Whoa...One Of The Benghazi Whisteblowers Was The Number 2 Official At Tripoli Embassy On Night Of Attack

Shit Status: Real.

Appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will be three career State Department officials: Gregory N. Hicks, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time of the Benghazi terrorist attacks; Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy coordinator for Operations in the agency’s Counterterrorism Bureau; and Eric Nordstrom, a diplomatic security officer who was the regional security officer in Libya, the top security officer in the country in the months leading up to the attacks.

So, Ambassador Steven's top deputy is one of the whistleblowers? Unless we wind up with a Frankie Pentangeli situation, Wednesday's hearing is going to be very interesting. Very.

One note I've been wanting to make and it's related...despite the stuff from Fox this week about how a military response was possible, it wasn't.

Even the scathing report from the House said there was no timely military rescue/support option (pdf).

Although responsible military officers and civilian officials within the Department of Defense reacted quickly to the attacks in Benghazi, the effectiveness of their response was hindered because U.S. military forces were not properly postured to address the growing threats in northern Africa or to respond to a brief, high-intensity attack on U.S. personnel or interests across much of Africa.

You can fault the DoD for not being properly set-up that night but given how they were deployed and their alert status, there was simply no way to get military assets to Benghazi in time that night.

There's plenty to go after Obama on over this, making up stories about potential rescue missions doesn't help.

posted by DrewM. at 03:11 PM

| Access Comments