Gregory Hicks: “I Swore an Oath to Uphold and Defend the Constitution …
I am Here to Honor That Oath.”
by Stewart Rhodes * May 09, 2013
One of the most moving statements made by star Benghazi witness Gregory Hicks during yesterday’s hearing was about his oath. During his opening statement, Hicks said, “On February 19th, 1991, I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. I am Here to Honor That oath.”
And honor it he did, with frank, honest, and heartfelt testimony that laid bare the horrendous fact that two inexplicable stand-down orders were given that left Hicks and Special Forces personnel in stunned disbelief and outrage, and left their brothers in Benghazi to fend for themselves.
Stand-down order #1 was when Hicks requested deployment of the special incident Foreign Emergency Support Team (FEST), which is specifically designed to handle such attacks. Hicks testified that the FEST team had dedicated aircraft capable of responding within four hours – which is exactly why that team was created after the attack on the USS Cole. When asked why the FEST team was not deployed, Hick’s answered, “I don’t know.”
Stand-down order #2 was when the Special Forces team in Tripoli was all set to jump on a C-130 and fly to Benghazi and rescue their brothers, when their commander, Lt. Col. Gibson, was ordered to stand-down and stay in Tripoli.
As Hicks said, “I told him to go get our people and that is what he wanted to do.” When asked how Colonel Gibson reacted to being told to stand-down, Hicks said he “was furious.”
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