House GOP Pursues Benghazi 'Stand Down' Probe

[DonViejo]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

DONNA CASSATA – MARCH 28, 2014, 3:57 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A House Republican chairman is doggedly pursuing the question of whether military personnel were told to "stand down" during the 2012 deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, despite the insistence of military leaders and other Republicans that it never happened.

Rep. Darrell Issa's Oversight and Government Reform Committee is pressing officials in a series of closed-door meetings about the instructions from military commanders in the chaotic hours after the first attack and whether they were told not to assist Americans under siege.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress last June that personnel in Tripoli were never told to "stand down" and top Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee reported in February that no such order was given.

The panel's persistence on an issue the military considers settled underscore that Republicans have no plans to relent in their politically charged investigation of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans on President Barack Obama's watch.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/house-gop-pursues-benghazi-probe

[sakabatou]

1. OFFS

[SoapBox]

2. California...fire this asshole!!!

Issa...creep and crook.

[Mr.Bill]

3. If all of California had a say in it he wouldn't have been elected in the first place.

Like any state, we have our gerrymandered districts, too. Hopefully, he will have serious opposition and be beatable because of his antics.

[BentleyJD]

20. is this guy worse than

the former Bi Bob Dornan?
I thought he was a lunatic,Issa is just a jackass and a criminal

[Mr.Bill]

22. Yes he is worse.

Mainly because of the committee chairmanship he holds. And yes, he is a criminal. Dornan was more of a clown, although a dangerous one. I think sometimes his own party laughed at him. After he was voted out of office, his colleagues in Congress revoked his privilege of entering the floor, which is customarily allowed for former Congressman. This revocation is rare and was because of his behavior there.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. If only Obama had half the zeal to investigate Iraq, as the right-wingers have to

pursue an investigation into Benghazi.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. Hah, that would be excellent turnaround.

The press conference goes something like this in my head:

"All right motherfuckers. You want an investigation? You got one."

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Keeps digging, he's going to hit bedrock, or oil.

[secondwind]

7. oh, for crying out loud... those words were never spoken!

[Grassy Knoll]

8. Step RIGHT Up........

[pangaia]

9. Will somebody please just strangle this idiot.

[ctsnowman]

10. lol Love it.

[pangaia]

13. I mean..don't kill the poor bastard.

Just strangle him until he agrees to stand down and shut up..
And disappear....

[SamKnause]

11. I think they have the location and date wrong

for questioning any stand down orders.

Were the military ordered to stand down on 9-11-2001 ?

[Fred Gilmore]

12. Issa Has Taken A Page

Straight from the Josef Goebbels play book on how to make a faux problem from a situation whereby none exists. If you tell a lie loud enough, and long enough, somehow it just may become the accepted truth.

The American voting public is much smarter than those who fell for 1930's era Nazi propaganda though. Issa will have this egg on his face to take to his grave.

[Beaverhausen]

14. Issa's Democratic challenger- Dave Peiser

http://www.peiserforcongress.com/

[quadrature]

15. the F-16s at Aviano...

were being made ready, or not?
I never get a straight answer.

Just knowing that, could help
put this to rest.

[okaawhatever]

16. Several units in the area were put on alert, most of them went off alert because the initial seige

ended. The entire "stand down" claim was made by a punk ass contract worker who wasn't following his commander's orders. There were a few issues like getting air space rights but more importantly, there was anti-aircraft rockets/missiles in the area.

[quadrature]

17. the units that were put on alert...

were two or so days away.
(or at least, that is the story
I have been told)

the F-16s, (if there were any)
could have gotten there lots quicker.

[okaawhatever]

23. The stand down claim and the F-16s were separate issues. The stand down claim was made by the

punk contractor who was stationed at the annex. His claim was that they were headed from the annex to the diplomatic outpost and were told to stand down. The reason for that was because the commander was waiting on intel and had intel that the diplomat and his employees had already left. As far as the other military units who could have come to assist, it was confirmed that none of them could have helped. What would the F-16s done? From Media Matters' copy of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report:


The Committee explored claims that there was a "stand down" order given to the security team at the Annex. Although some members of the security team expressed frustration that they were unable to respond more quickly to the Mission compound, 12 the Committee found no evidence of intentional delay or obstruction by the Chief of Base or any other party. The Committee has reviewed the allegations that U.S. personnel, including in the IC (Intelligence Community) or DoD, prevented the mounting of any military relief effort during the attacks, but the Committee has not found any of these allegations to be substantiated.

