Senators challenge military leaders on Benghazi
Lawmakers Thursday challenged the 2 top military leaders on their insistent claims that nothing more could have been done to save the four Americans who were killed in the Sept. 11 terror attack in Benghazi. Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey were hammered with questions from Republican senators during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
These 2 claim military aircraft and other assets were too far away to get to the scene in time, and suggested armed aircraft like F16s could have done more harm than good in a chaotic situation.
If security was lacking, why then, were those Americans allowed to remain? Or perhaps there is some truth to the rumors of Obama selling arms to rebels.
But the senators kept asking why military help wasn’t sent to rescue the Americans under attack.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., disputed testimony that the difficulty in dispatching assets to the scene was “a problem of distance and time.” He suggested the “light footprint” in the region and a failure to respond to threats left the military ill-prepared.
“For you to testify that our posture would not allow a rapid response — our posture was not there because we didn’t take into account the threats to that consulate, and that’s why four Americans died,” he said. “We could have placed forces there. We could have had aircraft and other capacity a short distance away.”
He continued: “No forces arrived there until well after these murders took place.”
Dempsey acknowledged having gotten word of a warning from the U.S. consulate about being unable to withstand a sustained attack, but said the military never got a request for support from the State Department.
“So it’s the State Department’s fault?” McCain asked, curtly. “I’m not blaming the State Department,” Dempsey said. McCain responded: “Who would you blame?”
Dempsey then claimed that other US posts were threatened, but McCain said not as much as Benghazi. Then Sen Lindsey Graham said the attack lasted 8 hours, and wanted to know if Obama was even concerned.
Panetta said there was “no question” Obama “was concerned about American lives.”
“With all due respect,” Graham responded, “I don’t believe that’s a credible statement if he never called and asked you, ‘are we helping these people?'”
Panetta was testifying in what may be his final public appearance on Capitol Hill as he prepares to leave the department. Panetta, in his testimony, detailed the military response on the day and night of the attack. Panetta said said an unarmed, unmanned drone was positioned overhead the Benghazi compound. But he said armed aircraft like AC-130 gunships would have taken too long to get there — “at least nine to 12 hours if not more to deploy.”
Also Panetta claimed he directed a Marine Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team stationed in Spain prepare to deploy in addition to a second FAST platoon; a special operations force in Central Europe prepare to deploy to a staging base in Southern Europe; and a special ops force in the U.S. similarly prepare to deploy to Southern Europe.
Since the September assault, some have questioned whether enough was done to protect those at the consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi. Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed that night.
In recent weeks, Fox News has learned that the rescue unit that left Tripoli was told that air support would be above when they landed in Benghazi, but it wasn’t.
- Posted in: Politics ♦ Terrorism ♦ World News
- Tagged: Benghazi attack, former Denfense secretary Leon Panetta, senators gill military leaders
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