Not sure if anyone has been following the recent dust up concerning Benghazi and the events which transpired there during the attack which took place on Sept 11-12, 2012. I've been following this pretty closely for the past couple weeks, and it's still developing. I have some theories also which I'll put at the end.
I'll try to paraphrase for those unfamiliar.
If you've read the book "13 Hours" (which I have), or perhaps seen the movie by the same name, you've seen a narrative of what happened that fateful night through the eyes of some Global Response Staff (GRS) operators. The GRS is a paramilitary wing of the CIA which is responsible for clandestine and active diplomatic security. GRS personnel are generally former retired military, often special forces or similar backgrounds, who are quasi-government employees (and I'll come back to this in a moment). The original members of the GRS maintain that the events depicted in the book and subsequent movie are accurate.
Recently a tiny back page news story came out which suggested the official facts about what happened in Benghazi may not be accurate. The story had to do with the recovery of Ambassador Stevens body, and that how it got to the airport was not accurate. Well, this little story touched off a massive firestorm, and now it's a huge deal. Over the past couple of weeks the matter even escalated to the highest offices of the military and possibly even the president.
You see, behind the scenes after the events in Sept, 2012 two members of the elite military unit known as Delta Force were awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal. And now, one of them is even being considered for the Medal of Honor. But wait!...
All of a sudden there are allegations the Delta Force guys didn't really do very much at all that night in Benghazi and these medals are being questioned by some. These allegations are coming from none other than the GRS guys who defended the compound that night, and some of their claims even appear to be backed up by former CIA personnel also. If these medals were just lower echelon medals like bronze stars, this wouldn't be news, but the medals awarded so far are FAR from lower echelon, they're the 2nd highest medals which can be awarded next to the MOH. So, these are some serious allegations, very serious indeed. These medals require vetting at the highest levels of government before they're awarded, so this goes all the way to the top.
Before going on though, let's rewind a little bit first. Remember the infamous quote from then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton..."What difference at this point does it make?"????? Well, well...here we are again. How ironic. Clinton made those statements during testimony before Congress defending her actions surrounding the events where else, but Benghazi on Sept 11-12, 2012. Hmmmmm...
Okay, back to the present. So here we have Biden as president and a democrat, and we have Hillary (Medusa wannabe) off in the wings. Just keep this in mind as we move forward.
According to the allegations, the GRS guys claim they hardly even saw the Delta guys, and when they did they didn't do anything to help them. They were pinned down and dying under heavy fire from the Libyan insurgents. So their point is...why are these guys getting medals when they didn't do anything? Even a former CIA staffer says the Delta fighter's claims are 'exaggerated' and 'not factual'. Hmmm...who might want to make these guys look better? (scroll up a paragraph to see some potential candidates).
So far, the two persons from Delta have remained silent, so what their real involvement was is only known by them and the people who gave them their orders.
There also seems to be some controversy about two other things...how Ambassador Stevens body really got to the airport for evacuation (the government's version is the Delta guys brought the body to the airport, but the GRS guys claim Gaddafi's military brought his body), and the second thing in dispute is how the evacuation actually happened (the GRS guys claim they were abandoned and had to basically hijack a private jet for $30k, and the government version is they were evacuated on military transports coordinated by the Delta guys). WOW!...you might be thinking...those are some radically different versions of events, right? But there's more!...
The official government version has the Delta Force guys engaging in the fight at the Annex from the rooftops where the GRS guys were, but the GRS guys (who were there) claim they never saw them and most certainly didn't see them engaging the enemy and trying to assist them.
If you believe the government version, well, there's probably some medals in order. On the other hand, the guys who actually fought it out with the insurgents on the roof that night claim it's all lies and it didn't happen that way (thus no medals are in order).
I don't know what the final answer will turn out to be, but this is turning out to be a pretty juicy story with all manner of plot twists.
I have a theory about what happened, but it's just speculation on my part. My theory is based on having done government contracting type work overseas in the past. First, I think BOTH versions of the story are likely accurate (or at least close). But, how could this be, you ask? Well, first, the CIA typically doesn't employ operators like the GRS personnel directly; they hire contractors to do this work, and the contractors hire the people. This gives the US government plausible deniability if anything goes sideways and people start dying. You know, it's the ol'..."They weren't our people, and we have no idea what they were doing there!"...line.
In parallel with this, I think the leaders at Delta sent the Delta guys in to either save Stevens or recover his body and then to rescue the government employees (actual "government" employees), likely with orders to sacrifice the GRS guys if they had to. The contracts with these black ops contracting outfits are usually pretty clear about what efforts they will go to in order to save your ass. And generally these contracts read they will make a "best effort" and that's it. That don't mean much, if anything. These guys knew what they signed up for, and there were probably few if any guarantees of rescue if things went sideways, which they very much did.
So, my theory is that the Delta guys did what they were told, and only what they were told. And the GRS guys got hung out to dry (and die). The only remaining part is how Stevens body got to the airport, but that could be easily enough explained that one of the Delta guys convinced Gaddafi's men to bring him to the airport.
Lastly, Biden and Billary would love nothing better than to have their reputations, along with Obama's, to be redeemed in the final weeks before Trump takes office.
Love to hear your thoughts!
