The American diplomatic mission at
Benghazi, in
Libya,
was attacked on September 11, 2012 by a heavily armed group. The attack
began during the night at a compound that is meant to protect the
consulate building. A second assault in the early morning the next day targeted a nearby
CIA annex in a different diplomatic compound. Four people were killed, including
U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. Ten others were injured. The attack was strongly condemned by the governments of Libya, the
United States, and many other countries throughout the world.
Many Libyans praised the late ambassador and staged public demonstrations against the militias that had formed during the
Libyan civil war to oppose
Colonel Gaddafi.
[5][6][7] The
Libyan government also began attempts to disband many of the groups.
[8]
The United States increased security worldwide at its various
diplomatic and military facilities and began investigating the attack.
[9][10] Initially, there was speculation that the attacks were a spontaneous response to a video,
Innocence of Muslims,
[11][12] but the Accountability Review Board found that it was in fact a premeditated attack by
Islamist militants.
[13] The
Republican Party accused the Obama administration of over-emphasizing the role of the video,
[14] and took issue with the investigation
[14] and the response of
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
[15] The mainstream
American media
faced criticism for the way it framed reports on the attacks, and there
were many claims of bias by politicians on all sides of the political
spectrum.
[
In the aftermath of the attack, investigators identified more than a
dozen violent events in Benghazi during the previous six months. On
October 2, 2012, three weeks after the attacks, Darrell Issa (R-CA, chairman of the Committee) and Jason Chaffetz
(R-UT, chairman of the subcommittee on National Security, Homeland
Defense, and Foreign Operations) sent a letter to Secretary of State Clinton
which listed a number of these events—including car jackings,
kidnappings, assassination attempts, and gun battles. The letter stated,
"Put together, these events indicated a clear pattern of security
threats that could only be reasonably interpreted to justify increased
security for U.S. personnel and facilities in Benghazi.".[17]
According to Jack Murphy and Brandon Webb in "Benghazi: The Definitive
Report," the Regional Security Office in Tripoli "compiled a list of 234
security incidents in Libya between June 2011 and July 2012, 50 of
which took place in Benghazi."[18]:30
- In April 2012, two former security guards for the consulate threw a homemade "fish bomb" IED over the consulate fence; the incident did not cause any casualties.[19]
Just 4 days later, a similar bomb was thrown at a four vehicle convoy
carrying the United Nations Special Envoy to Libya, exploding just 12
feet from the UN envoy’s vehicle without injuring anyone.[20]
- In May 2012 an Al-Qaida affiliate calling itself the Imprisoned Omar Abdul Rahman Brigades claimed responsibility for an attack on the International Red Cross
(ICRC) office in Benghazi. On August 6 the ICRC suspended operations in
Benghazi. The head of the ICRC's delegation in Libya said the aid group
was "appalled" by the attack and "extremely concerned" about escalating
violence in Libya.[21]
- The Imprisoned Omar Abdul Rahman Brigades
released a video of what it said was its detonation of an explosive
device outside the gates of the U.S. consulate on June 5, which caused
no casualties but damaged the consulate's perimeter wall,[22][23] described by one individual as "big enough for forty men to go through."[17] The Brigades claimed that the attack was in response to the killing of Abu Yahya al Libi,
a Libyan al-Qaeda leader who had just died in an American drone attack,
and was also timed to coincide with the imminent arrival of a U.S.
diplomat.[24][25] There were no injuries, but the group left behind leaflets promising more attacks against the U.S.[26]
- British ambassador to Libya Dominic Asquith
survived an assassination attempt in Benghazi on June 10. Two British
protection officers were injured in the attack when their convoy was hit
by a rocket-propelled grenade 300 yards from their consulate office.[27] The British Foreign Office withdrew all consular staff from Benghazi in late June.[28][29][30]
- On June 18, 2012, the Tunisian consulate in Benghazi was stormed by
individuals affiliated with Ansar Al-Sharia Libya, allegedly because of
"attacks by Tunisian artists against Islam."[18]:31
- On the day of the attack:
- Al Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri declared that al Libi's death still needed to be avenged.[31]
- In Egypt, 2000 Salafist activists protested against the film "Innocence of Muslims" at 5pm EET (11am EDT) at the US embassy in Cairo.[32]
- President Obama was attending a 9/11 ceremony in the morning, and in the afternoon he visited with wounded veterans at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for two-and-a-half hours about the time the Benghazi attack began.[33]
- Two consulate security guards spotted a man in a Libyan police
uniform taking pictures of the consulate with his cell phone from a
nearby building that was under construction. The security guards briefly
detained the man before releasing him. He drove away in a police car
and a complaint was made to the Libyan police station. Sean Smith
noticed this surveillance, posting on the internet "assuming we don't
die tonight. We saw one of our 'police' that guard the compound taking
pictures."[18]:34
After the attack, CNN
reported that a Benghazi security official and a battalion commander
had met with U.S. diplomats three days before the attack and had warned
the Americans about deteriorating security in the area. The official
told CNN that the diplomats had been advised, "The situation is
frightening, it scares us."[34]
On September 14, CNN correspondent Arwa Damon
found Ambassador Stevens' diary at the unsecured site of the attack. In
it, Stevens expressed his concern about the growing al-Qaeda presence
in the area and his worry about being on an al-Qaeda hit list. The U.S.
