l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 班加西丑闻：美国驻利比亚副大使Gregory Hicks证词与奥巴马政府相反，他指出特种
部队在恐怖袭击时准备飞往班加西救援，但被军方制止
Diplomat: U.S. Special Forces told "you can't go" to Benghazi during attacks
U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the
consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya on Sept. 11, 2012.
The deputy of slain U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens has told
congressional investigators that a team of Special Forces prepared to fly
from Tripoli to Benghazi during the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks was forbidden
from doing so by U.S. Special Operations Command Africa.
The account from Gregory Hicks is in stark contrast to assertions from the
Obama administration, which insisted that nobody was ever told to stand down
and that all available resources were utilized. Hicks gave private
testimony to congressional investigators last month in advance of his
upcoming appearance at a congressional hearing Wednesday.
According to excerpts released Monday, Hicks told investigators that
SOCAFRICA commander Lt. Col. Gibson and his team were on their way to board
a C-130 from Tripoli for Benghazi prior to an attack on a second U.S.
compound "when [Col. Gibson] got a phone call from SOCAFRICA which said, '
you can't go now, you don't have the authority to go now.' And so they
missed the flight ... They were told not to board the flight, so they missed
it."
No assistance arrived from the U.S. military outside of Libya during the
hours that Americans were under attack or trapped inside compounds by
hostile forces armed with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47
rifles.
Hicks told congressional investigators that if the U.S. had quickly sent a
military aircraft over Benghazi, it might have saved American lives. The U.S
. Souda Bay Naval Base is an hour's flight from Libya.
"I believe if we had been able to scramble a fighter or aircraft or two over
Benghazi as quickly as possible after the attack commenced, I believe there
would not have been a mortar attack on the annex in the morning because I
believe the Libyans would have split. They would have been scared to death
that we would have gotten a laser on them and killed them," Hicks testified.
Two Americans died in the morning mortar attack.
Obama administration officials have insisted that no military resources
could have made it in time. 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."
Hicks is expected to be the first ground-level eyewitness to speak publicly
in the nearly eight months since the terrorist attacks that killed
Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans. When Stevens went missing,
Hicks became the Chief of Mission for the U.S. in Libya.
Ambassador Susan Rice and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton initially
indicated the attacks were not planned acts of terror, but an outgrowth of a
spontaneous protest over an anti-Islamic YouTube video. Unidentified
government officials removed references to terrorism and al Qaeda from so-
called "talking points" released to the public shortly after the attacks.
Below are the released excerpts from Hicks' April interview with
congressional investigators on the House Oversight Committee.
Q: But do you think, you know, if an F-15, if the military had allowed a
jet to go fly over, that it might have prevented [the second attack]?
A: Yeah, and if we had gotten clearance from the Libyan military for an
American plane to fly over Libyan airspace. The Libyans that I talked to and
the Libyans and other Americans who were involved in the war have told me
also that Libyan revolutionaries were very cognizant of the impact that
American and NATO airpower had with respect to their victory. They are under
no illusions that American and NATO airpower won that war for them. And so,
in my personal opinion, a fast-mover flying over Benghazi at some point,
you know, as soon as possible might very well have prevented some of the bad
things that happened that night.
Q : The theory being, the folks on the ground that are doing these --
committing these terrorist attacks look up, see a heavy duty airplane above,
and decide to hightail it?
A: I believe that if -- I believe if we had been able to scramble a
fighter or aircraft or two over Benghazi as quickly as possible after the
attack commenced, I believe there would not have been a mortar attack on the
annex in the morning because I believe the Libyans would have split. They
would have been scared to death that we would have gotten a laser on them
and killed them.
******
Q: I just wanted to ask, you mentioned permission from the Libyans. Why
is that important? What did you mean by that?
A: Well, it's their country. And for an American military aircraft to
fly over their country, we have to have permission from them to do so.
Q: So what would have been the risk of -- do you think it would have
been risky for us to send someone, do you think it would have been
counterproductive for us to send a fighter pilot plane over Benghazi without
that permission?
A: We would have certainly wanted to obtain that permission. I believe
we would have gotten it if we had asked. I believe that the Libyans were
hoping that we were going to come bail them out of this mess. And, you know,
they were as surprised as we were that American -- the military forces that
did arrive only arrived on the evening of September 12. Yeah.
