A Failed Commander-in Chief. Obama's Dereliction of Duty.

Dick Brauer, Colonel, USAF (Ret.)
Co-founder, Special Operations Speaks

When Defense Secretary Panetta and CJCS General Dempsey took the stand yesterday about Benghazi, we expected them to continue the Administration's bunk lines and obfuscation. But we did actually learn one new and very telling piece of information:

The President was completely and inexplicably AWOL on the night of the Benghazi attack.

He answered their original, pre-planned call at roughly 5 PM, but the President never called to check back in.

That means that while one of our ambassadors was being murdered by Islamist terrorists – in what they knew to be a planned attack – neither the President nor Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called to check on the situation with DoD or try to coordinate any type of response.

President Obama simply waved his hand and told them to do as they thought best, and ostensibly went on his way that night – and to a Vegas fundraiser the next morning.

They can talk about how that is some kind of standard procedure all they want, but it is completely absurd to say that the President should be expected to stay detached from such a critical situation and let his staff run the show without any input or care as an American Ambassador and three others are killed by an Islamist mob.

Beyond that disgusting admission, the Panetta story either left numerous other questions virtually unanswered or opened up their actions and inactions to deeper scrutiny.

Less than an hour into the attack, the CIA identified the attack as a coordinated terrorist effort of al-Qaeda sympathizers. Why did the Administration continue to lie to the American people for weeks about the true nature of our Ambassador's murder?

8 Key Questions that MUST be answered by President Obama

1-Where was the Commander-in Chief during the crisis in Benghazi that cost four American lives and What was he doing?

2-Why did he not take charge as Commander-in-Chief?

3-Who was really calling the shots?

4-Where were Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey during the crisis and What inputs, recommendations and decisions did they make?

5-Where were the National Security Advisor, Tom Donilon, and his Deputy, Denis McDonough (known as "the Fixer") during the attacks and more importantly, What inputs and recommendations (if any) did either of them make to Obama?

6-As has been reported, Were Obama and Biden on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an hour (or more) on "other more important business" after the attack in Benghazi began? 

7-After the attacks were over WHEN did Obama reappear on the scene?

8-HOW will he explain his DERELICTION OF DUTY as Commander-in-Chief?

Secretary Panetta claimed that no AC-130 gunship was within 1,000 miles; if that were so, why was Tyrone Woods explicitly requesting one?  Was Panetta being dishonest?

Dempsey also made the contradictory statement that he "did not know where the AC-130's were located" but that he knew that "no AC-130 was anywhere near Africa that night."

Former Navy SEALs Woods and Doherty, not assigned as security personnel "ran to the sound of the guns," though they were explicitly told (three times) to STAND DOWN!  They killed about 60 of the attackers and rescued some thirty (possibly more) personnel, then paid with their lives. So the question that MUST be asked is "WHO gave the order to STAND DOWN and WHY?" CIA Director Petraeus specifically and stated that it was not his agency. The individual who gave this order (multiple times) is guilty of criminal acts and should be held accountable.

U.S. Special Forces commander and Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for intelligence Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin has confidently stated that DoD could have quickly dispatched aircraft to Libya. Why did Panetta and Dempsey so adamantly claim otherwise?

The White House Situation Room, the CIA Command Center, the National Military Command Center, and a total of about 12 command centers worldwide were notified of the attack and were observing it in real time within 10 minutes of Ambassador Stevens' phone call for help. These command centers regarded the attack as "actionable information." They stood by for a "Go" command that never came. Why? And why in the world do the Administration's cronies continue to swear up and down that there was too much confusion and not enough information to do anything?

Why haven't the survivors of the attacks who were eventually evacuated on the following day been identified and questioned as to what occurred from their perspectives, and where are they now?

The answers to the above questions are recorded, transcribed in logs, and readily available for incorporation into a paper trail that will reveal the TRUTH about Benghazi. The fact that the Obama Administration has sent people like Clinton and Panetta before the congressional committees to parrot the official line and dodge the real questions is almost as damning as if they'd continued to avoid testifying.

As was the case during the bin Laden takedown, there had to be at least one senior military member in the White House Situation Room. Individuals involved MUST testify, under oath, about what they heard and saw.

Watch officers and NCO's, supervisors, aircrew personnel, and scores of others in the command and control networks and operational units know what transpired and what orders were given (or NOT given).  They should be required to testify, as well.

The Obama Administration feels like this abomination is over. They feel like they can now turn away from this cover-up and that the American people will give them a pass – just like the media are doing.

We have to prove them dead wrong. Until we finally get the TRUTH, the WHOLE TRUTH, and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, they must never be allowed to wash their hands of their complicity in this shameful episode in American history.

 

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