Quote:
Originally Posted by spence
The ARB provided thorough detail on this topic.
There as no cavalry to send. There appear to been multiple factors at play. It wasn't just the confusion, the only special ops in Libya were lightly armed and not ready. Also, the military has said they received threats at the actual embassy in Tripoli and wanted them to stay put in case they were needed there.
And even at that, the C130 they were going to fly on wasn't even scheduled to take off until after the entire event ended.
There's the other explanation given by the Director of the CIA.
-spence
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"There was no cavalry to send"
I have seen conflicting reports on that, all of which you ignore of course. And if what you say is correct (and that's a big 'if'), how is it possible that the administration had zero capability to respond to an attack on an embassy that everyone knows is in an area with Al Queda ties? On the anniversary of 09/11? When there had been credible threats made already?
They asked for extra security. not only was that request rejected, but according to you, no security apparatus existed to provide help? That's just great. Why the hell would anyone want to replace Ambassador Stevens?
"It wasn't just the confusion"
The government and the military are trained to deal with incredibly confusing scenarios. That's no excuse in this day and age. Confusion and chaos actually increases our tactical advantage (because we know how to deal with the confusion, and the bad guys don't).
"the only special ops in Libya were lightly armed and not ready"
How long does it take to get ready, compared to how long the firefight lasted? I presume you have never been in that situation, so take it from someone who has...when the alarm goes off, you can be ready in far less than 5 minutes if you have to...Didn't the firefight last for hours? And what about groups outside of Libya, that could have gotten there before the fight was over - were there any? As for 'lightly armed', forgive me, I keep forgetting you are an expert in military tactics. The special forces guys don't need heavy weapons to slaughter a few dozen untrained barbarians. I'm not saying life is like a Jason Bourne movie...but the special forces guys could have handled an untrained mob with very light weapons, with very little difficulty.