CIA vs CYA
The Washington Post says that classified materials remain strewed across the wreckage of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
More than three weeks after attacks in this city killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, sensitive documents remained only loosely secured in the remains of the U.S. mission here on Wednesday, offering visitors easy access to delicate details about American operations in Libya.
Documents detailing weapons collection efforts, emergency evacuation protocols, the full internal itinerary of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens’s trip and the personnel records of Libyans who were contracted to secure the mission were among the items scattered across the floors of the looted compound when a Washington Post reporter and a translator visited Wednesday.
The only security on the site was provided by the landlord.
Two private security guards paid for by the compound’s Libyan owner are the only people watching over the sprawling site, which is composed of two adjoining villa complexes and protected in some places by a wall only eight feet high.
“Securing the site has obviously been a challenge,” said Mark Toner, deputy spokesman at the State Department, in response to questions about conditions at the Benghazi compound. “We had to evacuate all U.S. government personnel the night of the attack. After the attack, we requested help securing the site, and we continue to work with the Libyan government on this front.”
Meanwhile the FBI has still not received permission from Libyan authorities to fly to the scene as the administration arranges for a politically acceptable way to round up the suspects.
Officials are now briefing American newspapers that they are compiling dossiers on individual militants thought to have been involved in the attack and weighing up possible responses, including drone strikes and special operations raids, as well as joint operations with the Libyans.
Unilateral American action would risk a backlash, but if the Libyans are unable to arrest those responsible Mr Obama would find it hard not to act.
Should have been at least four more options… 1. Play hold music (violin of course) indefinitely. 2. None above 3. Continuous busy signal 4. Plays the latest campaign spiel (than hangs up)…
Memo to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, just provide a plastic trash bag to a reporter from the Washington Post and let him fill it up with the evidence that you limp-d-ck bastards are too scared to go and collect on your own. That will be a thousand times more “evidence” than you idiots will EVER ATTEMPT TO GATHER on your own. Cut the charades and just go back to harrassing American citizens like you people are so accomplished at.
Wtf?
Why would all this info be persisted in paper files anyway?
Operation VVetback 2 – 2013
“More than three weeks after attacks in this city killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, sensitive documents remained only loosely secured in the remains of the U.S. mission here on Wednesday, offering visitors easy access to delicate details about American operations in Libya.”
Holy Crap! Send in Sandy Burglar!
live blogging the “debate” – opening salvos wet tissue on both sides.
Soon enough we will see a 3,000 word explanation, that would be a natural for the tin foil hat conspiracy set but will be trotted out in a NYT or WaPo thumbsucker, explaining that the unsecured compound is really a super seekrit sophisticated means of inserting critical bad intel into enemy hands. The movie practically writes itself. In fact it once did. We are in the best of hands.
“Meanwhile the FBI has still not received permission from Libyan authorities to fly to the scene”
We are waiting for permission? Can you imagine this result if Bush or C. Rice were in charge? The Libyans would have been falling all over themselves to expedite the FBI travel and security. And if they did not think they could supply security, they would graciously allow us to bring our own.
WHY? Because Bush would have done whatever is necessary to diplomatically encourage them. And if necessary, he would have parked a carrier task force and an MEU off their coast just to remind them. And arranged a few B-1 over flights to show our concern.
Or is the hold up on the US side? We need to get this in writing… But we also need to add this to the agreement… We can continue negotiations tomorrow… We need to get the OK from all of these departments first… Maybe if we wait long enough the trail will be so cold that there is no way we “can criminally prosecute the murderers”? Hey, that worked out so well for Hillary’s Hubbie, but not so well for NYC though. Remember the USS Cole and the US Embassies?
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Another question?
Whatever happened to the US Marine FAST detachment? Did they ever get to Libya or are they stuck in Spain or aboard the destroyers?
rd
The FAST has the ‘slows….
We’re pulling entirely out of Libya…
Didn’t you get the memo?
