“Frankly, had I been in the job at the time, I think my decisions would have been just as theirs were.” Bush-appointed Secretary of Defense Bob Gates on the administration’s response to the Benghazi attack
And…
“We don’t have a ready force standing by in the Middle East, and so getting somebody there in a timely way would have been very difficult, if not impossible.” Bush-appointed Secretary of Defense Bob Gates on the ability of the military to respond to Benghazi as it was happening
And…
“I would not have approved sending an aircraft, a single aircraft, over Benghazi under those circumstances.” Bush-appointed Secretary of Defense Bob Gates on the administration’s decision to not deploy air support during the Benghazi attacks
And the best of the bunch…
“It’s sort of a cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces. The one thing that our forces are noted for is planning and preparation before we send people in harm’s way, and there just wasn’t time to do that.” Bush-appointed Secretary of Defense Bob Gates on critics who expected the U.S. military to swing into immediate action in Benghazi during the attacks