Hat tip Frontpage Magazine
Just the fact that this is bcoming out of CBS is encouraging. They are reporting the claims of Greg Hicks, who was the second top diplomat in Libya after Ambassador Stevens. Hicks claims that a military rescue team was ordered to stand down as they were preparing to fly to Benghazi. Hicks also believes that the two Navy Seals who were killed after several hours had passed could have been saved if a US military plane had responded.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57583014/diplomat-u.s-special-forces-told-you-cant-go-to-benghazi-during-attacks/
Hicks is expected to formally testify before Congress on Wednesday.
Its useful testimony, but its not the brewing scandal Fouse&Friends have been trying to will into existence for the last half a year or so. A key phrase is:
ReplyDelete"if we had gotten clearance from the Libyan military for an American plane to fly over Libyan airspace"
When operating within a sovereign nation, however disorganized, one doesn't simply send one's armed forces wherever one wishes to.
When the entire Republican Party, except for John McCain, has been complaining about imperial over-reach and abuse of power for the president to even impose a no-fly zone and take out military hardware on the ground, the entire chain of command might be hesitant to move troops into position on the ground, or even send threatening aircraft over a city, without very explicit authorization.
And in a moving situation, everyone is operating with inadequate data, scrambling to understand, hesitant to commit and anxious to act at the same time, plus, everyone afterward indulges in all kinds of Monday morning quarterbacking.
This could result in some improved protocols, if certain sore losers would stop using it as a political football.