State Department later accused CNN of violating privacy and breaking its
promise to Stevens' family that it would not report on the diary.[35]
The attack
The Benghazi attack consisted of military assaults
on two separate U.S. diplomatic compounds. The first assault occurred
at the main compound, approximately 300 yards long and 100 yards wide,
at about 9:40 pm local time (3:40 pm EDT, Washington DC). The second
assault took place at a CIA annex 1.2 miles away at about 4 am the following morning.[36] It has been referred to as the Battle of Benghazi.[37][38][39][40]
Assault on the Consulate
Between 125 and 150 gunmen, "some wearing the Afghan-style tunics
favored by Islamic militants," are reported to have participated in the
assault.[41][42][43] Some had their faces covered and wore flak jackets.[44] Weapons they used during the attack included rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), hand grenades, AK-47 and FN F2000 NATO assault rifles, diesel canisters, mortars, and heavy machine guns and artillery mounted on gun trucks.[45][46]
The assault began at nightfall, with the attackers sealing off streets leading to the main compound with gun trucks.[41] The trucks bore the logo of Ansar al-Sharia, a group of Islamist militants working with the local government to manage security in Benghazi.[41]
The area outside the compound before the assault was quiet; one
Libyan guard who was wounded in the attack was quoted as saying “there
wasn’t a single ant outside.”[42]
There was no sign of a spontaneous protest against an American-made
movie denigrating Islam's Prophet Muhammad. But a lawyer passing by the
scene said he saw the militants gathering around 20 youths from nearby
to chant against the film."[41]
No more than seven Americans were in the compound, including Ambassador
Stevens, who was visiting Benghazi at the time to review plans to
establish a new cultural center and modernize a hospital.[47]
Ambassador Stevens had his last meeting of the day with a Turkish
diplomat and escorted him to the main gate at about 8:30 pm (local
time). The street outside the compound was calm; the State Department
reported no unusual activity during the day outside.[48] Ambassador Stevens retired to his room about 9 pm; he was alone in the building, according to guards interviewed later.[49]
About 9:40 pm (local time) large numbers of armed men shouting "Allāhu Akbar" descended on the compound from multiple directions.[42][50]
The attackers lobbed grenades over the wall and entered the compound
under a barrage of automatic weapons fire and RPGs, backed by
truck-mounted artillery and anti-aircraft machine guns.[41][49] A Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent viewed on the consulate's security cameras "a large number of men, armed men, flowing into the compound."[48] He hit the alarm and started shouting, “Attack! Attack!” over the loudspeaker.[51] Phone calls were made to the embassy in Tripoli, the Diplomatic Security Command Center
in Washington, the Libyan February 17 Brigade, and a U.S. quick
reaction force located at a second compound (the annex) a little more
than a mile away.[43][52]
Ambassador Stevens telephoned Deputy Chief of Mission Gregory Hicks in
Tripoli to tell him the consulate was under attack. Mr. Hicks did not
recognize the phone number so he didn't answer it, twice. On the third
attempt Mr. Hicks answered the call from Ambassador Stevens.[53]
Diplomatic Security Service
Special Agent Scott Strickland secured Ambassador Stevens and Sean
Smith, an information management officer, in the main building's safe haven.[52][54] Other agents retrieved their M4 carbines
and tactical gear from another building. They tried to return to the
main building but encountered armed attackers and retreated.[52]
The attackers entered the main building and rattled the locked metal grille of the safe haven.[51] They carried jerrycans of diesel fuel, spread the fuel over the floor and furniture, and set fires.[51][52]
As thick smoke filled the building, Stevens, Smith, and Strickland
moved to the bathroom and lay on the floor, but they decided to leave
the safe haven after being overcome by smoke.[54]
Strickland exited through the window, but Stevens and Smith did not
follow him. Strickland returned back several times but couldn't find
them in the smoke; he went up to the roof and radioed other agents.[54]
Three agents returned to the main building in an armored vehicle;
they searched the building and found Smith's body, but not Stevens.[54]
The Regional Security Office sounded the alarm and placed calls to
the Benghazi CIA annex and the embassy in Tripoli, saying, "We're under
attack, we need help, please send help now..." Then the call cut off.
