Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


            US Diplomat: Military Help Sought During Benghazi Attack

   by VOA News

   The former deputy head of the U.S. embassy in Libya says he sought
   military assistance during last year's deadly attack on the American
   diplomatic mission in Benghazi - but was told the nearest U.S. airbase
   was in Italy, too far away to be of any help.

   Gregory Hicks told a congressional panel Wednesday that he was in
   repeated contact with U.S. officials in Washington - including
   then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Libyan officials - as the
   September 11 attack unfolded on the lightly defended Benghazi outpost.

   ''At one point, Hicks said he asked a U.S. defense official whether he
   could get military assistance to help repel the assault on the Benghazi
   consulate.
   But Hicks said he was told it would take U.S. planes stationed at an
   air base in Italy two to three hours to get to Libya and that no air
   tankers were available to refuel attack aircraft. Other Pentagon
   officials have told investigators it would have taken even longer.

   Hicks and two other State Department officials appeared before the
   Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the
   latest congressional hearing into the assault that killed U.S.
   ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other American diplomats.

   Congressional Republicans accuse the Obama administration of
   deliberately misleading the public about the details of the attack.
   But Democrats say the investigations are a politically motivated
   attempt to discredit Clinton, a popular U.S. political figure who could
   seek the 2016 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

   In his opening statement, committee chairman Congressman Darrell Issa
   said key Obama administration officials have declined to answer the
   panel's questions about the attack.  The lead Democrat on the panel,
   Congressman Elijah Cummings, accused Republicans of politicizing the
   investigation.

   An independent investigation found a series of State Department
   management failures contributed to the security breakdown at Benghazi
   that led to the deaths of the four U.S. envoys.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/us-diplomat-military-help-sought-beng
   hazi-attack/1657188.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-diplomat-military-help-sought-benghazi-attack/1657188.html