Latest on BenghaziGate – Gen. Ham Bombshell + Not-So-Retired Marine Commander Will Testify Before Congress

Drip, drip, drip….

The General who was in charge of AFRICOM on the night of the Benghazi attack has gone on the record to say that it was clear that it was terrorism almost immediately.

Fox News reports:

A senior United States military commander at the time of the Benghazi, Libya attack has come forward with firsthand knowledge to say it was clear from the beginning that it had nothing to do with an anti-Islamic video.

Retired General Carter Ham, the former head of U.S. forces in Africa, told the Aspen Security Forum that he was in Washington, D.C. for a routine meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta when an alert came in from commanders in Germany that a violent assault was underway in Benghazi and Ambassador Chris Stevens was missing.

Amb. Stevens and three others were killed during that September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. In the weeks after, the Obama administration shifted blame onto an anti-Islamic video.

Gen. Ham said on Friday that within hours after the attack, it became clearer that it was not a demonstration and could be a terrorist attack.

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News reported on July 5th that the Pentagon would not divulge the whereabouts of Marine Corps. Col. George Bristol because he had retired, and Congress “cannot compel retired members to testify before Congress.”   Republicans in Congress have been eager to talk to Bristol because it is thought that he has valuable information about what happened in Benghazi.

Bristol, a martial arts master, was commander of Joint Special Operations Task Force-Trans Sahara based in Stuttgart, Germany until he retired last March. In an article in Stars and Stripes, Bristol is quoted at his retirement ceremony as telling his troops that “an evil” has descended on Africa, referring to Islamic militant groups. “It is on us to stomp it out.”

Members of Congress in both the House and Senate, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have asked the Pentagon for assistance in locating Bristol so that they can question him about events the night of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi. But those efforts have come up empty.

“The Department of Defense has been entirely forthcoming on all matters related to our response to the attacks in Benghazi from the outset,” said Pentagon spokesman Firman. He added that “any congressional committee can call the witnesses it needs” through subpoena, if necessary.

On June 26, the House Armed Services Committee questioned other military members in the AFRICOM chain of command in a closed hearing. The witnesses included Bristol’s former superiors: commander of Special Operations Command Africa Rear Adm. Brian Losey and former AFRICOM commander Gen. Carter Ham.

The Marine Corps. Times reported on July 17, that  Bristol isn’t retired.

Defense Department officials have told members of Congress that Bristol cannot be forced to testify because he retired after stepping down during a March change of command ceremony, according to several media reports. The Pentagon reinforced that point of view to Marine Corps Times on Tuesday.

“Col. Bristol was not invited by Congress to testify before he retired,” said Air Force Maj. Robert Firman, a spokesman with the Office of the Secretary of Defense. “The DoD has cooperated fully with Congress and the Accountability Review Board since the beginning of this investigation, and we will continue to do so.”

That isn’t the case, however. While Bristol is preparing for retirement, he is on active duty through the end of July, said Maj. Shawn Haney, a Marine spokeswoman, on Wednesday. He will be placed on the inactive list on Aug. 1, she said. That contradicts statements that Pentagon officials have issued to both Congress and the media.

The Pentagon changed its tune, Monday, saying that  Bristol will now talk to members of Congress.

The announcement follows at least two requests by South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham for Bristol’s full account of the September 11, 2012, attacks.

It was not immediately clear if Bristol will talk in public or behind closed doors.

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Rob Firman told Fox News on Monday a Defense Department misunderstanding about when Bristol retired resulted in Graham’s first request being rejected.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) vowed last week, to go to the House floor every day until the August recess with a new question about Benghazi.

Today’s question: “Why was the CIA’s security team repeatedly ordered to ‘stand down’ for more than 30 minutes after the attack began?”

The CIA “repeatedly blocked” the departure of a security team that was ready “within minutes” to respond to the Sept. 11, 2012, terror attacks in Benghazi, Libya that claimed the lives of four Americans, according to Rep. Frank Wolf (R., Va.)

Wolf revealed on the House floor on Monday that “trusted sources have confirmed” to his office “that the security team was ready to respond within minutes after receiving the initial call for help, but the CIA repeatedly blocked their departure for more than 30 minutes.”

Meanwhile, an under-reported story at the Washington Times details how  deeply involved the White House was in scrubbing the accuracy out of the Benghazi ‘talking points’, based on newly revealed emails.

As the hour grew late on the night of Sept. 14, the White House wanted to make one thing clear to the State Department and the CIA as the three collaborated on what would come to be known as the Benghazi “talking points,” designed to be used by Congress and administration officials to explain what had happened three days earlier at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

The attack, which killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, was not planned, White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor wrote in an 8:54 p.m. email.

***

The initial talking points ran six paragraphs long and said the crowd was a mix of individuals, but “that being said, we do know that Islamic extremists with ties to al-Qaida participated in the attack.” The talking points went on to recount attacks against other countries’ diplomatic missions in Benghazi and raised the prospect that the U.S. facilities were “previously surveilled” in anticipation of the attack.

By the time the talking points were approved a day later, they had been reduced to three paragraphs and any hint of terrorists or planning had been scrubbed. The final version said the attack was the culmination of “demonstrations” that were “spontaneously inspired” by protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo earlier Sept. 11, though it did acknowledge “indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations.”

Some Washington pundits think that Benghazi is the most damning of all the Obama scandals.

Jeff Kuhner thinks “Benghazi may turn out to be President Obama’s Watergate.”

The scandal is a growing cancer on the administration, threatening its very existence. The more information comes out, the more damning it is. This is why Democrats — and their media allies — are desperately trying to sweep the truth under the rug. Mr. Obama’s political survival is at stake.

Joseph Curl says Benghazi is the Only Scandal That Matters.

White House: Bob Woodward, who knows a thing or two about scandals and cover-ups, isn’t falling for the double head fake.

“If you read through all these emails,” the Watergate reporter said, “you see that everyone in the government is saying, ‘Oh, let’s not tell the public that terrorists were involved, people connected to al Qaeda. Let’s not tell the public that there were warnings.’ I have to go back 40 years to Watergate when Nixon put out his edited transcripts to the conversations, and he personally went through them and said, ‘Oh, let’s not tell this, let’s not show this.’”

“I would not dismiss Benghazi.”

Too bad, Bob. Washington’s press corps already has.

Keep that faucet dripping if for no other reason than to watch the Regime’s  lapdogs embarrass themselves trying to defend their Master.