After some discussion, the CIA's Global Response Staff (GRS) at the CIA
annex, which included senior security operative Tyrone Woods,
decided to implement a rescue. By 10:05pm, 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.[18]:39-43
The GRS team from the CIA
annex arrived at the consulate and attempted to secure the perimeter
and locate the ambassador and Sean Smith. They located Smith, who was
unconscious and later declared dead, but were 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, however, and the gates to annex were
closed behind them at 11:50pm.[18]:43-45[36]
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.[55]
Immediate reaction in the United States
Diplomatic Security Service agents/Regional Security Officers
informed their headquarters in Washington about the attack just as it
was beginning at about 9:40 local time (3:40PM Eastern Time). By 4:30
Eastern, Pentagon officials informed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta about the attack. The Pentagon ordered an unmanned aerial vehicle
that was in the air conducting surveillance on militant camps to fly
over Benghazi. The drone arrived at 5:11 and began providing a video
feed to Washington. At 5:41, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned CIA Director David Petraeus
to coordinate. The CIA, which made up most of the US government's
presence in Benghazi, had a ten-member security team at its annex and
the State Department believed that this team would assist the consulate
in the event of an attack.[56]
Recovery of Ambassador Stevens
At about 1 am the body of Ambassador Stevens was found by local
citizens and taken to the Benghazi Medical Center. At the hospital
Stevens was administered CPR for 90 minutes by Dr. Ziad Abu Zeid.[57]
According to Abu Zeid, Stevens died from asphyxiation caused by smoke
inhalation. A 22-year-old freelance videographer, Fahd al-Bakoush, later
published a video[58] showing Libyans trying to extract the unconscious ambassador from a smoke-filled room,[59][60]
where he was found unconscious, which confirms reports that suggested
the U.S. envoy died of asphyxiation after the building was set afire.[61]
Some of the Libyans who entered the compound tried to rescue Stevens
after they found him lying alone on the floor in a dark smoke-filled
room with a locked door accessible only by a window. A group of men
pulled him out of the room through the window, and then placed him on
the courtyard's stone tile floor. The crowd cheered "God is great" when
Stevens was found to be alive. He was then rushed to the hospital in a
private car as there was no ambulance to carry him.[62]
Dr. Ziad Abu Zeid, the Libyan doctor who treated Stevens, said
Stevens died of severe asphyxiation, that Stevens had no other injuries,
and that he tried for 45 minutes to revive him.[63]
The doctor said he believed that officers from the Libyan Interior
Ministry transported the body to the airport and into United States
custody. State Department officials said they do not know who took
Stevens to the hospital or transported the body to the airport and into
U.S. custody.[63]
Assault on the CIA annex
Just after midnight, an attack on the CIA annex began, which included
machine gun, rocket and mortar fire attack. The CIA defenses were able
to hold off the attack until the morning of September 12.[18]:45-46
Early in the morning, Libyan government forces met up with a group of
Americans (reinforcements from Tripoli including Glen Doherty[64])
that had arrived at the Benghazi airport. The team, which included 2
active duty JSOC operators and five CIA personnel, had commandeered a
small jet in Tripoli by paying the pilots $30,000 and forcing them to
fly the team to Benghazi.[18]:43
After being held up at the airport for a few hours, the Libyan forces
and newly arrived Americans went to the CIA annex at about 5am to assist
in transporting approximately 32 Americans at the annex back to the
airport for evacuation. Minutes after they drove through the gates, the
annex came under heavy fire. The team immediately took up defensive
positions. With a lull in the fighting, Glen Doherty began searching for his friend, Tyrone Woods,
and he was told he was on the roof manning an MK46 machine gun. He
found Woods on the roof with two other agents, they quickly embraced,
filled each other in, and retook defensive firing positions. After only a
few minutes, a mortar round hit Wood's position, fatally wounding him.
As Doherty attempted to reposition and take cover, a second round fell
on him, killing him instantly.[18]:46-47[65] 31-year-old David Ubben suffered shrapnel
injuries and several broken bones in the mortar attacks, and according
to Ubben's father, "The first [mortar] dropped 50 yards short and the
next two were right on target.".[66]
Immediately, several agents ran onto the roof to assess damage and
help the wounded, who were taken from the roof with a ladder. At the
same time, a JSOC operator was using a hand-held device displaying
images from a Predator drone above, which had been sent by the DOD's
Africa Command after request. The operator told the Chief of Base,
"There's a large element assembling, and we need to get everyone out of
here now!" Evacuation was agreed upon, and everyone was notified to
collect their personal security items and evacuate. Within minutes,
vehicles were loaded, and they headed to the airport. On the way, they
were hit with small arms fire, but arrived with no further injuries.[18]:47-48
During the fighting, the CIA had successfully rescued six State
Department personnel, recovered Smith's body, and had evacuated about
thirty Americans out of Benghazi alive. Just under 100 attackers were
killed in the fighting.[18]:46, 48
Evacuation
The bodies were taken to Benina International Airport and flown to the capital, Tripoli, and scheduled to fly to a U.S. airbase in Germany. From Germany, the four bodies arrived at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, DC, where President Barack Obama and members of his cabinet held a ceremony in honor of those killed.
After the attack, all diplomatic staff were moved to the capital, Tripoli,
with nonessential personnel to be flown out of Libya. Sensitive
documents remained missing, including documents listing the names of
Libyans working with the Americans, and documents relating to oil
contracts.[67]
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.[68]
Four Americans died in the attack: Ambassador
Stevens, Information Officer
Sean Smith,
[69] and two embassy security personnel,
Glen Doherty and
Tyrone Woods,
[70][71] both former
Navy SEALs.
[72][73] Senior intelligence officials later acknowledged that Woods and Doherty were contracted by
Central Intelligence Agency, not the
State Department as previously identified,
[74] and were part of a
Global Response Staff (
GRS), a team that provides security to
CIA case officers and countersurveillance and surveillance protection.
