This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5718

Why Did President Obama Refuse To Defend The Benghazi Embassy?

April 11, 2013


April 9, 2013 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - This administration has [with the aid of a conniving U.S. media] never been forced to answer any of the relevant questions regarding the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack against the American Embassy located in Benghazi, Libya which resulted in the death of four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.

President Barack Hussein Obama and his corrupt DOJ under AG Eric Holder have stonewalled requests for information from the relevant Congressional Committees and House Speaker John Boehner has been MIA during the whole affair, typical for this hopelessly befuddled politician...perhaps he is chain-smoking while hiding under his desk.

With this in mind, Representative Frank Wolf [R, VA] has introduced H.R. 36, which calls for the creation of a select committee to investigate the matter. H. Res. 36 has, so far garnered 62 co-sponsors. The bill's text appears at the end of this piece.

Yesterday, in an unprecedented development, over 700 Special Ops Veterans signed an open letter to Congress, expressing their support for this legislation and urged that it be enacted. In this document these Spec Ops Vets have posed 16 questions which they consider essential in helping to determine exactly what happened during that attack. They want to know what actions Mr. Obama took - if any - do defend the American Embassy, it's employees and any special operators or military assets who were on the ground at the time.


Partial text of letter:

April 8, 2013

To: Members of The U.S. House of Representatives

Subject: The Benghazi attacks on 9/11/ 2012

The undersigned are a representative group of some 700 retired Military Special Operations professionals who spent the majority of their careers preparing for and executing myriad operations to rescue or recover detained or threatened fellow Americans. In fact, many of us participated in both the Vietnam era POW rescue effort, The Son Tay Raid, as well as Operation Eagle Claw, the failed rescue attempt in April of 1980 in Iran, so we have been at this for many years and have a deep passion for seeking the truth about what happened during the national tragedy in Benghazi.

The purpose of this letter is to encourage all members of the US House of Representatives to support H.Res. 36, which will create a House Select Committee on the Terrorist Attack in Benghazi. It is essential that a full accounting of the events of September 11, 2012, be provided and that the American public be fully informed regarding this egregious terrorist attack on US diplomatic personnel and facilities. We owe that truth to the American people and the families of the fallen.

It appears that many of the facts and details surrounding the terrorist attack which resulted in four American deaths and an undetermined number of American casualties have not yet been ascertained by previous hearings and inquiries. Additional information is now slowly surfacing in the media, which makes a comprehensive bipartisan inquiry an imperative. Many questions have not been answered thus far. The House Select Committee should address, at a minimum, the following questions:

Sixteen Questions Which Demand Answers:

1. Why was there no military response to the events in Benghazi?
a. Were military assets in the region available? If not, why not?
b. If so, were they alerted?
c. Were assets deployed to any location in preparation for a rescue or recovery attempt?
d. Was military assistance requested by the Department of State? If so, what type?
e. Were any US Army/Naval/USMC assets available to support the US diplomats in Benghazi during the attack?
f. What, if any, recommendations for military action were made by DOD and the US Africa Command?

2. What, if any, non-military assistance was provided during the attack?

3. How many US personnel were injured in Benghazi?

4. Why have the survivors of the attack not been questioned?

5. Where are the survivors?

6. Who was in the White House Situation Room (WHSR) during the entire 8-hour period of the attacks, and was a senior US military officer present?

7. Where were Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey during the crisis, and what inputs and recommendations did they make?

8. Where were Tom Donilon, the National Security Advisor, Denis McDonough, his deputy, Valerie Jarrett and John Brennan during the attacks, and what (if any) recommendations or decisions did any of them make?

9. Why were F-16 fighter aircraft based in Aviano, Italy (less than two hours away) never considered a viable option for disruption (if not dispersal) of the attackers until "boots on the ground" (troop support--General Dempsey's words) arrived?

10. Were any strike aircraft (such as an AC-130 gunship) in the area or possibly overhead that would cause former SEAL Tyrone Woods to laser-designate his attacker's position and call for gunship fire support, thereby revealing his own location that led to his death?

