Dark Forces: The Truth About What Happened in Benghazi (47 page)

36
  Ibid., 38.

37
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhipJw8QB_0.

38
  Interview with RADM Richard Landolt
.

39
  House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Redacted Transcript of Executive Session (Top Secret) Briefing with Major General Darryl Roberson, Vice Director, Operations, Joint Staff, May 21, 2013, 83.

40
  Jennifer Griffin and Adam Houseley, “Facts and questions about what
happened
in Benghazi,” Fox News, Jan. 22, 2013.

41
  House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Redacted Transcript of Executive Session (Top Secret), “AFRICOM and SOCAFRICA and the Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi,” transcript of briefing by RADM Brian Losey, 149.

42
  Sharyl Attkisson, “Sources: Key task force not convened during Benghazi consulate attack,” CBS News, Nov. 2, 2012.

43
  Interview with Larry Johnson.

44
  HOGR hearing on Benghazi, May 8, 2013; testimony of Mark Thompson.

45
  Burton and Katz,
Under Fire
, 198.

46
  Here is the photo that she displayed: http://cryptome.org/2012-info/cia-benghazi/cia-benghazi.htm.

47
  HOGR hearing, Oct. 10, 2012, 32.

48
  Hicks’ statement was in a prehearing deposition before committee staff. He reaffirmed it when it was read back to him by Representative Trey Gowdy at the May 8, 2013, HOGR hearing, 106.

49
  Scarborough, “U.S. commandos fought in Benghazi.”

50
  The presence of the two JSOC operators was first alluded to by General Martin Dempsey in congressional testimony, and was highlighted in questioning by staff for Representative Darrell Issa in the committee’s transcribed interview with Admiral Mike Mullen, the co-chair of the State Department’s Accountability Review Board. See House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Mullen transcript, June 19, 2013, 89–90. They are also mentioned in an administration email previewing a DoD press release timed to coincide with the May 8, 2013, HOGR hearing at which Greg Hicks first testified. It’s extraordinary that the administration was still only just releasing this information fully eight months after the attacks. See HOGR, May 8, 2013, hearing, 119.

51
  “Série d’arrestations en Libye après la mort de l’ambassadeur américain,”
Le Monde
, Sept. 13, 2012. See also Joe Herring and Dr. Mark Christian, “Where is Fathi al-Obeidi?”
American Thinker
, Nov. 9, 2013. On the negotiations at the airport, see Burton and Katz,
Under Fire
, 228.

52
  Stephen Dinan and Shaun Waterman, “Panetta: Benghazi intelligence too sketchy to send troops,”
Washington Times
, Oct. 25, 2012.

53
 
BBC Newshour
, “Benghazi doctor who treated US Ambassador to Libya,” undated, http://audioboo.fm/boos/957631-benghazi-doctor-who-treated-us-ambassador-to-libya.

54
  Associated Press, obituary of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Boston Globe, Sept 12, 2012, http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?pid=159852423.

55
  Spencer Ackerkman, “Blackwater founder: My company could have prevented Benghazi deaths,”
Guardian
, Nov. 22, 2013.

15. THE COVER-UP

  
1
  http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/09/197628.htm.

  
2
  Jan. 2014 SSIC report, Additional Views, 5.

  
3
  http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/12/remarks-president-deaths-us-embassy-staff-libya.

  
4
  Lucy Madison, “Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman Denounce Florida Pastor’s Planned Quran Burning Event,” CBS News, September 8, 2010.

  
5
  Megyn Kelly, “Representative Westmoreland says there is ‘no excuse’ for inadequate Benghazi security,” Fox News
(The Kelly File)
, Nov. 27, 2013.

  
6
  Kimberly Dozier and Matt Apuzzo, “CIA station chief in Libya linked Benghazi attack to militants within 24 hours,” Associated Press, Oct. 19, 2012.

  
7
  The White House, Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Jay Carney en route Las Vegas, NV, Sept. 12, 2012.

  
8
  Sarah Huisenga and Matt Vasilogambros, “Romney Blasts Obama on Cairo Embassy Statement of ‘Sympathy,’”
National Journal
, Sept. 11, 2012.

  
9
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-romney-campaigns-repeated-errors-on-the-cairo-embassy-statement/2012/09/13/978a6be6-fdf0-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_blog.html.

10
  The White House, Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, Sept. 14, 2012.

11
  Email from Petraeus to Morell, Sept. 15, 2012, 2:27 PM; 95 of the talking points emails as posted by the White House.

12
  For an analysis of the emails, see Stephen F. Hayes, “Benghazi Emails Directly Contradict White House Claims,”
Weekly Standard
, May 16, 2013. The full text is available as an Online Reader’s Guide Extra at http://kentimmerman.com/darkforces.htm.

