Here are the major
participants (so far) surrounding the September 11th, 2012 attack on
the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi,
Libya:
Christopher Stevens, Ambassador to Libya, was killed in the September 11th attack in Benghazi. Was in Benghazi at the behest of Hillary Clinton although this fact was curiously omitted from the Accountability Revue Board’s findings … even though it was testified to there by Greg Hicks.
Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith, and Glen Doherty, three other American defenders who were
killed in Benghazi
by Islamic terrorists.
President Obama, was
informed of the Benghazi
attack-in-progress at about 5 PM on 9/11/12.
Supposedly told Leon Panetta, to “do whatever can be done to assist and
protect Americans in harm’s way.” After
this, he was not heard from again for over 12 hours. That next day he flew to Las Vegas to attend a campaign fund raiser.
Leon Panetta, Defense
Secretary, testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee that no military
assets were deployed to assist those under attack in Benghazi and that he had had no further
communication with President Obama about this matter that night.
General Martin Dempsey,
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when asked by Senator John McCain why there was
no military response to the Benghazi
attack said, “We did what our posture and capabilities allowed.” McCain said
that this was “one of the most bizarre statements I’ve ever seen in my years
here at the [Armed Services] committee.”
Hillary Clinton, former Secretary
of State, testified in late January in front of the Senate and House (but not
under oath) that she wasn’t aware of the security problems in Benghazi and that
she believed for many days thereafter that the attack in Benghazi was as a result
of the YOUTUBE video. Was famous for
saying at these hearings “What difference at this point does it make!?!”
David Petraeus, honored
General in Iraq and Afghanistan and former CIA Director, expressed
frustration at the scrubbing of the original CIA talking points … particularly
since he had traveled to Libya
shortly after the Benghazi
attack to get first-hand information. He
eventually went along with the White House narrative … but this didn’t save him
from being outed for having an extra-marital affair which then led him to lose
his military commission and his post at the CIA.
General Carter Ham, head of
the African Command, there is a strange story that Leon Panetta relieved
General Ham of this command when he refused to order a “stand down” of troops
being sent to Benghazi. This story has been refuted and, effectively,
buried.
Thomas Pickering, former
Ambassador to the U.N., together with the former Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael
Mullin, lead a State-Department-sponsored panel investigating the Benghazi attack (Accountability
Review Board). Although Secretary Clinton never testified to this panel, it did
find that the State Department was at fault for not providing additional
security to the Benghazi
mission. Hillary Clinton accepted
responsibility for this failing. This
review supposedly led to the “resignation of four State Department employees”
(a now-disputed point … as they might have just been reassigned.)
Nakoula
Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian Coptic Christian wrote and produced of the controversial
anti-Islam YOUTUBE video, "Innocence of Muslims" which was blamed by
President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Susan Rice as the reason for the attack
on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Shortly after the attack he was arrested on a
parole violation and is still in prison.
Susan Rice, Ambassador to the U.N., went on five TV talk shows the Sunday after the attack to say that the YOUTUBE video was the reason for the attack and terrorists were not involved.
Darrell Issa, Republican Chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee has been pushing the Benghazi investigation ... and is often accused by the left of playing partisan politics. Is currently seeking sworn depositions from Pickering and Mullin about their panel's investigation.
Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat of the House Oversight Committee. Made a very controversial comment in these Benghazi hearings, "death is part of life."
Greg Hicks, former deputy diplomatic
chief of mission in Libya. Testified at the House Oversight Committee that
he called Hillary at 2:00 AM the night of the Benghazi attack and told her that it was
terrorists. Had a scathing phone call
from Cheryl Mills after he questioned Susan Rice’s account of the Benghazi attacks as being
the result of the YOUTUBE video.
Mark
Thompson, acting deputy assistant secretary for counter-terrorism, testified in
the Oversight Committee that special forces in Tripoli
were told to “stand down” and not go to Benghazi
to help quell the attack there. These
special forces were furious and their commander, Lt. Col. Gibson, said that it
was “the first time in my career that a diplomat has more balls than somebody
in the military.”
Eric
Nordstrom, the former regional security officer in Libya,
blamed, in testimony before the Oversight Committee, the Obama Administration
for ignoring calls for more security in Benghazi.
Victoria
Nuland, State Department spokesperson who directed the12 revisions to the talking points that Susan
Rice then used to go on 5 talk shows the Sunday after the attack.
Beth Jones, Assistant
Secretary to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called Greg Hicks to warn him
to stop questioning the Administration's stance on the Benghazi attack. Later at a meeting in Washington, she questioned Hick's management style in Libya and said his people were complaining.
Cheryl Mills, Hillary
Clinton’s long-time chief of staff (and known hatchet person), called Greg
Hicks to excoriate him for meeting with a congressman from Utah without a State
Dept. lawyer present (due to lack of security clearance for the lawyer). Hicks believes that this confrontation led to
his demotion to a desk job at the State Department.
Philippe
Reines, State Department spokesman, said that nobody tried to keep the Utah congressperson from speaking to anyone in Libya.
