TREASONOUS INACTION: Eyewitnesses in Benghazi, Libya during the attack on the US mission now say that CIA operatives twice sought permission from commanders to help Ambassador Chris Stevens and his staff, and twice were ordered to 'stand down', while a later request to regional U.S. bases for military backup was also denied.
by Dan Crosby
of The DAILY PEN
NEW YORK, NY
– As U.S. Ambassador Stevens was being murdered by Islamic terrorists
during the September 11 attack on the Benghazi, Libya mission
headquarters, CIA operators on duty at the mission annex less than a
mile from Stevens’ location, were ordered twice to "stand down" when
they attempted to help the ambassador's team after they heard shots
fired at approximately 9:40 p.m., according to a report from Fox News.
The
report also says at least two urgent requests from the CIA operatives
for military intervention, one in the early moments of the attack on the
U.S. mission, and another in subsequent attack on the annex hours
later, were denied by Obama Administration officials.
Even
after at least two highly trained Navy Seal operatives experienced in
combat assessment and tactical operations tried to tell the command
center that military intervention was required, the Obama Administration
still refused claiming there was not enough information about the
attack to warrant a tactical response.
However,
critics among the Intelligence community and military Special
Operations command say claims by the Obama administration that
information was not available are a lie. They insist an
on-site assessment from tactically trained Navy Seals actively engaged
on the ground during the attack is more than enough intelligence
information, by itself, to conduct an QRF (Quick Reaction Force)
evacuation operation “site unseen”.
"...an
on-site assessment from tactically trained Navy Seals actively engaged
on the ground during the attack is more than enough intelligence
information, by itself, to conduct a QRF evacuation operation...'site
unseen'."
Defending
the Obama Administration’s failed response to the attack, Secretary of
Defense, Leon Panetta joined Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton saying,
“…there was not enough information on the ground to safely send help.”
However,
Panetta’s testimony is contradicted by the recent disclosure of State
Department emails which show that Obama, himself, as well as his staff
were aware of the circumstances and extent of the attack from the moment
it began.
Fox
also reports that live video feeds from two separate drones in the
skies over the attack were also being viewed by Obama administration
officials in real time, which means they had more than enough
information to assess the threat and provide help.
Also,
former special operations commanders say that within moments of the
beginning of the attack, a digital station-to-station “Flash Traffic”
notification was sent to the U.S. operations headquarters in Tripoli,
Italy telling officials there that the Ambassador was in peril.
Within
the intelligence and security services forces deployed in the region,
Ambassador Steven’s security detail is treated the same as those for a
Chief of Staff or four-star general. This means a “Flash
Traffic” message must be immediately relayed in code form to the White
House situation room explicitly stating the Ambassador is in peril and
the message must be confirmed as received by the desk watch officer
charged with conveying the message under standing orders to physically
carry the notification directly to the White House situation room.
Africom
Ops Center, the U.S. main communications network in the region, would
have also been monitoring the attack in real time from Germany. Three
networks of communications are simultaneously connected through
headquarters in North Africa, southern Europe and tactical placements in
the Mediterranean region. All forces remain on “strip
ready” standby which means operatives are able to board aircraft and
take off in minutes to engage any evacuation operation for U.S.
diplomats in the region. The nearest Evac Force was just
45 minutes from the Libyan Consulate, well within their capability to
have saved Ambassador Stevens and his staff at any time during the seven
hour assault.
The events as reported by Fox unfolded as follows:
“Former
Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods was manning the CIA annex with a small team
about a mile from the U.S. Consulate where Ambassador Chris Stevens and
his team came under attack. When Woods and others heard the shots fired,
they informed their higher-ups at the annex to tell them what they were
hearing and requested permission to go to the consulate and help out.
They were told to "stand down," according to sources familiar with the
exchange. Soon after, they were again told to ‘stand down.’”
The
report says Woods and at least two other CIA agents ignored those
orders and made their way to the Consulate which at that point was on
fire. The report suggests Woods and his team heroically
violated orders and, in attempting to rescue Stevens and his staff, may
have exposed something more sinister. Woods was later joined at the
scene by fellow former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty, who was sent in from
Tripoli as part of a Global Response Staff or GRS that provides security
to CIA case officers and provides countersurveillance and surveillance
protection.
“Obviously,
these brave men had a good reason for defying orders and engage the
attackers in defense of Ambassador Stevens,” says former special
operations commander, Lt. Col. Douglas Radcliff.
"They
must have known that they would have no back up if they engaged the
fight against orders. But,they did it anyway and paid with their
lives."
"Obviously, these brave men had a good reason for defying orders and engage the attackers in defense of Ambassador Stevens..."
