On September 14th, 2012 Camp Bastion, a British-run NATO compound in Afghanistan, was attacked by the Taliban, resulting in the deaths of two Marines and the worst lost of aircraft since Vietnam. Michelle Malkin deserves huge kudos for staying on top of the story as details have emerged over the last several months ~

… the Taliban waged an intricately coordinated, brutal attack on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan last fall — three days after the deadly siege on our consulate in Libya and after months of prior security incidents and warnings. Fifteen jihadists disguised in stolen American combat fatigues penetrated the complex. They used rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and other weapons to wipe out nearly an entire squadron of Marine Harrier jets worth an estimated $200 million.
 
Along with the most devastating loss of U.S. airpower since Vietnam, two heroic U.S. Marines — Lt. Col. Christopher Raible and Sgt. Bradley Atwell — were killed in the battle, and nearly a dozen others were injured.

Military officials refused to release details of the fateful budget and strategy decisions that led to the attack. But Deborah Hatheway, aunt of Sgt. Atwell and the family’s spokesperson, and other Camp Bastion families learned on their own that their loved ones were left vulnerable to attack by military leaders who outsourced watchtower security on the base to soldiers from Tonga.

 
Get that? In hostile territory we outsource security to the locals!

(Correction: “Tonga” isn’t “local.” See 9-30-13 update)

“The attack only occurred because of an egregious failure in basic infantry practices. … It is painfully obvious that this attack would not have been successful, or likely even attempted, if not for multiple security failures at Leatherneck/Bastion.”

~ Nick Francona, former Marine Corps Ground Intelligence Officer ~

 
Apparently U.S. Central Command is investigating, especially the action or inaction of Maj. Gen. Charles “Mark” Gurganus who was ultimately responsible for base security at the time of the attack. And, as Malkin reports ~

…there is now movement on Capitol Hill to help Camp Bastion families whose information requests have been stymied. Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., has written Marine/CENTCOM leadership on behalf of the victims’ families. (Sgt. Atwell and his family are from Indiana.) Rokita told me in a statement this week: “This is about transparency and accountability. I want to make sure that Sgt. Atwell’s family, Lt. Col. Raible’s family and the American people get the full truth about the Camp Bastion attack.”

 
At the time it occurred, news of this story was lost in the Benghazi smoke & mirrors show. Just one more tragic sideshow in the Obama Cirque du Destruction. But the families – and Americans who still give a damn – want answers.