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The false conclusion from the White House teleconference was that the #Benghazi attack had been a singular event, resulting in Ambassador Stevens being taken hostage. The Pentagon shifted the mission from one of an attack on the Benghazi compound to one of rescuing Stevens. (1/7)
Pentagon decision makers assumed they were facing another hostage rescue operation, such as the 4/12/09 Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips rescue or the 1/25/12 operation that rescued Jessica Buchanan and Paul Hagen Thisted. (2/7)
Pentagon commanders should have used the joint operating planning process, as promulgated at the time in the August 2011 Joint Operation Planning (JP 5-0) document. (3/7)
The joint planning process, which achieves objectives by determining how to use military capabilities "in time and space," is iterative. Planners may need to repeat steps or even start over as the environment changes or new information is learned. (4/7)
Instead, Pentagon officials implemented a contingency plan and issued orders for the operation they named "Jukebox Lotus," but they engaged in a disjointed decision process. (5/7)
Operation Jukebox Lotus orders stated that the end state was securing American facilities and interests in Tripoli, not #Benghazi where real help was needed, and posturing forces for follow-on missions in Libya. (6/7)
As a result, Leon Panetta and Pentagon officials failed to understand that their actions and orders on the night of 9/11/12 never had a chance to succeed. (7/7)
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