures you take" and that he is "not sure how you can set a safe room without fire suppression and ventilation in case of fire." He also said, "Ambassador Stevens would likely be alive today if this simple and normal procedure was put into place."

As details emerge of serious security issues before the attack on Sept. 11, Fox News is also beginning to hear more frustration from sources both on the ground in Benghazi and in the U.S. Multiple British and American sources insist there were other capabilities in the region and are mystified why none were used. Fox News was told there were not only armed drones that monitor Libyan chemical weapon sites in the area, but also F-18's, AC-130 aircraft and even helicopters that could have been dispatched in a timely fashion.

British intelligence sources said that unarmed drones routinely flew over Benghazi every night in flight patterns and that armed drones which fly over chemical sites, some a short flight from Benghazi, "were always said to be on call." American sources confirmed this and questioned "why was a drone armed only with a camera dispatched?"
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View the complete article at:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...e-cia-account/