– The role U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice and her staff may have played in the assembly of the Benghazi terror attack talking points – namely that the attack was prompted by a Muslim mob upset over an obscure online video – is moving back under the microscope, following a dump of documents from the Obama administration that appears to have made things foggier, not clearer.
It’s just one of the questions persisting around the al-Qaida-affiliated terror attack in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. As time has passed since the targeted attack last Sept. 11, issues appear to have become more – not less – obscured.
It was Rice who went on national television shows – repeatedly – shortly after the ambassador’s death was announced, and said that the Muslim mob was enraged by the online video about Mohammad.
That story since has been thoroughly debunked, and the filmmaker was jailed, although it was on unrelated probation violations.
Rice has maintained that she was simply repeating “talking points” given to her by the Obama administration when she appeared on a series of network phones to explain what had happened and why.
But a probe by WND shortly after the White House released 100 pages of emails related to the Libyan attacks has shown that Rice and members of her personal staff in fact played a central role in developing those talking points.
WND found that Rice’s press secretary, U.S. United Nations Mission spokeswoman Erin Pelton, and Rice’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo both played roles in formulating the Libyan talking points.
Ironically, while the White House promoted the email “document dump” as a move for transparency, a close examination showed exactly the opposite. The identities of numerous administration officials were purged in countless emails. Both senders’ and recipients’ names were repeatedly redacted. And entire documents referred to in several emails were replaced by blank pages.
“The ARB unclassified final report was incomplete in that the reason for Stevens being in Benghazi was known to Hicks, but the ARB ignored the testimony Hicks gave on this point,” Toensing further explained to WND.
Hicks elaborated on this point by commenting to the House oversight committee that when he told the ARB the reason Stevens went to Benghazi, Pickering looked visibly upset and asked, “Does the 7th floor [where the office of Secretary of State Clinton is located] know about this?”
A Growing SOF Role in Traditional CIA Operations?29
A recent article maintains that U.S. SOF, in conjunction with the CIA, have “significantly
increased military and intelligence operations, pursuing the enemy using robotic drones and
commando teams, paying contractors to spy and training local operatives to chase terrorists.”30
These operations are said to be occurring in roughly a dozen countries, ranging from North
Africa, to Pakistan, to former Soviet republics “crippled by ethnic and religious strife.”31 One of
the concerns raised in this article is that U.S. SOF units, allegedly operating under secret “execute
orders” are conducting spy missions that were once the preserve of civilian intelligence agencies.
These operations are described as having less transparency and congressional oversight than
traditional CIA covert operations. Some suggest that this “covert war” is an appropriate response
to a covert war being waged against the United States, but others are concerned that it represents
a new model for war that deviates from well-defined rules for covert action. Another question
raised is “who should be running this war” if it is going to be conducted in a covert manner?
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rs21048.pdf
U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF):
Background and Issues for Congress
December 3, 2010
It has also been reported that a number of insurgent leaders have left their bases
in Afghanistan to seek sanctuary in Pakistan because of the raids. Although these raids have
proven successful, President Karzai has recently called for these “night raids” to cease, which has
supposedly created friction between the Afghan leader and senior U.S. military officials in the
region.35
35 Thom Shanker, Elisabeth Bumiller, and Rod Nordland, “Despite Gains, Night Raids Split U.S. and Karzai,” New
York Times, November 16, 2010.
Current Organizational and Budgetary Issues
2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) Report SOF-Related
Directives21
The 2010 QDR contains a number of SOF-related directives pertaining to personnel,
organizations, and equipment. These include the following:
• To increase key enabling assets22 for special operations forces.
• To maintain approximately 660 special operations teams;23 3 Ranger battalions;
and 165 tilt-rotor/fixed-wing mobility and fire support primary mission aircraft.
18
18 USSOCOM website http://www.socom.mil/components/components.htm, accessed March 19, 2008.
19 Jennifer D. Kibbe, “The Rise of the Shadow Warriors,” Foreign Affairs, Volume 83, Number 2, March/April 2004
and Sean D. Naylor, “JSOC to Become Three-Star Command,” Army Times, February 13, 2006.
20 Information in this section is taken from Carlo Muňoz, “SOCEUR Chief Pegged: Air Force Two-Star to Head Up
New NATO Special Ops Headquarters,” Inside the Air Force, May 28, 2010 and NATO Fact Sheet, “NATO Special
Operations Headquarters (NSHQ),” accessed from http://www.NATO.int on July 1, 2010.
