Citizens’ Commission on Benghazi
A Citizens’ Commission on Benghazi was set up in September 2013 to investigate the causes and the circumstances involved in the attacks of September 11, 2012 on the U.S. Consulate and CIA Annex in Benghazi, Libya. The members of the commission included former CIA officers, retired military from the different branches of the Armed Forces, journalists, and defense consultants.
Among the members were Roger Aronoff, editor of Accuracy in Media, Brigadier General Charles Jones (Ret), Admiral James Lyons (Ret), General Thomas McInerney (Ret), former CIA officer Clare Lopez, former CIA officer Wayne Simmons, former CIA officer Kevin Shipp, General Paul Vallely (Ret), former Congressman and Lieutenant Colonel (Ret) Allen West, Captain Larry Bailey (SEAL Ret), and John A. Show, former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for International Technology Security.
After many months of investigation and research which involved interviews with several knowledgeable sources, the Citizens’ Commission on Benghazi issued on April 22, 2014 an interim report entitled “How America Switched Sides in the War on Terror.”
This is a summary of the alarming findings:
“1) The war in Libya was unnecessary, served no articulable U.S. national security objective, and led to preventable chaos region-wide. In the period since 2011 revolution in Libya, the country has remained fragmented, poorly governed, and overrun with violent militias, the majority of which are jihadist al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) affiliates. Yet, at the time of his overthrow, Muammar Qaddafi was an ally of the United States in the Global War on Terror.
On March 17, 2011 the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1973 for a ” No Fly Zone”, ostensibly to protect Libyan civilians caught up in the hostilities between the Libyan government forces and the rebel forces, which were dominated by the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda. The following day in London, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced U.S. government support for the Muslim Brotherhood-led Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) in its revolt against Qaddafi”.
The commission found out that the Civil War in Libya could have been avoided and would have saved thousands of lives and the enormous turmoil that followed the fall of the dictator Muammar Qaddafi. After a few days of the Obama administration declaration that the United States would support the Libyan rebels, Qaddafi wanted to enter negotiations to discuss his possible abdication and exile.
On March 20, 2011 General Abdulqader Yusef Dibri, head of personal security of Qaddafi, contacted Rear Admiral (Ret) Chuck Kubic. Once receiving this information, Rear Admiral Kubic telephoned Lieutenant Colonel Brian Linvill in Stuttgart, Germany, the U.S. AFRICOM officer point of contact for all military matters involving Libya. Lieutenant Colonel Linvill immediately notified the head of AFRICOM, General Carter Ham stating that the Libyan dictator was ready to establish communication with the Africa military command. General Ham was quite interested, however, the Obama administration did not give permission to General Ham to proceed with the negotiations.
The opportunity for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Libya did not interest President Obama. The war continued and tens of thousands of lives were lost. It was absolutely appalling that the White House and the State Department did not even consider entering negotiations with Qaddafi to avoid bloodshed since President Obama and Secretary Clinton wanted to pursue the unconstitutional war in Libya supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and the al Qaeda-linked rebels. Both Obama and Clinton need to explain to the American people and to Congress why both of them wanted to empower jihadists and the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya which went against the national security interest of our nation.
“2) Changing sides in the War on Terror: Even more disturbingly, the United States was fully aware of and facilitating the delivery of weapons to the al Qaeda-dominated rebel militias throughout the 2011 rebellion. The jihadist agenda of AQIM, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, and other Islamic terror groups represented among the rebel forces was well known to U.S. officials responsible for Libya policy.
The rebels made no secret of their al Qaeda affiliation, openly flying and speaking in front of the black flag of Islamic Jihad, according to author John Rosenthal and multiple media reports. And yet, the White House and senior Congressional members deliberately and knowingly pursued a policy that provided material support to terrorist organizations in order to topple a ruler who had been working closely with the West actively to suppress al Qaeda. The result in Libya, across much of North Africa, and beyond has been utter chaos, disruption of Libya’s oil industry, the spread of dangerous weapons (including surface-to-air missiles), and the empowerment of jihadist organizations like al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.”
“3) The weapons flow: An American citizen source trusted by the Citizens Commission on Benghazi who has long experience in the Middle East described the flow of weapons from Qatar to the Libyan rebels and the diversion of some of those arms. After Qaddafi’s regime had been ousted, a delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) traveled to Libya to collect payment for the weapons that the UAE had financed and Qatar had delivered to the Transitional National Council (TNC) during the war.
