We are learning from Fox News that the CIA operators were denied assistance and told to “stand down” in the rescue of Ambassador Stevens …

EXCLUSIVE: CIA operators were denied request for help during Benghazi attack, sources say | Fox News

Fox News has learned from sources who were on the ground in Benghazi that an urgent request from the CIA annex for military back-up during the attack on the U.S. consulate and subsequent attack several hours later on the annex itself was denied by the CIA chain of command -- who also told the CIA operators twice to "stand down" rather than help the ambassador's team when shots were heard at approximately 9:40 p.m. in Benghazi on Sept. 11.

Former Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods was part of a small team who was at the CIA annex about a mile from the U.S. consulate where Ambassador Chris Stevens and his team came under attack. When he and others heard the shots fired, they informed their higher-ups at the annex to tell them what they were hearing and requested permission to go to the consulate and help out. They were told to "stand down," according to sources familiar with the exchange. Soon after, they were again told to "stand down." 

Woods and at least two others ignored those orders and made their way to the consulate which at that point was on fire. Shots were exchanged. The rescue team from the CIA annex evacuated those who remained at the consulate and Sean Smith, who had been killed in the initial attack. They could not find the ambassador and returned to the CIA annex at about midnight. 

At that point, they called again for military support and help because they were taking fire at the CIA safe house, or annex. The request was denied. There were no communications problems at the annex, according those present at the compound. The team was in constant radio contact with their headquarters. In fact, at least one member of the team was on the roof of the annex manning a heavy machine gun when mortars were fired at the CIA compound. The security officer had a laser on the target that was firing and repeatedly requested back-up support from a Spectre gunship, which is commonly used by U.S. Special Operations forces to provide support to Special Operations teams on the ground involved in intense firefights. 

CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood, though, denied the claims that requests for support were turned down. 

"We can say with confidence that the Agency reacted quickly to aid our colleagues during that terrible evening in Benghazi," she said. "Moreover, no one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate.  In fact, it is important to remember how many lives were saved by courageous Americans who put their own safety at risk that night-and that some of those selfless Americans gave their lives in the effort to rescue their comrades." 

The fighting at the CIA annex went on for more than four hours -- enough time for any planes based in Sigonella Air base, just 480 miles away, to arrive. Fox News has also learned that two separate Tier One Special operations forces were told to wait, among them Delta Force operators. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday that there was not a clear enough picture of what was occurring on the ground in Benghazi to send help.  Read more at: EXCLUSIVE: CIA operators were denied request for help during Benghazi attack, sources say | Fox News>

Petraeus Throws Obama Under the Bus

Breaking news on Benghazi: the CIA spokesman, presumably at the direction of CIA director David Petraeus, has put out this statement: "No one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate. ”

So who in the government did tell “anybody” not to help those in need? Someone decided not to send in military assets to help those Agency operators. Would the secretary of defense make such a decision on his own? No.

It would have been a presidential decision. There was presumably a rationale for such a decision. What was it? When and why—and based on whose counsel obtained in what meetings or conversations—did President Obama decide against sending in military assets to help the Americans in need? <Source: Petraeus Throws Obama Under the Bus | The Weekly Standard>

What I think …

Regardless of the conspiracy theories involving a political cover-up of a failed Libyan foreign policy or CIA gun-running to contras, whoever denied our on-ground soldiers assistance knowing that a situation report included precise laser-guided targeting information should be court-martialed for dereliction of duty resulting in the deaths of American personnel. Should any elected official or Senate-confirmed official be found to have been complicit in lying to the American Public in authorized media reports, they should be impeached and tried for High Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Bottom line …

The Commander-in-Chief, Barack Obama is ultimately responsible for this nightmare. It is inconceivable that he did not receive an intelligence briefing on the death of an Ambassador and was complicit in the political cover-up as witnessed by his personal statements and those of his direct representative, the ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice.

Hillary Clinton, as the Secretary of State and Leon Panetta, Head of the CIA (sorry, force of habit)  SecDef should also resign their offices. This tragedy occurred on their watch and, if reports are correct, responsible for the management of the safety and security of personnel and facilities under their command.

I have a hard time believing that Leon Panetta, known to be a straight-shooter, was involved, leading me to believe that he may have been acting on direct orders from the White House. Since much of what we have seen reported as to Valerie Jarrett interfering in the bin Laden affair – one should investigate whether or not this was a Jarrett-directed political response.

In any event, there needs to be accountability and someone needs to take responsibility for what has happened.

-- steve