Thread: DoD Relents, Gowdy Finally Interviews F-16 Crew Chief Who Posted: ‘We Were Ready to R

DoD Relents, Gowdy Finally Interviews F-16 Crew Chief Who Posted: ‘We Were Ready to Respond to Benghazi–Did Nothing’AP/Mohammad Hannon

by NEIL W. MCCABE
29 Jun 2016


The House Select Committee on Benghazi says it will finally interview a European-based F-16 crew chief, who posted on Facebook that his unit’s jets were ready to respond to the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on American personnel and facilities at Benghazi, Libya.

Matt Wolking, the select committee’s press secretary, says the Pentagon’s relentless stalling did not stop the committee from releasing its proposed report Tuesday.

“The committee will not allow the Defense Department’s needless delays to stop it from interviewing a witness it sought to speak with several months ago. The committee’s proposed report can be updated with any new testimony when it is marked up and voted on,” he said. “Chairman Gowdy intends to release this and other witness interview transcripts once the administration clears them for public release.” Rep. Trey Gowdy (R.-S.C.) has led the committee, since it was established May 8, 2014.

The witness posted on his Facebook page: “I was an F-16 crewchief stationed [in Europe] when the attack happened. I was called into work, and we scrambled jets, armed and prepared them for an alert launch and then, we did nothing. … [W]e never got the order and did nothing.”

In February, the committee requested the Pentagon facilitate an interview with the airman, but DoD refused to cooperate. In fact, the Pentagon sent a letter to Gowdy dismissing the request as unnecessary because the committee had already spoken to his senior officers.

In a May 6 letter from Gowdy to Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, Gowdy dressed down the secretary for the Pentagon standing down from an effort to meet the committee’s requests for documents and witnesses.

In one case, cited by Gowdy in the letter, the committee requested in February to speak to the operators of the drones overwatching the Benghazi attacks. In March, after hearing no response from the Pentagon, the committee began to prepare subpoenas, which prompted the Pentagon to promise to fill the request. But, the drone operators did not meet with the committee until the last week of May.

The letter also called out to Carter the efforts of Stephen C. Hedger, the department’s assistant secretary for legislative affairs. Hedger, a long-time aide for Sen. Claire McCaskill (D.-Mo.) and other Democrats. The former Army armor officer oversees all of the Pentagon’s relationship with Congress, including all Senate confirmations.

Gowdy wrote that Hedger’s cooperation with the Democrats on the Benghazi committee was “unbeftting the Department of Defense and the chief reason for the committee’s inability to complete its tasks quickly. “I, too, would have liked this investigation completed months ago. Yet, constant obstacles and barriers created by the executive branch—including the Department of Defense—have made that impossible.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...rone-op-short/

SHOCK: Real Reason We Didn’t Rescue Benghazi Survivors Leaks… NO ONE Knew This


Ever since the Benghazi terror attack on Sept. 11, 2012, claimed the lives of four of their own, many Americans have been wondering why the United States military didn’t send air support to help those who were fighting the terrorists.

While some of the reason can probably be attributed to general government incompetence under the Obama administration, it is possible that the military did not send air assets to the region because of the threat of surface-to-air missiles.

There were many man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADs) in Libya at the time, and this type of weaponry could have proven lethal to any American aircraft overhead, Breitbart reported.

After the Moammar Gadhafi regime fell, Libya’s stockpile of MANPADs was not secured by western forces, and as a result many of the estimated 20,000 units fell into the hands of Libya’s warring militias.

It is impossible to know if the terror groups that attacked the American diplomatic mission and nearby CIA annex had these systems, but during testimony to Congress, Brig. Gen. Patrick Mordente specifically cited the MANPAD threat as a reason for the delay in sending help.

“I’m not quite sure what the situation was on the ground in Benghazi. And who were you going to meet up with? And who was your point of contact? What kind of MANPAD threat? What kind of small-arms threat? What were all of those?” he replied when asked what type of risk would have been involved in sending assets to Benghazi.

Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time, was directly responsible for this. She pushed for the Libyan government to be toppled, then couldn’t be bothered to clean up the mess she made.

Her inaction led to the chaotic situation on the ground that prevented our military form being able to take immediate action and send help to Americans who endured 13 hours of gunfire and hell.

We cannot let Clinton anywhere near the White House. Her incompetence as secretary of state made the world a more dangerous place; it should terrify all of us to think what she would do as president.

http://conservativetribune.com/we-di...azi-survivors/