WE NEED THE TRUTH ABOUT BENGHAZI

On December 30, 2009 a suicide bomber dispatched by Al Qaida detonated the explosive vest he was wearing inside of the CIA's Khost Base near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Seven CIAofficers, including close friends of mine, were killed. A number of others were wounded.

On October 19, 2010, the CIAannounced the results of its inquiry into the causes of this tragedy. The issues were legion. How in an area known to be so dangerous, in the midst of a struggle against such a ruthless foe, was an individual brought unsearched into such a sensitive facility? Why was he put in immediate proximity to virtually the entire complement of the Base? Who had approved the handling of this case in this fashion? The number of gross errors in the tradecraft used in high-risk environments that would have had to occur to produce such a result was staggering.

Despite this, the CIA's review, after acknowledging some errors were made, concluded that no disciplinary action of any kind should be taken against anyone. No one would be relieved. No one would be removed from service. In the words of then CIA Director Leon Panetta, all of the decisions made that lead to the Khost debacle were "reasonable" and based on the findings of the task force and the independent review, responsibility could not "be assigned to any particular individual or group".

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the bureaucratic language of Washington I will translate. "There are far too many senior officers with their fingerprints on this op to dig any further. Close the file."

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