During Thursday’s Hill briefing on the assault on the US consulate in Benghazi, Sen. Lindsay Graham says he asked the briefers how many US security personnel were assigned to protect the compound.
Their answer: “We’ll get back you on that.”
While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her team come up with that number, some details on the security at the compound are emerging. They paint a picture of extreme negligence.
The Libyan owners of the main villa rented by the diplomats was surprised at how little, beyond some barbed wire and security cameras, they added to the walled residential compound, on a quiet street where volatile militiamen were free to roam.
Most striking was the absence of a second line of defense inside the main gate on to the street; that left the few guards in the compound little chance of holding off a crowd once the gate, which showed no sign it had been forced, was swung open.
That consulate had already been attacked in June, with an IED. The British consulate and the Red Cross mission, which were on the same street as the US consulate, had also been attacked. But no serious security modifications were reportedly made to the compound.
The main gate was manned by Libyans who had no secure position from which to confront an assault. Inside, there were neither towers nor firing positions for U.S. security personnel. There were no U.S. troops, and, according to congressional staff sources, just five American civilian security staff.
Well, at least we have an answer to Graham’s question: Zero.
President 00Zero.
License to kill.
To the jihadists.
Criminal behavior in my opinion. Someone high up that made the securtiy decision should be on their way to prison for treason if not accessory to murder.
There are actually three related security problems-the lack of effective security at the consulate in light of previous incidents, the lax security around the ambassador travel itinerary and fact the ambassador did not travel with a personal security detail whenever he was away from the embassy in Tripoli.
A consulate isn’t an embassy and I’ve never seen one that could hold off a determined attack by people with military weapons. The place should not have been in operation. With credible information of an attack, the American staff – particularly the Ambassador, should have been evacuated back to the embassy.
Instead, the Obama Administration decided to entrust security to the Libyans. Wouldn’t want to offend them by insinuating that they are untrustworthy or incompetent. Turns out they were both.
How light was the security at the US consulate in Libya?
As light as Barack Obama’s loafers.
As light as the “blackness” of Valerie Jarrett, Susan Rice, Ben LaBolt, Jeremiah Wright.
As light as Barack Obama’s workload.
As light as Barack Obama’s attendance at security briefings.
As light as Barack Obama’s record of scholarly publications.
As light as the bubbles in a quarter-million-dollar pyramid of champagne.
As light as the press scrutiny of this Administration.
As light as the Administration holds the lives of those slain due to Fast and Furious.
As light as the Administration’s regard for the rule of law.
As light as a Bernanke-inflated dollar.
As light as…(write your own)
And just who’s bright idea was it for the ambassador to be at the lightly protected consulate, deep in an AQ area, on Sept. 11, with basically no security detail? In a sane world, he should have been holed up in a tightly guarded embassy on that day.
The Choom King was protecting the Ambassador with his charisma.