The Briefing Room
General Category => Trump Legal Investigations => Topic started by: mystery-ak on February 13, 2014, 02:05:08 am
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http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/12/report-new-navy-map-shows-u-s-had-multitude-of-forces-in-region-surrounding-libya-during-benghazi-attack/ (http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/12/report-new-navy-map-shows-u-s-had-multitude-of-forces-in-region-surrounding-libya-during-benghazi-attack/)
Report: New Navy Map Shows U.S. Had ‘Multitude of Forces’ in Region Surrounding Libya During Benghazi Attack
Feb. 12, 2014 7:12pm Jason Howerton
Government watchdog group Judicial Watch published a U.S. Navy map on Wednesday showing the locations of ships in the region surrounding Libya on the night of the deadly Benghazi Attack.
The unclassified map was obtained by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Randall R. Schmidt via a Freedom of Information of Act (FOIA) request. Schmidt is reportedly investigating the U.S. military’s response to the Benghazi attack and provided a copy of the map to the group.
“The U.S. military had a multitude of forces in the region surrounding Libya when terrorists attacked the Special Mission in Benghazi and murdered four Americans,” Judicial Watch writes.
(http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/11.png)
Screengrab via Townhall
“Destroyers could have responded to the attack,” Schmidt said.
He also said the military had “rapid reaction forces” and “armed predators” in the region. So far, the Department of Defense has refused to provide him records on the air fleet on Sept. 11, 2012.
“The point is there were enough forces to respond,” Schmidt added.
Judicial Watch breaks down the locations of various military fleets:
Dozens of vessels were stationed in the region on that day, including two aircraft carriers (Dwight D. Eisenhower and Enterprise), four amphibious ships, 13 destroyers, three cruisers and more than a dozen other smaller Navy boats as well as a command ship. Carriers are warships, the powerhouse of the naval fleet with a full-length flight deck for aircraft operations. During the Benghazi attack, two carriers were based to the east in the Arabian Sea, the Navy map shows.
Two amphibious assault ships (Iwo Jima and Gunston Hill) were situated to the east in the Gulf of Oman and one (New York) was in the Gulf of Aden, the map shows. A fourth (Fort McHenry) was located on the west side of the African continent in the Atlantic Ocean. Amphibious ships resemble small aircraft carriers and have air-craft strips for vertical and short take-offs and landings. The destroyers are scattered throughout the region, but the closest appear to be four (Cole, Forrest Sherman, Jason Dunham and Aboon) in the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya. The rest of the fleet includes cruisers, minesweepers, patrols and a command ship.
[…]
In a letter attached to the map, the Navy writes that the Iwo Jima was the closest large amphibious ship to Benghazi on that day, but fails to mention the exact distance. The letter does mention that the USS Enterprise, the aircraft carrier that appears on the map to be the closest to Libya, was located approximately 3,350 nautical miles from Benghazi. “Assuming a 20 knot transit speed and no Suez Canal delays, the transit would take approximately 168 hours or seven days,” the Navy says in the letter to Schmidt. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower “would require additional transit time from its position in the Arabian Gulf,” the letter further states.
As CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson points out, the State Department Accountability Review Board determined that nothing else could have been done in terms of military assistance. The Obama administration has been consistent in its claim that it had no military assets in the area available to respond to the attack.
The map isn’t definite prove that the Obama administration didn’t do enough to respond to the assault in Benghazi. Clearly more information is needed to determine if any of these fleets were actually prepared tactically to respond to such an attack or could have made it to Benghazi in a reasonable amount of time. We will monitor any breaking updates on this story.
The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded last month that the attack in Benghazi was “preventable.” Further, The Republican-led House Armed Services Committee earlier this week concluded that no official “stand down” order was given on the night of Sept. 11, 2012.
(H/T: Townhall)
I enlarged the map as big as I can without making it too blurry
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yep...they had Ike all the way up in the Persian Gulf, and believe me she was 100% tasked right where she was not to mention it is one hell of a long way to Benghazi from there; and Enterprise which was just relieved and on her way back to be decommissioned. This was her last cruise.
That left exactly three frickin' destroyers in and around the Mediterranean on the anniversary of 9/11 with all hell breaking loose all over the place. They are aviation capable but that means they have an ASW helo onboard and that's it.
As I have said repeatedly here...the only thing that kept a cork in the Muslim extremists in the Middle East was the presence of a US aircraft carrier task force. We used to have the ability to have fighters over any trouble spot in the Med in a matter of hours. I was on Ike when we launched fighters for Beirut as soon as we cleared the Straits of Messina. There could have been fighters over Benghazi before the attack was over had there been a carrier present. Had there been a carrier present in the Gulf of Sidra the attack might have never taken place at all. With the carrier task force comes Senior staff and near instant communications with anyplace in the World....but if the damned thing is tied to the pier hosting College basketball games in the hangarbay, like USS Carl Vinson did right around this very time, then there isn't a damned thing you can do even if you wanted to.
At one time the first question out of the President's mouth in a crisis was "Where is the nearest carrier?". Not any more, and Benghazi is the direct result.
:smokin:
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Good post, Chief.
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Alex Pappas
The Navy has released a map showing the locations of its fleet positions near Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012 — when terrorists killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
The unclassified map — which was obtained by a retired Air Force veteran investigating the attacks through a public records request and published online by the group Judicial Watch — shows that there were dozens of vessels in the region during the attacks.
On the day of the attacks, the Navy had two aircraft carriers, four amphibious ships, 13 destroyers, three cruisers, a dozen small Navy boats and a command ship, Judicial Watch noted in its analysis of the map.
The veteran who obtained the map — Air Force Lt. Col. Randall R. Schmidt — has used the map to argue that destroyers could have responded to the attack.
“The point is there were enough forces to respond,” Schmidt said.
But the military has maintained that they were not equipped to adequately respond.
During a May 21 hearing on the military’s role in the attacks convened by the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Darryl Roberson, the vice director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, explained that the military had no realistic options available.
“It is not like a fire station,” Roberson said of the military during the May hearing. “We don’t have assets to respond like a fire call, jump down the pole and respond for any American that is under fire anywhere in the world.”
(http://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/navy-fleet-positions-benghazi-attack-e1392314239871.jpg)
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/13/navy-releases-map-showing-location-of-fleet-positions-during-benghazi-attacks/#ixzz2tE85KQks
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I get so pissed off when talking about this that I loose my composure!
Our people in Benghazi were not merely left to fend for themselves! They were actively BETRAYED!
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Fine - that's the Navy. What about the fighter wings in Sicily, in Goia, in Bari, and in Jordan. All with laser guided missiles. All within an hour or so of Benghazi - a bit less if they gated the throttles and refueled in the air on the way back.
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Fine - that's the Navy. What about the fighter wings in Sicily, in Goia, in Bari, and in Jordan. All with laser guided missiles. All within an hour or so of Benghazi - a bit less if they gated the throttles and refueled in the air on the way back.
Absolutely! And I'll assure you that there were other assets in the region as well but we'll not speak of those!
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This is a repeat thread from yesterday, and you really don't want to get me started on this all overagain. Like Bigun, I am near profanity about this.....
:smokin:
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This is a repeat thread from yesterday, and you really don't want to get me started on this all overagain. Like Bigun, I am near profanity about this.....
:smokin:
:beer:
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Absolutely! And I'll assure you that there were other assets in the region as well but we'll not speak of those!
Or they could have nicely asked either the French, British or Italian forces in the area - none of us mind doing a favor for a friend in need, and both the UK and Italy had boots on the ground at the time.