Benghazi victim’s mother endorses GOP call for full probe

The mother of slain State Department employee Sean Smith has endorsed Republicans’ call for a select committee to investigate last year’s attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.

In a letter to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), Patricia Smith wrote that her son and the three other Americans killed on Sept. 11, 2012 — including Ambassador Christopher Stevens — were “abandoned” by the White House. Wolf is the sponsor of H. Res. 36, which has 89 co-sponsors.

{mosads}“Please, Please help me find out who is responsible and fix it so no more of our sons & daughters are abandoned by the country they love,” Smith wrote.

Smith was an IT officer at the U.S. mission, according to the State Department. Hours before the attack, he posted a message on a gaming forum saying the installation appeared to be under surveillance.

“Assuming we don’t die tonight,” he said. “We saw one of our ‘police’ that guard the compound taking pictures.”

In her letter, his mother says he shared those concerns with her as well.

“I especially want to know WHY the four were abandoned the way they were,” she wrote. “My son told me that he saw someone taking pictures just before this happened and reported it. He told me they asked repeatedly for better security.”

Smith’s letter comes days after 700 special operations veterans endorsed the resolution.

Wolf’s resolution would combine all existing investigations into a single review of the attack and the administration’s response, similar to the select committees that were established during Watergate and the Iran Contra scandals of the 1970s. He has urged Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to establish the panel.

Here’s Smith’s full letter:

April 10, 2013

Hon. Frank R. Wolf

This letter is to endorse resolution H. Res. 36 to create a Select Committee to investigate the Benghazi  attacks.

I am the mother of Sean Smith, one of the four people murdered in Benghazi by terrorists along with ambassador Chris Stevens and ex-seals Ty Woods and Glen Daugherty. When I was in Wash. DC at the reception of the caskets, I asked for and received promises from Pres. Obama, Hillary Clinton, Leon Panetta, VP Biden and several other dignitaries in attendance. They all looked me directly in the eyes and promised they would find out and let me know. I got only one call from a clerk about a month later quoting from the time line, which I already had.

I agree completely with items 1 thru 16 of this resolution. I especially want to know WHY the four were abandoned the way they were. My son told me that he saw someone taking pictures just before this happened and reported it. He told me they asked repeatedly for better security.

Please, Please help me find out who is responsible and fix it so no more of our sons & daughters are abandoned by the country they love. It is very difficult to find out Leon Panetta advised Pres. Obama that the attack was occurring and Pres. Obama went to bed without sending help. It is too late for my son but not too late for those that follow.

I have been following John McCain and Lindsay Graham hoping they had the ability to get some answers but no luck. Hillary finally testified but didn’t answer the questions (i.e. If they were watching this happen in real time, why wasn’t help sent).

Patricia A. Smith

Mother of Sean Smith

Killed in Benghazi

Ps Sean was in Special Operations in Okinawa before joining the State Dept.