11. Who gave the order to "STAND DOWN" that was heard repeatedly during the attacks?

12. What threat warnings existed before the attack, and what were the DOD and DOS responses to those warnings? What data (which will reveal exact timelines and command decisions) is contained within the various SITREPS, records, logs, videos and recordings maintained by the myriad of DOD, Intelligence Community and State Department Command Centers that were monitoring the events in Benghazi as they unfolded?

13. Why did the Commander-in Chief and Secretary of State never once check in during the night to find out the status of the crisis situation in Benghazi?

14. What was the nature of Ambassador Stevens' business in Benghazi at the time of the attack?

15. What guidance has been provided to survivors and family members since the time of the attack, and who issued that guidance?

16. Why are so many agencies now requiring their personnel that were involved in or have access to information regarding the events that took place in Benghazi sign Non--?Disclosure Agreements?

H. Res. 36:

RESOLUTION

Establishing a select committee to investigate and report on the attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Resolved, That

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT.

There is hereby established a select Committee to investigate and report on the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya (hereinafter referred to as the `select committee').

SEC. 2. COMPOSITION.

(a) The select committee shall be composed of 19 members as follows:
(1) The chair and ranking member of the Committee on Armed Services (or a designee from among the members of that committee).
(2) The chair and ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (or a designee from among the members of that committee).
(3) The chair and ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security (or a designee from among the members of that committee).
(4) The chair and ranking member of the Committee on Intelligence (or a designee from among the members of that committee).
(5) The chair and ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary (or a designee from among the members of that committee).
(6) The chair and ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (or a designee from among the members of that committee).
(7) Five members appointed by the Speaker.
(8) Two members appointed by the Speaker after consultation with the minority leader.

If the chair or ranking member of any such committee declines to serve on the select committee, then the Speaker in the case of a chair, or the Speaker after consultation with the minority leader in the case of a ranking member, shall designate the member or members from that committee to serve on the select committee.

(b) The Speaker shall designate one member as chairman and the minority leader shall designate one member as the ranking minority member of the select committee.

SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION AND REPORT ON THE ATTACK ON THE UNITED STATES CONSULATE IN BENGHAZI, LIBYA.

Not later than 90 days after the initial meeting of the select committee, the select committee shall conduct an investigation of and submit to the House a report on--

(1) any intelligence known to the United States relating to the attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012;
(2) any requests for additional security, or actions taken by Federal agencies to improve security at the consulate before the attack;
(3) a definitive timeline of the attack;
(4) how the relevant agencies and the executive branch responded to the attack and whether appropriate congressional notifications were made;
(5) any improper conduct by officials relating to the attack;
(6) recommendations on what steps Congress and the President should take to prevent future attack; and
(7) any other relevant issues relating to the attack or the response to the attack.

SEC. 4. PROCEDURES OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE.

Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, including clause 2(j)(1) (guaranteeing the minority additional witnesses) and clause 2(m)(3) (providing for the authority to subpoena witnesses and documents), shall apply to the select committee.

SEC. 5. JOINT OPERATIONS.

The chair of the select committee, in conducting the investigation described in section 3, may consult with the chair of any Senate committee conducting a parallel investigation regarding meeting jointly to receive testimony, the scheduling of hearings or issuance of subpoenas, and joint staff interviews of key witnesses.

SEC. 6. STAFF; FUNDING.

(a)(1) To the extent practicable, the select committee shall utilize the services of staff of employing entities of the House. At the request of the chair in consultation with the ranking minority member, staff of employing entities of the House may be detailed to the select committee to carry out this resolution and shall be deemed to be staff of the select committee.
(2) The chair, upon consultation with the ranking minority member, may employ and fix the compensation of such staff as the chair considers necessary to carry out this resolution.
(b) There are authorized to be appropriated from the applicable accounts of the House such sums as may be necessary to carry out this resolution. Payments for the expenses of the select committee shall be made on vouchers signed by the chairman and approved in the manner directed by the Committee on House Administration. Amounts made available under this subsection shall be expended in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Committee on House Administration.

SEC. 7. DISSOLUTION AND DISPOSITION OF RECORDS.

(a) The select committee shall cease to exist 30 days after filing the report required under section 3.
(b) Upon dissolution of the select committee, the records of the select committee shall become the records of any committee designated by the Speaker.

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This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5718