Some military commanders may have been relieved of duty for insisting on trying to send help for the Americans trapped at the Benghazi compound during the terrorist attack there on Sept. 11, 2012, an attorney for Benghazi whistleblowers said Monday.
Joe diGenova, former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, made the assertion during a Monday moning radio interview on WMAL, the D.C. radio station where he is a regular legal analyst.
In this Friday, Sept. 14, 2012 file photo, Libyan military guards check one of the U.S. Consulate's burnt out buildings during a visit by Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif. The Arabic on the building reads, "God is Great, and there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger." (Credit: AP)
“We have reason to believe that things happened that night in the chain of command where people were relieved of their duty because they insisted that there be a military response,” diGenova told WMAL. “We're working on trying to establish that with news organizations. But there is very, very good evidence that people were actually relieved of command because they refused not to try and dispatch troops and some response.”
Because the information is preliminary, diGenova did not delve into names. But he said he would like to see former Defense Secretary Leon Pannetta answer questions on the matter.
“There is more to learn about Benghazi. Pannetta has never told the full story,” he said.
diGenova's assertion comes on the heels of a scathing 60 Minutes report on the Benghazi terrorist attack where four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed. The 60 Minutes piece focused how the Obama administration ignored numerous warning signs of a terror threat to the U.S. compound there and of inadequate security.
diGenova also made headlines in August when he claimed that that 400 surface-to-air missiles were “stolen” and “taken from Libya” and are now “in the hands of some very ugly people.”
Obama administration officials have repeatedly called the investigation into Benghazi a “phony scandal.”
diGenova also rejected the notion from the administration that no help could have been sent.
“By the way, this notion that the administration has put out, this little straw man that military couldn't have landed in Libya, Gregory Hicks testified and so have some other military people that if there had only been a flyover, that would have dispersed the crowd,” diGenova said. “There were planes in Croatia that could have been there by there by the time of the attack on the annex. No planes were ever sent. That is because the president of the United States refused to issue an order allowing for the dispersal of military into Libya because that was considered an act of war. The president himself, who went to sleep, refused to issue an order.”
You can listen to the interview below:
–
[related]
