Wednesday - October 24, 2012

Gee, no Kidding

(Reuters) - Officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after attackers assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack, official emails show.

The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks.

The brief emails also show how U.S. diplomats described the attack, even as it was still under way, to Washington.

U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Benghazi assault, which President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials ultimately acknowledged was a “terrorist” attack carried out by militants with suspected links to al Qaeda affiliates or sympathizers.

Administration spokesmen, including White House spokesman Jay Carney, citing an unclassified assessment prepared by the CIA, maintained for days that the attacks likely were a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim film.

There is simply no way to spin this. The bald truth is right there: the President and the Secretary of State and presumably several other top government people, knew both AS IT HAPPENED and IMMEDIATELY AFTER that the attack on our embassy was an act of terrorism. And then they flat out lied about it to the American public FOR WEEKS.

So, why were the leaders of our nation covering up for terrorists? Why are they in collusion with our enemies? Why are they treating what is pretty much one of the top definitive Casus Belli going as a criminal activity? Didn’t we put that approach behind us forever on 9/12/01?

And when the drone camera footage surfaces, date and time stamped, showing 3 or 4 drones covering things as they happened, transmitting the images to Washington in real time? Will anyone wonder why nothing was done in the 5 or 6 hours that the attacks lasted? When the Navy was just offshore, ready and eager to execute any kind of extraction or confrontation imaginable? What then? Will it even impact the poles? If not abject treason, how is this not total dereliction of duty?

Update: US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice knew too, as well as FOUR HUNDRED security personnel near the tops of multiple federal security agencies.

The emails obtained by Fox News were sent by the State Department to a variety of national security platforms, whose addresses have been redacted, including the White House Situation Room, the Pentagon, the FBI and the Director of National Intelligence.

Fox News was told that an estimated 300 to 400 national security figures received these emails in real time almost as the raid was playing out and concluding. People who received these emails work directly under the nation’s top national security, military and diplomatic officials, Fox News was told.

The first email, timed at 4:05 p.m. Washington time - or 10:05 p.m. Benghazi time, 20-30 minutes after the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission allegedly began - carried the subject line “U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi Under Attack” and the notation “SBU”, meaning “Sensitive But Unclassified.”

The text said the State Department’s regional security office had reported that the diplomatic mission in Benghazi was “under attack. Embassy in Tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots; explosions have been heard as well.”

The message continued: “Ambassador Stevens, who is currently in Benghazi, and four ... personnel are in the compound safe haven. The 17th of February militia is providing security support.”

A second email, headed “Update 1: U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi” and timed 4:54 p.m. Washington time, said that the Embassy in Tripoli had reported that “the firing at the U.S. Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi had stopped and the compound had been cleared.” It said a “response team” was at the site attempting to locate missing personnel.

A third email, also marked SBU and sent at 6:07 p.m. Washington time, carried the subject line: “Update 2: Ansar al-Sharia Claims Responsibility for Benghazi Attack.”

The message reported: “Embassy Tripoli reports the group claimed responsibility on Facebook and Twitter and has called for an attack on Embassy Tripoli.”

While some information identifying recipients of this message was redacted from copies of the messages obtained by Reuters, a government source said that one of the addresses to which the message was sent was the White House Situation Room, the president’s secure command post.

Posted by Drew458     on 10/24/2012 at 08:47 AM   
Filed Under: • No Shit, Sherlock • Obama, The One •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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