[...]

The Committee has reviewed the allegations that U.S. personnel, including in the IC or DoD, prevented the mounting of any military relief effort during the attacks, but the Committee has not found any of these allegations to be substantiated. [Review Of The Terrorist Attacks On U.S. Facilities In Benghazi, Libya, September 11-12, 2012, U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 1/15/14]

[quadrature]

24. 'what would the F16s done' ....

(thank you, for discussing this issue.)
.............................
F16s are always armed with
a M61 (Vulcan) 20mm automatic cannon
with 500 shots.

my guess is that any air-to air missiles
would be removed, external fuel tanks added
(if they had any)

or not,
please discuss.

[okaawhatever]

25. What would they have bombed? That is the issue. The friendlies and hostiles were too close

together to hit one and miss the other. There also was poor visibility so helos couldn't have done much. Sometimes very low tech things render high-tech equipment useless. One of the problems the helicopters had in Mogadishu (Blackhawk Down) was poor visibility. The locals had set tires on fire so the smoke would cover the area. A bunch of burning tires seriously hurt that operation. As to fighters, again, they had ground-to-air missiles or something similar in the area. That is what I read regarding the effectiveness of any fixed-wing aircraft.

But we have to remember the timing, the initial attack didn't last long, certainly not long enough to send in additional forces or air support. That attack was when Ambassador Stevens and one other individual were killed. There was a several hour calm, when the people on the ground thought it was over, followed by a second attack which also killed two people. The second attack was at the annex. Much of the debate over what could be done involved getting support there before the second attack, but they didn't think the second attack would happen and didn't want to draw attention to the annex anyway.

[quadrature]

28. bombed..maybe not ...

I am not suggesting bombs or air-to-ground missiles,
as I don't know what was available,
but the 20mm cannon is a decent weapon.
............
you have brought up several issue,
that I need time to think about,
but my first reaction is...

the trouble was ongoing for 12 hours or so.
so it would be prudent to move F16s,(Aviano),
if there were any, to Sigonella NAS, Sicily,
to be closer to the action.

more later.

[yurbud]

18. What would be the point of that stand down order?

[quadrature]

21. 'to not get involved' ...

IF.
that is what happened.

[yurbud]

30. so they didn't notice we supported the rebels who overthrew Khadaffi and provided air support?

We were already involved.

[yurbud]

31. the killing of our ambassador could have been an excellent EXCUSE to get more involved

and protecting him with more troops likely wouldn't have been much noticed.

[okaawhatever]

26. the right wing meme was that military people could have helped and the President told them to stand

down. Basically, that the Prez and/or Clinton killed four people. I've read the story about how the rumor got started and it was a bullshit claim made by a punk contractor who thought he knew everything. He was in a land rover type vehicle with others and their initial plan was to go down to the diplomatic outpost to provide support for Ambassador Stevens. His commander told the guys to stand down, or wait, and didn't tell them why. Those with a military background know the commander doesn't have to tell you why. It turned out the commander had intel the Ambassador and the employees had already left, that they had been taken to the hospital, so a trip down to the diplomatic outpost would have been nothing more than an ambush.

The rumor morphed into a story about how all the military units nearby could have helped but were told to "stand down" that again was a lie. Media Matters said that as of January Fox news had told the stand down lie 85 times even though it had been proved false. I can't imagine how many times they've repeated it by now.

[yurbud]

19. will Democrats never learn that Republicans NEVER repay them

For looking the other way from very real GOP by scaling back their accusations and investigations of Democrats, 95% of which are pure bullshit?

[Blue Owl]

27. Quite a hot mess for such a tepid pursuit

n/t

[Cha]

29. Fuck the Benghazi Stalkers.