via ABC News.
A retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general who was on duty in Germany during the deadly Benghazi terrorist attack told Congress today that commanders discussed “what we should do” as they waited for orders from the State Department to help the beleaguered Americans.Read it all here.
But the request for help never came from the State Department, Ret. USAF Brigadier Gen. Robert Lovell testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
“There are accounts of time, space and capability, discussions of the question, ‘could we have gotten there in time to make a difference?’” Lovell testified. “The discussion is not could or could not of time, space and capability. The point is we should have tried.”
Lovell was on duty at AFRICOM headquarters in Germany during the Sept. 11, 2012 attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The AFRICOM command was responsible for region that included Libya. The Pentagon take steps to move assets as the attack proceeded, but they were aimed for Tripoli, not Benghazi.
“We didn’t know how long this would last when we became aware of the distress, nor did we completely understand what we had in front of us, be it a kidnapping, rescue, recovery, protracted hostile engagement, or any or all of the above,” he added.
As the attack unfolded, Lovell, who was not in the chain of operational command, said command held discussions “that churned on about what we should do.”
“The predisposition to interagency influence had the military structure in the spirit of expeditionary government support waiting for a request for assistance from the State Department,” he said.
Why is this important? Its very important for the following reasons...
1. Several US personnel were killed. No one has been held accountable and no one has been killed or captured following this attack.
2. The USMC has participated in the lie that they didn't know this was an attack. They knew it at AFRICOM HQ. The USMC has established the bastard organization called the SPMAGTF-CR in part because of the fiction that we didn't have forces available to respond. That means that the USMC has been politicized!
3. In addition to #2, we have also heard members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff parrot the administration talking points. It now seems that they lied before Congress. This helps to erode confidence in the military and shows that they are political pawns.
4. The idea that "information" was the missing ingredient in the decision making process in this incident is a lie. The truth is that leaders vacillated and made a decision by NOT making a decision. They chose to do nothing.
We have amateurs in the State Dept and because they were the lead agency, people died. I hope that the American people remember this when Hillary decides to run for president.
