The Benghazi Story goes critical

[Jaskalas]

What is Benghazi?
Besides a location inside war torn Libya, it has become a divisive political story with three distinct facets.

1. A terrorist attack which killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
2. The site of an illegal? CIA arms smuggling operation for terrorists in Syria.
3. A possible conspiracy to politicize and blame an American Youtube video.

Updates in the News:

Aug 1 2014: House panel: No administration wrongdoing in Benghazi attack
July 11, 2014: Officers say no 'stand-down order' for Benghazi
May 2, 2014: Boehner calls for select committee on Benghazi; Kerry subpoenaed.
April 29, 2014: White House E-mail discovered which shaped the false narrative.


Major Points:

• Republican House Panel:
  • There was no 'stand-down order'...
  • Talking points reflected the conflicting intelligence assessments...

• Republicans furious over 'stand down' order.

- Gregory Hicks, former deputy chief of mission in Libya, testified that U.S. special forces were told to "stand down"
​

-- Officers say no 'stand-down order' for Benghazi
​

• People should be held accountable for the lack of security.

- Stevens turned down offers of more security — twice

-- Shifting blame to our dead ambassador is wrong on the facts.

​

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Original Post:

August, 2013

UPDATE: Dozens of CIA ops on ground during Benghazi hit...
'Running arms-smuggling team when consulate was attacked'...
Rep: Obama admin hiding survivors, changing their names...

The arms smuggling could be without Congressional approval. Could be a directly impeachable offense. Tin foilers now saying Ambassador Stevens was killed to stop him from whistle blowing this "illegal" operation.

CNN has actually discovered Benghazi is a place. Now THAT is news, the fact that someone other than Foxnews dares to utter the word.

Do you support this administration if it was running weapons to Syria without Congressional approval? What about the cover up, and this whole thing involving the death of our Ambassador on September 11th, 2012?

Lawmakers also want to about know the weapons in Libya, and what happened to them.

Speculation on Capitol Hill has included the possibility the U.S. agencies operating in Benghazi were secretly helping to move surface-to-air missiles out of Libya, through Turkey, and into the hands of Syrian rebels.

Sources now tell CNN dozens of people working for the CIA were on the ground that night, and that the agency is going to great lengths to make sure whatever it was doing, remains a secret.

CNN has learned the CIA is involved in what one source calls an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency's Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out.

Since January, some CIA operatives involved in the agency's missions in Libya, have been subjected to frequent, even monthly polygraph examinations, according to a source with deep inside knowledge of the agency's workings.

 

[PokerGuy]

And the plot thickens.... and it looks even worse for the whitehouse. I guess now we're starting to see possible reasons for the lies that go beyond simple incompetence and embarrassment.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

UPDATE: Dozens of CIA ops on ground during Benghazi hit...
'Running arms-smuggling team when consulate was attacked'...
Rep: Obama admin hiding survivors, changing their names...

The arms smuggling could be without Congressional approval. Could be a directly impeachable offense. Tin foilers now saying Ambassador Stevens was killed to stop him from whistle blowing this "illegal" operation.

CNN has actually discovered Benghazi is a place. Now THAT is news, the fact that someone other than Foxnews dares to utter the word.

Do you support this administration if it was running weapons to Syria without Congressional approval? What about the cover up, and this whole thing involving the death of our Ambassador on September 11th, 2012?

Sorry, what the hell of this is new? I thought all this was about the attack and why we didn't have more security.

So we did have security it just was a cover-up plot to kill?

I'm confused :\ Not that I have cared much about this. Isn't this like 1.5 years old by now? So who opened their mouth, because thats the only way anything new would come out.

 

[DeadFred]

About time we seen some movement on this "phony scandal".

 

[Fern]

The arms connection was reported long ago:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...hipment-factor-in-ambassadors-benghazi-visit/

Even DailyKos had an article:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/...-Looted-Missiles-From-Libya-Arrives-in-Turkey

Somehow, mysteriously, CNN has just now learned of this.

Fern

 

[berzerker60]

First of all, I'm deeply skeptical of all of this.

But can I just point out the irony of IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE for smuggling in weapons to Syria from the same people who worship at the altar of St. Reagan? The people who want to name the entire offshore exclusive economic zone (basically US waters) for Reagan? Reagan, the president who caved to Islamic terrorist demands to illegally sell weapons to radical Islamic Iran, then used to profits to fund US-citizen-nun-raping guerillas in direct violation of Congress, and instead of being impeached got some BS about how "the nation can't afford another failed presidency" and subsequently a PR campaign that has left Republicans actling like he was Jesus II ever since?

And now, if these stories have any truth to them, smuggling weapons to Syria to help fight a dictator is OMG IMPEACH HIM IMPEACH HIM?

