THE BATTLE OF BENGHAZI

            It has been one year since “The Battle of Benghazi,” the attack on the US Mission and CIA Annex by 125 to 150 Al Q’ieda terrorists in Benghazi, Libya.  The families of those killed, the families of the 13 personnel injured in the attack, the men and women throughout the US Armed Forces, the members of the US Congress, and the American people would like to know why a military rescue mission was never deployed to save the lives of the 4 Americans who were killed in Benghazi—why all the Americans “In Harm’s Way” were abandoned buy Obama. After one year, the US Congress still has not been permitted to interview any one of the 32 survivors.  The resident of the Oval Office, Hillary Clinton, and the US State Department have stonewalled the investigation for one year. 

WHO LED THE ATTACK, AND WHO WAS THE MASTERMIND?

            It has been widely reported in Egyptian media that according to Ahmed Moussa, a high ranking intelligence official in the Egyptian government, one of the leaders of the attack on the US Mission in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 was Mohsen Al-Azazi.  Investigators with the Egyptian Supreme State Security, have stated the actual mastermind of the Benghazi attack was Tarek Taha Abu Al-Azm, who is a seasoned jet fighter pilot and a former Major in the Egyptian Air Force who, as a Captain, trained at a US Air Force Bases in Texas; his background is listed on a pro-Jihadi Web site, The Arab Sword.  

            Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak jailed Al-Azm for terrorist activities, but when Muslin Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi came to power, Al-Azm was immediately released.  According to the an ongoing investigation by Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecutors, Al-Azm and Al-Azazi are closely connected with the number 2 man in the Muslim Brotherhood, Khairat Al-Shater; Al-Shater is singing like a bird and says he has documents that will prove Obama was informed on who was involved in the attack on Benghazi. 

            Incidentally there is a video, distributed by a news correspondent in Libyan, right after the Benghazi attack, with Egyptians requesting safe passage to the US Mission in Benghazi, because they were sent by Morsi to support the attack in Benghazi. A Libyan intelligence document dated September 15, 2012, names six Egyptians from the terrorist group, Ansar al-Sharia, based in Egypt, as being behind the attack on the US Mission in Benghazi, and that Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi is named as a co-conspirator.                     Along with Morsi, the Libyan intelligence document goes on to name five other co-conspirators, who are all members of the Muslim Brotherhood.  US Intelligence Agencies, the White House, and the US State Department were provided with that information. Yet the Obama administration continued to send hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Morsi knowing that information. According to The Arab News in Egypt, Cairo TV News Channel 14, and the Egyptian Daily News, Obama sent $8 billion dollars to the Muslim Brotherhood who was working directly with Ansar al-Sharia. We have witnessed how Obama tried to prevent the Pro-US Egyptian Military from removing Morsi from power, and how Saudi Arabia encouraged the Egyptian Military to disregard Obama and crush Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

            Ambassador Stevens was in Libya to purchase stinger missiles from Ansar al-Sharia groups that had been provided with those missiles by the State Department during the civil war against Gaddafi. The CIA had been monitoring Ansar al-Sharia, whose membership includes suspected members of Al Q’ieda.  In spring of 2012, with American approval, weapons were being shipped to Islamic terrorists opposing Assad in Syria; shipments were sent through Qatar. After the end of the Libya civil war, both the CIA and the US State Department were tasked with continuing to identify and collect arms that had flooded Libya during the civil war, particularly shoulder-fired missiles taken from the former arsenal of the fallen regime of Gaddafi.  The CIA and State Department were also tasked with securing Libya’s chemical weapon stockpiles, In July 2011, it was reported that anti-aircraft shoulder-fired missiles were being raided from bunkers of the Gaddafi regime by Al Q’ieda rebels, and were being sent to Syria.  After the end of the Libyan civil war, Benghazi became a massive Al Q’ieda training camp where Al Q’ieda recruits were being trained and shipped to fight against Assad in Syria.

