‘Sufficient proof Clinton pushing false narrative on Benghazi’ – attack survivor
The proof Hillary Clinton is pushing a “false narrative” trying to cover things up in Benghazi and skirt her responsibility is “out there”, attack survivor Kris Paronto told RT.
RT: You were part of the security team that got involved in the fighting. First of all, what do you remember about that night?
Kris Paronto: I remember the firefights, there were multiple firefights. I remember calling multiple times for air support. I remember being told to stand down. I remember being told to wait on two other occasions, I remember there being a delay. And then you also remember the dead: I remember seeing Sean’s body being pulled out of the window. And then I also remember seeing Tyrone and Glen from meters away getting obliterated by mortars at five o’clock, roughly about 4:35 in the morning.
RT: So much controversy about that night. You said you were told to stand down, and you guys went in there anyway and tried to save lives. How do you feel about that?
KP: Well, from the standpoint of military personnel we did the right thing. From the civilian side and from the leadership that was telling us to stand down, they made a huge mistake and it cost lives, and it cost Ambassador Chris Stevens and it cost Sean Smith their lives. It was a tragic mistake, but I’m very proud of the team because we bucked orders and we did what SEALs, Rangers and Marines are trying to do, and that’s go and try to put our lives on the line to protect others.
RT: Why do you think you were told to stand down? What was the rationale behind that?
KP: I think initially… it was just a mistake. You had a civilian that was overwhelmed in a very volatile combat situation that didn’t have the experience and pride got in the way and he didn’t want to turn it over to contractors. This is what we were looked at even though we were all former Spec Ops guys. So I do think initially it was just a mistake, he made a bad call and the bad call cost lives.
RT: You said a number of times mistakes were made. Hillary Clinton said nobody did anything wrong in the handling of the Benghazi attack. What do you make of her statement?
KP: First of all, those seven investigations she was talking about at the time… One had only interviewed the team that was on the ground. And there has only been one committee that actually interviewed everybody that was on the ground and that’s the Benghazi select committee run by Trey Gowdy.
So, honestly, that’s a false narrative she’s trying to push that things were done and nothing wrong was found. Well, of course, nothing wrong was found because the investigations weren’t complete.
Also whether there, mistakes were made or whether there were failures or not they fall on the highest level of the chain of command and that is the State Department and that was her. Whether she knew about it or not, that makes no difference to me. Your success of failure falls on the highest chain of command and if the first subordinates didn’t tell her what was going on, well, then they weren’t trained correctly and that makes her to me unqualified to be president of the United States.
RT: Obviously, you think people have lied, mistakes were made. What’s important for the public to find out?
KP: First of all, listen to the guys that are on the ground. Listen to the team that was there. Listen to the guys that sacrificed their lives. Listen to the guys that bled there. Listen to the family members who on multiple occasions said that Hillary did lie to them and that she went on TV and called them liars. I think that’s a travesty. I think you’ve got a very bad person, and it’s my opinion, that’s running for president that’s got the democratic nomination. I think she is trying to cover this up because it could have a very negative and it still is having a very negative effect on her becoming the president of the US, which I’m against. I would say that with honesty, I’m against her becoming the president of the US. Failures were made and there is no reason to think that those failures or some more failures won’t be made if she becomes president of the US and people’s lives will be lost again they are going to get covered up.
RT: It’s very hard to prove things, isn’t it? Nobody can prove that she lied after Benghazi but there an awful lot of evidence, isn’t there, that she was telling the public one thing what turned out to be the truth to people close to her and to top ranking politicians at the same time. How to prove but there is a lot of evidence?
KP: Well, I don’t know if it’s hard. Isn’t it proof right there? You’ve got the emails. A lot of those emails have been scrubbed but you still have found some emails. You’ve got the family members saying that they were lied to. Why on Earth would Pat Smith and Shirl, Tyrone’s mom, (I don’t want to give her last name), Katy Quigley, Glen’s sister, why on Earth would they come forward and say: “Yes, we were told by Hilary Clinton that was due to a video.” I’d be honest; I don’t even know what party side they’re on. I just don’t see there not being enough proof.
The proof is out there. People just don’t want to see it, especially her supporters.
RT: Why should people be particularly worried? You know, politicians lie to us all the time.
KP: You know, why do we have to accept it? And you’re exactly right. I’ve worked in several countries over my ten year span of deploying. Politics and politicians for the most part… it’s a dirty world. But why on Earth do we have to accept it that Yes, our politicians lie, so you know what its okay if she does?
I think it’s come to a point that we need to stop that because of what’s happened and because of Benghazi. It’s shone the light that there are mistakes made and politicians try to cover them up. And also sometimes nefarious actions are taken and people’s lives are lost. I think it’s time to put a stop to that. And that’s why the team and myself are being more outspoken now. Now that the story is vivid and we can be a little more candid because we’re out on our own and we’re out talking about ‘13 Hours’ and we’re honoring the guys that died that night, which should be honored and not to cover up. These cover-ups need to be exposed… Would they all be exposed I don’t know. But I’m doing my best to try to get the truth out there and have people wake up.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