I offer this as merely the Silly Rhetorical Question of the Day, but is there any sort of documented evidence, legislation, Executive Order or “whatever” that precisely and explicitly lays out the legal basis for the transmutation or morphing of the FBI from its original statutory mission statement giving it jurisdiction over domestic security into its current international/foreign role, which was supposed to be the purview of the CIA. It would seem that one or the other is now superfluous.
Why would the FBI even be involved investigating incidents in Libya – that should be the responsibility of the CIA. When were their charters changed, lawfully?
Mebbe I’m a bit slow here but:
The American Consulate is American property is it not? We don’t need no stinkin permission. We are only asking permission because we don’t want to “inflame” the situation.
This is the same attitude the Buraq Hussein Administration had during the attack. Oh No, we can’t send in reinforcements. Why the nearest American Base is 450 miles away – that may only take a few minutes to get there and then we might have to do something – like fight with real bullets!
This is not an FBI mission. The Benghazi consulate is not a crime scene. It was the site of a terrorist attack in a foreign country. The military should have handled it from the beginning.
The Buraq Hussein response is worse than appalling. It invites more attacks. The sooner we get rid of this Sicko Traitor residing in the White House the better.
Done deal: Feds to buy Thomson prison from state for $165 million
BY DAVE MCKINNEY Springfield Bureau Chief October 2, 2012
http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/15518841-418/done-deal-feds-to-buy-thomson-prison-from-state-for-165-million.html
Why would the FBI even be involved investigating incidents in Libya
The FBI has been knocking on ME doors ever since the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut under Reagan. This was thought laughable even then, under a more “muscular” President than the current one. The Marine guards did not have loaded weapons at the guard gate. This kind of neo-suicidal silliness as an adjunct to U.S. foreign policy has been going on for a very long time. It is the kind of fecklessness that invites the inevitable bumbling into a bigger, bloodier conflict.
Seems to me we had this utter lack of imagination before, before 9/11, when it comes to getting to the bottom of the bummer in Benghazi–you know? The inability to put yourself in the shoes of the enemy, to think as he thinks, and successfully prepare for and prevent an atrocity. I don’t know, but given some of the reports regarding cancelling any security upgrades for the Libyan mission in light of the rapidly deteriorating conditions on the ground–the British pulled their mission out, after all–, the thought of an inside job comes to mind. No, I don’t mean the politically correct psychologists signing off on the mad Muslim going postal at Fort Hood. No, I don’t mean an inside job in the Libyan government–what government? I mean an inside job in the US government, with politically correct assignments for, well, moderate Muslims doing threat analysis, picking targets of opportunity. Oh banish the unkind thought, it was just dumb and dumber Americans again, repeating history.
All of those precious “documents” in plain sight smugly and triumphantly examined by that Washington Post reporter and a “translator” are probably old fashioned Red Herrings……good to have lying around……..
….c’mon….the Libyans admitted a Washington Post reporter, provided a translator, and won’t permit any accredited USA types in to have a look around?……maybe that “reporter” for the Washington Post is…gasp!……an imposter………maybe….uh,oh…..things just may not be as they seeeeeeemmm……
What evidence is there that the US Govt has requested clearances for the FBI investigation? Perhaps the “Libyan stalling” is a result of State Department ‘lack of effort’. Or Miss Jarrett still has the paperwork on her desk.
Cheers
3. newscaper wrote:
“Why would all this info be persisted in paper files anyway?”
“Treeware” requires no operating system or power supply to be useful.
How many people still use 8″ floppy discs, or 5 1/4″ floppies?
Often, original “reports” of many kinds are transmitted in paper form; this especially applies to documents requiring one or more signature.
Er … Unilateral action “Might force a backlash?!”
THEY TRESPASSED ON AMERICAN SOIL! THAT’S AN ACT OF WAR!
No “permission” to travel TO that desecrated American soil?!
And WHY were the Marines created again?! Blah blah *TRIPOLI* – or something?!
Besides all that, the delinquent former staff members there should all be busted in rank down to janitor, then jailed for criminally negligent treason anyway! Secret stuff *should not* have printer-enabling permissions; NONE of that stuff should ever have been printed out in the first place! It should have remained password-protected on their internal servers. PERIOD.