            More than a dozen violent events occurred in Benghazi six months before the attack on the US Mission—including an IED the blew a hole in US Mission perimeter wall that 4 men could walk thru (leaflets were left behind that promised more attacks), an attack on the International red Cross Office resulted in that office being closed, an attack on the UN Special Envoy’s Convoy resulted in the UN Office being closed, there were western kidnappings & car jackings, an assassination attempt was made against the British Ambassador that resulted in evacuation of the staff from the Benghazi Consulate, the Tunisian Consulate in Benghazi was stormed by Ansar Al-Sharia, Iran closed its Consular Office in Benghazi, after 7 members of the Red Crescent Relief Agency were kidnapped for ransom its office was closed, and there have been many gun battles.  

            These events indicated a clear pattern of security threats that could only be reasonably interpreted to justify increased security for U.S. personnel and facilities in Benghazi.  The Regional Security Office in Tripoli “compiled a list of 234 security incidents in Libya between June 2011 and July 2012, 50 of which took place in Benghazi. The Regional security Office warned the US Secretary of State that additional security was required in Benghazi.

            After a meeting to discuss the deteriorating security situation at the U.S. Mission diplomatic compound in Benghazi on August 16, US Embassy officials in Tripoli sent a cable to Clinton outlining the circumstances and specifying that additional security was urgently needed and that Stevens was on an Al Q’ieda hit list. Stevens expressed his concern in his diary about the growing Al Q’ieda presence in the area and his worry about being on an Al Q’ieda hit list; his diary was found in the wreckage of the US Mission after Stevens was murdered.  

            On September 3, 2012 the US Embassy in Tripoli began receiving multiple tips about the Al Q’ieda cells in the Benghazi area, planning an attack on the 11^th Anniversary to 9/11 in response to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. The US Ambassador repeatedly asked the US State Department and the White House Situation Room for increased security, but his requests for increased security was denied 6 times; he was told by Ms Lamb at the US State Department, that the US Mission in Benghazi only needed 3 guards to maintain security, that local Libyan security guards would provide additional security. A Benghazi security official and a Battalion Commander of the Libyan February 17 Brigade met with U.S. diplomats on September 8^th and warned the Americans about deteriorating security in the area around the US Mission. The official told CNN that the diplomats had been advised, “The situation is frightening, it scares us.”

            The day before the attack on the US Mission, September 10^th, worldwide intelligence agencies picked up intercepts of Al Qaida new leader Ayman al-Zawahiri who replace Osama Bin Laden declaring that an Al Q’ieda leader from Libya, Abu Ya Hya Al-Libi, killed in Yemen by a US Predator drone had to be avenged in Libya on the 11^th Anniversary of 9/11.  

            No more than seven Americans were in the US Mission compound on September 11^th, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith, an aide to the US Ambassador and an Information Management Specialists, who were visiting the US Mission in Benghazi.  In the morning two consulate security guards and Sean Smith spotted a man in a Libyan police uniform taking pictures of the consulate with his cell phone from a nearby building that was under construction. He drove away in a police car and a complaint was filed with the Libyan Police Station.

            Ambassador Stevens had his last meeting of the day with a Turkish diplomat and escorted him to the main gate at about 8:30 PM (Benghazi time). The street outside the compound was calm; Al Q’ieda terrorists began sealing off the streets leading to the US Mission with gun trucks at about 8:45 PM (Benghazi time/2:45 Washington time), after the Turkish diplomat left the US Mission.  The truck bore the logo of Ansar al-Sharia, made up of the Muslim Brotherhood, the February 17 Brigade, the Malik Brigade, Al Q’ieda, and many more Islamist militant groups working with the local government to manage security in Benghazi.  Ambassador Stevens retired to his room about 9:00 PM; he was alone in the building, according to guards who were interviewed after the attack.