[75]
On September 14 the remains of the slain Americans were returned to the
United States. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton honored the Benghazi victims at the Transfer of Remains
Ceremony held at Andrews Air Force Base,
Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
Initial reports indicated that ten Libyan guards died; this was later
retracted and it was reported that seven Libyans were injured.
[76] Three Americans were injured in the attack and treated at an American Military Hospital in Germany.
[77]
Glen Doherty
Glen Anthony Doherty (c. 1970 – September 11, 2012) of
Encinitas,
[78] was a native of
Winchester, Massachusetts,
[79] and a 1988 graduate of
Winchester High School.
[80] Doherty was the second of three children born to Bernard and Barbara Doherty. He trained as a
pilot at
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University before moving to Snowbird, Utah for several winters and then joining the
United States Navy. Doherty served as a
Navy SEAL, responded to the
bombing of the
USS Cole, had tours of duty in
Iraq and
Afghanistan, and left the Navy in 2005 as a
Petty Officer First Class.
[81] After leaving the Navy, he worked for a private security company in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Kenya and Libya.
[79]
In the month prior to the attack, Doherty as a contractor with the
State Department told ABC News in an interview that he personally went
into the field in Libya to track down
MANPADS, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, and destroy them.
[82]
Doherty was a member of the advisory board of the
Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization that opposes proselytizing by religious groups in the United States military.
[83] Doherty was coauthor of the book
The 21st Century Sniper.
[83][84]
Doherty's funeral was held at
Saint Eulalia's parish in his native Winchester on September 19, 2012.
[85] His Celebration of Life was held in
Encinitas, California the weekend of October 12–14, 2012.
[86][87]
Tyrone S. Woods
Tyrone Snowden Woods (January 15, 1971 – September 12, 2012), of
Imperial Beach,
[78] was born in
Portland, Oregon.
[88] Woods graduated from
Oregon City High School in 1989,
[88] south of
Portland, Oregon, and served 20 years of honorable service in the
U.S. Navy before joining
State Department Diplomatic Security[89] as a U.S. embassy security personnel,
[71] working under a service contract.
[90] Since 2010, Woods had protected American diplomats in posts from
Central America to the
Middle East.
[91]
As a Navy
SEAL in 2005-06, Woods was awarded the
Bronze Star Medal with combat 'V' Device for valor in Iraq.
[89][92] He led 12 direct action raids and 10 reconnaissance missions leading to the capture of 34 enemy insurgents in the volatile
Al Anbar province.
[89] He served multiple tours in
Iraq and
Afghanistan, the Middle East and Central America.
[93] He retired as a
Senior Chief Petty Officer in 2007.
[92]
Woods also served with distinction at the
Naval Medical Center San Diego as a
registered nurse and certified
paramedic.
[92] Having settled in
Imperial Beach, California, for a year of his retirement he owned
The Salty Frog bar there; he is survived by his second wife, Dr. Dorothy Narvaez-Woods, their one daughter, and two sons from a previous marriage.
[94]
Responsibility
![[icon]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png) |
This section requires expansion with: cited examples of reliably sourced fact and opinions of weight. (December 2012) |
David Kirkpatrick of the
New York Times reported that
20-year-old neighbor Mohamed Bishari witnessed the attack. According to
Bishari, it was launched without warning or protest and was led by the
Islamist militia
Ansar al-Sharia (different from the group called
Ansar al-Sharia based in Yemen designated by the U.N. and the U.S. Department of State as a terrorist organization
[95]).
Kirkpatrick reported that Ansar al-Sharia said they were launching the
assault in retaliation for the release of the anti-Islamic video,
Innocence of Muslims.[96][97]
It was further reported that Ahmed Abu Khattala was called a ringleader
of the attack by both witnesses and authorities, though he insisted he
did not play a part in the aggression at the American compound.
Witnesses, Benghazi residents, and Western news reports have described
him as a leader of Ansar al-Sharia, though he stated he was close to the
group but not an official part of it. He further stated he was the
commander of an Islamist brigade, Abu Obaida ibn al-Jarrah, some of
who's members had joined Ansar al-Sharia.
[98]
In October 2012, a Tunisian Ali Harzi, who a US intelligence official
stated had links to Ansar al-Sharia and al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, was
arrested in Turkey and repatriated to Tunisia on terrorism charges and
possible links to the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi.
[99]
In the same month, a Libyan suspect Karim el-Azizi, who had recently
returned to Egypt from Libya and was storing weapons in his hideout,
detonated a bomb and was found dead in his apartment after clashes with
security forces.
[100] Ali Harzi was released by Tunisian authorities on January 8, 2013 due to lack of evidence.
[101]
The Imprisoned Omar Abdul Rahman Brigades, a pro-al-Qaeda militia calling for the release of
The Blind Sheik, was implicated in the attack by
Noman Benotman of the
Quilliam Foundation.
