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CIA unaware of Benghazi attack for nearly an hour?

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    New Pentagon timeline reveals communication failure

  • Duration 5:59
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There are new questions about the murder of four Americans in Libya as the Pentagon releases its version of events that suggests.

It was unaware of the attack nearly an hour after the terrorists opened fired.

The new timeline shows on September 11 -- this year it's all started at around 9:42.

PM Libyan time.

22 minutes later CAA team left for the consulate but he was another half hour after that 10:32.

PM.

That secretary of defense Leon Panetta and general Martin Dempsey were first told of the attack.

At 2:53.

AM some five hours later.

Orders were -- to allow marine fast teens and special ops to deploy to Ben Ghazi.

As we know for ambassador Chris Stevens and three other patriots.

It was too little and it was ours too late.

He had set his CEO of concern at veterans for America sir welcome and thank you first for your service to this country on the subduction -- -- -- -- -- today.

Thank you.

How worried should we be is it normal is -- not normal that you have a mission under attack and ambassador personally -- And the Defense Secretary isn't notified the Joint Chiefs of Staff not notified for nearly an.

Our.

Well it's certainly not normally you have an -- -- -- -- consulate under siege with an ambassador under siege that is.

That is something that should trigger at the very highest levels a series of things to happen.

It's not -- it's not as though the Pentagon didn't know about this for fifteen minutes that it be big reports have shown that the -- -- commander.

General Campbell actually at the Pentagon that game he gates ordered an aerial drone seventeen minutes after the attacks started on armed -- -- -- -- why that aerial drone was on armed I don't know if they maybe didn't have armed assets available.

A but he's looking edit any number of things commanders critical information requirements -- -- -- forces information requirements party intelligent requirements.

Different triggers in a command center that say OK now it's time to tell the commander something.

I'm more about this who who we in his case would be the chairman of the joint chiefs or the secretary defense I got to believe -- ambassador under siege fits one of those critical intelligence or information requirements.

That would mean -- notification of the people that can make the call to send even more assets -- Africa and -- doesn't -- effort com doesn't have much at their disposal at that moment so we we missed passing the information up in real time should have been doing -- We know at some point eight personal distress button was signaled from the mission there and Ben Ghazi.

There were certainly is signs that there was an immediate pressing need so why what are we wait.

Hours I don't know even mobilize anything it to getting even close to where it could be of some help.

I.

I have got two theories -- one -- that information just didn't get there as quickly as it should wasn't transferred as quickly as it should but it seems that the aerial drone being kicked out that they did know about it.

The second piece would be may be DOD thought this was CIA's action to deal with.

The -- CIA had assets that they could bring to bear immediately to affect the situation like at the annex.

Like with an aerial drone and others still means you should be getting your fast teams or other special operators on ready pre positioned them.

I did yeah I believe an app for com commander has the authority to sort of start than necessary movement on things like that.

But again the chairman of the joint chiefs your secretary defense are gonna make the big calls.

On on when to send people win but it's the job of those underneath to prep your assets make sure those assets are available that should -- happen from moment one.

What do you make of the fact we have heard though the White House the president hour.

Are represented that at the moment they knew that there was something in trouble that they in game.

Mobilize -- they gave the orders or gave the directive to do anything we needed to do to help the people they -- and yet there are those who say.

Within the military we weren't given the order to go ahead.

Where does that breakdown -- and who would have those missing pieces of information for us to know why if the White House is telling them to mobilizing get there and help.

It's somehow didn't happen at least not a timely fashion.

And it.

Yeah we would needle a lot of different people to testify to take.

Information that one person says and bounce it against fax we know any information someone else provides because until you do that.

You've got at a different institutions selectively releasing details that fit into a particular narrative.

You need to bring people forward asked and straightforward questions gets the answers you can.

And and and from their -- -- clear picture of what happened who was directed when the president just turning to somebody and saying make it happen is one thing where those orders relayed where they ignored when they're not executed promptly.

A lot of questions -- I'm not quite sure the other question I want to bring up which I think is incredibly important at the end of the stories and reporting.

It why has anything been done about the people the killed our ambassador we're still sitting here almost two months later no justice has been brought.

-- to those who kill their ambassador and and I think that's an untold story of what's going on right now yeah and there are those include.

Senator Lindsey Graham of course -- Republican who have insisted that we have access to that individual and and pushing the Tunisian government to make sure that we would get some kind of access.

Which is made it more of a public conversation about why we don't know more about holding up person or per cents.

Individually accountable I would ask you very quickly we have gotten different briefings from the CIA from the -- on some of this.

Has been anonymous information but there are differences in some of the time -- -- explanations about what happened.

At what point to the agency's sort of begin to protect themselves and their personnel what they believe that they did right.

Verses versions that we're getting from the White House and elsewhere.

Yeah agencies are going to do that you've already seen that from the CIA when there was a lot of criticism about the response.

They held back for a while then it then were reported hey these guys percent from the -- to the consulate they rescued everyone but the ambassador because they couldn't find these are CIA operatives that -- so.

And -- this was a consulate almost in name only we were running a lot of CIA assets out of that they were holding back that information for.

For obvious reasons but then once it became clear that he was on them they released it -- you start to see that you're already seeing it frankly CAD -- White House.

So need to get answers straight answers from all of them to.

Pick apart what really happened that day you know for hearings this week in May the will start to get some of those -- headset thank you again -- -- much thanks for having.

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