During their visit to Tripoli, the UAE officials discovered that half of the $1 billion worth of weapons it had financed for the rebels had, in fact, been diverted by Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the Muslim Brotherhood head of the Libyan TNC, and sold to Qaddafi. Furthermore, according to information learned during the UAE visit to Tripoli, when Jalil learned that Major General Abdel Fatah Younis, Qaddafi’s former Minister of the Interior before his late February 2011 defection to the rebel forces, had found out about the weapons diversion, he ordered Abu Salim Abu Khattala… to kill him. Abu Khattala, later identified as the Ansar al-Shariah commander who led the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, accepted the order and directed the killing of General Abdel Fatah Younis in July 2011.
The key significance of this episode is a demonstration of a military chain-of-command relationship between the Libyan Muslim brotherhood leadership of the TNC and the al Qaeda-affiliated militia (Ansar al-Shariah) that has been named responsible for the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. Abu Khattala is under a Department of Justice sealed indictment. His brigade merged into Ansar al-Shariah in 2012, and he was positively identified to the FBI in a cell-phone photo from the scene of the attack, yet remains free and available for interviews to the media.”
The future ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, was sent to Benghazi to coordinate the assistance provided by the Obama administration to the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaida-linked terrorist organizations. Once he became the U.S. ambassador, Stevens continued working with the jihadist terrorists. Somehow a dispute must have arisen and he was assassinated by Ansar al-Shariah, the terrorist group that he had been assisting during the Civil War and later working with Ansar al-Shariah jihadists to send weapons to Syria.
Many of these weapons fell into the hands of al Qaida-link terrorist groups trying to overthrow the Syrian dictator. Perhaps Obama let him die to avoid a future Congressional investigation or that the gun-running operation could have come to light just before the 2012 presidential election.
The Citizens’ Commission on Benghazi also investigated the White House cover-up on Benghazi. It stated the following: “The White House campaign appears to have been well-coordinated with U.S. Muslim Brotherhood organizations as well as Islamic nations members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, who all joined in condemnation of the video, and, even more troubling, issued calls for restriction on Americans’ free-speech rights. The Obama administration officials knew that the YouTube video had nothing to do with the terrorist attack in Benghazi, yet for two weeks President Obama and members of his administration deliberately falsely claim that a protest had preceded the attack on our Benghazi mission.
There is no question in my mind that President Obama committed treason, dereliction of duty, and criminal negligence in Libya during the Civil War against Qaddafi and for his refusal to save our diplomats and Navy SEALs in Benghazi. Hillary Clinton is also guilty of treason and criminal negligence since she supported assisting the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadists to overthrow Qaddafi and later her State Department denied repeated requests from ambassador Chris Stevens for protection and for her lies and participation in the cover-up
The House of Representatives voted to create a Select Committee to probe Benghazi attack
On May 8, 2014, the House of Representatives voted a resolution creating a Select Committee to investigate the September 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on the United States Consulate and the CIA safe house annex in Benghazi, Libya. The vote was 232-186, with seven Democrats joining 225 Republicans in support of the resolution. This panel should have been set up 20 months ago. But it’s never too late to seek justice and accountability.
A Select Committee comprised of seven Republicans and five Democrats will investigate what happened before, during, and after the terrorist attacks in Benghazi. House Speaker John Boehner appointed Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican from South Carolina, a former prosecutor, to chair the Select Committee. Congressman Gowdy stated that he plans to aggressively pursue interviews with any official who he believes has information about the attack, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The Select Committee will have the authority to subpoena witnesses and view classified materials, tools that will help the committee to determine why the United States was not able to prevent the terrorist attack, send military assistance to save the lives of the Americans at Benghazi, and whether Obama administration officials tried to mislead the public on why it happened.
House Speaker John Boehner, Republican from Ohio, explained why he called a vote to create the Select Committee, after having resisted demands to do so in the past. Boehner decided to create the Select Committee after a lawsuit by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch forced the release of an email that had been sent from President Obama’s national security advisor Ben Rhodes to United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice in the days following the attack. In that email Rhodes advised Rice to stick to blaming the attack on the anti-Muslim video in the upcoming appearances on five Sunday television talk shows.
President Obama and Ben Rhodes, as well as the rest of the officials in his administration in the White House, Central Intelligence Agency, FBI, State Department, and Defense Department, were fully aware that the premeditated terrorist attacks at Benghazi had nothing to do a video. The White House decided to mislead the nation once again. Speaker Boehner stated “a line was crossed” when new information was discovered that pointed out the White House involvement in misguiding the American people in the talking points used by former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice on five Sunday television shows.