13
  HOGR hearing, Oct. 10, 2012, 72.

14
  Communication with Stephen Hayes, Dec. 4, 2013.

15
  Catherine Herridge, “Did CIA official suppress Benghazi narrative?” Fox News, Feb. 14, 2014.

16
  “Benghazi letter to Speaker Boehner,” March 3, 2014, http://judicialwatch.org/document-archive/next-benghazi-letter. The author was one of the signatories.

17
  The White House vigorously denies that Valerie Jarrett had any back-channel dealings with Tehran, and repeatedly emailed me to call these reports “rumors” and “lies.”

18
  Video of Kinzinger’s comments at the Town Hall meeting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xwoAaW5DJk.

19
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6akGlF6g-Zw.

20
  Rich Lowry, “The Benghazi Patsy,” National Review Online, May 9, 2013; “Sharyl Attkisson on Benghazi Attack Investigation,”
C-SPAN (Washington Journal)
, May 12, 2013, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Shary. C-SPAN played the ramp ceremony video of Hillary Clinton’s remarks in the first few minutes of Attkisson’s interview.

21
  Abdelhakim Belhadj, Samir Shalwi Program, Sept. 12, 2012,
Radio Derna
, http://www.zangetna.com/t57930-topic.

22
  HOGR hearing, May 8, 2013, 70.

16. AFTERMATH

  
1
  “Murder of U.S. Ambassador Shows U.S. Weakness; Republican Candidate Calls for Muscular Response,”
Daily Caller
, Sept. 12, 2012, http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/13/libya-killilngs-we-need-a-more-muscular-response/.

  
2
  Duncan Gardham, Rowena Mason, and Richard Spencer, “Britons and other Westerners told to leave Benghazi after ‘imminent’ terror threat,”
Daily Telegraph
, Jan. 24, 2013.

  
3
  Catherine Herridge and Pamela Browne, “Former Guantánamo detainee was on ground in Benghazi during terror attack, source says,” Fox News, Oct. 25, 2013.

  
4
  HOGR hearing, Sept 19, 2013. This was one of several questions I had suggested the committee ask Pickering and Mullen in an op-ed that appeared that morning in the
Washington Times
.

  
5
  Herridge, “Former Guantánamo detainee.”

  
6
  Walid Shoebat, “State Dept acknowledges Egyptian Terror Group in Libya,” Oct. 8, 2013, http://shoebat.com/2013/10/08/state-dept-acknowledges-egyptian-terror-group-libya/. Thomas Joscelyn notes that the United Nations has also listed Jamal as an al Qaeda–affiliated terrorist, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/10/un_adds_benghazi_sus.php.

  
7
  For more on his background, see Walid Shoebat, “Libyan Leaks: More Secret Documents Reveal Obama’s Failure in Libya,” Nov. 3, 2012, http://shoebat.com/2012/11/03/libyan-leaks-obamas-gift-to-al-qaeda-libya-itself/.

  
8
  Bill Gertz, “Benghazi Attack Suspect Walks,”
Washington Free Beacon
, June 27, 2013.

  
9
  For a good summary of the press reporting on Abu Khattala, including links to original sources, see Walid Shoebat, “CNN interviews ‘lead suspect’ in Benghazi attacks,” July 310, 2013, http://shoebat.com/2013/07/31/cnn-interviews-lead-suspect-in-benghazi-attacks.

10
  De Villiers called him “Abu Bukhattala,” and accused the fictional character of personally assassinated General Abdel Fattah Yunis in July 2011, a key turning point in the insurrection that put the Islamists, led by Abdelhakim Belhaj, firmly in charge of the rebel military.

11
  Eli Lake, “Benghazi suspect held in Tunisia,”
Daily Beast
, Oct. 23, 2012. See also Mark Hosenball, “U.S. investigators to get access to Benghazi suspect,” Reuters, Nov. 3, 2012.

12
  Committee on Benghazi, Remarks by Representative Frank Wolf. Transcript: http://www.aim.org/benghazi/rep-frank-wolf-ccb/. The Tunisian authorities released Harzi in January 2013.

13
  Jason Howerton, “15 Anti-Obama Photos from Tahrir Square Protests That You Probably Haven’t Seen,”
The Blaze
, July 3, 2013.

14
  “Farahat: video shows Egyptians in Benghazi, Dr. Morsi sent us,”
FrontPage
, May 31, 2013, http://frontpagemag.com/2013/cynthia-farahat/benghazi-terrorists-dr-morsi-sent-us.

15
  “Morsi criticises Syria at Tehran meeting,” Al Jazeera, Aug. 30, 2013.