21 Information in this section is from Department of Defense, Quadrennial Defense Review Report, February 2010.
22 Enabling assets are a variety of conventional military units that are assigned to support special operations forces.
23 These teams include Army Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha (ODA) teams; Navy Sea, Air, and Land
(SEAL) platoons; Marine special operations teams, Air Force special tactics teams; and operational aviation
detachments.
• The Army and USSOCOM will add a company of upgraded cargo helicopters
(MH-47G) to the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
• The Navy will dedicate two helicopter squadrons for direct support to naval
special warfare units.
• To increase civil affairs capacity organic to USSOCOM.
• Starting in FY2012, purchase light, fixed-wing aircraft to enable the Air Force’s
6th Special Operations squadron to engage partner nations for whose air forces
such aircraft might be appropriate, as well as acquiring two non-U.S. helicopters
to support these efforts.
In cooperation with the Army, USSOCOM will grow its helicopter fleet by eight
MH-47 Chinooks by FY2015; fielding is almost complete for upgraded MH-47G
and MH-60M helicopters. USSOCOM currently has 12 CV-22 Osprey aircraft
and hopes to add 5 more aircraft this year.
U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF):
Background and Issues for Congress
Andrew Feickert
Specialist in Military Ground Forces
February 6, 2013
In March 2009, Headquarters AFSOC declared initial operational capability (IOC)11 for the CV-
22.12 USSOCOM plans for all 50 CV-22s to be delivered to AFSOC by 2015.13 Since 2009,
AFSOC has completed three overseas deployments, to Central America, Africa, and Iraq, and
continues to be engaged currently in overseas contingency operations. Despite critical reviews of
the aircraft, AFSOC considers the CV-22 “central to our future.”14 AFSOC operates a diverse fleet
of modified aircraft. Of 12 major design series aircraft, 7 are variants of the C-130, the average
age of some of which is over 40 years old, dating from the Vietnam era. Because of the age of the
fleet, AFSOC considers recapitalization one of its top priorities.
SEC. 1283. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON EFFORTS TO REMOVE OR APPREHEND
JOSEPH KONY FROM THE BATTLEFIELD AND END THE ATROCITIES OF
THE LORD’S RESISTANCE ARMY.
Consistent with the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery
Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–172), it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the ongoing United States advise and assist operation to support the regional
governments in Africa in their ongoing efforts to remove or apprehend Joseph Kony and his
top commanders from the battlefield and end atrocities perpetuated by his Lord’s Resistance
Army should continue as appropriate to achieve the goals of the operation;
(2) the Secretary of Defense should provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
assets, as authorized to be appropriated by other provisions of this Act, to support the
ongoing efforts of United States Special Operations Forces to advise and assist regional
partners as they conduct operations against the Lord’s Resistance Army in Central Africa;
(3) United States and regional African forces should increase their operational coordination
on efforts to remove or apprehend Joseph Kony from the battlefield and end the atrocities of
the Lord’s Resistance Army; and
(4) the regional governments should recommit themselves to the Regional Cooperation
Initiative for the Elimination of the Lord’s Resistance Army authorized by the African
Union.
By Chelsea Schilling
A former senior Pentagon official told radio talk-show host Glenn Beck where to find the shocking truth about billionaire George Soros’ influence on President Obama’s decision to deploy
U.S. troops to
Uganda – as he directed Beck’s listeners to Aaron Klein and WND.
On the March 9 GBTV show, retired Gen. Jerry Boykin, the former
U.S. deputy under secretary of defense for intelligence – who has played a part in nearly every recent major
U.S. military operation in the last four decades – said of Aaron Klein:
He shows that there’s a more sinister side to this. And that is a George Soros connection to the whole influence on the administration of deploying U.S. military forces in there, certainly under the guise of going after Joseph Kony [leader of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army accused of major human rights atrocities], but I think there is some very good information in that article that shows there is a Soros connection to this whole thing. And, fundamentally, it’s about oil.
In the Oct. 15, 2011, expose,
“Why U.S. military in Uganda? Soros fingerprints all over it,” Klein broke the news of Soros’ ties both to the political pressure behind Obama’s decision and to the African nation’s fledgling oil industry.
