Tuesday, July 23, 2013

AFRICOM General: We Knew Benghazi was a Terror Attack

FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE

July 23, 2013 By  
general-gen-carter-ham

A bunch of retired or retiring generals are suddenly saying inconvenient things.Inconvenient for Obama Inc.

The former head of U.S. forces in Africa, General Carter Ham, told the Aspen Security Forum that it quickly became clear the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi last year was a terrorist attack and not a spontaneous demonstration.
“It became apparent to all of us quickly that this was not a demonstration, this was a violent attack,” Ham said. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton initially had portrayed the embassy attack as a response to an inflammatory internet video.
Ham said he was in Washington D.C. for a routine meeting on September 11, 2012 with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Martin Dempsey, when an alert came in from commanders in Stuttgart, Germany that a violent assault was underway on the consulate in Benghazi and Ambassador Chris Stevens was missing.
Asked if it was a terrorist attack, Ham said the intelligence left no doubt that it was.
“I don’t know if that was my first reaction, but pretty quickly as we started to gain understanding within the hours after the initiation of the attack, yes.”
Everyone knew it was a terrorist attack. But that information was censured under pressure from Victoria Nuland, who was rewarded for her chicanery with a promotion. Petraeus was taken down with an inappropriate investigation into his private life. And Hillary, oh what difference does it make?
About 
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.