US Ambassador Chris Stevens (AP)
US drones were in the skies over Benghazi during last month’s fatal attack on US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, a new report claims.
Defense Department officials weighed sending troops to rescue Stevens and more than 30 other Americans whose compound was surrounded by an angry mob on Sept. 11, says the report by CBS News.
But no US counterattack or rescue effort was carried out.
MOTHER OF SLAIN BENGHAZI CONSULATE STAFFER LIVID OVER LACK OF ANSWERS
The drone and other reconnaissance aircraft observed the final hours of the protracted, seven-hour battle at the US Consulate.
The State Department, White House and Pentagon declined to say what military options were available.
A White House official told CBS News that, at the start of the attack, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “looked at available options, and the ones we exercised had our military forces arrive in less than 24 hours, well ahead of timelines laid out in established policies.”
A team of “special operators” was moved from central Europe to a US naval base in Sigonella, Italy, an hour’s flight from Libya, CBS said, citing Pentagon sources.
Fighter jets and Specter AC-130 gunships were also available at nearby bases, military sources told CBS.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought clearances from Libya to fly in their airspace, CBS reports. But the Obama administration won’t reveal further details on that front.
Retired CIA officer Gary Berntsen tells CBS that help could have arrived sooner.
“You find a way to make this happen,” Berntsen told the network. “There isn’t a plan for every single engagement. Sometimes you have to be able to make adjustments. They made zero adjustments in this. They stood and they watched and our people died.”