THE ATTACK ON THE US MISSION

            About 9:40 PM Benghazi time (3:40 PM Washington time), the US Mission came under attack from multiple directions by 125-150 Al Q’ieda terrorist, they were shouting “Allah Akbar”, The Libyan guards, members of the February 17 Brigade, that were providing perimeter security at the US Mission scattered in panic. Some of the attackers were wearing the Afghan-style tunics favored by Al Q’ieda terrorists, some had their faces covered, and many wore flak jackets. The attackers lobbed hand grenades over the wall, under a barrage of AK-47 automatic weapons fire, the firing of rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), and were backed up by truck-mounted artillery, anti-aircraft heavy machine guns, and mortars. A Diplomatic Security Service Agent and Sean Smith viewed the attackers on security cameras, hit the alarm, and started shouting, “Attack, Attack” over the loudspeaker. Sean Smith made a phone calls to the US Embassy in Tripoli, the Diplomatic Command Center in Washington, the Libyan February 17 Brigade in Benghazi, and the U.S. quick reaction force located at the CIA Annex in Benghazi.   Ambassador Stevens telephoned Deputy Chief of Mission Gregory Hicks in Tripoli to tell him the US Mission was under attack and asked for urgent reinforcements from the US Marine Security Force in the US Embassy, 400 miles away; next called the Secretary of State and asked for urgent military support.  The US Embassy in Tripoli and the CIA annex in Benghazi were in “constant” contact for 8 hours with the White House Situation Room, the US State Department, the Pentagon, CIA Headquarters in Langley, and Africa Command Headquarters in Germany.

 The attackers entered the main building and rattled the locked metal grille of the safe haven. They carried jerry cans of diesel fuel, spread the fuel over the floor and furniture, and set fires. As thick smoke filled the building, Stevens, Smith, and Strickland (their security guard) moved to the bathroom and lay on the floor, but they decided to leave the safe haven after being overcome by smoke. Strickland exited through the window, but Stevens and Smith did not follow him. Strickland returned several times but couldn’t find them in the smoke; he went up to the roof and radioed other agents. 

            During the attack, a group of Al Q’ieda terrorist extracted the unconscious Ambassador from the smoke filled room through a window, and then placed him on the courtyard’s stone tile floor, they cheered “Allah Akbar” he was taken out of the US Mission, beaten, burned, stabbed multiple times, and his body was sexually mutilated; his body was left in a gutter for dead.  The Libyan citizens recognized Ambassador Stevens, respected him, and took him to the local hospital where he died later that evening.  The State Department and White House covered up how Ambassador Stevens was brutally murdered and sexually mutilated, and stated he died of asphyxiation by smoke inhalation. No autopsy report was ever released; today the State Department maintains Ambassador Stevens died of smoke inhalation.

MILITARY SUPPORT READY TO DEPLOY TO BENGHAZI (LESS THAN 2 HOURS AWAY)!!

            The US Air Force F-16s jet fighter aircraft were less than 2 hours away at the Naval Air Station in Sigonella, Sicily, 480 miles from Benghazi (about the same 400 mile distance the US      Embassy in Tripoli is from Benghazi).  Request for employment of those aircraft was denied (if those aircraft were flown over the top of the attackers and broke the sound barrier they would have scattered the terrorists and saved the life of the US Ambassador). A Commander In Extremis Force (CIF), a counterterrorist rescue force operating in Central Europe was moved to NAS Sigonella, but they were told to stay in place (they could have been in Benghazi in about 3 hours).  

            One hour after the attack began in Benghazi, about 11:00 PM (Benghazi time/5:00 PM Washington time), an Army Commando Unit, employed by the Special Operations Command, that specializes in counterterrorism rescues, was deployed to Sigonella; it coordinates close air support with an AC-130H Spectre Gunship (it was reported that An AC-130H Spectre Gunship was sitting on the tarmac at the airport in Tripoli); they were told to stay in place.. To deploy any US military force across any international border, even the Canadian border, the President must issue a “Cross Border Authorization”; Obama refused to issue a “Cross border Authorization”, so none of the military support, discussed above, that were armed and ready to go could be deployed by the military commanders to save the lives of the Americans being murdered by Al Q’ieda terrorists at the US Mission and CIA Annex in Benghazi.

General Carter Ham, Commander US Africa Command tried to send the Trans Sahara Joint Spec Ops Force in Burkina Faso, West Africa despite being told to stand down, and was eventually relieved of his command.  Col Mark Thompson at the US state Department tried to deploy the Foreign Emergency Support Team (FEST), but was told authorization to deploy it was turned down.

THE ONLY TYPE OF SUP[PORT EVER SENT. 

At about 11:10 PM an unmanned Predator aerial drone arrived to conduct aerial surveillance of the Battle scene in Benghazi of the Al Q’ieda terrorist attacking the US Mission; it was ordered on station by US Africa Command.   The Predator continued to send real time live video feed to the White House Situation Room, CIA Headquarters, the Pentagon, the State Department, and Africa Command (to maintain continuity, a replacement Predator was launched when the first Predator ran low on fuel; if those drones had been armed with missiles to strike the Al Q’ieda terrorists attacking the US Mission, they could have protected the Americans under attack).  