There is much speculation about the motives for such derelict inaction by the Obama administration’s command. Many
theorize the Obama administration may have been using Ambassador
Stevens to broker a covert arms deal through Turkey to arm Syrian rebels
to help overthrow the Assad regime in Damascus. Some
believe the attack was a retaliatory strike for the allegation by the
Obama Administration that it killed Osama Bin Laden in May, 2011.
The Fox report continues, “The
quick reaction by Woods’ team from the CIA annex evacuated those who
remained at the Consulate and Sean Smith, who had been killed in the
initial attack. They could not find the ambassador and returned to the
CIA annex at about midnight.”
“At
that point, they called again for military support and help because
they were taking fire at the CIA safe house, or annex. The request was
denied. There were no communications problems at the annex, according
those present at the compound. The team was in constant radio contact
with their headquarters. In fact, at least one member of the team was on
the roof of the annex manning a heavy machine gun when mortars were
fired at the CIA compound. The security officer had a laser on the
target that was firing and repeatedly requested back-up support from a
Specter gunship, which is commonly used by U.S. Special Operations
forces to provide support to Special Operations teams on the ground
involved in intense firefights. The fighting at the CIA annex went on
for more than four hours -- enough time for any planes based in
Sigonella Air base, just 480 miles away, to arrive. Fox News has also
learned that two separate Tier One Special operations forces were told
to wait, among them Delta Force operators.”
The Fox report continued, “A
Special Operations team, or CIF which stands for Commanders in Extremis
Force, operating in Central Europe had been moved to Sigonella, Italy,
but they too were told to stand down. A second force that specializes in
counterterrorism rescues was on hand at Sigonella, according to senior
military and intelligence sources. According to those sources, they
could have flown to Benghazi in less than two hours. They were the same
distance to Benghazi as those that were sent from Tripoli. Specter
gunships are commonly used by the Special Operations community to
provide close air support.
According
to sources on the ground during the attack, the special operator on the
roof of the CIA annex had visual contact and a laser pointing at the
Libyan mortar team that was targeting the CIA annex. The operators were
calling in coordinates of where the Libyan forces were firing from.
Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday that
there was not a clear enough picture of what was occurring on the ground
in Benghazi to send help.
"There's
a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on here," Panetta said
Thursday. "But the basic principle here ... is that you don't deploy
forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on."
U.S.
officials argue that there was a period of several hours when the
fighting stopped before the mortars were fired at the annex, leading
officials to believe the attack was over.
Fox
News has learned that there were two military surveillance drones
redirected to Benghazi shortly after the attack on the Consulate began.
They were already in the vicinity. The second surveillance craft was
sent to relieve the first drone, perhaps due to fuel issues. Both were
capable of sending real time visuals back to U.S. officials in
Washington, D.C. Any U.S. official or agency with the proper clearance,
including the White House Situation Room, State Department, CIA,
Pentagon and others, could call up that video in real time on their
computers.
Tyrone
Woods was later joined at the scene by fellow former Navy SEAL Glen
Doherty, who was sent in from Tripoli as part of a Global Response Staff
or GRS that provides security to CIA case officers and provides
countersurveillance and surveillance protection. They were killed by a
mortar shell at 4 a.m. Libyan time, nearly seven hours after the attack
on the Consulate began -- a window that represented more than enough
time for the U.S. military to send back-up from nearby bases in Europe,
according to sources familiar with Special Operations. Four mortars were
fired at the annex. The first one struck outside the annex. Three more
hit the annex.
A
motorcade of dozens of Libyan vehicles, some mounted with 50 caliber
machine guns, belonging to the February 17th Brigades, a Libyan militia
which is friendly to the U.S., finally showed up at the CIA annex at
approximately 3 a.m. An American Quick Reaction Force sent from Tripoli
had arrived at the Benghazi airport at 2 a.m. (four hours after the
initial attack on the Consulate) and was delayed for 45 minutes at the
airport because they could not at first get transportation, allegedly
due to confusion among Libyan militias who were supposed to escort them
to the annex, according to Benghazi sources.
The
American special operators, Woods, Doherty and at least two others were
part of the Global Response Staff, a CIA element, based at the CIA
annex and were protecting CIA operators who were part of a mission to
track and repurchase arms in Benghazi that had proliferated in the wake
of Muammar Qaddafi's fall. Part of their mission was to find the more
than 20,000 missing MANPADS, or shoulder-held missiles capable of
bringing down a commercial aircraft. According to a source on the ground
at the time of the attack, the team inside the CIA annex had captured
three Libyan attackers and was forced to hand them over to the Libyans.
U.S. officials do not know what happened to those three attackers and
whether they were released by the Libyan forces.
Fox
News has also learned that Stevens was in Benghazi that day to be
present at the opening of an English-language school being started by
the Libyan farmer who helped save an American pilot who had been shot
down by pro-Qaddafi forces during the initial war to overthrow the
regime. That farmer saved the life of the American pilot and the
Ambassador wanted to be present to launch the Libyan rescuer's new
school.”