 

[Subyman]

Sorry, what the hell of this is new? I thought all this was about the attack and why we didn't have more security.

So we did have security it just was a cover-up plot to kill?

I'm confused :\ Not that I have cared much about this. Isn't this like 1.5 years old by now? So who opened their mouth, because thats the only way anything new would come out.

What this information may show is that the CIA was giving the local rebels weapons. Those same weapons may have been used to kill the Ambassador and his protection. It's like the border patrol killings all over again except this would be even bigger.

 

[Agent11]

Was wrong when Reagan did it, if Obama did the same it is still wrong. The Syria connection is new to me, if there is anything to it the alqaeda tiies within the Syrian rebels could make this big.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

What this information may show is that the CIA was giving the local rebels weapons. Those same weapons may have been used to kill the Ambassador and his protection. It's like the border patrol killings all over again except this would be even bigger.

....Isn't that essentially what happened in Fast & Furious?

 

[PokerGuy]

And now, if these stories have any truth to them, smuggling weapons to Syria to help fight a dictator is OMG IMPEACH HIM IMPEACH HIM?

... so in short but ..but.. boooosh...errr.... I mean but ..but.. Reagan!

How pathetic. Last I checked Reagan was not in office and not running for office.

As is usually the case, it's not the initial screwup that ends up being the worst, it's the subsequent coverup or attempts at covering up the screwups that usually end up creating more problems.

 

[Geosurface]

I've paid very little attention to this whole Benghazi thing, and I have no idea how outraged to be about it.

I'll just be honest, though I voted for him in '08, at this point I think Obama is incredibly destructive to the future of our country - and I view all democrats as being similarly destructive. So, for those reasons I hope he gets impeached.

I'm not holding my breath, though, and I strongly suspect that with the amount of media-fellatio he receives this will never go anywhere.

 

[Genx87]

I always thought there was some connection to Syria with this thing. My understanding was the theory they were trying to recover weapons from Libya and send them to Syria.
Somebody had to be sending those AR-15s with ACOGs to the rebels. I find it hard to believe they could afford such weaponry.

 

[DeadFred]

Obama should take a few notes from Reagan. Apologize to the American people, state your case, and let Hilliary take the fall like Ollie North.

Yeah right, could you imagine that narcissist apologizing for anything.

 

[Attic]

Obviously the CIA was involved in something big there, running guns or other. Obviously it's a cover up.

Given prior understandings that there wasn't more than a dozen CIA officers present, because it was covered up, this actually makes more sense then the clear obfuscation regarding Benghazi if there weren't heavy CIA involvement on the ground at the time.

I highly doubt Obama knew much if anything about what was really going on in Benghazi. He's inept, not destructive on purpose or to a level of actively engaging in this cover up. Keeping him in the dark doesn't just offer plausible deniability, it'd be essential to an operation like this IMO.

 

[ivwshane]

I've paid very little attention to this whole Benghazi thing, and I have no idea how outraged to be about it.

I'll just be honest, though I voted for him in '08, at this point I think Obama is incredibly destructive to the future of our country - and I view all democrats as being similarly destructive. So, for those reasons I hope he gets impeached.

I'm not holding my breath, though, and I strongly suspect that with the amount of media-fellatio he receives this will never go anywhere.

So you admit your ignorance and then you want people to listen to your opinion?

Lol. Go back to your hole.

 

[Geosurface]

So you admit your ignorance and then you want people to listen to your opinion?

Lol. Go back to your hole.

I admitted ignorance about Benghazi, and offered no opinion on Benghazi - just a generalized hope he gets impeached for something. I would think the IRS and NSA stuff should qualify if this doesn't.

 

[nehalem256]

Obama should take a few notes from Reagan. Apologize to the American people, state your case, and let Hilliary take the fall like Ollie North.

Yeah right, could you imagine that narcissist apologizing for anything.

Hillary is likely to popular with Democrats to make a good fall girl.

 

[ivwshane]

I admitted ignorance about Benghazi, and offered no opinion on Benghazi - just a generalized hope he gets impeached for something. I would think the IRS and NSA stuff should qualify if this doesn't.

Yes we get it, you are an uniformed opinionated idiot! You don't need to keep shoving your stupidity in our faces.

 

[Fern]

First of all, I'm deeply skeptical of all of this.

But can I just point out the irony of IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE for smuggling in weapons to Syria from the same people who worship at the altar of St. Reagan? The people who want to name the entire offshore exclusive economic zone (basically US waters) for Reagan? Reagan, the president who caved to Islamic terrorist demands to illegally sell weapons to radical Islamic Iran, then used to profits to fund US-citizen-nun-raping guerillas in direct violation of Congress, and instead of being impeached got some BS about how "the nation can't afford another failed presidency" and subsequently a PR campaign that has left Republicans actling like he was Jesus II ever since?

