Cable to Hillary: Benghazi consulate unable to withstand coordinated attack
Fox News’ Catherine Herridge is reporting that they’ve uncovered a cable marked “Secret” that describes an emergency meeting the staff had in the Benghazi consulate a scant few weeks before the lethal September 11th attack which warned that the consulate would be unable to withstand a coordinated attack from the scads of terrorist training camps that were in the area;
According to a review of the cable addressed to the Office of the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Emergency Action Committee was also briefed “on the location of approximately ten Islamist militias and AQ training camps within Benghazi … these groups ran the spectrum from Islamist militias, such as the QRF Brigade and Ansar al-Sharia, to ‘Takfirist thugs.’” Each U.S. mission has a so-called Emergency Action Committee that is responsible for security measures and emergency planning.
So, we know how much of an impact that discussion of people on the ground had on Washington. If I’m not mistaken, since that meeting and the cable, the State Department withdrew military personnel from Libya who were previously designated to react to security threats.
While the administration’s public statements have suggested that the attack came without warning, the Aug. 16 cable seems to undercut those claims. It was a direct warning to the State Department that the Benghazi consulate was vulnerable to attack, that it could not be defended and that the presence of anti-U.S. militias and Al Qaeda was well-known to the U.S. intelligence community.
That’s pretty typical of all of this administration’s policies. Everyday is like today. If there’s no attack on the consulate today, there won’t be one tomorrow. Just like they were unable to prevent green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan. When the possibility of an increase in attacks was foretold last year, they ignored it, resulting in scores of deaths of American troops this year, just to give the impression that US forces trusted the Afghans.
Who knows what other information they’re sitting on today that will blow up in our faces and cost more American lives later.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Terror War
So how did they uncover a cable marked SECRET?
Maybe it was left lying around at the consulate? Maybe they simply picked it up?
Who knows. Considering that the records contained within the consulate were not properly secured or destroyed, it could have been acquired by any number of ways.
Someone somewhere (really not sure where or when it might have been) commented that if our consulates on Carribean islands are secured by US Marines, why wasn’t this one in Libya? Simple question, and the best one I’ve heard so far.
Point being that we already know that multiple requests were made for proper security at the consulate. This really is not news, but is a piece of damning evidence that security was intentionally less here than is prescribed for normal diplomatic outposts.
Andy, since it doesn’t shine a bright light on this administration you darn well it was one of the few secret things that weren’t leaked out of the White House.
I should have said positive light.
I still don’t get how AFRICOM didn’t have SOCAFRICA crunchies swarming the ground.
Carl Levin just wrote an open letter about how awesome Obama is when it comes to Israel, sentiments echoed by an aged Jewish WWII veteran in the Philly Jewish Voice. On paper and with defense/intelligence cooperation, and in the UN, Obama has a pretty good record, but there’s something to be said for chummy, shoulder-to-shoulder morale support.
One of the statements both these fellows made was concerning President Obama’s forceful and personal involvement in the securing of Israel’s Cairo embassy.
So what I’m hearing Obama praised for his amazing ability to protect the consulate of any other nation but our own?
Simply astonishing.
Can I ask an honest question without being attacked as some sort of evil liberal or b-b-but Bush type? How, in terms of the overall chain of events, is this attack and the apparent lack of action within the administration vastly different from the 2001 attacks? We had things like the administration being warned that bin Laden was determined to strike, etc.
How is this attack the fault of the Obama administration, and the 9/11/2001 attacks the fault of terrorists rather than the Bush administration?
Again, honest question not trolling – I want to hear your perspectives on how they’re very different. It’s something I don’t have a good answer for at the moment.
@6, The difference here is that the “warning” about 9/11 that the left crows about gave no specific target. Pretty much all that Bush could have done is station AA on all high rise buildings and start shooting down commercial aircraft, and wouldn’t that just be lucky.
With the Benghazi attack the target itself was saying we could be attacked and we can’t defend ourselves.
or I could have said lovely not lucky. Jonn types faster than I do.
Anyone here who would like to see and hear with your own eyes just go to YouTube and pull up the Congressional Hearing and see for yourself.
#6 Did George Bush have specific information that planes would be hijacked and flown into buildings? The consulate HAD been attacked previously and those on the GROUND with expertise sent warnings over and over again. EVERY other country and the Red Cross pulled out of the area! A simple google search will tell you all you need to know about Benghazi. It was a terrorist hotbed even BEFORE the uprising while Kaddaffi was still in power. After the uprising it fell to militias who were engaging in genocide. The foreign press has been reporting on Benghazi for months! The entire area has been out of control and dangerous.
We can only hope Hildybeast gets nailed for this – as well as she AND her lying “husband” for Vince Foster’s “suicide”, when it’s all said and swung.
