This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5820
May 7, 2013
May 7, 2013 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews org - Tomorrow morning Darrell Issa's House Committee on Governmental Oversight will be gavelled into order.
Live coverage starts sy 11:30 AM EDT/8:30 PDT and can be followed, real-time, from the below link:
http://oversight.house.gov/hearing/benghazi-exposing-failure-and-recognizing-courage/
Front and center at this event will be an exploration of exactly what transpired during the September 11, 2012 jihadist attack on our embassy in Benghazi, Libya.
To a degree some of the information which will be presented is already widely known among the handful whose business it is to follow national security developments.
For example, a piece we published on November 11, 2012 [see House Hearings: Obama's Failure In Benghazi] outlined the testimony, also before the Issa Committee, by State Department professionals which clearly demonstrated that the Benghazi Embassy was left essentially undefended prior to September 11 [despite constant please from embassy personnel, including the American Ambassador, Chris Stevens] and then abandoned after the attack commenced, leading to needless loss of life as well as a major blow to the image of the United States' military prowess.
"...Four witnesses were called to testify under oath.They were:
Ms. Charlene R. Lamb, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Department of State
Mr. Eric Nordstrom, Regional Security Officer, U.S. Department of State
Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, Utah National Guard , U.S. Army
Ambassador Patrick Kennedy, Under Secretary for Management, U.S. Department of State
There is one common thread which connects the testimony of these individuals, three of which are high ranking State Dept. officials.
All four of them testified that security at Benghazi was almost nonexistent, in the face of a constant threat posed by the political instability in Libya, post the overthrow and subsequent death of Muammar Gaddafi, the country's long-time dictator.
Regarding constant threats, the Heritage Foundation Foundry Blog assembled a revealing time-line demonstrating that before the September 11 deadly attack there were at least 12 serious security incidents relating to the embassy.
For example, a partial listing:
" April 6: IED thrown over the fence of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi...May 1: British Embassy in Tripoli is attacked by a violent mob and set on fire. Other NATO embassies attacked as well... June 6: A large IED destroys part of the security perimeter of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Creates hole "big enough for 40 men to go through..."
None of these attacks resulted in increased security.
As the gavel fell commencing the hearings the security posture at Benghazi was characterized by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood - an active duty Army officer with 24 years of service in the Special Forces as follows:
"... I served as the Site Security Team (SST) Commander in Libya from 12 February to 14 August of this year, 2012... The SSTs mission was to support and answer to Chief of Mission in Libya. I worked directly for the Regional Security Officer. We provided Security Support, Medical Support, Communications Support for every facet of security that concerned the Embassy. ...In late spring, Police were allowed to return to work to help with traffic but were limited to that. Fighting between militias was still common when I departed. Some militias appeared to be degenerating into organizations resembling free lance criminal operations. Targeted attacks against westerners were on the increase. In June the Ambassador received a threat on Facebook with a public announcement that he liked to run around the Embassy compound in Tripoli... State Department's decision not to extend SST's security work beyond August 5th terminated our work in this capacity..."But the hearings received little or no coverage by the MSM and hence the low-on-the-foodchain voters remained completely unaware of the damaging details surrounding Benghazi.Thus Colonel Wood made it clear that as a result of a State Dept. directive, the Embassy was left essentially defenseless, barely 30 days before the 9/11 anniversary. Because of the State Department's actions, the facility was actually made less, rather than more secure as September 11 approached.
"...The security in Benghazi was a struggle and remained a struggle throughout my time there. The situation remained uncertain and reports from some Libyans indicated it was getting worse. Diplomatic security remained weak. In April there was only one US diplomatic security agent stationed there. The RSO struggled to obtain additional personnel there but was never able to attain the numbers he felt comfortable with..."
The testimony of Ms. Lamb was equally damaging.
She noted that primary security duty was provided by post-revolutionary troops housed within the Embassy compound, "...The fourth building on the compound, the one closest to the gate, served as the barracks for members of the Libyan 17th February Brigade who were on the compound round the clock.."
National security professionals, however were outraged by the coverup and the brazen lies coming out of TeamObama. In response a group of over 700 current and former members of the SPECOPS community drafted a leter to the U.S. House imploring them to get to the bottom of what is now obviously a coverup which could threaten Mr. Obama's presidency.
Below, some of the operative text of the letter which we used in constructing a piece published by PipeLineNews on April 9 [see, Why Did President Obama Refuse To Defend The Benghazi Embassy?]
"April 8, 2013To: 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?..."
Individual Congressmen have also been doggedly pursuing this matter with Virginia's Frank Wolf distinguishing himself as a leader in attempting to get to the bottom of what is by far the most serious security failure since September 11, 2001.
Tomorrow's key witnesses are as follows, and they are all from what was then Hillary Clinton's dysfunctional State Dept. [it hasn't improved since Mr. Kerry took the helm] so their knowledge of the events surrounding Benghazi should be quite provocative..
Mr. Mark Thompson, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism, US Department of State.
Mr. Gregory Hicks, Foreign Service Officer and former Deputy Chief of Mission/Chargé d'Affairs in Libya, US Department of State.
Mr. Eric Nordstrom, Diplomatic Security Officer and former Regional Security Officer in Libya, US Department of State.
We look forward with great interest to these hearings in hopes of further establishing the extent to which Mr. Obama's administration conducted, on his behalf, engaged in an outlandish cover-up primarily designed to at least get him through the November election with the average knuckledragging voter none the wiser.
Below some of the relevant articles we have generated on this topic, as you can see, we have been on this since the day this tragic and completely avoidable, event took place.
Why Did President Obama Refuse To Defend The Benghazi Embassy?Gen. Petraeus - It Wasn't Terrorism...Before it Was Terrorism
Congressman Wolf Calls For Select Committee Investigation to Probe Benghazi Coverup
EMERGENCY ALERT - Fox News Blows Cover Off Benghazi Coverup - Incriminating Emails Produced
House Hearings - Obama's Failure In Benghazi
Video Timeline Reveals Massive Obama Coverup Of Benghazi Attack
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http://www.pipelinenews.org/2013/may/07/Issa-Governmental-Oversight-Committee-Prepares-To-Demolish.html
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5820