The Obama administration officials, as well as the president, blamed the terrorist attacks in Benghazi on a video for two weeks since Barack Obama was campaigning for reelection stating that he had defeated al Qaeda. The attack at Benghazi contradicted his speeches over his victory over al Qaeda. The president was well aware that al Qaeda, rather than being defeated, was getting stronger in Africa and the Middle East.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about the “fog of war” and together with Obama, both deliberately lied to the family members of the four brave Americans who were assassinated by terrorists in Benghazi. Administration officials knowingly lied by stating that the CIA intelligence indicated that the attack in Libya was due to a video. Lying is a felony. President Obama and Secretary Clinton should be held accountable for their actions.
Doug Hagmann of the Canadian Free Press, James Robbins of the Washington Times, and Aaron Klein of WND explained that the Obama administration was engaged in a massive gun-running operation to al Qaeda, which included transporting heavy weapons from Libya to Syria. Ambassador Stevens was in charge of this operation, which also involved recruiting jihadists to fight against the dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria. When the attack began around 9:40 PM on September 11, 2012, Ambassador Stevens contacted Greg Hicks in Tripoli and told him, “Greg, we are under attack!” And requested assistance. Hicks immediately notified all agencies so that they could initiate an emergency response plan.
There were soldiers at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, as well as soldiers in all the Western embassies and consulates of countries, such as Great Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, that upon request by President Obama would have sent their military personnel immediately to Benghazi to provide assistance to our diplomat and other personnel. Yet nothing was done!
The Benghazi scandal involved criminal negligence and dereliction of duty as the Obama administration allowed Ambassador Chris Stevens, two former Navy Seals and a computer specialist to die for political reasons when the United States had forces nearby that could have saved them.
As stated, the Benghazi consulate and CIA safe house were attacked at approximately 9:40 PM. For seven hours, a small group of brave Americans fought approximately 120 terrorists while notifying our government and repeatedly requesting help. There were two squadrons of F-16s at Aviano Air Base in Italy. The F-16 aircraft is armed with 500 20 MM rounds and other weapons and they are able to fly at 0.92 mach speed. A Marine detachment was at U.S. Navy Base in Rota, Spain. U.S. forces were also stationed in Greece. The ensuing cover up was disgraceful and is completely unacceptable. It violated our armed forces Code of Conduct which states that we do not leave someone behind.
As stated earlier even though our intelligence agencies have identified Abu Salim Abu Khattala, the leader of Anwar al Shariah which was the terrorist organization that assassinated the four Americans in Benghazi. Obama has not delivered on his promise to bring the perpetrators to justice. It is shameful that reporters from The New York Times and CNN have interviewed the leader of this terrorist organization and the Obama administration has not sent troops or a drone to kill this terrorist and the others who were involved in the attack to our Consulate and CIA safe house in Benghazi. Is it because Anwar al Shariah is training jihadists to fight against the Syrian regime? Is it because Barack Obama is an ally of this al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group that like him wants to overthrow the dictator of Syria?
Perhaps, this is why the president signed an executive order on September 16, 2013 waiving a ban on arming terrorists to allow aid to the Syrian rebels, many of which are supporters of al Qaeda. In essence, he exempted himself from any laws, such as the Patriot Act, that prohibits anyone from giving weapons to a terrorist organization. This executive order should be grounds for impeachment.
In reality, Obama has been secretly shipping weapons from Libya to Turkey for a couple of years. The weapons were being given to the rebels fighting the Syrian regime, which included al Qaeda-linked rebels groups. One of the largest al Qaeda group is the Nusra Front. Abu Mohammed al Golani is the leader of this al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group and he has an army of 10,000 soldiers under his command in Syria.
Benghazi Scandal and other threats as seen by Admiral James Lyons
James Lyons is a retired four-star admiral in the United States Navy who was part of the Citizens’ Committee on Benghazi. He served honorably our country during 36 years. During his service to our nation Admiral Lyons was appointed to many important positions in the U.S. Navy. Admiral Lyons served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations from1983 to 1985 and subsequently as Commander-in-Chief, United States Pacific Fleet from 1985 to 1987. Admiral Lyons was interviewed by Roger Aronoff of Accuracy in Media, who also served on the Citizens’ Committee on Benghazi. The interview was published by the New Zeal Blog on February 15, 2013.
