The Benghazi Attack, 2012
Benghazi, Libya
(Wikipedia)
The Battle of Benghazi was a major event in Libya and the rest of the Middle East. The battle took place before the time of ISIS but it had a big influence over events related to ISIS which have taken place there since 2012. Here is a summary of the events that occurred on 9/11/12.
The 2012 Benghazi attack took place on the evening of September 11, 2012, when Islamic militants attacked the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith, Stevens was the first U.S. Ambassador killed in the line of duty since 1979. The attack has also been referred to as the Battle of Benghazi.
Several hours later, a second assault targeted a different compound about one mile away, killing CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty. Ten others were also injured in the attacks.
Initially, top U.S. officials and the media reported that the Benghazi attack was a spontaneous protest triggered by an anti-Muslim video, Innocence of Muslims. Subsequent investigations determined that there was no such protest and that the attacks were premeditated. Captured suspect Ahmed Abu Khattala stated that the assault was indeed in retaliation for the video Innocence of Muslims.
Background –American Presence in Libya
Within months of the start of the Libyan revolution in February 2011, the CIA began building a covert presence in Benghazi. Elite counter-terrorist operators from America’s Delta Force were deployed to Libya as analysts, instructing the rebels on specifics about weapons and tactics.
Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was named the first liaison with the Libyan opposition in March 2011. After the end of the war, both the CIA and the U.S. State Department were tasked with continuing to identify and collect arms that had flooded the country during the war, particularly shoulder-fired missiles taken from the arsenal of the Qaddafi regime, as well as securing Libyan chemical weapons stockpiles, and helping to train Libya’s new intelligence service.
By the time of the attack, dozens of CIA operatives were on the ground in Benghazi. In addition, in the summer of 2012, American Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) missions had begun to target Libyan militias linked to the Al-Qaeda network of Yasin al-Suri.
Multiple anonymous sources reported that the diplomatic mission in Benghazi was used by the CIA as a cover to smuggle weapons from Libya to anti-Assad rebels in Syria. Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh cites an anonymous former senior Defense Department intelligence official, saying “The consulate’s only mission was to provide cover for the moving of arms. It had no real political role.” The attack allegedly brought an end to the purported U.S. involvement, but did not stop the smuggling according to Hersh’s source.
In January 2014, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence cast doubt on this alleged U.S. involvement and reported that “All CIA activities in Benghazi were legal and authorized. On-the-record testimony establishes that the CIA was not sending weapons from Libya to Syria, or facilitating other organizations or states that were transferring weapons from Libya to Syria.”
According to a local security official, he and a battalion commander had met with U.S. diplomats three days before the Benghazi attack and warned the Americans about deteriorating security in the area. The official told CNN that he advised the diplomats, “The situation is frightening; it scares us.”
Ambassador Stevens’ diary, which was later found at the compound, recorded his concern about the growing al-Qaeda presence in the area and his worry about being on an al-Qaeda hit list.
U.S. security officer Eric Nordstrom twice requested additional security for the mission in Benghazi from the State Department. His requests were denied and according to Nordstrom, State Department, official Charlene Lamb wanted to keep the security presence in Benghazi “artificially low.”
On December 30, 2012, the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released a report, “Flashing Red: A Special Report on the Terrorist Attack at Benghazi,” wherein it was determined:
In the months [between February 2011 and September 11, 2012] leading up to the attack on the Temporary Mission Facility in Benghazi, there was a large amount of evidence gathered by the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) and from open sources that Benghazi was increasingly dangerous and unstable, and that a significant attack against American personnel there was becoming much more likely. While this intelligence was effectively shared within the Intelligence Community (IC) and with key officials at the Department of State, it did not lead to a commensurate increase in security at Benghazi nor to a decision to close the American mission there, either of which would have been more than justified by the intelligence presented. The RSO [Regional Security Officer] in Libya compiled a list of 234 security incidents in Libya between June 2011 and July 2012, 50 of which took place in Benghazi.
The desire of the State Department to maintain a low profile in Benghazi has been cited as the reason why the State Department circumvented their own Overseas Security Policy Board (OSPB) standards for diplomatic security.
In the aftermath, Hillary Clinton sought to take responsibility for the security lapses at Benghazi and expressed personal regret. In her January 2013 testimony before Congress, Secretary Clinton claimed security decisions at the Benghazi compound had been made by others, stating, “The specific security requests pertaining to Benghazi … were handled by the security professionals in the [State] Department. I didn’t see those requests, I didn’t approve them, I didn’t deny them.”
Attack
The Benghazi attack consisted of military assaults on two separate U.S. compounds. The first assault occurred at the main diplomatic compound, approximately 300 yards long and 100 yards wide, at about 9:40 pm local time (3:40 pm Eastern Time). A mortar fire attack on a CIA annex 1.2 miles away began at about 4:00 am the following morning and lasted for 11 minutes.
