Posted by Kromey at 1:57pm Oct 30 '13They knew al Qaeda was operating within Benghazi.
They knew they had made threats against the Red Cross, the Brits, and the Americans -- and had already carried out the first two.
They knew they had inadequate security protecting the American mission in Benghazi.
About 30 minutes into the attack, a quick reaction force from the CIA Annex ignored orders to wait and raced to the compound, at times running and shooting their way through the streets just to get there. Inside the compound, they repelled a force of as many as 60 armed terrorists and managed to save five American lives and recover the body of Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith. They were forced to fight their way out before they could find the ambassador.
Contrary to the lies spouted by the administration, there was a reaction force less than a mile away, capable of responding, but ordered not to! How many more lives could they have saved if they had not been held back until they finally decided to ignore their orders and go in?
This was not random rioting over some ridiculous YouTube video that happened to spill into the mission. This was a planned, coordinated, military assault carried out by trained and experienced operatives -- people with the skill, training, and practice required to hit a rooftop with three separate mortar volleys, killing the former Navy SEALs defending the CIA Annex from there. "[T]hat's getting the basketball through the hoop over your shoulder."
This was a sustained, 7-hour long battle, conducted by obviously well-trained soldiers. The administration would have fully known that almost immediately, and yet for weeks they lied to us and blamed a YouTube video for the "rioting".
Warnings before the attack were ignored. Please for help during the attack were refused.
[F]or the people that go out onto the edge, to represent our country, we believe that if we get in trouble, they're coming to get us. That our back is covered. To hear that it's not, it's a terrible, terrible experience.