And if that cable was indeed classified as “SECRET” then Fox News is guilty of committing a federal offense. It is a felony to improperly receive or transmit classified material to anyone not authorized to receive it. In other words, if the cable was actually classified “SECRET” then unless Fox news and everyone who handled it was cleared for SECRET and above classified material, they are all guilty of felonies. While it is nice to know this, improperly transmitting classified material to persons not authorized to know about it is not a good thing. It is a crime.
@11, the Obama Admin classified all materials related the the attack already. The Committee investigating it can’t even access it anymore. Does that mean we should all just ignore what has happened because it is now classified?
I’m all for keeping secrets, but when a President classifies EVERY little thing that might make him look bad (including college transcripts), then the PEOPLE have a right to ask questions to get to the bottom of things.
So much for the most transparent government…
@11 USMC Steve this cable was most likely part of the mountain of papers found after the Consulate was attacked. Seems to me I recall hearing how other news organizations were rummaging around and found all sorts of paperwork in the rubble. If this had been found by one of the other News networks it would never have seen the light of day. I agree with what you are saying USMC Steve but I think it’s a moot point now.
@6 As others have stated in regards to the difference between this and the 9/11/2001 attacks is the level of information. Intel received in regards to the impending attacks on the WTC and Pentagon in 2001 was more generalized and non specific. It’s hard to guess where terrorists are going to attack when you don’t have specific intel. The Ambassador, RSO, as well as others, knew the Benghazi Consulate was at risk of being assaulted and that they lacked the necessary gear and personnel to prevent it. They said as much in the messages. 9/11/2001 was non specific intel whereas 9/11/2012 was very specific intel.
Anonymous (6): I’ll try to identify the distinction between the two situations clearly and succinctly.
August 2001: “It looks like we might be attacked somewhere by terrorists. Unfortunately, we don’t really have a clue as to where.”
August 2012: “At present the Benghazi consulate is vulnerable. It currently would be unable to withstand a coordinated attack. There are no less than 10 known terrorist training camps in the vicinity of the Benghazi consulate. The organizations running these camps are hostile to the US.”
I personally see a significant difference between the two situations. YMMV.
@ Hondo, Twist, BlueStars, OEF_Veteran, etc.
Thank you, that’s helpful. Regarding the Benghazi warnings, does anyone know if such warnings and pleadings for help are routine or not? This wouldn’t make it any better that they’re ignored, I’m just trying to make sure I have a fairly complete understanding of the situation.
@Flagwaver:
Do you have a link to where the Obama administration classified all this information and even the committee can’t access it now? I hadn’t heard that before.
I don’t have a high enough security clearance to know how often warning are given but I would be willing to bet my paycheck that pleadings for help are pretty rare.
As for USMC Steve I find it highly hypocritical when the same Liberals applauded Wikileaks when they released documents that painted the last administration in a bad light now want to complain about secret documents being released when it paints the current administration in a bad light.
I went to MSNBC and CNN’s websites, and I know this going to shock you all, there is not one single mention of this.
@1 and 11: The cardinal rule that Obama broke was; don’t piss off the CIA (or attempt to hang them out to dry, thorw them under the bus, or make them the scapegoat of your own incompetence). That should be the answer to your question about how “classified” emails got out. Don’t go wetting your diaper about how Fox got ahold of the email and is now engaging in criminal activity, because every other MSM source got the same leak, it’s just that Fox isn’t sitting on it like the rest of them are.
As for criminal activity, well, this administration is beyond guilty of that.
OK, for all you GDIs (that’s either God Damned Infantry or when you get out and use your GI Bill, God Damned Independents), security at embassies and consulates is the responsibility of the HOST NATION. That’s Libya. You get a threat, you either scoot or stay in place. You don’t get to call in airstrikes, Special Ops, SEALS or in the last case your local Brownie troop. This was a coordinated terrorist attack. You don’t carry RPGs to demonstrations (which did not occur) not even Arizona, though that does get all you limp dicks drooling.
As far as the secret cable, place gets hit, last thing is securing classified when bullets are flying around and gomers are seriously trying to kill you. You don’t have time to do the destruct dance. Then there’s the problem of too much secret shit in places that are going to get hit. That’s local command or management problem. Happens more often that not. Hands up for those that agree. Been there seen that. I shredded as quick as I could or had some other guy with the Buck Rogers secret decoder ring, bottle opener and condom dispenser take the stuff off my hands. And no, I had to turn the gadget in. Go talk to your security weenie to see if they have those in the Army.
When the Pentagon Papers came out, freedom of the press pretty much allowed them to print what they got their hands on. Now how they got it could be punished, as in getting a CD of all the take out of a secure area (and I’m still waiting for heads to roll on that one).
Enough of a rant. hunt down and either kill those that did it or put them on trial. And feed them pork every meal.