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Gates: Some Benghazi critics have "cartoonish" view of military capability

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trfjr said:
AC130 specter gunship (Black Betty) is still in service for the military one was in the air in the area during the attack reports say it was told to stand down



Steal Rain is what our enemies called it
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I still call it... Puff

Puff is scary as ****.
 
Confidential to SecDef Gates:

The Marine 24th MEU crossed the Strait of Gibraltar on April 24th 2012 for an extended deployment in the Mediterranean. The Marine 24th MEU left the Mediterranean in December 2012..

Ergo: The Marine 24th MEU, specifically trained for this type of job, was in the Mediterranean at the time the consulate was attacked.

Come to think of it, there were quite a few Naval assets in the area at the time in support of the Libyan rebellion. Why was it OK to bomb Qaddafi armor in populated places in support of the Al Qaeda lead rebellion... but not in support of our own consulate?
 
Thrilla said:
I still call it... Puff

Puff is scary as ****.
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AC47 Spooky was called (Puff the Magic Dragon) its not in service anymore
 
trfjr said:
AC130 specter gunship (Black Betty) is still in service for the military one was in the air in the area during the attack reports say it was told to stand down



Steal Rain is what our enemies called it
Click to expand...


They can definitely lay down some fire power. This is the first I've heard about one being in the area. Where did you see that? I'd like to read about it
 
Gates doesn't want to be "that guy" who throws his successor under the bus. Had he been in office for Benghazi he would have offered a military response option.:cool:
 
BMCM said:
They can definitely lay down some fire power. This is the first I've heard about one being in the area. Where did you see that? I'd like to read about it
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"Reports indicate two drones and an AC-130 gunship were in the area when Benghazi was attacked, yet their resources were not used."
'Stand Down': U.S. Had Two Drones, AC-130 Gunship, and Targets Painted in Benghazi

"The security officer had a laser on the target that was firing and repeatedly requested back-up support from a Specter gunship, which is commonly used by U.S. Special Operations forces to provide support to Special Operations teams on the ground involved in intense firefights. The fighting at the CIA annex went on for more than four hours — enough time for any planes based in Sigonella Air base, just 480 miles away, to arrive. Fox News has also learned that two separate Tier One Special operations forces were told to wait, among them Delta Force operators."
The PJ Tatler » AC-130U Gunship was On-Scene in Benghazi, Obama Admin Refused to Let It Fire (Updated)


"Now for the icing on metaphorical cake, apparently there was even an AC-130 gunship available, which would have been the absolute best vehicle to obliterate hostiles in an urban area while minimizing collateral damage. It is widely known that AC-130s have been deployed continuously to the region, so this does make sense."
COVER-UP: BENGHAZI ATTACK OCCURRED WHILE AC-130, PREDATORS, FIGHTERS & TIER ONE COUNTER TERRORISM TEAMS STOOD BY | aviationintel

is that enough? i do have more
 
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mak2 said:
The jets in Italy are exactly what I heard the testimony on yesterday. They were not flight ready, they were sitting on the tarmac. The flight crew was somehere in italy on leave or liberty. They were not on standby, it would take hours after the crews got there to get one in the air. This is where the cartoonish thing comes in. Not all jets in the military are takeoff ready with a pilot in the ready room.
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Of course, an entire airfield of planes isn't flight ready. And all the pilots are on leave getting drunk. Do you really believe that ****?
 
trfjr said:
"Reports indicate two drones and an AC-130 gunship were in the area when Benghazi was attacked, yet their resources were not used."
'Stand Down': U.S. Had Two Drones, AC-130 Gunship, and Targets Painted in Benghazi

"The security officer had a laser on the target that was firing and repeatedly requested back-up support from a Specter gunship, which is commonly used by U.S. Special Operations forces to provide support to Special Operations teams on the ground involved in intense firefights. The fighting at the CIA annex went on for more than four hours — enough time for any planes based in Sigonella Air base, just 480 miles away, to arrive. Fox News has also learned that two separate Tier One Special operations forces were told to wait, among them Delta Force operators."
The PJ Tatler » AC-130U Gunship was On-Scene in Benghazi, Obama Admin Refused to Let It Fire (Updated)


"Now for the icing on metaphorical cake, apparently there was even an AC-130 gunship available, which would have been the absolute best vehicle to obliterate hostiles in an urban area while minimizing collateral damage. It is widely known that AC-130s have been deployed continuously to the region, so this does make sense."
COVER-UP: BENGHAZI ATTACK OCCURRED WHILE AC-130, PREDATORS, FIGHTERS & TIER ONE COUNTER TERRORISM TEAMS STOOD BY | aviationintel

is that enough? i do have more
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Of course we had no cruise missile out there anywhere.
 
