Whistlebritches wrote:All true...…...now that being said you may want to read through this regarding your "Benghazi Myth" claim.There were assets available to deploy...…..They were instructed to "STAND DOWN" after being put on full alert.
https://fas.org/irp/congress/2013_hr/benghazi.pdf
I've read through the report...no statement that anyone was told to "Stand down," or called back...
Leon Panetta, Secretary of Defense: pp 12-13
"The reason simply is because with armed UAVs, AC–130 gunships, or fixed-wing fighters with the associated
tanking, you have to provide air refueling abilities, armaments—you have to arm all the weapons before you put them on the planes—targeting and support facilities were not in the vicinity of Libya. Because of the distance, it would have taken at least 9 to 12 hours, if not more, to deploy these forces to Benghazi."
"This was, pure and simple, in the absence, as I said, of any kind of advance warning, a problem of distance and time. Frankly, even if we were able to get the F–16s or the AC–130s over the target in time, the mission still depends on accurate information about what targets they’re supposed to hit, and we had no forward air controllers there. We had no communications with U.S. personnel on the ground. As a matter of fact, we had no idea where the Ambassador was at that point to be able to conduct any kind of attacks on the ground."
...‘‘The interagency response was timely and appropriate, but there simply was not enough time, given the speed of the attacks, for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference. Senior-level interagency discussions were underway soon after Washington received initial word of the attacks and continued throughout the night. The board found no evidence of any undue delays in decision making or denial of support from Washington or from the military combatant commanders. Quite the contrary, the safe evacuation of all U.S. Government personnel from Benghazi 12 hours after the initial attack and subsequently to Ramstein Air Force Base was the result of exceptional U.S. Government coordination and military response and helped save the lives of two severely wounded Americans.’’
APPENDIX C—REPORT OF THE ACCOUNTABILITY REVIEW BOARD FOR BENGHAZI: pp 106-109
FINDINGS
In examining the circumstances of these attacks, the Accountability Review Board for Benghazi determined that:
1. The attacks were security related, involving arson, small arms and machine gun fire, and the use ofRPGs, grenades, and mortars against U.S. personnel at two separate facilities - the SMC and the Annex - and en route between them.
Responsibility for the tragic loss of life, injuries, and damage to U.S. facilities and property rests solely and completely with the terrorists who perpetrated the attacks. The Board concluded that there was no protest prior to the attacks,which were unanticipated in their scale and intensity.
2. Systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department (the "Department") resulted in a Special Mission security posture that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place.
3. ...
The Board determined that U.S. personnel on the ground in Benghazi performed with courage and readiness to risk their lives to protect their colleagues, in a near impossible situation. The Board members believe every possible effort was made to rescue and recover Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith.
The interagency response was timely and appropriate, but there simply was not enough time for armed U.S. military assets to have made a difference.
5. The Board found that certain senior State Department officials within two bureaus demonstrated a lack of proactive leadership and management ability in their responses to security concerns posed by Special Mission Benghazi, giventhe deteriorating threat environment and the lack of reliable host government protection. However, the Board did not find reasonable cause to determine that any individual U.S. government employee breached his or her duty.