Travel around the world has never been easier, especially if you have your own fleet of jet airplanes.  However, as we have learned from recent testimony regarding the Benghazi, Libya scandal, if your travel plans include touring Benghazi, this destination is one of the hardest in the world to reach. 

We are being asked to believe that even though they are well equipped, trained, and dispersed throughout the world at great cost to us, our military and other armed operatives like the CIA are incapable of a quick response in the case of a life-threatening terrorist emergency like Benghazi. 

In February, the Joint Chiefs chairman, General Martin Dempsey, was asked by Senator Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, why F-16s at Aviano Air Base in Italy weren't deployed to Benghazi that night.  The General's response was:

"This is the middle of the night now, these are not aircraft on strip alert," Dempsey said. "They're there as part of our commitment to NATO and Europe. And so, as we looked at the time line , it was pretty clear that it would take up to 20 hours or so to get them there." 

Our military touts itself for operating on honor, integrity, pride, leave no man behind-type of high standards. This testimony from a military commander is disgraceful. 

From my home computer, I can go online and book a Lufthansa commercial flight from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Tripoli, Libya and my flying time is listed as 18 hours, that includes 2 stops.  Transferring and flying a charter from Tripoli to Benghazi, let's add another approximate 3 hours.  The military powers that be in Washington would have us believe that I can leave Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and be touring Benghazi, Libya in approximately the same time it takes our military to respond to a terrorist attack.

Based on the distance from our airbase in Italy to Benghazi, the flying time to Benghazi would appear to be about 1 hour for a fighter jet...a direct route from Italy's coast to Libya's coast over the Mediterranean Sea.  However, according to the Generals' testimony, it was the "middle of the night" and the aircraft are not on "strip alert."  Not having the fearless military mind of the general, only possessing common sense, if we have military personnel, aircraft and equipment approximately one hour flying time away, it is inconceivable that it would take 19 hours of preparations to get a plane or planes into the air in order to account for his 20 hours to get them there scenario...regardless of the time of night or strip alert....unbelievably disgraceful. 

Response time being of the essence was known to the military and political decision makers.  Reports were coming from those on the ground and a drone was circling overhead recording all that was occurring on the ground in real time.  This General's apparent response to their dire situation at the Consulate...the military air base is an hour away, but we'll be there in 20 hours.     

Somewhere in this entire Benghazi scandal is the disgusting stench of politics in our country, that has now so permeated Washington that it has even seeped into our military. We unfortunately now expect as much from politicians, but not our military. 

The President and/or his administration and political machine are willing to allow innocent Americans to be murdered in a prolonged terror attack, without benefit of military relief, while those in power apparently refused to provide such relief, apparently for fear of affecting the President's election prospects.  The details, excuses, half-truths or other explanations aren't even required to evaluate this incident.  The essence of this event is that a conscious decision was made that American citizens would be left to be murdered to protect the President's election prospects, while the terrorists were relatively unimpeded in their free tour of the American Consulate in Benghazi.