[1][102] CNN,
[1] the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,
[104] Commentary Magazine and
The Daily Telegraph[102]
have listed this group as a chief suspect. USA Today reported that
protests in Cairo which preceeded the attack on Benghazi were intended
to protest the imprisonment of Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman and announced as
early as August 30.
[105][106] Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi had called for release of the Blind Sheikh in his inaugural address.
[106] According to Joan Neuhaus Schaan of the
James Baker Institute,
"The primary reason for the focus on the video was likely to cast the
Americans’ deaths as an unfortunate and unforeseen incident resulting
from an inflamed crowd. That video story redirected the debate from
scrutinizing our Libyan policies that were supporting known extremists,
to a debate centered on blasphemy."
[106]
In the days and weeks following the attack, President Obama and one
senior administration official stated that the video was an excuse for
the attack. Two days after the attack, CNN reporter Sarah Aarthun quoted
an anonymous senior U.S. administration official: "It was not an
innocent mob. The video or 9/11 made a handy excuse and could be
fortuitous from their perspective but this was a clearly planned
military-type attack."
[107]
In his September 18 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman,
President Obama said that "extremists and terrorists used (the
anti-Muslim YouTube video) as an excuse to attack a variety of our
embassies."
[12]
In his Univision Town Hall appearance on September 20, President Obama
said that the "natural protests that arose because of the outrage over
the video were used as an excuse by extremists to see if they can also
directly harm U.S. interests."
[108]
The U.S. government later had to retract these statements when it
became increasingly apparent that there was no protest outside the
consulate in Benghazi and that the violence had little to do with a
video.
[18]:56 A later report from an independent review board concluded "there was no protest prior to the attacks."
[109]
In their book, "Benghazi: The Definitive Report," Jack Murphy and
Brandon Webb report a contributing factor to the attack were covert
JSOC operations in Libya planned and executed by Deputy National Security Advisor
John O. Brennan, with tacit support from
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael G. Vickers,
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper, and Commander of
U.S. Special Operations Command Admiral
William H. McRaven, which led to a retaliation from militias such as
Ansar al-Sharia.
[18]:25, 29, 56-58
Sometime in mid-summer 2012, Brennan directed JSOC to conduct combat
operations in Libya targeting high-level Al Qaeda operatives within
Libya militia organizations. While Murphy and Webb say these operations
targeting
Al Qaeda leaders in Libya such as
Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil
may be warranted, the problem occurs when "their actions move a
multi-billion-dollar counter-terrorist apparatus across the world, and
its operations begin to get out of control...all with a non-elected
political appointee running the show." They report that with Brennan
running his own private war, he did not go through the normal chain of
command, and operations were not deconflicted (a term referring to the
avoidance of conflict between operations among agencies). Therefore,
Ambassador Stevens was not read in on the JSOC operations, and was kept
in the dark and ultimately killed in a retaliation that he never could
have seen coming. Similarly, the CIA was also surprised by the Benghazi
attack, which even days later thought Ansar al-Sharia was upset over a
video. These problems were only exacerbated by poor communication
between the CIA, State Department, and Department of Defense.
[18]:58-60 The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the book,
[110] and
United States Special Operations Command made a statement that they don't confirm or deny operations.
[111]
Aftermath and controversy
Libyan response
Libyan Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur's
office condemned the attack and extended condolences, saying: "While
strongly condemning any attempt to abuse the person of Muhammad, or an
insult to our holy places and prejudice against the faith, we reject and
strongly condemn the use of force to terrorise innocent people and the
killing of innocent people." It also reaffirmed "the depth of
relationship between the peoples of Libya and the U.S., which grew
closer with the positions taken by the U.S. government in support of the
revolution of February 17."
[112] Mohamed Yousef el-Magariaf, the President of the
General National Congress of Libya,
said: "We apologise to the United States, the people and to the whole
world for what happened. We confirm that no-one will escape from
punishment and questioning."
[113]
There were demonstrations in Benghazi
[114] and Tripoli
[115]
on September 12, condemning the violence and holding signs such as
"Chris Stevens was a friend to all Libyans," "Benghazi is against
terrorism," and other signs apologizing to Americans for the actions in
their name and in the name of Muslims. On the same day, Libya's Deputy
Ambassador to London Ahmad Jibril told the BBC that Ansar Al-Sharia was
behind the attack.
[116][117] On September 13, at a US State Department reception in Washington D.C., the Libyan ambassador to the US
Ali Aujali apologized to Secretary of State Clinton for “this terrorist attack which took place against the American consulate in Libya.”
[117][118]
The ambassador further praised Stevens as a "dear friend" and a "real
hero". He also urged the United States to continue supporting Libya as
it went "through a very difficult time" and that the young Libyan
government needed help so that it could "maintain...security and
stability in our country."
In the days after the attack,
The New York Times stated that young Libyans had flooded Twitter with pro-American messages after the attacks.
[115] Think Progress stated that Libyans are typically more positively inclined towards the United States than their neighbors.
[119]
A 2012 Gallup poll noted that "A majority of Libyans (54%) surveyed in
March and April 2012 approve of the leadership of the U.S. – among the
highest approval Gallup has ever recorded in the... region, outside of
Israel."