P.S. Whew...that was a bunch to write.
edit - Just adding some links...
https://www.outkick.com/culture/benghazi...y-response
I'll try to paraphrase for those unfamiliar.
If you've read the book "13 Hours" (which I have), or perhaps seen the movie by the same name, you've seen a narrative of what happened that fateful night through the eyes of some Global Response Staff (GRS) operators. The GRS is a paramilitary wing of the CIA which is responsible for clandestine and active diplomatic security. GRS personnel are generally former retired military, often special forces or similar backgrounds, who are quasi-government employees (and I'll come back to this in a moment). The original members of the GRS maintain that the events depicted in the book and subsequent movie are accurate.
Recently a tiny back page news story came out which suggested the official facts about what happened in Benghazi may not be accurate. The story had to do with the recovery of Ambassador Stevens body, and that how it got to the airport was not accurate. Well, this little story touched off a massive firestorm, and now it's a huge deal. Over the past couple of weeks the matter even escalated to the highest offices of the military and possibly even the president.
You see, behind the scenes after the events in Sept, 2012 two members of the elite military unit known as Delta Force were awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal. And now, one of them is even being considered for the Medal of Honor. But wait!...
All of a sudden there are allegations the Delta Force guys didn't really do very much at all that night in Benghazi and these medals are being questioned by some. These allegations are coming from none other than the GRS guys who defended the compound that night, and some of their claims even appear to be backed up by former CIA personnel also. If these medals were just lower echelon medals like bronze stars, this wouldn't be news, but the medals awarded so far are FAR from lower echelon, they're the 2nd highest medals which can be awarded next to the MOH. So, these are some serious allegations, very serious indeed. These medals require vetting at the highest levels of government before they're awarded, so this goes all the way to the top.
Before going on though, let's rewind a little bit first. Remember the infamous quote from then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton..."What difference at this point does it make?"????? Well, well...here we are again. How ironic. Clinton made those statements during testimony before Congress defending her actions surrounding the events where else, but Benghazi on Sept 11-12, 2012. Hmmmmm...
Okay, back to the present. So here we have Biden as president and a democrat, and we have Hillary (Medusa wannabe) off in the wings. Just keep this in mind as we move forward.
According to the allegations, the GRS guys claim they hardly even saw the Delta guys, and when they did they didn't do anything to help them. They were pinned down and dying under heavy fire from the Libyan insurgents. So their point is...why are these guys getting medals when they didn't do anything? Even a former CIA staffer says the Delta fighter's claims are 'exaggerated' and 'not factual'. Hmmm...who might want to make these guys look better? (scroll up a paragraph to see some potential candidates).
So far, the two persons from Delta have remained silent, so what their real involvement was is only known by them and the people who gave them their orders.
There also seems to be some controversy about two other things...how Ambassador Stevens body really got to the airport for evacuation (the government's version is the Delta guys brought the body to the airport, but the GRS guys claim Gaddafi's military brought his body), and the second thing in dispute is how the evacuation actually happened (the GRS guys claim they were abandoned and had to basically hijack a private jet for $30k, and the government version is they were evacuated on military transports coordinated by the Delta guys). WOW!...you might be thinking...those are some radically different versions of events, right? But there's more!...
The official government version has the Delta Force guys engaging in the fight at the Annex from the rooftops where the GRS guys were, but the GRS guys (who were there) claim they never saw them and most certainly didn't see them engaging the enemy and trying to assist them.
If you believe the government version, well, there's probably some medals in order. On the other hand, the guys who actually fought it out with the insurgents on the roof that night claim it's all lies and it didn't happen that way (thus no medals are in order).
I don't know what the final answer will turn out to be, but this is turning out to be a pretty juicy story with all manner of plot twists.
I have a theory about what happened, but it's just speculation on my part. My theory is based on having done government contracting type work overseas in the past. First, I think BOTH versions of the story are likely accurate (or at least close). But, how could this be, you ask? Well, first, the CIA typically doesn't employ operators like the GRS personnel directly; they hire contractors to do this work, and the contractors hire the people. This gives the US government plausible deniability if anything goes sideways and people start dying. You know, it's the ol'..."They weren't our people, and we have no idea what they were doing there!"...line.
In parallel with this, I think the leaders at Delta sent the Delta guys in to either save Stevens or recover his body and then to rescue the government employees (actual "government" employees), likely with orders to sacrifice the GRS guys if they had to. The contracts with these black ops contracting outfits are usually pretty clear about what efforts they will go to in order to save your ass. And generally these contracts read they will make a "best effort" and that's it. That don't mean much, if anything. These guys knew what they signed up for, and there were probably few if any guarantees of rescue if things went sideways, which they very much did.
So, my theory is that the Delta guys did what they were told, and only what they were told. And the GRS guys got hung out to dry (and die). The only remaining part is how Stevens body got to the airport, but that could be easily enough explained that one of the Delta guys convinced Gaddafi's men to bring him to the airport.
Lastly, Biden and Billary would love nothing better than to have their reputations, along with Obama's, to be redeemed in the final weeks before Trump takes office.
Love to hear your thoughts!
P.S. Whew...that was a bunch to write.
edit - Just adding some links...
https://www.outkick.com/culture/benghazi...y-response