Between 125 and 150 gunmen, “some wearing the Afghan-style tunics favored by Islamic militants,” are reported to have participated in the assault. Weapons they used during the attack included rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), hand grenades, AK-47 and FN F2000 assault rifles, diesel canisters, mortars, and heavy machine guns and artillery mounted on gun trucks.
The assault began at nightfall, with the attackers sealing off streets leading to the main compound with gun trucks The trucks bore the logo of Ansar al-Sharia, a group of Islamist militants working with the local government to manage security in Benghazi.
The attackers stated they were acting in response to Innocence of Muslims. No more than seven Americans were in the compound, including Ambassador Stevens.
Stevens was visiting Benghazi at the time to review plans to establish a new cultural center and modernize a hospital. The ambassador also “needed to [prepare a] report … on the physical and the political and security environment in Benghazi to support an action memo to convert Benghazi from a temporary facility to a permanent facility.”
Stevens had his last meeting of the day with a Turkish diplomat, and escorted the Turkish diplomat to the main gate at about 8:30 pm local time. The street outside the compound was calm, and the State Department reported no unusual activity during the day outside. Stevens retired to his room at about 9:00 pm.
About 9:40 pm local time large numbers of armed men shouting “Allāhu Akbar” (God is great) approached the compound from multiple directions. They then threw grenades over the wall and entered the compound with automatic weapons fire, RPGs, and heavier weapons.
A Diplomatic Security Service agent viewed on the consulate’s security cameras “a large number of armed men, flowing into the compound.” He hit the alarm and started shouting, “Attack! Attack!” over the loudspeaker. Phone calls were made to the embassy in Tripoli, the Diplomatic Security Command Center in Washington, the February 17th Martyrs Brigade and a U.S. quick reaction force located at the annex compound a little more than a mile away.
Ambassador Stevens telephoned Deputy Chief of Mission Gregory Hicks in Tripoli to tell him the consulate was under attack. Hicks did not recognize the phone number so he did not answer it, twice. On the third call Hicks answered the call.
Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent Scott Strickland secured Stevens and Sean Smith, an information management officer, in the main building’s safe haven. The rest of the agents left to retrieve their weapons and tried to return to the main building.
The attackers entered the main building and attempted to enter the safe haven. They then spread diesel fuel in the room and set fires. Stevens, Smith, and Strickland moved to the nearby bathroom, but then decided to leave the safe haven after being overcome by smoke. Strickland exited through the window, but Stevens and Smith did not follow him. Strickland returned several times but could not find them in the smoke; he went up to the roof and radioed other agents.
Three agents returned to the main building in an armored vehicle; they searched the building and found Smith’s body, but not Stevens.
According to the Annex Security Team, they had become aware of the consulate attack after 9:30 pm local time, and were ready to respond; however, they were delayed by “the top CIA officer in Benghazi”. The Regional Security Office sounded the alarm and called to the Benghazi CIA annex and the embassy in Tripoli. After some discussion, the CIA’s Global Response Staff (GRS) at the CIA annex, which included operative Tyrone S. Woods, decided to attempt a rescue. By 10:05 pm, the team was briefed and loaded into their armored Toyota Land Cruisers. By this time, communicators at the CIA annex were notifying the chain of command about current developments, and a small CIA and JSOC element in Tripoli that included Glen Doherty was attempting to find a way to Benghazi.
The team from the CIA annex arrived at the consulate and attempted to secure the perimeter and locate the ambassador and Sean Smith. Diplomatic security agent David Ubben located Smith, who was unconscious and later declared dead, but the team was unable to find Stevens in the smoke-filled building. The team then decided to return to the annex with the survivors and Smith’s body. While en route back to the annex, the group’s armored vehicle was hit by AK-47 rifle fire and hand grenades. The vehicle was able to make it to its destination with two flat tires, and the gates to the annex were closed behind them at 11:50 pm.
Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, the spokesman for Libya’s Supreme Security Committee, said roads leading to the Benghazi consulate compound were sealed off and Libyan state security forces had surrounded it.
A U.S. Army commando unit was sent to Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily, Italy the night of the attack but did not deploy to Benghazi. U.S. officials say the team did not arrive at Sigonella until after the attack was over.
A total of four Americans were killed: Stevens, Smith, Doherty, and Woods. Investigations and politics about Benghazi continues to this day. My opinion is that it was a pre-planned attack but the people on the ground at Benghazi and other places in Libya, and the Middle East did everything they could to stop the attack.
There is no mention of ISIS in this attack description although they were probably an outgrowth of Al Qaeda in subsequent years. We will leave the political discussions for future blogs
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