Hillary's State Department Worried about Military Attire instead of Deployment while Benghazi Was Under Attack

The House Select Committee on Benghazi provides new details about the fatal 2012 attack in an 800-page report released Tuesday that criticizes the Obama administration and, separately, Hillary Clinton. According to those who had an advance review, the report does not fundamentally alter the understanding of the September 11, 2012, attacks that killed four Americans, including US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. ~~~~~ The report includes new facts : (1). Ambassador Stevens was in Benghazi with the aim of erecting a permanent diplomatic post to replace the temporary one that came under fire. (2). Military orders appear to have been lost or misinterpreted on their way down the chain, about which responsibilities fell to the Pentagon and to the State Department and who -- if anyone -- needed to be evacuated. The report states : “The response to the attacks suffered from confusion and misinformation circulating between the agencies, underscoring that no one effectively took charge of the US government’s response.” (3). The report criticized the Pentagon, saying it did not move with enough urgency. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered US forces to deploy between 6 and 7 p.m. ET. The attack had begun at 3:42 p.m. ET. Yet, the report said : "...nearly two more hours elapsed before the Secretary's orders were relayed to those forces. Several more hours elapsed before any of those forces moved." During that time the White House held a two-hour interagency meeting to discuss forces deployment and exchange information. The report says Panetta believed his orders were clear, to "deploy the identified assets immediately," not "order the preparation to deploy or the planning to deploy or the contemplation of deployment." In any case, only an unarmed drone reached the diplomatic compound during the attack. (4). Because of State Department worries about Libyan reaction to uniformed US troops in Benghazi, a US Marine platoon changed into and out of their uniforms four times as they waited to be deployed. The commander of a Marine Fleet Anti-Terrorist Security Team platoon testified to the committee : "There was also some talk of whether or not we could carry our personal weapons." (5). The Libyan forces that eventually evacuated the surviving Americans from the CIA annex were in fact former loyalists of deposed strongman Moammar Qaddafi, and not militia groups with a relationship with the US. ~~~~~ The State Department's fuss over uniforms is an example of the danger inherent in political correctness. In Benghazi, it allowed four Americans to be killed and an entire US diplomatic compound to be destroyed by islamic terrorists. Representative Mike Pompeo, a Republican member of the committee, said Tuesday the committee was never able to understand why the Marines were ordered in and out of uniform. However, Pompeo told Hugh Hewitt there was a "big debate" among worried State Department officials who didn't want it to look like it was an invasion of Libya : "They were hypersensitive....Somehow, they had this idea that a big American force in uniform would present some risk that the Libyans would protest, because we were invading their country. And there was this debate...about what the appropriate attire was for going to rescue Americans while our embassy was burning and mortars were falling in Benghazi." ~~~~~ Dear readers, the committee report release realizes a key goal of Chairman Trey Gowdy -- it has been made public before the party nominating conventions next month, preventing the appearance that the committee was inserting itself into the campaign season. Gowdy released a statement Tuesday : “Now, I simply ask the American people to read this report for themselves, look at the evidence we have collected, and reach their own conclusions. You can read this report in less time than our fellow citizens were taking fire and fighting for their lives on the rooftops and in the streets of Benghazi.” Trey Gowdy has done his job. Tomorrow -- the report's political implications.