Benghazi After-Action Report by Walt Harper
In lieu of an official After Action Report by the US Congress and in keeping with military traditions of honoring our War Dead, I submit my After Action Report in order to reveal heinous events that not only aggravated a potentially defensible assault on an American Embassy but also insulted the integrity of the US Government. Under the current administration, acceptance of responsibility and feeble attempts to conceal arms trafficking to enemies of the United States through the American Embassy at Benghazi preclude official reporting of fault so I offer it here.
More to the point, a concise report of the September 11, 2012 Attack on the American Embassy in Benghazi can be had here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Benghazi_attack- and this is closer to a personal rant about rampant disregard for accountability by the Federal Government.
Ambassador S. Christopher Stevens was killed by Islamic militants affiliated with Ansar-al-Sharia who were in turn affiliated with Libyan Security Forces and local police. Ironically and with conflicting accounts, Ansar-al Sharia transported Ambassador Stevens to their hospital and tired for more than an hour to revive him without success.
Sean Smith was killed was killed by Islamic militants affiliated with Ansar-al-Sharia who were in turn affiliated with Libyan Security Forces and local police. Sean Smith died alongside Ambassador Stevens inside the American Embassy at Benghazi. His body was recovered by CIA operatives before the next attack began at the CIA Annex 1.2 miles away.
At great personal risk, Glen Doherty left Tripoli to assist in defending the CIA Annex in Benghazi and to effect the evacuation of 30 Americans. He met his friend Tyrone Banks there early in the morning of September 12th, 2012 and they both fell in combat after being struck by mortar rounds but not before the safe evacuation of 30 Americans was made possible.
Despite the fact that the loss of four American lives cannot be mitigated by any glorious claim of American Diplomacy or other assertion, it most certainly cannot be summarily dismissed by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she forcefully uttered, “At this point, what difference does it make?”. Thankfully, her public display of callousness towards the gallantry of the fallen heroes was delayed a few days as she recovered from a head injury that occurred after she stumbled and fell.
Throughout all American History, the U.S. Secretary to the United Nations has been a position that served discreetly in international affairs. In the Benghazi Incident, UN Secretary Susan Rice was drummed up to report in place of the Secretary of State and to parrot a wildly incredulous fable that the Embassy was attacked in retaliation for an Anti-Islamic movie called “Innocence of Muslims”. Coincidences, such as the attack occurring on September 11th and the involvement of Ansar-al –Sharia, were willfully negated as mere coincidences. Both actions of both women were disgraceful and insulting to common American intelligence.
The representation of facts pertaining to the Benghazi Incident were rabidly and emphatically dispensed, so much so that, that absence of a final authority-the President of the United States of America-became glaringly obvious. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did when she acquiesced her bid for the Presidency to Senator Barrack H. Obama at the DNC in 2007, she also acquiesced her integrity as a government official when she denied responsibility for the safety of diplomats but admitted to “security lapses”. Any inept Captain of any ship who admitted to knowing of a leak in the ship but not accepting the sinking of the ship would be as obvious as an inept Secretary of State.
Similarly throughout American History, the location and actions of the President of the United States of America during times of crises have always been known, with the exception of the Benghazi Incident. Weak or completely missing details about President Obama’s reactions to, or even knowledge of, the Benghazi Incident, have been as pardoned as the actions of the two women who shielded him.
A Standard Operating Procedure-SOP-is universal to all organized military forces. Mysteriously and for the first time in recorded American military history, the SOP for an attack on Americans was overruled. High ranking military officers involved in the Benghazi Incident and commissioned to initiate SOPs were reassigned. Although it is evident to all military personnel where a “stand down” order must originate from, very little (no) significance is given to this single factor of the Benghazi Incident. Speculatively, had the body count been higher, this single factor might have been sufficient to justify Articles of Impeachment.
When I was much younger, the evening news always reported the Human casualties of the Viet Nam Police Action. I reveled in my naiveté about the greater number of enemy killed and that the war would soon be won. With that upbringing, I am (somewhat) satisfied that the kill ratio that fateful night was 1:33 and it was completed without artillery or air support. Our valiant warriors who fought and died deserve better respect than what was meted out by the Secretary of State, UN Secretary, and the President of the United States of America.
Lest we forget!
