Could U.S. military have helped during Libya attack?

Could U.S. military have helped during Libya attack?

(CBS News) The closer we get to the election, the harder Republicans in Congress are pushing for answers to a big question: What really happened in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya last month that killed the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans?

Some lawmakers are asking why U.S. military help from outside Libya didn’t arrive as terrorists battered more than 30 Americans over the course of more than seven hours. The assault was launched by an armed mob of dozens that torched buildings and used rocket propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47 rifles.

CBS News has been told that, hours after the attack began, an unmanned Predator drone was sent over the U.S. mission in Benghazi, and that the drone and other reconnaissance aircraft apparently observed the final hours of the protracted battle.

The State Department, White House and Pentagon declined to say what military options were available. A White House official told CBS News that, at the start of the attack, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “looked at available options, and the ones we exercised had our military forces arrive in less than 24 hours, well ahead of timelines laid out in established policies.”

But it was too late to help the Americans in Benghazi. The ambassador and three others were dead

Piecing together timeline of White House response to Benghazi
Ambassador warned Libya was “volatile and violent”
CIA saw possible terror ties day after Libya hit: AP
Obama to Jon Stewart: Benghazi response “not optimal”

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Could U.S. military have helped during Libya attack?

I have a lot of friends that work in Law Enforcement, some that are very close friends and some are family, all are very dear to me and I know that if an Officer, Deputy or a State Trooper calls for HELP, that help will be on its way and the responders will move heaven and earth in an effort to come to the aid of their fellow Officer in need.

That’s the way it works in a *brotherhood*, our LEOs are *Brothers in Blue* just as our troops are *Brothers in Blood*.

If there had been a military strike team that was made aware that there was an attack on the Embassy in Benghazi and that there were American lives in danger, that military team(s) would have moved heaven and earth in an effort to get there in time to affect a much different outcome than the one we have witnessed.

Apparently the government of the United States and the FAILED administration of Barack Hussein Obama doesn’t feel that way.

Retired CIA officer Gary Berntsen believes help could have come much sooner. He commanded CIA counter-terrorism missions targeting Osama bin Laden and led the team that responded after bombings of the U.S. Embassy in East Africa.

“You find a way to make this happen,” Berntsen says. “There isn’t a plan for every single engagement. Sometimes you have to be able to make adjustments. They made zero adjustments in this. They stood and they watched and our people died.”

Over the last 30 years it was my pleasure to have known a few of these CIA Intel types and I have to tell you, they are, without a doubt, more than willing to ride in and kick as much ass as is necessary when the call goes out. They are not MILITARY per se, but most CIA Operators are former military, Spec/Ops types and so forth, and they can hold their own in a fight, regardless the odds, as demonstrated by the valiant efforts of former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

The Pentagon says it did move a team of special operators from central Europe to the large Naval Air Station in Sigonella, Italy, but gave no other details. Sigonella is just an hour’s flight from Libya. Other nearby bases include Aviano and Souda Bay. Military sources tell CBS News that resources at the three bases include fighter jets and Specter AC-130 gunships, which the sources say can be extremely effective in flying in and buzzing a crowd to disperse it.

I am sorry to have to say it but this sounds a lot like the old *closing the barn door after the horse is already gone* thing!

A base that is an hours flight from Libya could have made all the difference in the world to those Americans on the ground in Benghazi! But for lack of BALLS and decision making ability on the part of those within the Obama administration, these Americans may well have survived and could still be alive today.

Rick Nelson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former Navy pilot who worked in counter-terrorism, says such missions can be very risky. “A lot can go well, right, as we saw with the bin Laden raid. It was a very successful event,” he says. “But also, when there are high risk activities like this. a lot can go wrong, as we saw with the Iranian hostage rescue decades ago.”

Maybe I was wrong, maybe there are those that won’t move heaven and earth to save the lives of Americans in danger in a foreign land.

Not to be disrespectful but if you were a fan of Star Wars you remember Han Solo saying, “Never tell me the odds.” That is how *most* Intel and military types feel when it’s time to saddle up and ride in!

And just for the record Mr. Nelson; the Iranian rescue mission was set up to fail from the very start. It was nothing more than a hollow gesture on the part of the Jimmy Carter administration in an effort to make Carter look *presidential* and to make people believe that he was a forceful and decisive leader.

Again I tell my readers, do NOT be surprised to see military action in Libya, a raid, a bombing mission, something of that nature, and to see it within the next few days. I personally expect it to happen before the next debate, done in an effort to make Obama appear to be *presidential* and to make people believe that he was a forceful and decisive leader.

One piece of advice Mr. Obama; it didn’t work for Carter and it won’t work for you!