The interview was done the day after outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton´s testimony to Congress. Secretary Clinton, when asked repeatedly about the scandal and cover-up of Benghazi, Libya, she became very upset and at one point pounded the table. When asked why the Obama administration kept claiming for weeks after the attack that what had occurred in Libya was in response to an anti-Islamic video produced in the United States, when it was obvious that this was a lie, she answered âWhat difference does it make?â
Admiral Lyons, in response to the statement made by Secretary Clinton, responded the following: âRichard Nixon found out what the difference is when you lie to the American public and in his lie, it was only a bungled burglary attempt; nobody got killed. In this case, we had four Americans murdered. Furthermore, we knew, within a matter of hours, that this was determined, preplanned terrorist attack. So you have to ask yourself that âin perpetuating this lie, we had administration officials lying to Congressional committees. That´s a felony.â So, âwhat difference does it make?â Lyons explained, âIt makes all the difference in the world. You cannot flaunt the truth here, just walked away from it and, basically, tell the American public to stuff it. Thatâs not acceptable.â
Admiral Lyons has been highly critical regarding the way the Obama administration handled the attack on our Consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi. When asked about the report provided by Secretary Clinton´s Independent Accountability Review Board, which took several months to look into the terrorist attack, Admiral Lyons explained that, from his perspective, the board âwas like having the Mafia investigate a crime scene.â He said that Thomas Pickering, a former career employee of the State Department, who is now the chairman of the International Crisis Group, which is a Soros-funded group, could hardly be trusted to conduct a fair investigation. He said that you are never going to get the true story until you appoint a Special Prosecutor who can interview people under oath to find out what actually went on.
Now, of course, we have a Select Committee with the power to subpoena administration officials, including President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Secretary of State Leon Panetta. General Carter Ham, Commander of the United States African Command and Rear Admiral Charles M.Gaouette, who was in charge of Carrier Strike Group Three, which included the aircraft carrier U.S.S. John C.Stennis, were both fired for trying to send a rapid response team to Benghazi to save our people in violation of the order that they were given to stand down, meaning do nothing should be interviewed. Former CIA director, David Petraeus, should also be sent a subpoena.
Other high-ranking generals, as well as White House officials from the National Security Council who were aware of what happened at Benghazi, should be sent subpoenas and forced to testify under oath. Only then, will the truth be found out, and it could very well be career ending for Barack Obama.
In an interview with Lou Dobbs, Admiral Lyons, when asked what did he think that went on in Benghazi, he responded: âIf I had to speculate, I believe this was a bungled attack-kidnapping, the object being to kidnap Ambassador Stevens, and hold him in exchange for the Blind Sheikh, Omar Abdel Rahman, who sits in jail in the United States for his role in planning the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993.â Lyons explained that in June 2012 both the British Consulate and the International Red Cross had to close their offices due to the assassination attempt on the British Consul General and other assassinations. The bombing outside our special mission compound in Benghazi took place on June 6.
Ambassador Chris Stevens had requested additional security assistance on multiple locations. Secretary Clinton sent home Lieutenant Colonel. Wood and the 16-man security force which was at our embassy in Tripoli. The pleas from our ambassador for additional security were ignored and denied by the State Department. Lyons stated: âPerhaps this was supposed to be part of a kidnapping, hostage situation, holding him in exchange for the Blind Sheikh. Because killing Ambassador Stevens made no sense to me since he was the great facilitator in funneling the arms to the rebels, to other militias, many of which were al Qaeda-affiliated, who have been fighting our troops in Iraq. So why would you kill the golden goose? It made the no sense to me.â
Admiral Lyons was highly critical of the Obama administration for its lack of response to the terrorist attack against our men in our Consulate an CIA safe house in Benghazi. He explained that we had 130 Marines at our Base at Singonela, Sicily and another Marine detachment at our Naval base in Rota, Spain. We also had F-16 aircraft that could have been there in an hour.
Lyons also criticized the fact that the Obama administration did not ask for help from the other Western Consulates that had security forces and could have assisted our men. Later, Consul Generals stated that if they had been requested assistance, they would have provided it. Lastly, Lyons stated that what happened at Benghazi would make the Iran-Contra scandal look like childâs play.