******
Q: So, at this point [at approximately 10:00 pm in Tripoli], you are
talking to Washington, you are talking to your RSO Martinec, you are talking
to RAO. Are you talking to the Defense Attache?
A: The Defense Attache is there, and he is immediately on the phone to
Ministry of Defense and to chief of staff of the Libyan Armed Forces. He
also notifies Joint Staff and AFRICOM. Our SOCAFRICA lead, Lieutenant
Colonel Gibson, connects with SOCAFRICA in Stuttgart, as well. And,
obviously, RAO is also connected back home.
Q: Was there ever any thought at that time of the night to have an F-16,
you know, fly over?
A: I called -- when we knew that -- I talked with the Defense Attache,
Lt. Col. Keith Phillips, and I asked him, "Is there anything coming?" And he
said that the nearest fighter planes were Aviano, that he had been told
that it would take two to three hours to get them airborne, but that there
were no tanker assets near enough to support a flight from Aviano.
******
A: And for the second time that night [Before 5:15 AM attack], I asked
the Defense Attache, is there anything coming, is there anything out there
to help our people from, you know, big military? And the answer, again, was
the same as before.
Q: And what was that answer?
A: The answer was, it's too far away, there are no tankers, there is
nothing, there is nothing that could respond.
******
Q: So you had mentioned that the first team from Tripoli to Benghazi
arrived at 1:15?
A: Right.
Q: And was there a second team that was organized? Could you tell us
about the second team?
A: Right. The second team -- the Defense Attache worked assiduously all
night long to try to get the Libyan military to respond in some way. Early
in the morning -- sorry, after we were formally notified by the Prime
Minister, who called me, that Chris had passed, the Libyan military agreed
to fly their C-130 to Benghazi and carry additional personnel to Benghazi as
reinforcements. Because we at that time -- at that time, the third attack,
the mortar attack at 5:15, had not yet occurred, if I remember correctly.
Q: So what time did the second rescue team ??
A: Well, again, they flew -- I think that flight took off sometime
between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m.
Q: At that point, you are the Chief of Mission?
A: Yeah, I'm Chief of Mission effective 3:00 a.m.
******
Q: Now, did any of the Special Forces folks, were they planning at any
time to travel on that second aircraft?
A: On the second, on the C-130? Yes. We fully intended for those guys to
go, because we had already essentially stripped ourselves of our security
presence, or our security capability to the bare minimum ...
******
A: So Lieutenant Colonel Gibson, who is the SOCAFRICA commander, his
team, you know, they were on their way to the vehicles to go to the airport
to get on the C-130 when he got a phone call from SOCAFRICA which said, you
can't go now, you don't have authority to go now. And so they missed the
flight. And, of course, this meant that one of the ...
Q : They didn't miss the flight. They were told not to board the flight.
A: They were told not to board the flight, so they missed it. So, anyway
, and yeah. I still remember Colonel Gibson, he said, "I have never been so
embarrassed in my life that a State Department officer has bigger balls than
somebody in the military." A nice compliment.
Q: Now, at this point, are you having communications with Washington?
A: I was in communications with Washington all night long. I was
reporting all night long what was happening to Washington by telephone.
Q: When these Special Forces folks were told essentially to stand down,
what was your next move? Did you have a recourse? Were you able to call
Washington? Were you able to call anyone at this point to get that decision
reversed?
A: No, because the flight was -- the flight was leaving. And, you know,
if they missed -- you know, if the vehicles didn't leave when they leave,
they would miss the flight time at the airport. And the airport -- you know,
we were going all the way to Mitiga. The C-130 is at Mitiga, which is all
the way on the other side of Tripoli.
Q: What was the rationale that you were given that they couldn't go,
ultimately?
A: I guess they just didn't have the right authority from the right. | D*******o
发帖数: 3229 | 2 So what? That guy is still the U.S. president. Next time, if you can
nominate your cat or puppy for president candidacy and repeatedly broadcast
ads. promising free handouts, he/she will probably win the election.
Democracy is doomed. Period. | h****g
发帖数: 2216 | 3 希拉里被卷进去了。所以2016年估计是选不上了。
broadcast
【在 D*******o 的大作中提到】
: So what? That guy is still the U.S. president. Next time, if you can
: nominate your cat or puppy for president candidacy and repeatedly broadcast
: ads. promising free handouts, he/she will probably win the election.
: Democracy is doomed. Period.
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