Report says U.S. Marines in Cairo not allowed to carry live ammunition (Video)
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</FORM>A stunning report released Wednesday night at the national security newsletter NightWatch says that U.S. Marines guarding the embassy in Cairo were not allowed to carry live ammunition, thereby limiting their ability to protect the facility when it came under attack, the Washington Free Beacon said Thursday.
According to NightWatch, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson "did not permit US Marine guards to carry live ammunition, according to USMC blogs. Thus she neutralized any US military capability that was dedicated to preserve her life and protect the US Embassy."
"In this respect," NightWatch added, "she did not defend US sovereign territory and betrayed her oath of office. She neutered the Marines posted to defend the embassy, trusting the Egyptians over the Marines.?
Egyptian protesters at the US embassy in Cairo on Sept. 11, 2012.
Photo credit:
Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images
NightWatch also said that "Ambassador Patterson at no time denounced in public the Islamists who violated her Embassy."
U.S. officials, however, have not commented on the report, and Time magazine?s Battleland blog said that "enior U.S. officials late Wednesday declined to discuss in detail the security at either Cairo or Benghazi, so answers may be slow in coming.?
Battleland also said they could not find the blogs that former veteran Defense Intelligence Agency analyst John McCreary cited in his report.
"With or without a weapon, Marines are always armed,? Pentagon spokesman George Little said Thursday afternoon, according to an update at Battleland. ?I?ve heard nothing to suggest they don?t have ammunition."
"The U.S. ambassador to any nation ultimately decides whether Marines are authorized to carry ammunition, according to a GOP national security adviser knowledgeable about American embassy protocols," Adam Kredo wrote at the Free Beacon.
?In the end, the ambassador of any country has the final call on what to do in a country,? the adviser told Kredo. ?The buck stops with you. You make every decision.?
U.S. Marines are typically used to protect embassies and other facilities abroad, but Kredo wrote that that the Obama administration was apparently "relying on Egypt?s new Muslim Brotherhood-backed government to ensure American security, a move observers are questioning as violence in Cairo continues to rage."
The consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was in worse shape as it had no Marines assigned to protect the facility, Politico reported Wednesday.
"The Benghazi consulate had 'lock-and-key' security, not the same level of defenses as a formal embassy," Politico added.
A Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team consisting of 50 Marines has been deployed to Libya.
"This is startling and troubling news, especially in light of the fact that the day before yesterday's attacks, September 10, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri made direct threats against Americans in Libya to avenge the death of Abu Yahya al-Libi, a high-ranking al-Qaeda official taken out by an American drone attack last June," John Nolte wrote at Breitbart.com on Wednesday.
"It is important for intelligence analysts to never forget that the fundamental purpose of US intelligence, as stated in the legislative history of the US National Security Act of 1947, is to keep the US, its persons, property and its interests safe. Yesterday, US intelligence apparently did none of them," NightWatch said in a final note.
- Cairo embassy attack
- September 13, 2012
- By: Joe Newby
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</FORM>A stunning report released Wednesday night at the national security newsletter NightWatch says that U.S. Marines guarding the embassy in Cairo were not allowed to carry live ammunition, thereby limiting their ability to protect the facility when it came under attack, the Washington Free Beacon said Thursday.
According to NightWatch, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson "did not permit US Marine guards to carry live ammunition, according to USMC blogs. Thus she neutralized any US military capability that was dedicated to preserve her life and protect the US Embassy."
"In this respect," NightWatch added, "she did not defend US sovereign territory and betrayed her oath of office. She neutered the Marines posted to defend the embassy, trusting the Egyptians over the Marines.?
Egyptian protesters at the US embassy in Cairo on Sept. 11, 2012.
Photo credit:
Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images
NightWatch also said that "Ambassador Patterson at no time denounced in public the Islamists who violated her Embassy."
U.S. officials, however, have not commented on the report, and Time magazine?s Battleland blog said that "
Battleland also said they could not find the blogs that former veteran Defense Intelligence Agency analyst John McCreary cited in his report.
"With or without a weapon, Marines are always armed,? Pentagon spokesman George Little said Thursday afternoon, according to an update at Battleland. ?I?ve heard nothing to suggest they don?t have ammunition."
"The U.S. ambassador to any nation ultimately decides whether Marines are authorized to carry ammunition, according to a GOP national security adviser knowledgeable about American embassy protocols," Adam Kredo wrote at the Free Beacon.
?In the end, the ambassador of any country has the final call on what to do in a country,? the adviser told Kredo. ?The buck stops with you. You make every decision.?
U.S. Marines are typically used to protect embassies and other facilities abroad, but Kredo wrote that that the Obama administration was apparently "relying on Egypt?s new Muslim Brotherhood-backed government to ensure American security, a move observers are questioning as violence in Cairo continues to rage."
The consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was in worse shape as it had no Marines assigned to protect the facility, Politico reported Wednesday.
"The Benghazi consulate had 'lock-and-key' security, not the same level of defenses as a formal embassy," Politico added.
A Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team consisting of 50 Marines has been deployed to Libya.
"This is startling and troubling news, especially in light of the fact that the day before yesterday's attacks, September 10, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri made direct threats against Americans in Libya to avenge the death of Abu Yahya al-Libi, a high-ranking al-Qaeda official taken out by an American drone attack last June," John Nolte wrote at Breitbart.com on Wednesday.
"It is important for intelligence analysts to never forget that the fundamental purpose of US intelligence, as stated in the legislative history of the US National Security Act of 1947, is to keep the US, its persons, property and its interests safe. Yesterday, US intelligence apparently did none of them," NightWatch said in a final note.