THE CIA ANNEX.

The Regional Security Office in Tripoli sounded the alarm when the US Mission first came under attack and placed calls to the Benghazi CIA Annex and the US Embassy in Tripoli, saying, “We’re under attack, we need help, please send help now.”  From that point on US Embassy personnel in Tripoli and CIA personnel in Benghazi were in continued radio contact with the State Department, the Pentagon, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Germany, the White House Situation Room, and CIA Headquarters in Langley (there was no communications problems with any of the participants and during the nearly 8 hour period of the attack they repeatedly made urgent requests for a military rescue mission to protect the life of US State Department personnel)—they didn’t know that Obama refused to authorize Cross Border Authority.  US Embassy personnel in Tripoli and CIA Global Response Staff (GRS) at the CIA Annex in Benghazi which included retired Senior Special Operator Chief Petty Officer, SOSC Tyrone S. Woods, USN, age 41, a SEAL with 20 years of naval service and two of the ten CIA security agents, decided to implement a rescue plan to save the US personnel at the US Mission.’ Twice Woods requested to go to the aide of the personnel in the US Mission, 1.2 miles away; he was told to “stand down” twice. Tyrone Woods disregarded the two orders to “Stand Down”, and by 10:05 PM, his team was briefed and they loaded into their armored Toyota Land Cruisers; they ”ran to the sound of gunfire.”; God Bless Tyrone Woods’ noble soul; when the occupant of the Oval Office refused to save the lives of Americans under attack by Al Q’ieda terrorists, a Navy SEAL ran into the breach!!! . The three agents went to the US Mission in an armored vehicle; they attempted to secure the perimeter with the help of 3 Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents at the US Mission, engaged the Al Q’ieda terrorists, inflicted major casualties on the terrorists (nearly 100 were killed), searched the US Mission for the US Ambassador, and found Smith’s body, but not Stevens.

The team then decided to return to the CIA Annex with 6 survivors and Smith’s body.  While returning to the Annex about Midnight Benghazi time (6:00 PM Washington time), the group’s armored vehicle was hit by AK-47 rifle fire and hand grenades.  Just after midnight, an attack on the CIA Annex began, which included machine gun, rocket, and mortar fire. The CIA defenders held the attack off into the early morning of September 12^th; then there was a 4 hour lull in fighting.  Tyrone Woods kept calling urgently for close air support and was expecting the AC-130H Spectre Gunship to arrive from Tripoli to provide close air support (Tyrone didn’t know that Obama had not issued the Cross Border Authorization for military support to deploy to Benghazi and that the not only the would military relief not arrive, but that the Spectre Gunship would also never arrive).  Tyrone was using his hand held laser designator (AGM-65E) to “paint” the Al Q’ieda terrorists who were assembling for another attack on the CIA Annex.

THE US EMBASSY IN TRIPOLI

Deputy Chief of Mission, Gregory Hicks, continues to call the Secretary of State, US Africa Command, the CIA Annex, the Libyan Prime Minister, the Libyan February 17 brigade who was supposed to be providing security, the US Diplomatic Command Center in Washington DC trying to get military support and a rescue mission.,  While communicators at the CIA Annex were notifying their chain of command about current developments, a small CIA and JSOC element at the US Embassy in Tripoli, that included former Special Operator First Class Petty Officer, SO1 Glen Dougherty, USN, age 42, a SEAL with 9 years of naval service, 2 active duty military personnel from the composite US Special Operations Team (JSOC operators), and 5 CIA security agents (collectively “The Team”) were trying to find a way to Benghazi. Early in the morning, Libyan government forces met up with the Team that arrived at the Benghazi. The Team had commandeered a small jet in Tripoli by paying the pilots $30,000 and directed them to fly The Team to the Benghazi airport, arriving about 2:00 AM. After being held up at the airport for a few hours, a friendly Libyan force and the newly arrived Americans, The Team, went to the CIA Annex at about 4:00 AM with the intent of assisting in transporting approximately 32 surviving Americans at the CIA Annex back to the Benghazi airport for evacuation. Minutes after they drove through the gates, the Annex came under heavy fire. The Team immediately took up defensive positions. With a lull in the fighting, the two JSOC operators, who had arrived at the CIA Annex from Tripoli with Glen Dougherty, left the Annex to search for Ambassador Stevens. They drove into Benghazi; located Stevens’ remains at a hospital controlled by Ansar Al-Sharia, and recovered his body.  After an exchange of gunfire with Al Q’ieda elements, they returned to the CIA Annex.

