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| Could U.S. Military Have Helped During Libya Attack? | |
| 2012-10-21 | |
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. A White House official told CBS News that a "small group of reinforcements" was sent from Tripoli to Benghazi, but declined to say how many or what time they arrived. 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. 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." Add to the controversy the fact that the last two Americans didn't die until more than six hours into the attack, and the question of U.S. military help becomes very important. Sending the military into another country can be a sensitive and delicate decision. CBS News has been told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did seek clearances from Libya to fly in their airspace, but the administration won't say anything further about what was said or decided on that front. As they say, "Watch the vid" | |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #11 My guess is that they had a hard time finding Valerie Jarred to get her approval to do anything. After Bin-Laden she probably left strict orders with Barack not to do approve anything without her ok. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2012-10-21 23:38 |
| #10 Thanks 49 pan.... we knew AFRICOM had Special Forces crawling all over North Africa and I've been wondering where they were.... |
| Posted by: Sherry 2012-10-21 23:09 |
| #9 I just read a report that said spec ops troops were staged an hour out of lybia waiting for the go ahead. The fight lasted six hours, ther for were in a position to be saved. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2012-10-21 22:20 |
| #8 "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." Going out on a limb there eh, Mr. Nelson? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2012-10-21 14:44 |
| #7 If they had time to put a preditor over there, they had time to fly anything there. It is the slowest thing in the air. With clean surveillance and communications with the consulate, we could even have fired in cruise missiles to cover the attackers outside with our guys inside the building. There were hundreds of options, and at least a dozen good ones. Just like Hillary had to fall on the lack of security grenade last week, Pannetta will have to drop, cover and roll to put this fire out. This is a real screw up. |
| Posted by: rammer 2012-10-21 14:30 |
| #6 If you can phueching....fly folks out, you very likely.... FLY FOLKS IN! It would appear that hours went by and no one did anything. No one made an effort to even secure the facility, check for survivors hidden out somewhere, or recover the dead. What about that bunch of 50 or so detainees that the Libyan "good guys" were alleged to have rounded up ? What happened to those people ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-10-21 12:20 |
| #5 If there was a Predator in the area it could have lased for a precision munition carried by an F-16 or F-18. Which could have made the trip from Sigonella in an hour or maybe less, it's hard for me to tell from the map. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2012-10-21 12:12 |
| #4 Thank you CBS for this timely administration cover-for=action piece. Allegedly,... again allegedly, NO ONE worried much about "violating the airspace" from Bagram Air Base, AFG to Abbattabad, PAK. Weak, very, very weak. Sorry, no phueching sale here. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-10-21 12:03 |
| #3 If we're going to learn anything from this horrific fiasco, could it be that we should have dedicated quick reaction teams set up near various hot spots in the world ready to move if an embassy, consulate or personnel are attacked? Such teams need not necessarily be A-10s or AC-130s, though I have no qualms setting an AC-130 upon an unruly mob trying to kill one of our ambassadors. I also see no need to advertise the presence of these teams, though I like the deterrence value of an AC-130. And we certainly don't need such teams in more civilized parts of the world. But where there is potential trouble, we ought to plan ahead, best we can. That means having resources in place, and having the intel, insight and will in Washington to protect the people we put into harm's way. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2012-10-21 11:49 |
| #2 You are not alone, 49pan |
| Posted by: lotp 2012-10-21 11:12 |
| #1 We don't sacrifice our navy seals. A six hour firefight? Holy Christ, these guys were counting on America, and with a predator above they got nothing...... I bet the prez was watching live, frozen, unable to make a decision while loyal brave Americans died.... I'm sick and the taste of bile is strong... |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2012-10-21 00:10 |