And now, if these stories have any truth to them, smuggling weapons to Syria to help fight a dictator is OMG IMPEACH HIM IMPEACH HIM?

I think description a bit over-the-top.

No "Islamic terrorist" involved. The Iranian army used the weapon in its war with Iraq.

A little more:

While President Ronald Reagan was a supporter of the Contra cause,[6] the evidence is disputed as to whether he authorized the diversion of the money raised by the Iranian arms sales to the Contras.[2][3][7] Handwritten notes taken by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger on December 7, 1985, indicate that Reagan was aware of potential hostage transfers with Iran, as well as the sale of Hawk and TOW missiles to "moderate elements" within that country.[8] Weinberger wrote that Reagan said "he could answer to charges of illegality but couldn't answer to the charge that 'big strong President Reagan passed up a chance to free the hostages'".[8] After the weapon sales were revealed in November 1986, Reagan appeared on national television and stated that the weapons transfers had indeed occurred, but that the United States did not trade arms for hostages.[9] The investigation was impeded when large volumes of documents relating to the scandal were destroyed or withheld from investigators by Reagan administration officials.[10] On March 4, 1987, Reagan returned to the airwaves in a nationally televised address, taking full responsibility for any actions that he was unaware of, and admitting that "what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages".[11]

Several investigations ensued, including those by the U.S. Congress and the three-person, Reagan-appointed Tower Commission. Neither found any evidence that President Reagan himself knew of the extent of the multiple programs.[2][3][7] In the end, fourteen administration officials were indicted, including then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Eleven convictions resulted, some of which were vacated on appeal.[12] The rest of those indicted or convicted were all pardoned in the final days of the presidency of George H. W. Bush, who had been vice-president at the time of the affair.[13]

But let's not quibble over the details.

How about we agree that Obama, like Reagan, should come on TV and explain, and that we have a commission appointed to investigate?

(BTW: I have not called for impeachment. Heck, I'm not even sure a weapons transfer to Syrian rebels would be illegal. But what's done is done, the Benghazi facility is gone. There is no real reason for secrecy anymore. Obama has since approved of weapons for the Syrian rebels. That support is out in the open now. Heck, I'd bet Syria has known all along. If the media can find out about weapon shipments from Benghazi so can the Syrian Intel.)

Fern

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Benghazi -- What to fall back on when your party doesn't have any solutions to real problems like health care and the economy.

 

[Subyman]

Benghazi -- What to fall back on when your party doesn't have any solutions to real problems like health care and the economy.

Nobody has any "real" solutions to health care or the economy. That doesn't mean a potential scandal like this shouldn't be discussed.

 

[berzerker60]

I think description a bit over-the-top.

No "Islamic terrorist" involved. The Iranian army used the weapon in its war with Iraq.

What? It was in response to the Iranian embassy hostage crisis, wherein hardline students took hostages and released them after cutting this deal with Reagan. Islamic terrorists. He negotiated with them and then caved to their demands.

How about we agree that Obama, like Reagan, should come on TV and explain, and that we have a commission appointed to investigate?

(BTW: I have not called for impeachment. Heck, I'm not even sure a weapons transfer to Syrian rebels would be illegal. But what's done is done, the Benghazi facility is gone. There is no real reason for secrecy anymore. Obama has since approved of weapons for the Syrian rebels. That support is out in the open now. Heck, I'd bet Syria has known all along. If the media can find out about weapon shipments from Benghazi so can the Syrian Intel.)

IF Obama funneled these weapons and IF it was illegal to do so, he should absolutely try to explain himself and be at least censured by the Congress. It's a much lesser sin than that committed by Reagan, who should have been thrown out of office and hold a place in memory next to Nixon, but still a very serious issue. BUT if it wasn't illegal - which I very strongly suspect would be the case - then we're just talking about a CIA operation, which is neither unprecedented nor particularly troubling. In that case, he shouldn't go on TV and explain everything because that's just giving away state secrets for no particular reason.

 

[Patranus]

Shame that the wise and beautiful woman from CNN "moderating" the presidential debate had to inject her own politics into the debate to discredit Romney.

Also a shame Romney stopped pressing the issue.

 

[Thebobo]

Was wrong when Reagan did it, if Obama did the same it is still wrong. The Syria connection is new to me, if there is anything to it the alqaeda tiies within the Syrian rebels could make this big.

I remember those days Regan and his "I don't remember," who knew it was true! :\

 

[Thebobo]

Shame that the wise and beautiful woman from CNN "moderating" the presidential debate had to inject her own politics into the debate to discredit Romney.

Also a shame Romney stopped pressing the issue.

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