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.”
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