Yesterday, Walid Shoebat reported that one of a “treasure trove of documents” obtained from a source in Libya indicates that the interim government put an al Qaeda ally in charge of security in Tripoli, including all embassies, apparently with US approval.
UPDATE: In case you’re wondering — yes, the al Qaeda ally, Abdel Hakim Belhaj (or Belhadj), that this document says was in charge of our embassy’s security is the same former associate of Osama bin Laden and former fighter in Afghanistan whom I posted about on October 2. It was his jihadist militia that the US armed during the Libyan non-war, it may have been his jihadist militia that attacked the consulate, and it may have been those US-supplied weapons that were used in the attack.
This morning, Fox News reported on a secret August 16 cable leaked to them. Almost a month before the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Benghazi consulate, the cable notified the Secretary of State’s office about an emergency meeting called by the US mission in Benghazi. The cable reported that the city was home to about ten Islamist militias and al Qaeda training camps, that the Libyan government had no control over the region, and that the consulate was in danger:
“RSO (Regional Security Officer) expressed concerns with the ability to defend Post in the event of a coordinated attack due to limited manpower, security measures, weapons capabilities, host nation support, and the overall size of the compound,” the cable said.
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The details in the cable seemed to foreshadow the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. compound, which was a coordinated, commando-style assault using direct and indirect fire. Al Qaeda in North Africa and Ansar al-Sharia, both mentioned in the cable, have since been implicated in the consulate attack.
In addition to describing the security situation in Benghazi as “trending negatively,” the cable said explicitly that the mission would ask for more help. “In light of the uncertain security environment, US Mission Benghazi will submit specific requests to US Embassy Tripoli for additional physical security upgrades and staffing needs by separate cover.”
In an outstanding, must-read editorial today, the Las Vegas Review-Journal declared Obama an “unworthy commander in chief.” Here’s a portion, which outlines much of what we know about events in Benghazi and Washington on 9/11 (emphasis added):
U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in a well-planned military assault on their diplomatic mission in Benghazi seven weeks ago, the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. So why are details surfacing, piecemeal, only now?
The Obama administration sat by doing nothing for seven hours that night, ignoring calls to dispatch help from our bases in Italy, less than two hours away. It has spent the past seven weeks stretching the story out, engaging in misdirection and deception involving supposed indigenous outrage over an obscure anti-Muslim video, confident that with the aid of a docile press corps this infamous climax to four years of misguided foreign policy can be swept under the rug, at least until after Tuesday’s election.
Charles Woods, father of former Navy SEAL and Henderson resident Tyrone Woods, 41, says his son died slumped over his machine gun after he and fellow ex-SEAL Glen Doherty – not the two locals who were the only bodyguards Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration would authorize – held off the enemy for seven hours.
The Obama administration was warned. They received an embassy cable June 25 expressing concern over rising Islamic extremism in Benghazi, noting the black flag of al-Qaida “has been spotted several times flying over government buildings and training facilities.” The Obama administration removed a well-armed, 16-member security detail from Libya in August, The Wall Street Journal reported last month, replacing it with a couple of locals. Mr. Stevens sent a cable Aug. 2 requesting 11 additional body guards, noting “Host nation security support is lacking and cannot be depended on,” reports Peter Ferrara at Forbes.com. But these requests were denied, officials testified before the House Oversight Committee earlier this month.
Based on documents released by the committee, on the day of the attack the Pentagon dispatched a drone with a video camera so everyone in Washington could see what was happening in real time. The drone documented no crowds protesting any video. But around 4 p.m. Washington received an email from the Benghazi mission saying it was under a military-style attack. The White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and the CIA were able to watch the live video feed. An email sent later that day reported “Ansar al-Sharia claims responsibility for Benghazi attack.”
Not only did the White House do nothing, there are now reports that a counterterrorism team ready to launch a rescue mission was ordered to stand down.
The official explanation for the inadequate security? This administration didn’t want to “offend the sensibilities” of the new radical Islamic regime which American and British arms had so recently helped install in Libya.
The official explanation for why Obama administration officials watched the attack unfold for seven hours, refusing repeated requests to send the air support and relief forces that sat less than two hours away in Italy? Silence.
If this were a Republican administration, ABC, CBS, and NBC would each have aired at least one hour-long primetime special report on Benghazi-gate by now, and the cable news networks would all be reporting on it 24/7. The New York Times, Washington Post, and numerous other papers would have published countless editorials expressing outrage over the mishandling of the Benghazi situation and even more outrage over the subsequent cover-up. The Democrats would be helping keep the story in the news by calling back to Washington all the congresscritters from safe districts, empaneling a special committeee, and holding Benghazi-gate hearings non-stop, with subpoenas for the Secretary of State, White House chief of staff, head of the CIA, and a score of other administration officials.
But this isn’t a Republican administration. And the mainstream media aren’t just “a docile press corps,” as the Review-Journal politely puts it — they’re accomplices in the cover-up and an active arm of the Obama re-election campaign.
