Friday, May 16, 2014

A Benghazi Conspiracy Theory

I just wanted to quickly go on the record about what I think was really going on in Benghazi, Libya before this recently appointed select committee gets to the bottom of it. I'm going to do this quickly so there won't be a lot of references, but I will try to list clearly what I believe are known facts and what is conjecture on my part.

Facts:

- There were several terrorist attacks on Western targets in Benghazi in the months leading up to the attack on 9/11/12 which killed four Americans.

- Every embassy except the U.S. embassy had left Benghazi due to security concerns.

- American personnel, most notably Ambassador Stevens who ended up dead, were pleading for more security at the embassy and did not get it.

- There were 33 CIA personnel on the ground that day, apparently deployed at a separate building about a mile away from the actual embassy. This is usually called the CIA annex, and it appears this location was supposed to be secret. None of the 33 CIA personnel have talked about what happened that night, and it has been reported that an unusual amount of official pressure has been employed to make sure they do not reveal anything about what happened in Benghazi.

- The attack on the embassy included heavy weapons such as mortars and RPGs. Mortars caused the deaths of the two Navy Seals who died at the CIA annex. The other two victims, Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith, died at the embassy. Military experts have testified that in their opinion the mortar fire was pre-sighted, which means the attack had been planned far in advance. As far as I know, mortar fire was heaviest at the CIA annex, which was supposed to be a secret location.

- The attack lasted nine hours and both locations were attacked. During this time, no military assets in range of Benghazi were ordered to move in and help though at least two units were in range and could have gotten there in time, one in Tripoli and one in Italy. Air power could have been mobilized much faster and used to "buzz" the attackers, which is sometimes effective in scaring them off without firing a shot. None of this was done. In fact, all personnel on the ground even in Benghazi itself received orders to stand down and not intervene when the embassy was attacked. Personnel stationed at the annex disobeyed orders and went to the embassy to help evacuate it, saving several lives. The annex was later attacked as well. The unit in Tripoli actually chartered a private flight to Benghazi on its own initiative and made it to the annex in time to sustain some of the casualties during the attack.

- Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, and President Barack Obama disagreed on arming Syrian rebels. Clinton was in favor; Obama was against. The State Department is in charge of U.S. foreign embassies and was the top of the chain of command for all forces on the ground in Benghazi. The order to stand down came from the State Department.

- Jihadist groups, mainly Ansar al-Sharia, part of Al-Qaeda, in Libya were known to be in possession of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, which they greatly desire due to Western air superiority. From what I have gathered, the only confirmed weapons they had were Russian. However, during the Libya action and ever since, Libyan jihadists had repeatedly asked the U.S. for anti-aircraft weapons despite the fact that what little air power Qaddafi had was destroyed within hours of the beginning of the Libyan action.

Conjecture:

- I believe that Hillary Clinton was using the U.S. embassy and CIA personnel in Benghazi to arm jihadist groups with weapons up to and including anti-aircraft missiles. I believe she did this without the permission and knowledge of Obama's White House.

- Clinton intended these weapons to be smuggled to Syria, probably overland through Egypt first. I believe the jihadists groups, mainly Ansar al-Sharia, told the Americans what they wanted to hear in order to get access to weapons, and then took them wherever they wanted, not necessarily to Syria.

- I believe Clinton's State Department found out about it and were engaged in intelligence operations and possibly even covert operations in Benghazi in an attempt to ascertain where these weapons were and possibly get them back, since they were not being used for their intended purpose and even finding their way into the hands of people who might use them against U.S. forces. This would explain the CIA personnel as well as why the U.S. embassy remained in Benghazi despite the deteriorating security situation. It explains why U.S. forces were ordered by the State Department to stand down and not intervene in the attack, because any intervention would have escalated it and increased the likelihood of exposure of what was really going on. It would also explain the biggest mystery: why the embassy was attacked. Ansar al-Sharia was striking back to prevent the U.S. from finding and retrieving their weapons and in retaliation for U.S. covert operations against them. 

- Clinton's State Department did not initially communicate what was going on to the Obama White House for obvious reasons, which is why Obama apparently did not consider it a higher priority than a campaign stop in Las Vegas.

- The combination of the White House not being informed of what was really going on, the sensitive nature of the mission, and the incident occurring two weeks before the election led to all of the confusion about what happened, out of which the ridiculous story about a protest against an internet video evolved. The White House was not lying just because of the election. They were lying because they did not know what was going on there until, presumably, Clinton was finally forced to tell them after the attack was over. They were also lying to cover up the fact that the State Department under Clinton had given weapons to terrorists.

Hopefully within the next year or two the Congressional committees will get to the bottom of this and the truth will come out. If I am right, then if all of this does come out Hillary Clinton will never be President of the United States and may not even run.

Now that's whack.