After spending nine hours putting Bret Baeir's report in writing (I was so riveted I couldn't resist!), I can say there were explosive details like the promo advertised, the biggest one for me (because I hate the GOP and always want proof they are against us), can be found at the very end of the article (the tease is already in the title). I looked up all of the names mentioned in the report myself because I like know who is doing what wrong when bad things happen.
What happened in Benghazi was not just a tragedy, but a blatant, negligent and criminal act on the part of our Government, Obama's government. It is curious to me that most of the so-called "tragedies" Clinton cited at the very beginning of the report seemed to be under Democratic Presidents who are usually dangerously naïve or just weak in foreign affairs (I am being kind). The attacks on our soil were incremental, leading to 9/11, the worst one yet.
Speaking of Hillary, after seeing her again today, I was reminded of how repulsive Mrs. Clinton is. She is a villain of the highest order. She is corrupt. She has blood on her hands, and she should never be allowed to run for President. She should hang her head in shame, and so should every Republican who defends her, including Rinos like Jeb Bush, John McCain and Marco Rubio, who is now officially a member of the GOPe brotherhood. When they cover for her by thwarting any efforts to investigate infiltration at the highest ranks in our government. That leads me to believe they all have something to hide. I continue to push for our leaders and journalists to
EXPOSE infiltration in the GOP, as Michele Bachmann seems to be out to lunch quite a bit lately.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oWwFmZfr5y0]
1. Background Politics
Hillary Clinton states before Congress that to understand Benghazi, one must go back a few years. Benghazi joins long list tragedies for America: 1979 - the Tehran Hostage situation, 1983 - the Embassy and Marine Barracks were bombed in Beirut, 1996 - Saudi Arabia Khobar Towers.
Islamic supremacism is the motivating cause of these attacks, according to Andrew McCarthy, former federal prosecutor who won the conviction of the blind Sheik who wanted to bomb New York tunnels and landmarks in the 1990's. The ideology, which has not changed, has fueled attacks since the 70's.
The difference between the Obama administration and its critics, is the lessons learned from that history. President Bush treated 9/11 as an act of international terrorism, to be dealt with as an aggression against the U.S. by a hostile power. Obama's approach was to deny there was a global war on terror. Smart diplomacy would manage the problems in the Middle East and elsewhere.
June 24, 2009 Obama's apology tour began with his speech in Cairo. It was followed by the brutal suppression of Iran's Green Revolution, an uprising in Tunisia, and a popular revolt against Mubarak "the Arab Spring", in Egypt, presenting Obama with a defining foreign policy crisis in the Middle East.
He was forced to explain his intervening in a civil war in Libya to stop the blood bath by Gadhafi in an otherwise unknown place, Benghazi.
September, 2012. A Coptic Christian from a jail cell in Southern California came up with a loopy scheme to make a low-budget film called Desert Warrior. His message to the world: "Be careful. Evil (Terrorism Culture) coming from the East." It was released upon his parole and became part of the smokescreen that obscured the truth what happened on the 11th anniversary of 9/11/2001.
To this day, it is unknown where the story of the Mohammed video came from.
2. Fox NEWS timeline
Using unclassified and investigated reports released from Congress and the State Department, and public Presidential remarks, as sources, as well as their own investigative reporting, Fox News comes up with a timeline showing how disastrous decisions led to deadly consequences.
Tripoli is the capitol of Libya. Based there is a Department of Defense Sub-Security Team with Special Forces capability.
February, 2012 Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood, in charge of the SS team in Tripoli, is asked, despite security incidents every three days in the Spring of 2012, to leave Libya by summer's end.
March 28th - Americans send the Secretary of State a cable requesting more security.
April 6th. A bomb is tossed over the Benghazi compound.
April 19th: Clinton's reply: SECURITY WOULD BE SCALED BACK (an exchange she later denied.)
June 6th, an IED is placed at the compound's North gate. No one is hurt, again. Christopher Stevens is the newly named Ambassador asks to keep two security teams the State Department had ordered to be removed.
June 11th: His request was denied. Brits pull out of Benghazi after an ambush on a convoy with the British Ambassador, and his security squad who were hurt.
June 25th: Stevens sends cable, warns of a deteriorating situation where Libyan extremists are targeting international organizations and foreign interests.
Hollywood Nakoula Basseley Nakoula renames his movie "Innocence of Muslims". The movie portrays the prophet Mohammed as a homicidal gay child molester. The film is released but no one shows up to see it.
July 2nd: A trailer for the film is uploaded by "Sam Bacile"(alias) to YouTube.
July 6th: Americans in Libya are even more concerned about terror attacks.
Charlene LAMB, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security, sends back a response urging them not to make formal requests for an extension of the security teams set to leave in August. Discouraging them was putting it mildly.
August 8th: Ambassador Stevens sends cable: "What we have seen are not random crimes of
opportunities but rather targeted and discriminate attacks." Less than a week later, Lieutenant Colonel Wood and his team leave the country.
Secretary Clinton pushes Ambassador Stevens to increase U.S. diplomatic presence in the city. According to Stevens, Clinton wanted Benghazi converted into a permanent constituent post. The timing was important, because he (Stevens) needed to report before September 30th, end of the fiscal year.