He revealed that Soros sits on the executive board of an influential “crisis management organization” known as the International Crisis Group, which recommended deployment of a special advisory military team to
Uganda to help with operations and run an intelligence platform, a recommendation Obama’s
Uganda action appeared to fulfill. In April 2010, the International Crisis Group released
a report sent to the White House and key lawmakers advising the
U.S. military run special operations in
Uganda to seek Joseph Kony’s capture.
Klein also noted that the president emeritus of the International Crisis Group is also the chief author of “Responsibility to Protect,” the military doctrine used by Obama to justify the U.S.-led NATO campaign in
Libya.
“Soros’ own Open Society Institute is one of only three nongovernmental funders of the Global Centre for Responsibility to Protect, a doctrine that has been cited many times by activists urging intervention in
Uganda,” Klein wrote. “Several of the doctrine’s main founders also sit on boards with Soros, who is a major proponent of the doctrine.”
Klein also explains that Soros has close ties to oil interests in
Uganda, as the billionaire’s organizations spearhead efforts to purportedly facilitate more transparency in
Uganda’s oil industry, which is tightly controlled by the country’s leadership.
Read Klein’s exclusive report in its entirety here.
Watch Glenn Beck’s interview with Gen. Boykin here. (WND
b. 1208 Authority: 1208 is an authority unique to USSOCOM. Every operation which executes 1208 authority requires the Secretary of Defense approval. Section 1208 authority provides USSOCOM the ability to provide support to foreign forces, irregular forces, groups, or individuals engaged in supporting or facilitating ongoing military operations to combat terrorism. USSOCOM has included 1208 funding in its OCO budget request funding to enhance operational flexibility and mission execution.
Calling all Army aviators: Now is the time to go spec ops. Army Special Operations Aviation Command is seeking helicopter pilots and aviation officers to fill critical slots in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and to keep up with the overall high demand for Army pilots.
In fiscal year 2013, the command is looking for about 300 applicants.
The recruiting effort will continue at least through fiscal 2015, when the command hopes to reach 90 percent of the 160th's authorized strength, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Robert Witzler, the command chief warrant officer for Army Special Operations Aviation Command, said.
"The 160th has received authorizations for personnel growth, and the regiment already has the additional helicopters and equipment on hand and is employing them in combat," Witzler said. He said the unit is now operating at 75 percent of authorized personnel strength.
This unit growth, coupled with low recruiting numbers because of the high deployment tempo for Army aviators, has made it difficult for the command to grow at the desired rate, Witzler said.
"Special operations aviation capability is a precious resource that the nation has asked the Army to build," Witzler said. "You only need to read the paper to understand the contributions [special operations aviation] is making on the battlefield and across the globe every day. Demand for [this] capability has never been higher, and current manning levels make meeting our operational commitments a concern," Witzler said.
As outlined in a personnel message released in September, the command is seeking aviation warrant officers in these military occupational specialties:
• 152 — Scout/attack helicopter pilot
• 153 — Medium lift/utility helicopter pilot
• 154 — Heavy lift/cargo helicopter pilot
The command also is seeking aviation captains, MOS 15B.
There is no minimum rank or experience requirement, but the command is targeting aviation warrant officers in the grade of chief warrant officer 2 who have completed their first assignment or combat deployment, Witzler said.
As for the aviation captains, the command is seeking officers who are preparing to attend the captain's career course, as well as captains who have completed a company command, he said.
Once an application is submitted, it will take three to four months of processing before that soldier finds out if he or she will be given the opportunity to assess for the elite 160th, also known as the "Night Stalkers."
MH-60L/M Black Hawk Defensive Armed Penetrator (DAP)
Primary Function: Armed escort and fire support for Special
Operations Forces. Speed: Max 222 mph, Cruise 138 mph.
Dimensions: Length: 64 ft. 10 in. Range: 450NM. Armament:
2 x 7.62 mm M134 minigun, M230 30MM Chaingun, 70mm
Hydra rockets, AGM-114 Hellfire air to ground missiles. Crew:
Four.
MH-60K/L/M Black Hawk
Primary Function: Conduct overt or covert infiltration,
exfiltration and resupply of Special Operations Forces. Speed:
Max 222 mph, Cruise 138 mph. Dimensions: Length: 64 ft. 10
in. Range: 450 NM. Payload: 10 personnel w/internal tanks.
Armament: 2 x 7.62 miniguns. Crew: Four.