During his interview Admiral Lyons covering another topic. He stated the following: âThe Muslim Brotherhood penetration in this country is really unconscionably. They have been able to penetrate almost every one of our government agencies. You see it reflected down in the administration´s directive, where we have to purge all of our training manuals and instructors on anything that purports the truth about Islam. Anything that is considered anti-Islamic must be purged, and instructors who do not fall in line, find themselves with new orders elsewhere. We have the Organization of Islamic Cooperation that our great Secretary of State has endorsed, which impinges on our First Amendment right of freedom of expression, and the administration is embracing this, that we leave it up to the 57 or 58 Islamic states that make up the organization, to determine what they consider to be insulting to Islam, and, therefore, they can impose sanctions or bring you to trial, or whatever on this. None of this makes any sense to me.â
Admiral Lyons, when asked what signal is being sent to Iran and Israel by sending advanced weapons to the president of Egypt, as well as the appointments of John Kerry to the State Department, Chuck Hagel to the Defense Department and John Brennan to the CIA, he responded: âCertainly, if I were Iran, I would be thrilled to death with those appointments.â He stated the following: âBecause none of them are for taking any military action against Iran, which is giving Iran a clear sailing for the development of their nuclear weapon capability. And it is not just their capability in Iran, you have got to look at what they have done in Latin America. We have Iranian operational missile bases today in Venezuela fully up and operational. They have been able to accomplish what the Soviet Union was unable to do in Cuba in 1962. We have cities in the United States today which are on their threat umbrella of those missiles that are in Venezuela. It needs to be addressed. In fact, they should be forced out of there post-haste. Either take them out, or we will take them out. I do not see that happeningâ.
Admiral Lyons ended the interview with Roger Aronoff by saying that the Muslim Brotherhood has a plan and that is: âIt is to institute Shariah law in the United States in place of our Constitution–they call it the âStealth Jihadâ–and, in their own words, to destroy us by our own miserable handsâ.
We have to thank this brave admiral for condemning the Obama administration for its lack of response and prevention in the terrorist attack against our diplomats in Benghazi and for participating in the commission. We need other retired generals and admirals to come forward and tell the American people the true story on Benghazi. There is no question in my mind that there were repeated lies and a huge cover-up, as well as criminal negligence, committed by high officials and by President Obama. As Admiral Lyons indicated felonies were committed and the newly appointed Select Committee needs to conduct a comprehensive investigation.
The danger that Admiral Lyons pointed out regarding of the infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood into our government is a clear and present danger. Unfortunately, president´s older brother, Malik Obama, was accused by the Vice President of the Supreme Court of Egypt on a television station in Cairo as “being the architect of the finances of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Additionally, Malik Obama works with the Da´wa organization in the Muslim Brotherhood-controlled and terrorists nation of Sudan.
How is it possible for Barack Obama, who promised to bring to justice the assassins of our people in Benghazi, not to send a drone kill Abu Khattala or Navy SEALs to arrest this terrorist and bring them to justice in our nation? Is it because he is President Obama’s ally? Why is politically corrupt pro-Obama established media not reporting this information? Why is the Select Committee not investigating the report of the Citizens Commission on Benghazi? How could President Obama and Secretary Clinton get away with supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda-linked terrorists organizations in Libya and violating the Patriot Act and other laws in our nation?
Conclusion
The Select Committee needs to investigate not only the terrorist attacks on the mission in Benghazi but also the Obama administration assistance to the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood and jihadists during the Civil War. Additionally, the Select Committee needs to investigate the White House cover-up with Muslim Brotherhood organizations in the United States and Muslim nations in the world.
President Obama entered into a war in Libya violating the Constitution since Congress did not authorized it. Later Obama had been engaged in a Middle Eastern gun-running operation without Congressional authority and in violation of United States laws. If the Select Committee does its job properly, it would uncover what my investigative research found months ago. The president violated his oath of office and multiple laws by sending weapons working with terrorist groups during the Civil War in Libya and later by sending weapons from Libya to Turkey knowingly that those weapons would eventually fall in the hands of al Qaeda-link terrorist groups fighting in Libya. Moreover, Obama worked with the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. and Muslim nations to engaged in a cover-up. This is shameful and Obama is a traitor which should be prosecuted.
For this reason, the House of Representatives must file impeachment charges against President Barack Obama. As pointed out earlier, President Obama committed treason, dereliction of duty, and criminal negligence in Libya during the Civil War against Qaddafi and his refusal to save our diplomats and Navy SEALs in Benghazi. President Barack Obama is unfit to be our commander-in-chief and must be impeached by the House of Representatives.