[120]
Another poll in Eastern Libya, taken in 2011, reported that the
population was at the same time both deeply religious conservative
Muslims and very pro-American, with 90% of respondents reporting
favorable views of the United States.
[121][122]
The Libyan response to the crisis was praised and appreciated in the
United States, and President Obama emphasized how the Libyans "helped
our diplomats to safety" to an American audience the following day,
[5] while a
New York Times editorial criticized Egypt's government for not doing "what Libyan leaders did."
[123]
On September 16, Libyan President
Mohamed Magariaf said that the attack on the U.S. consulate was planned months in advance,
[124]
and further stated that “[t]he idea that this criminal and cowardly act
was a spontaneous protest that just spun out of control is completely
unfounded and preposterous. We firmly believe that this was a
precalculated, preplanned attack that was carried out specifically to
attack the U.S. consulate.”
[125]
Anti-militia demonstrations
On September 21, about 30,000 Libyans marched through Benghazi
calling for support of the rule of law and for an end to the armed
militias that had formed during the
Libyan civil war to oppose
Colonel Gaddafi.
[6][7] After that war, the militias failed to disband, and continually menaced the Libyan government and populace.
[126]
Carrying signs with slogans such as "We Want Justice For Chris" and
"Libya Lost a Friend," the protestors stormed several militia
headquarters, including that of
Ansar al-Sharia, an
Islamist militia who some allege played a role in the attack on U.S. diplomatic personnel on September 11.
[127][128]
At least 10 people were killed and dozens more wounded as militiamen
fired on demonstrators at the headquarters of Sahaty Brigade, a
pro-government militia "operating under the authority of the ministry of
defence."
[6][128][129]
By early next morning, the protestors had forced militia members to
flee and seized control of a number of compounds, releasing four
prisoners found inside.
[127][128] Protesters burnt a car and a building of at least one facility, and looted weapons.
[6][7][128] The militia compounds and many weapons were handed over to Libya's national army
[7]
in what "appeared to be part of a coordinated sweep of militia bases by
police, government troops and activists" following the earlier
demonstrations.
[127][128] Some militia members accused the protestors of being
Gaddafi loyalists, looking to disarm the militias in the wake of the revolution.
[7]
Government campaign to disband militias
On September 23, taking advantage of the growing momentum and rising
anger against the militias evinced in the earlier anti-militia
demonstrations,
[130] the Libyan president declared that all unauthorized militias had 48 hours to either disband or come under government control.
[8][131] The government also mandated that bearing arms in public was now illegal, as were armed checkpoints.
[131]
It has been noted that previously, handling the militias had been
difficult as the government had been forced to rely on some of them for
protection and security.
[8][130]
However, according to a Libyan interviewed in Tripoli, the government
gained the ability to push back against the militias because of a
"mandate of the people."
[8]
On the 24th, the government commenced with a raid on a former military base held by a rogue infantry militia.
[132]
Across the country, militias began surrendering to the government.
The government formed a "National Mobile Force" for the purpose of
evicting illegal militias.
[133]
On the same day as the declaration, various militias in Misrata held
meetings, ultimately deciding to submit to the government's authority,
and handed over various public facilities they had been holding,
including the city's three main jails, which were handed over to the
authority of the Ministry of Justice.
[8]
Hours before the announcement, in Derna, the two main militias (one of
them Ansar al-Sharia) active in the city both withdrew, leaving both
their five military bases behind.
[8][130][133]
Hundreds of Libyans, mainly former rebel fighters, gathered in the
city centers of Tripoli and Benghazi to hand over their weapons to the
government on the 29th of September.
[134]
However, the campaign has been less successful in other areas, such as the remote
Nafusa Mountains, inhabited by the Nafusi-speaking
Berber minority,
where the Emirati news agency The National reported on 23 September
that arms were being hoarded. The National also reported arms being
hoarded in Misrata, despite simultaneous reporting by other outlets that
militias were surrendering in Misrata.
[135]
U.S. government response
President Barack Obama, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton,
delivering a statement at the White House on September 12, 2012 in which
he condemned the attack on the U.S. consulate.
[136]
On September 12
U.S. President Barack Obama condemned "this outrageous attack" on U.S. diplomatic facilities
[137]
and stated that "[s]ince our founding, the United States has been a
nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the
religious beliefs of others."
[137]
After referring to "the 9/11 attacks," "troops who made the ultimate
sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan", and "then last night, we learned the
news of this attack in Benghazi"
[137]
the President then stated that "[a]s Americans, let us never, ever
forget that our freedom is only sustained because there are people who
are willing to fight for it, to stand up for it, and in some cases, lay
down their lives for it."
[137]
He then went on to say, "[n]o acts of terror will ever shake the
resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light
of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who
represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not
waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible
act. And make no mistake, justice will be done."
[137]
After the attack, Obama ordered that security be increased at all such facilities worldwide.
[9] A 50-member
Marine FAST team was sent to Libya to "bolster security."
[138] It was announced that the
FBI would investigate the possibility of the attack being planned.
[139] U.S. officials said surveillance over Libya would increase, including the use of unmanned
drones, to "hunt for the attackers."