TWO COURAGEOUS NAVY SEAL WHO “RAN TO THE SOUND OF GUN FIRE “ ARE KILLED BY Al Q’IEDA TERRORISTS

During lull in the fighting, Glen Dougherty [sic] located his friend and SEAL team mate, Tyrone Woods; he was told he was on the roof manning a MK46 machine gun. He found Woods on the roof with two other agents; they quickly embraced, filled each other in, and retook defensive firing positions. About 5:00 AM Benghazi time on the 12^th  (11:00 PM Washington time) Al Q’ieda terrorists mounted a mortar attack, the first mortar round dropped 50 yards short, the next round hit Tyrone Woods’ position on the roof, fatally wounding him. As Glen Doherty attempted to reposition and take cover, a second round fell on him about the same time, killing him instantly at 5:11 AM. . Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent David Ubben, age31, suffered shrapnel wounds and several broken bones in the mortar attack; He eventually had to have one of his legs amputated.   It was 7 hours and 31 minutes after the US Mission first came under attack that Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Dougherty were killed in action.  Immediately, several agents ran onto the roof to assess damage and help the wounded, who were taken from the roof with a ladder. At the same time, a JSOC operator was using a hand-held device displaying images from the Predator drone above. The operator told the Chief of Base, “There’s a large element assembling, and we need to get everyone out of there now!” Evacuation was agreed upon, and everyone was notified to collect their personal security items and evacuate. Within minutes, vehicles were loaded, and they headed to the airport. On the way, they were hit with small arms fire, but arrived at the Benghazi airport with no further injuries.

For nearly 8 hours Hillary Clinton at the State Department, the Pentagon, US Africa Command, the White House Situation Room, the Diplomatic Security Command Center, and CIA Headquarters received urgent and repeated requests for a military rescue mission from US Ambassador Stevens who was brutally murdered, Sean Smith who was killed at the US Mission, Tyrone Woods who was killed in action on the roof of the CIA Annex, the US Embassy in Tripoli, The Regional Security Office in Libya, and the CIA Annex in Benghazi—yet none of them knew their pleas were received on deaf ears, and that Obama never intended to send any military relief to save the lives of Americans who were murdered by Al Q’ieda; he never executed a “Cross Border Authorization”, even though some of the military relief was in position and could have been in Benghazi in less than 2 hours. The White House and Hillary Clinton falsely claimed that it wasn’t a terrorist attack, that it was a protest that went bad because of a You Tube video that no one has seen to this day; they both knew it was a bold faced lie. The repeated failure, for over 5 months, of Hillary Clinton to provide urgently needed security for Americans “In Harm’s Way” in the US Mission in Benghazi, should disqualify her from receiving the “Liberty Medal” from former Gov Jeb Bush today, and is an outrage for the families of those murdered in Benghazi. .  

Obama, by his failure to issue a Cross Border Authorization to the US military so they could execute a rescue mission to save the lives of 4 Americans in “Harms Way” prevented the US military from following thru on its Ancient and Noble Code: “Leave no man behind.”

One year after the FBI identified 29 of the Al Q’ieda terrorist who were involved in the murder of 4 Americans in Benghazi, there has been no arrest, and no one has been prosecuted.   Speaker of the House John Boehner has refused to appoint a Congressional Select Committee to investigate why the 4 Americans in Benghazi were abandoned, why Obama refused to execute a Cross Border Authorization, why Hillary Clinton repeatedly refused to provide the US Mission with protective security when an attack was imminent on 9/11, and who the author was who instigated the “lie”, that continued to be promulgated for three weeks after the attack, that that attack was the result of a demonstration gone bad because of the airing of a You Tube video.  Boehner’s failure to act for a year is unconscionable and should be consider grounds for his removal as Speaker of the House.