Retired officer thankful for Ty Woods story

Thank you for having the guts to print the story about Ty Woods (Oct. 9, 2013 Eagle).

I am retired now due to injuries I sustained in the Persian Gulf. I racked up 30 years as an intelligence officer. For the past two years I have been privately telling people I know, very few of them in fact, that Benghazi had nothing to do with Libya and everything to do with Syria. It's time the truth came out. Because this is far from over, and only the grid coordinates will ever change. Benghazi is the oesult of amateurs in leadership positions who continually think they can run military operations remotely.

With a TS/SI Clearance and my experience as an officer, I am hog tied due to non-disclosure agreements. However, when it walks like a duck.... This was a black bag operation from day one that has been covered, lied about, tried to make go away..and it smells worse now than ever before. Please do not let the memory of these fallen men vanish into the A.D.D. mentality of American Society. The smoke and mirrors that was used at the beginning didn't work, and there is a damn good reason it failed.

These men deserve better. They did not take on the job to be heros, nor for attaboys, or recognition, or bravado and especially not for medals and "I love me" certificates.

The ambassador deserves better. Their families deserve the TRUTH if nothing else, and the future of operations depends on those running it knowing they are not on a suicide mission and have SOME hope of backup coming. Everyone, including me, knows going into something like that, that we are "expendable" when it comes down to the hard times. And we're prepared to give our lives. That's what we do. It's a way of life, not a calling. But we also know from day one that we have "force multipliers" at our disposal that level the playing field when we are out numbered as badly as these men were. Similar to Mogadishu in imbalance.

There is a learning curve in most operational environments. And it's uncomfortable at times, however this was a blatant (expletive). Heads need to roll. Lessons need to be learned. It's not about revenge or punishment. It's about making sure this NEVER happens again, and if it does, the "no questions asked" accountability and consequences of leaving our men on the battle field without backup, simply because it was easier than helping them defend themselves and complete the mission. The decision makers who decided their lives were not worth saving, and that "cover" was more important need their heads handed to them. "Cover" could have been maintained even more so and longer had they done the RIGHT thing and sent the QRF from Aviano. Even if they got there late, there was a very good chance they could have rescinded the victory from those still in the area.  Instead, they got the gear, AND are still celebrated!!

THAT is the real travesty in this pathetic debacle. Every leader knows, obviously with the exception of THIS "Commander in Chief" who had never been in a leadership position prior, that you DON"T SEND MEN INTO HARMS WAY knowing they are being led to slaughter. You give them whatever they need to complete the mission and pray for a lot of luck besides. This was blatantly a bad operation, in a bad area, with bad people involved from the git go and EVERYONE INVOLVED KNEW IT WAS GOING SIDEWAYS a long time before these men died! There are records to prove that. And people alive today who CAN testify to that fact as well.  

It's apparent that you folks at least at THIS media outlet have some intestinal fortitude to write what's real, and get the truth out.

Even if it's late.  

The real issue is yet to come. Hillary. Again coming back to haunt the military, just like she did when we were in Bosnia, Somalia (with George Stephanopolis as well in the way), and the total lack of understanding and leadership from the White House, Pentagon on down. The CIA does some incredible things and there are dedicated men and women who have shown their true colors, valor and heroism. But ......they have over reached their knowledge base and are thumping their chests like a gorilla because of their success with UAVs. That does NOT make them subject matter experts in close quarter combat, or "military operations." They dorked this one up badly, and need to get back into their box to let the professionals who do this type of thing for a living RUN things as they should be run. Did we learn NOTHING from Mogadishu? (along with a few other places we got our asses handed to us?) OPCON as well as OPSEC were compromised when civilians decided they outranked Commanders on the ground, changed the mission, then insisted we do it in the DAYTIME! "We Own the Night" is not just a cool motto!  We do things in the dark for a REASON!  Future operations all over the world are now more risky and subject to more casualties because of what the enemy was able to KEEP when they took down the warehouses in Benghazi.  

Once again, my sincere gratitude that you had the GUTS to publish the story about Ty...

I salute you.