[instory-book ISBN="9781936488865"]
New York Times bestselling author, investigative journalist and radio host Aaron Klein has a new book out titled "The REAL Benghazi Story: What the White House and Hillary Don't Want You to Know," in which Klein does yeoman's work in combing through the thousands of pages of available government documents to chronicle the numerous breathtaking but oft-underreported facts on Benghazi, identify the various inconsistencies between and among the testimony of the various parties involved, and ask the questions begging to be answered.
Klein in fact devotes a whole section of his book to a comprehensive set of suggested questions he believes must be pursued by the Benghazi Special Investigative Committee led by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC). In an extensive interview with Klein, we had the opportunity to ask him what three questions in particular heretofore NOT being asked must be asked. Klein asserted:
One: Why did we hire the February 17th [Martyrs Brigade] militia [to defend the Benghazi special mission compound]? Number two...were there any weapons transfers through this facility? And were the weapons transfers involved in any way, shape, or form, in the attack in the first place...Third: Why were no special forces sent? What were they [our forces] really doing on the night of the attacks on a "training mission," in Croatia."
On this third question, Klein elaborated:
There's something called the C110...forty man special training force. They're supposed to be maintained to respond to diplomatic emergencies...The anniversary of the 9/11 attacks you would think is the one night...in the entire calendar...that everybody knows jihadists are most motivated to attack. So why would you take the main force to respond to all such emergencies in Africa, and put them, that very night, on a so-called training mission in Croatia.And I ask...there was a weapons shipment -- hundreds of tons by the way -- that was going through Croatia at that exact time...You would think if the United States is shipping these weapons, somebody has to protect them...So, was that special force protecting the weapons the night of the attack?
To Klein's point, the New York Times has reported on significant weapons shipment efforts -- to Syrian "rebels" by way of other Arab governments -- running through Croatia all throughout 2012. In a March 2013 article titled "Arms Airlift to Syria Rebels Expands, With Aid From C.I.A.," the Times notes:
From offices at secret locations, American intelligence officers have helped the Arab governments [based on military cargo flight records, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar] shop for weapons, including a large procurement from Croatia, and have vetted rebel commanders and groups [in Syria] to determine who should receive the weapons as they arrive, according to American officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. The C.I.A. declined to comment on the shipments or its role in them.
This portion of our interview, which continues with Klein going into further detail on the role of the February 17th Martyrs Brigade, begins at 21:11 below.
During the extensive interview with Klein, we also had a chance to discuss a number of other issues including:
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