One very salient point to me is that they did not refer to a Benghazi “consulate”, but rather a Special Mission Compound and Annex, neither of which were fortified. Here is their way of putting it:
Special Mission Benghazi’s uncertain future after 2012 and its “non-status” as a temporary, residential facility made allocation of resources for security and personnel more difficult, and left responsibility to meet security standards to the working-level in the field, with very limited resources.
They more or less grant that it was a successor to a previous building that had, no doubt covertly, served as a headquarters for our military support of Libyan rebels:
The U.S. Special Mission in Benghazi, established in November 2011, was the successor to his highly successful endeavor as Special Envoy to the rebel-led government that eventually toppled Muammar Qaddafi in fall 2011. The Special Mission bolstered U.S. support for Libya’s democratic transition through engagement with eastern Libya, the birthplace of the revolt against Qaddafi and a regional power center.
What this 39 page report does not address is what the actual “temporary” purpose of the Special Mission was, given that Gaddafi was toppled something like a year ago; why Stephens was there; what the actual events were in detail–there is no timeline I can see scanning it, for example, even though they claim there wasn’t time to mobilize military assets, and even though we have seen credible claims that Woods or Doherty were lasing a target, which is only done when Close Air Support is available; why support was denied; and who saw what in real time. We have seen NUMEROUS reports that the whole clusterfuck was viewed over a many hour period on live feed.
I will reiterate that to my mind the most plausible explanation of events is the one, approximately, given by the unnamed intelligence professional I referenced a week or so ago: the building was acting as a headquarters for a covert mission funneling weapons from Libya to Syria, and that the attack on Stephens was carefully planned by people familiar with his movements and activities.
Yes, they found a few fall guys and gals. But let’s not be stupid: the final decisions were made at least at the Cabinet level. In my view, Hillary is culpable directly, and Obama indirectly, since these were his policies they were implementing.
We need to be clear: Obama could make the case internally to our intelligence and military professionals that he wants a “democratic “regime in Syria, all while secretly–with separate people, separate funding–working to advance Islamism in Syria, and ensuring their eventual victory there. He seemingly has achieved that aim in Egypt.
It is IMPERATIVE we get to the bottom of this. Potentially millions of lives are on the line. Yes, I know their horror will not intrude onto “The Price is Right”, daytime soaps, or get serious media coverage. But real people may well suffer real and awful fates–the sorts of things we see in actual Horror movies–because of policies this bastard of a President is pursuing in an utterly cynical and amoral way.