[139]
Secretary of State Clinton also made a statement on September 12,
describing the perpetrators as "heavily armed militants" and "a small
and savage group – not the people or government of Libya."
[140]
She also reaffirmed "America’s commitment to religious tolerance" and
said "Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the
protest that took place at our Embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response
to inflammatory material posted on the internet," but whether true or
not, that was not a justification for violence.
[141]
The State Department had previously identified embassy and personnel
security as a major challenge in its budget and priorities report.
[142]
On September 12 it was reported that the
United States Navy dispatched two
Arleigh Burke class destroyers, the
USS McFaul and the
USS Laboon, to the Libyan coast.
[143] The destroyers are equipped with
Tomahawk cruise missiles. American
UAVs were also sent to fly over Libya to search for the perpetrators of the attack.
[144]
In a speech on September 13 in
Golden, Colorado,
President Obama paid tribute to the four Americans "killed in an attack
on our diplomatic post in Libya," stating, "We enjoy our security and
our liberty because of the sacrifices they make...I want people around
the world to hear me: To all those who would do us harm, no act of
terror will go unpunished. It will not dim the light of the values that
we proudly present to the rest of the world."
[145]
In his press briefing on September 14, White House Press Secretary
Jay Carney told reporters that "we don't have and did not have concrete
evidence to suggest that this [the Benghazi attack] was not in reaction
to the film."
[146]
He went on to say: "There was no intelligence that in any way could
have been acted on to prevent these attacks. It is – I mean, I think the
DNI spokesman was very declarative about this that the report is false.
The report suggested that there was intelligence that was available
prior to this that led us to believe that this facility would be
attacked, and that is false." We have no information to suggest that it
was a preplanned attack. The unrest we’ve seen around the region has
been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims find offensive.
And while the violence is reprehensible and unjustified, it is not a
reaction to the 9/11 anniversary that we know of, or to U.S. policy."
On September 14 the remains of the slain Americans were returned to
the U.S. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended
the ceremony. In her remarks Clinton said, "One young woman, her head
covered and her eyes haunted with sadness, held up a handwritten sign
that said 'Thugs and killers don’t represent Benghazi nor Islam.' The
President of the Palestinian Authority, who worked closely with Chris
when he served in Jerusalem, sent me a letter remembering his energy and
integrity, and deploring – and I quote – 'an act of ugly terror.'
[147]
She went on to say: "We’ve seen the heavy assault on our post in
Benghazi that took the lives of those brave men. We’ve seen rage and
violence directed at American embassies over an awful internet video
that we had nothing to do with."
On the same day, federal probation officers met with the writer and
producer of the controversial anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims",
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula,
to determine whether his involvement in the film violated the terms of
his probation, which barred him from both accessing the internet without
approval and using any names other than his legal name.
[148] The probation stemmed from a 2010 conviction of bank fraud.
A report prepared by the CIA on Sept. 15, stated “The currently
available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were
spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and
evolved into a direct assault against the U.S. Consulate and
subsequently its annex. There are indications that extremists
participated in the violent demonstrations.”
[149] This initial assessment was provided to Executive Branch officials.
[150]
On September 16 the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
Susan Rice appeared on
five major interview shows to discuss the attacks. Prior to her appearance, Rice was provided with "talking points" from a CIA memo, which stated:
The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations
in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US
Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the US
diplomatic post in Benghazi and subsequently its annex. There are
indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations.
This assessment may change as additional information is collected and
analyzed and as currently available information continues to be
evaluated. The investigation is on-going, and the US Government is
working with Libyan authorities to bring to justice those responsible
for the deaths of US citizens.[10][151]
Using these talking points as a guide,
[152] Rice stated:
"Based on the best information we have to date, what our assessment
is as of the present is in fact what began spontaneously in Benghazi as a
reaction to what had transpired some hours earlier in Cairo where, of
course, as you know, there was a violent protest outside of our
embassy—sparked by this hateful video. But soon after that spontaneous
protest began outside of our consulate in Benghazi, we believe that it
looks like extremist elements, individuals, joined in that-- in that
effort with heavy weapons of the sort that are, unfortunately, readily
now available in Libya post-revolution. And that it spun from there into
something much, much more violent." "We do not-- we do not have
information at present that leads us to conclude that this was
premeditated or preplanned.""I think it's clear that there were
extremist elements that joined in and escalated the violence. Whether
they were al Qaeda affiliates, whether they were Libyan-based extremists
or al Qaeda itself I think is one of the things we'll have to
determine."[153][154][155][156][157]
In a White House press briefing on September 18, press secretary Jay
Carney explained the attack to reporters: "I’m saying that based on
information that we – our initial information, and that includes all
information – we saw no evidence to back up claims by others that this
was a preplanned or premeditated attack; that we saw evidence that it
was sparked by the reaction to this video. And that is what we know thus
far based on the evidence, concrete evidence."
[11]
On September 20, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney answered a question about an open hearing with the
National Counterterrorism Center Director,
Matthew G. Olsen,
which referenced which extremist groups might have been involved.
