Panetta: Logistics Prevented Help For Benghazi Victims - Tells Congress Armed Response 'Not In The Vicinity Of Libya'

Taylor Rose / WND

WASHINGTON – Logistics and the fear of more attacks prevented a quicker, more aggressive U.S. response to the terrorist attack on U.S. foreign service operations in Benghazi, Libya, outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told Congress today.

The attack in Benghazi, Libya, left four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, dead. The U.S. operation there was attacked Sept. 11, 2012, by what has been identified now as an organized terrorist attack.

But for days, even weeks, the Obama administration attributed the violence and deaths to a mob that was upset over a little-known online video purporting to be about Mohammad, a move that still has not been explained.

Panetta, testifying in Congress on the issue, said no air support was dispatched when the terror attack over logistics.

“The reason simply is armed UAVs, AC-130 gunships, or fixed-wing fighters with the associated tanking, armaments, targeting and support capabilities were not in the vicinity of Libya and because of the distance, would have taken at least 9-12 hours to deploy. This was, pure and simple, a problem of distance and time,” he said.

“The quickest response option available was a Tripoli-based security team. Within hours, the six-person team, including two U.S. military personnel, chartered [a] private airplane to Benghazi. Within 15 minutes of arriving at the annex facility, they came under attack by mortar and rocket propelled grenades,” he said.

He said the fact that it was an organized terror attack, notably on the anniversary of the 2001 9/11 attacks on Washington and New York that killed thousands, was obvious.

“I am convinced that this is a terrorist attack…a coordinated mob does not use mortars and RPGs,” he said.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., raised the issue of the false statements from the administration about a mob incited by an online movie project, but got no clear explanation.

Panetta said the logistics created complications.

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