In the months prior to the al-Qaeda attack on our Benghazi consulate, dozens of security episodes were documented there: carjackings, kidnappings, gunfights, IEDs, assassination attempts, etc.
Yet, on Aug. 12, 2012, the Obama administration withdrew the Site Security Team over Ambassador Stevens' objections. As early as Sept. 4, the Jerusalem Post reported actionable intelligence regarding planned extremist actions against American embassies throughout the Middle East.
We also confirmed credible information 48 hours prior to the attack. As this was the fourth assault of the day on one of our embassies, we were watching them all closely.
How closely? Open military-secured channels were further layered with live feeds from two drones to the White House, Pentagon and 13 other command centers. On our side of the world, this was all happening in the afternoon. No one was sleeping. President Obama and Secretary Panetta met that evening. But urgent requests for back-up went ignored.
Rapid Response teams at Sigonella Air Base and nearby gunships could have dispatched help immediately. Of course, none of this had anything to do with any video, as we all know. We were promised "every bit of information that we have," all before Thanksgiving.
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As of today, crucial emails, video and photos are still being withheld by this administration. Why? Platitudes of historic transparency are all well and good, but they don't mean anything now.
Erik Haglund
Rochester