16
  U.S.-Egyptian researcher Raymond Ibrahim, who calls his blog “Islam translated,” unearthed the original document and posted a preliminary translation; two weeks later, he said that Arab-language media further confirmed it. Raymond Ibrahim, “Involved in U.S. Consulate Attack,” June 26, 2013, http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/libyan-intelligence-muslim-brotherhood-morsi-involved-in-u-s-consulate-attack. For a complete translation see Jerome Corsi, “Libyan official ties Morsi to Benghazi attack,”
WorldNetDaily
, July 10, 2013.

17
  Walid Shoebat, Ben Barrack, and Keith Davies, “Ironclad: Egypt Involved in Benghazi Attacks,” June 30, 2013, http://shoebat.com/2013/06/30/benghazi-turning-a-blind-eye-for-the-blind-sheikh/. Also see Raymond Ibrahim, “Leading Egyptian Islamists Arrested, Protesters Celebrate,” July 2, 2013, http://www.raymondibrahim.com/from-the-arab-world/leading-egyptian-islamist-arrested-protesters-celebrate.

18
  House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, “Review of the Benghazi Attack and Unanswered Questions,” Sept. 19, 2013. See also http://shoebat.com/2013/09/25/benghazi-arb-chair-egypt-involved-benghazi-attacks.

19
  Cited by Egyptian blogger Cynthia Farahat, “Is Muslim Brotherhood working together with Amb. Chris Stevens’ assassin?” Aug. 12, 2013, http://cynthiafarahat.com/2013/08/12/is-muslim-brotherhood-working-together-with-amb-chris-stevens-assassin/.

20
  House Government Reform Committee, Mullen interview, 62.

21
  House Armed Services Committee, General Ham testimony, 46.

22
  Associated Press, “Satellite pictures suggest Sudanese weapons factory hit by air strike,”
Guardian
, Oct. 27, 2012.

23
  “Syrian Rebels Have US Stinger Missiles—Russian General,”
Ria-Novosti
, Oct. 24, 2012.

24
  On Jan. 4, 2013, local Bedouins tipped off the Egyptian military to an arms convoy heading toward Gaza through the northern Sinai. They seized a handful of short-range rockets, allegedly U.S.-made. See Chana Ya’ar, “Egypt Stops Libyan Arms Shipment to Gaza,”
Israel National News
, Nov. 28, 2012.

25
  Cnaan Liphshiz, “Egypt intercepts Gaza-bound missile shipment,”
Jewish Telegraph Agency
, Jan. 4, 2013.

26
  Westminster Institute, “Delegation of Former U.S. Military Leaders, Counterterrorism Experts, Reports on Findings from Sept. 27–30 Visit to Egypt,” National Press Club, Oct. 1, 2013; “Egypt intercepts convoys from Libya with ‘sophisticated weapons’ for insurgents in Sinai,”
World Tribune
, Oct. 27, 2013.

27
  “Report Sinai militias have SAMs closes Israeli tourist airport,”
World Tribune
, Aug. 9, 2013.

28
  Photos and videos available via the Online Reader’s Guide, http://kentimmerman.com/darkforces.htm.

29
  http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/videos-from-syria-appear-to-show-first-confirmed-hit-of-aircraft-by-surface-to-air-missile/?partner=rss&_r=0.

30
  http://www.stratfor.com/sample/situation-report/syria-rebels-down-military-aircraft-target-iranian-plane-report-says.

31
  http://rogueadventurer.com/2013/05/31/9k338-igla-s-and-other-manpads-in-syria/—more-1547. See also the earlier
New York Times
“At War” blog post from November 2012: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/possible-score-for-syrian-rebels-pictures-show-advanced-missile-systems.

32
  N. R. Jenzen-Jones, “Mujao Fighters with 9K32 or 9K32M MANPADS in Mali,” RogueAdventurer.com, March 22, 2013.

33
  March 2014 United Nations Experts report, 42.

34
  Ibid., 97–99.

35
  Reza Khalili, “October Surprise? Obama Secret Iran deal cut,”
WorldNetDaily
, Oct. 2, 2012.

36
  Helene Cooper and Mark Landler, “U.S. Officials Say Iran Has Agreed to Nuclear Talks,”
New York Times
, Oct. 21, 2012.

37
  http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/11/05/valerie-jarrett-secret-iran-talks-raise-questions-about-obama-intentions-nuclear.

38
  Bradley Klapper, “Lawmakers grill White House advisor on secret Iran talks,” Associated Press, Dec. 11, 2013, http://www.timesofisrael.com/lawmakers-grill-white-house-adviser-on-secret-iran-talks.