September 6th: John Kerry at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina: "Today, without a single American casualty, Moammar Gadhafi is gone, and the people of Libya are free!" The same day, Morris Sadak, anEgyptian-American Coptic Christian activist, emails journalists to promote a 9/11 event with Koran-burning pastor Terry Jones, including a link to Nakoula's YouTube trailer.
September 8th: Cairo. Popular Islamist broadcaster airs portions of trailer. Outrage ensues.
September 9th: As Ambassador Stevens gets ready to leave Tripoli for Benghazi, he is warned by Diplomatic Security Officer, Alec Henderson, that the Feb. 17th Martyr's Brigade can't be trusted to protect him.
September 10th Benghazi. Local Media is present upon Ambassador Stevens arrival in the city, which was supposed to be secret.
September 11th, 2012
6:43 am Benghazi Libyan police officer atop a building next door is caught photographing the interior of the American compound.12:00 noon Sean Smith, Information Management Officer, messages a friend "Assuming we don't die tonight, we saw one of 'our police' that guard the compound taking pictures."
12:11 pm Cairo. U.S. Embassy staffers release a statement about Nakoula's video "We firmly reject the actions by those who reject the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."
6:45 pm Egyptian embassy is stormed. Greg Hicks calls Stevens in Benghazi. America's #2 man in Libya, Greg Hicks, reaches out to Ambassador Stevens and testifies that he was unaware of the Embassy being stormed in Cairo where they had been trying to tear down the American flag. No sign of protest in Benghazi.
9:00 pm Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith retire for the evening in the main residence. Four diplomatic security agents accompany them: including lead offer, Scott Wickland, and Alec Henderson.
9:42 pm Agent Henderson hears shots and an explosion. He sounds an alarm.(Charlene Lamb testifies): He alerted the quick reaction security team stationed nearby, the Libyan's Feb 17 Brigade, the Embassy in Tripoli, and the Diplomatic Security Command Center in Washington.
Meanwhile, the attackers enter the main gate without warning or resistance from the Brigade.
In Tripoli, Hicks finds out the Embassy is under attack. He calls Stevens who's hiding with Sean Smith in the safe haven. Attackers set the residence ablaze. The safe haven fills with thick dark smoke. Former Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and other agents at the Annex, more than a mile away, get their weapons ready. They were mobilizing an to repel the attack.
4:05 pm Washington. An internal State Department Ops alert warns Benghazi special mission was under attack. (Hillary testifies that she was notified of the attack after 4 pm, spoke to Tom Donilon, National Security Advisor. Instructed Senior Officials to break down the doors of the Libyan officials to get as much security support as they possibly could.)
Mark Thompson, State Department Counter Terrorism Official, wanted to immediately dispatch the U.S. Ford Emergency Support Team, called FEST, which is on alert to do just this mission. He notified the White House that they needed to act now, not wait. At the annex, sources tell Fox News the CIA Team is told to stand down twice. An independent Accountability Review Board appointed by the State Department concluded the CIA officers were "not delayed by orders from superiors".
10:07 pm Benghazi. The CIA team leaves the Annex anyway, bound for the compound.
10:45 pm When asked if he got help from the Pentagon, Hicks testified that he asked the Defense Attache if anything was coming. The short answer was, No. So, Hicks said, thank you very much, and they went on with their work.
10:54 pm Benghazi. The six-man response team from the Annex drives the attackers out of the compound. By that time, Sean Smith has been burnt dead, but nobody can find Ambassador Stevens.
5:00 pm Washington. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta attends weekly meeting with the President. He testified that he ordered all available DOD assets to respond. (Bret Baier interjects: but none outside Libya will.) The quickest response option available was a security team that was located at the Embassy in Tripoli. (Bret Baier interjects: but the Americans had no plane in Tripoli).
Hicks testifies that they agreed they would go forward with chartering a plane to fly a response team to Benghazi to provide additional reinforcements.11:10 pm Benghazi. A U.S. drone armed only with cameras begins circling above the compound. Five minutes later, a second wave of attackers arrives. Hicks testifies that the Annex team withdrew from the facility when the second wave of attackers took it over.
Senator Graham asks if anyone left any base anywhere to go to the aid of the people under attack in Benghazi, Libya, before the attack ended? Panetta: "No. Because the attack ended before they could go on the ground." Senator Lee points out this was an attack that lasted nearly 8 hours from start to finish.
Panetta replies: "There was this initial attack on the facility at Benghazi. Frankly we thought that was the end of what had occurred there. And we had no intelligence that a second attack would take place at the Annex two miles away."
September 11th turns into the 12th
Bret Baier describes Benghazi as "a modern-day Alamo, a handful of brave Americans facing terrible odds, with no help on the way."5:30 pm Washington. Leon Panetta finishes meeting with the President. He summons U.S. Africa Commander Carter Ham, Joint-Chief Chair, Martin Dempsey, and other Senior staff to discuss Benghazi. Meeting lasts over 2 hours.
Tripoli. Greg Hicks testifies that they're on their own, and have to try to pull this off with the resources they have.
