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Gary Berntsen
Start Date/Time: Thursday, September 13, 2012 9:30 AM
End Date/Time: Thursday, September 13, 2012 10:00 AM
Recurring Event: One time event
Importance: Normal Priority
Description:

Gary Berntsen, Director of Concerned Veterans for America - Florida, is a decorated former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) career officer who served in the Directorate of Operations between October 1982 and June 2005. During his time at the CIA, he served as a CIA Station Chief on three separate occasions and led several of CIA’s most important counterterrorism deployments including the United States’ response to the East Africa Embassy bombings and the 9/11 attacks. In December 2001, Berntsen served as the Commander of all CIA forces in Eastern Afghanistan and led the agency’s Jawbreaker team in Tora Bora. He was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal in 2000 and the Intelligence Star in 2004. Mr. Berntsen is also a veteran of the United States Air Force.

 
Berntsen statement on Middle East- 9/12/12
 
Gary Berntsen, a member of Concerned Veterans for America, issued the following statement in response to attacks on American assets and personnel in the Middle East:
 
Tuesday’s attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt represent a chilling view of a Middle East where weak governments fail to provide security and stability. In Libya, this weakness is demonstrated in the government’s inability to maintain basic order. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood’s control of the country reflects abiding hostility toward the United States, manifested in the leadership’s unwillingness to provide adequate perimeter security to our embassy. 
 
Islamic fundamentalists and their Jihadist action elements used the creation of an independent film's negative portrayal of their Prophet as an excuse to go on a murdering rampage and sources now say that the attack on Benghazi was planned.  If the Libyan and Egyptian governments desire to demonstrate remorse for these unconscionable attacks on our diplomatic missions, they will not delay in arresting, trying and punishing those responsible to the fullest extent of the law. 
 
Secretary Clinton’s statement this morning is a good start, but the operative question is “what next.”  An easy, concrete step would be the Department of State putting the Libyan group Ansar al Sharia on the terrorist watch list and initiate all activities against them commensurate with U.S. military programs. We do not need to wait years for such action, as was the case with the lethal Haqqani network operating out of the tribal areas of Pakistan. Leadership is about acting swiftly to preempt continued attacks on the men and women who represent and defend American interests.
 
Concerned Veterans for America expresses our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in service at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. These attacks represent a direct affront to American values, and a challenge to our world standing. The U.S. should respond appropriately to make it clear that we absolutely will not abide violence targeting our citizens.  As we’ve said, Secretary Clinton’s comments this morning were a good beginning – especially after a troublingly slow public response from official Washington yesterday and last night.
 
We hope that our nation's leaders keep their priorities straight and respond in a manner consistent with our principles to the crisis in Cairo and Benghazi.  We face many crises today.  Not all of them are as visually compelling as the image of a mob storming another U.S. embassy, or the horrible news that America’s representatives abroad had been assassinated.  But their implications are no less troubling for our country.  They are just as deep-rooted, and just as complex, as the circumstances that led to yesterday’s attacks.  They are not new, and should not have been a surprise to our intelligence and diplomatic community.  How our government, and this administration, meets this crisis will give us insights to how they will face the other crises on our horizon.
 
Created by Aaron Flint On Wednesday, September 12, 2012 12:00 AM

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