MaggieD said:
Bolded statement: If what I recall is true, that the attack transpired over four or five hours, I find his statement not only unbelievable, but a lie.

If we don't have a "ready force" standing by in the Middle East? Where they hell do we have a ready force?
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Military strategy expert right ****ing here.
 
MaggieD said:
Are you calling me a military strategy expert????? I'm going to report you! ;)
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No, really, how are you more of an expert on deploying special forces hundreds of miles than Gates, exactly?
 
trfjr said:
AC130 specter gunship (Black Betty) is still in service for the military one was in the air in the area during the attack reports say it was told to stand down



Steal Rain is what our enemies called it
Click to expand...



Yes, my point is it's capabilities of pinpoint CAS have greatly improved in the intervening 46 years.
 
American said:
Of course, an entire airfield of planes isn't flight ready. And all the pilots are on leave getting drunk. Do you really believe that ****?
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On 9/11 of all times. right? the more you learn and understand the real truth the more you get pissed off im to the point of being so pissed off im spitting blood and pissing fire

If the American public ever finds out the real truth Obama would be more then impeached he would be facing a firing squad for treason
 
Drill+Sgt+Chewing+Out+Obama.jpg
 
apdst said:
You've been watching too many movies. Don't get your historical info from movies. It's highly likely that you're being misled.
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Other than the obvious quote from a movie, what other part of my statement makes you think it was derived from movies? The only time I remember anyone actually referring to MacArthur as being a self-aggrandizing idiot has been some veterans that served under him. Possible it might have been said during an episode of MASH, but don't remember such. Also, I don't know of any place, other than my post above that ever compared the leadership of Custer to MacArthur. Neither is a subject during leadership schools other than historical references, and since I was AF, Custer doesn't come up at all. Patton on leadership, absolutely, MacArthur, not for enlisted, maybe the officers talk about him /shrug.
 
MaggieD said:
Bolded statement: If what I recall is true, that the attack transpired over four or five hours, I find his statement not only unbelievable, but a lie.

If we don't have a "ready force" standing by in the Middle East? Where they hell do we have a ready force?
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We did. It was the Marine 24th MEU, stationed in the Mediterranean from April 2012 to December 2012, it's Rapid Deployment Force has the capability to be anywhere in 18 hours. The RDF travels by V22 Osprey, with a range of 2100 nm, and a max speed of 250 nm/h.

More-over the 24th MEU also has a logistics battalion that could have been called at any time to make a quick flight to Benghazi to evaluate the defenses... like, after the first car bomb blew a 12' hole in the wall a few weeks earlier....
 
Deuce said:
No, really, how are you more of an expert on deploying special forces hundreds of miles than Gates, exactly?
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Thing is, when something happens like this? It's got to pass the test of the common man. IMO this doesn't. When we have consulates (or whatever we choose to call Benghazi) in trouble spots, the idea that we can't reach them -- that we didn't have one chopper we could put in the air to defend our position in the at least three hours until Stevens'body was found just isn't believable. And the idea that Libya itself did nothing to protect our people is very difficult to understand as well.
 
Deuce said:
No, really, how are you more of an expert on deploying special forces hundreds of miles than Gates, exactly?
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Rule of thumb: Don't trust the politician who's on the hot seat to tell you what is and isn't possible.
 
Deuce said:
No, really, how are you more of an expert on deploying special forces hundreds of miles than Gates, exactly?
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Just a note of observation here. Gates explained why it wasn't possible starting at the time of the attack. If I read her question correctly, she is asking why there wasn't one preposition prior to the attack. Gates is truthful in that there wasn't one, but does absolutely nothing to explain why there wasn't one.
 
fmw said:
So we have a former secretary of defense who wouldn't send help to a distressed foreigh mission because it would have been dangerous? You're kidding. Military operations can be dangerous? Glad he's no longer running the Pentagon.
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dangerous yes, it's the suicidal ones that give a soldier pause. I have often wondered those who are so cavalier about sending troops into unknown dangers, when was the last time you and a few close buddies jumped into a malstrum? I am 125% sure the security team's buddies wanted to go no matter what, how ever if they too had died in the firefight/mortar attack would the GOP have sat back in silence or used the additional deaths to dance around demanding 'answers'?
 
notquiteright said:
dangerous yes, it's the suicidal ones that give a soldier pause. I have often wondered those who are so cavalier about sending troops into unknown dangers, when was the last time you and a few close buddies jumped into a malstrum?
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It was in 1968. How about you?
 
MaryAnne said:
Stevens was not in an Embassy. He was in a CIA house.Stevens was the kind of man who wanted to be with people. He knew how dangerous it was. It was a 3 house compound.
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It doesn't really matter what you call it.
 
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