12:00 am Benghazi. The Annex is under attack. Hicks: "The second phase of this is that after the teams have returned to the Annex, they suffer for about an hour and a half of probing attacks."
After a two-hour scramble, Team Tripoli finally secures a charter plane, among those aboard, former Navy Seal, Glen Doherty. Meanwhile, in Washington, State Department Counter-Terrorism official, Mark Thompson wants to know why the Ford Emergency Support Team (FEST) had not deployed as requested.
Chaffetz: "How do you react to that?"
Thompson: "We live by a code. That code says you go after people when they're in peril .. when they're in the service of their country."
12:07 am Libya.
6:07 pm Washington. The State Department issues an internal Ops alert, an Al-Qaeda-linked, Ansur al-Sharia, is claiming responsibility for Benghazi.
12:30 am Twitter posts are calling for attacks on the Embassy in Tripoli. Hicks: "And so we now have to take care of ourselves."
1:00 am Someone using Wickland's cell phone redials Hicks. The caller says the Ambassador is at the Benghazi Medical Center.
Hicks: "We learn that it is a hospital which is controlled by Ansur al-Sharia." Hicks suspects a trap.
1:15 am Libya. The American Charter plane from Tripoli arrives at the Benghazi airport, but there's a hitch. Hicks: "The Tripoli Team had to stay at the Benghazi airport, because they had no transport and not escort from the Libyans." The delay would give the terrorists time to set up another lethal assault.
2:00 am Tripoli. Hicks gets a call from Washington. Secretary of State Clinton and Senior Staff called, to ask what was going on.
Hillary: "I spoke with our charge in Tripoli, I talked with the then Libyan National Congress President to press him on greater support. We were reaching out to anyone we could find to get an update on Ambassador Stevens."
8:39 pm Washington. Five hours after the attacks began. After the 2 hour meeting, Panetta officially authorizes a military response (of sorts)
Panetta: "First, we ordered a marine fleet anti-terrorism secure team to prepare, to deploy to Benghazi. A second fast platoon was ordered to prepare, to deploy to Tripoli. A special operations force, training in Central Europe, was ordered to prepare, to deploy to (inaudible).
Ayotte: "to prepare to deploy is not actual deployment of going to Benghazi."
Chaffetz: "Why did it take almost four and half hours to start the clock to prepare to deploy? We had people who were getting killed, we had an Ambassador who was missing. We didn't know when that attack was going to end, and the American Military did not respond."
Bret asks about the House Republicans' own Interim Progress report that concluded in April that "Department of Defense officials and military personnel reacted quickly to the attacks in Benghazi".
Bret Baier quotes the following from the House Joint Committee Report: "There were no planes, no helicopters, no armed drones, nothing could have saved the lives of the Americans killed in Benghazi."
He asks if he's reading it correctly. Chaffetz says the report is an interim report, that the discussion of what the military did and did not is not yet complete.
3:00 am Hicks receives a call from the Prime Minister of Libya.
Hicks: "I think it's the saddest phone call I've ever had in my life (choking up). He told me that Ambassador Stevens had passed away. I immediately telephoned Washington."
10:00 pm Washington. Secretary of State: "I spoke with President Obama later in the evening, to bring him up to date, to hear his perspective." (Only call that night.)
10:08 pm Washington. Clinton issues a statement. Despite the months of security warnings in Benghazi and claims of responsibility by an Al-Qaeda affiliate, Clinton issues links the attack to the anti-Mohammed Video produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.
Clinton (U.S. Department of State): "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The U.S. deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others."
4:45 am Benghazi. The seven-man Tripoli response team finally leaves the Benghazi airport bound for the CIA Annex.
Panetta: "Within 15 minutes of arriving at the Annex facility, they came under attack by mortar and rocket propelled grenades."
Hicks: "The accuracy was terribly precise. The first mortar round was long. The next was short. The next three landed on the roof. Killed Glen and Tyrone."
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Former Navy Seals, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods become the third and fourth Americans killed in Benghazi.
Hicks, still in Tripoli, knows he must send another plane to Benghazi. "People in Benghazi had been fighting all night. They were tired. They were exhausted."
He orders a special forces team led by Lieutenant Colonel Steve H. Gibson, who he told to bring "our" people home. That's what he wanted to do. As Colonel Gibson and his three personnel were getting in their cars, he stopped, he called them off and told Hicks he had not been authorized to go.
Chaffetz (?) asking question: "How did personnel react to being called to stand down?"
Hicks: "I will quote Lieutenant Colonel Gibson. He said this is the first time a diplomat has more balls than somebody in the Military."
Lieutenant Colonel Gibson later told Congress they were ordered not to stand down, but to stay IN Tripoli, due to threats against Americans there.
Gibson's boss is Africa Commander, four-star General Carter Ham who's at the Pentagon with Panetta and Dempsey. He declined to speak with Fox News, but met with Congressman Chaffetz about the lack of military response that night.
Chaffetz: He said they had proximity and capability but were not ordered to go.
3. Conclusion: James Rosen continues with the events of September 12th, 2012 and more...
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