I am proud to report I didn't read any of them, in the same way I didn't give in at Whole Foods the other night and buy a box of chocolate brownie mini-muffins -- although I confess I kept the box in my shopping cart until I got to the checkout counter.
So. The Benghazi story is now well-covered by many others, including Fox News, which means it's time for Pundita to turn her attention to other matters after taking a break this weekend.
Before signing off I want to list questions that John Batchelor asked in his November 1 post about Benghazi. He ran the questions together in one paragraph so I separated them into a list format; I think this makes it a little easier to comprehend the very grave issues related to the Benghazi attack. The issues vastly transcend Washington's frantic CYA leaks and counter-leaks on Benghazi:
Real Time Benghazi Puzzles
by John Batchelor
The John Batchelor Show
November 1, 2012
[...]
What of the report that there was a CIA UAV overhead that retired and was then replaced by a second CIA drone?
What of the report that neither drone was armed?
What of the report that there was an AC-130 gunship on another mission about an hour away that was available and was turned back or refused?
What to make of the report that Doherty and Woods were on the annex roof to "paint" a target for an intervention by air support?
What of the report of an advance reaction team (am told it is called a counter-intelligence force or CIF) was available from outside of Libya?
What of the report that POTUS and SecDef Panetta were together in the White House Situation Room around 5 pm ET (11 pm Benghazi time) and were able to watch the assault or its aftermath in real time?
What of the report that AFRICOM General Ham was at the Pentagon that day? ]
What of the report that General Martin Dempsey told General Ham to stand down the CIF team?
What of the report that SecDef Leon Panetta ordered a special operations unit to prepare to deploy from the US?
What decisions did POTUS make before he left for AF1? [to fly to Las Vegas, Nevada for a fundraiser]
What decisions did POTUS make enroute to Nevada?
What of the general observation about the chain of command that when POTUS is present, no one makes any final determination without his approval?
What of the report that the Benghazi CIA station was directed out of the White House by Counterterror Czar John Brennan -- in the same fashion Admiral John Poindexter and Colonel Oliver North once ran the Iran-Contra operation out of the White House?
Was there a presidential finding for the Benghazi operation? Was Ambassador Chris Stevens part of the operation?
Why was the Turkish ambassador meeting with Ambassador Chris Stevens just prior to the attack?
What is the relationship between POTUS and President Recip Erdogan of Turkey that the two countries share knowledge and connection with Libyan mercenaries associated with Jihadist/Islamist elements in Cyrenaica?
What does Libya get for contributing mercenaries to the so-called Free Syrian Army?
Fog of Election
The inquiry will go far in establishing what I am told is the Obama administration policy of making concessions to the strongmen of the Arab Spring. If Mr. Obama is reelected, the inquiry will trouble the second term in much the same way Iran-Contra troubled Mr. Reagan's second term.
.If Mr. Romney is elected, then the matter will fold neatly into the category, What Can Go Wrong and Why with Intervention in Libya?
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