By Roger Aronoff ——Bio and Archives--September 11, 2014
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"Rone and the other GRS operator raised their assault rifles and declined the offer to be robbed. Rone radioed for backup from his fellow GRS operators still at the Annex. But the CIA's top officer in Benghazi, a man known publicly only as 'Bob,' instead promised that he'd alert the 17 February Martyrs Brigade and have the ostensibly friendly militia serve as a Quick Reaction Force. Hearing Rone's call for help, other GRS operators at the Annex had grabbed guns and gear and rushed to an armored car. But Bob, the CIA base chief, ordered them to stay put. After fifteen tense minutes, during which several GRS operators argued with Bob, Rone radioed that he'd talked his way out of the standoff without firing a shot. Had it escalated, the outnumbered and outgunned Americans would have stood little chance. No 'friendly' 17 February militiamen ever arrived to help."This serves as a dramatic prequel to what happened during the Benghazi attacks on the Special Mission Compound on September 11. Members of the Annex Team said on Fox News that they believe they could have saved Ambassador Chris Stevens' and Sean Smith's lives if they hadn't been delayed 25 minutes by Bob that night. Ultimately, they left to go attempt a rescue in defiance of orders. In the second instance, the February 17 Martyrs Brigade also proved unreliable. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a member of the Select Committee on Benghazi, responded to the Annex Team's televised broadcast by writing that the personnel were trying to "secure local assistance and avoid ambush" when this crucial 25-minute delay occurred. As the story above demonstrates, the CIA already knew that the February 17 Martyrs Brigade couldn't be counted on in a fight. So why did the State Department keep them on? And why didn't coverage of this book, 13 Hours in Benghazi, by The New York Times or Washington Post draw attention to this important precedent? Instead, the Post's Erik Wemple cast this as old news. The Select Committee is heating up and reportedly will hold its first hearing next week. As AIM and the CCB have demonstrated, Democrat Members of the Select Committee and the media are on the defensive, trying to maintain the elective viability of presidential hopeful, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Political considerations should not get in the way of finding out the truth about the events of September 11, 2012. Accuracy in Media and the CCB are committed to continuing the Benghazi investigation.
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Roger Aronoff is a member of Citizens Commission on National Security. Roger is the writer/director of Confronting Iraq: Conflict and Hope