Carney said, "It is, I think, self-evident that what happened in
Benghazi was a terrorist attack. Our embassy was attacked violently, and
the result was four deaths of American officials. So, again, that’s
self-evident."
[158] On the same day, during an appearance on
Univision,
a Spanish-language television network in the United States, President
Obama stated, "What we do know is that the natural protests that arose
because of the outrage over the video were used as an excuse by
extremists to see if they can also directly harm U.S. interests."
[159][160][161][162][163]
On September 25, in an address before the
United Nations General Assembly
President Obama stated, "The attacks on our civilians in Benghazi were
attacks on America...And there should be no doubt that we will be
relentless in tracking down the killers and bringing them to justice."
[47][164] He referred to "
Innocence of Muslims"
as "a crude and disgusting video [that] sparked outrage throughout the
Muslim world." He said, "I have made it clear that the United States
government had nothing to do with this video, and I believe its message
must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity." He further
stated, "There is no video that justifies an attack on an Embassy."
On September 26 Clinton acknowledged a possible link between
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the September 11 attack.
[3]
On September 27, the filmmaker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was arrested
and ordered detained without bail due to probation violations.
[148]
On September 28, U.S. intelligence stated "In the immediate
aftermath, there was information that led us to assess that the attack
began spontaneously following protests earlier that day at our embassy
in Cairo. We provided that initial assessment to Executive Branch
officials and members of Congress . . . . As we learned more about the
attack, we revised our initial assessment to reflect new information
indicating that it was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack
carried out by extremists. It remains unclear if any group or person
exercised overall command and control of the attack, and if extremist
group leaders directed their members to participate."
[150]
To assist the Libyan government in disbanding extremist groups, the
Obama administration allocated $8 million to begin building an elite
Libyan commando force over the next year.
[165]
Criticism of U.S. government response
Republican Party
members immediately accused the Obama White House and State Department
of over-emphasizing the role of Islamic anger over the anti-Islamic
movie
Innocence of Muslims and alleged that the administration was reluctant to label the attack as "terrorist".
[14] Representative
Mike Rogers (R-MI), chairman of the
House Intelligence Committee, who on the 13th of September said that the attacks had all the hallmarks of a coordinated attack by
al-Qaeda,
[166]
has questioned whether there were any protests at all in Benghazi,
saying: "I have seen no information that shows that there was a protest
going on as you have seen around any other embassy at the time. It was
clearly designed to be an attack."
[167] According to critics, the consulate site should have been secured better both before and after the attack.
On the 20th, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton gave a classified briefing to U.S. Senators,
[168] which several Republican attendees criticized.
[15]
According to the article, senators were angered at the Obama
administration's rebuff of their attempts to learn details of the
Benghazi attack, only to see that information published the next day in
The New York Times and
The Wall Street Journal.
GOP legislators also took issue with delays in the investigation,
which CNN attributed to "bureaucratic infighting" between the FBI,
Justice, and
State. On the 26th, Senator
Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) said he "cannot believe that the FBI is not on the ground yet."
[14]
On
CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley
on September 30, Crowley observed that "Friday we got the
administration's sort of definitive statement that this now looks as
though it was a pre-planned attack by a terrorist group, some of whom
were at least sympathetic to al Qaeda," and asked the senior Republican
on the
Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator
John McCain,
"why do you think and are you bothered that it has taken them this long
from September 11th to now to get to this conclusion?" to which McCain
replied that "it interferes with the depiction that the administration
is trying to convey that al Qaeda is on the wane... how else could you
trot out our U.N. ambassador to say this was a spontaneous
demonstration?... It was either willful ignorance or abysmal
intelligence to think that people come to spontaneous demonstrations
with heavy weapons, mortars, and the attack goes on for hours."
[169]
On
CBS's Face the Nation
on October 28, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said "we know that there were
tapes, recordings inside the consulate during this fight.... So the
president went on various shows, despite what he said in the Rose
Garden, about terrorist acts, he went on several programs, including
The View including
Letterman,
including before the UN where he continued to refer, days later, many
days later, to this as a spontaneous demonstration because of a hateful
video. We know that is patently false. What did the president know? When
did he know it? And what did he do about it?"
[170]
However, CBS News reported earlier on October 24 that the video of the
assault was recovered 20 days after the attack, from the more than 10
security cameras at the compound.
[171]
On the same day, emails had been released showing that the White House,
contrary to its public assertions, had already known of ties between
terrorist organizations and the extremists who murdered U.S. personnel
in Benghazi.
[172]
U.S. media response
A study released on November 2 found that leading newspapers in the
U.S. framed the attack in terms of a spontaneous protest (the Obama
administration’s version) four times as often as a planned terrorist
attack (the Republican version).
[173]
The study was based on a computer-assisted analysis of 2,572 words and
phrases related to the attack in 348 news stories from September 12 to
October 12 in
The New York Times,
The Washington Post,
The Wall Street Journal,
Los Angeles Times, and
USA Today. On the day of that study's release, two of the newspapers—
The Washington Post and
The Wall Street Journal—published editorials critical of the Obama administration's handling of Benghazi.
The Washington Post
editorial asked such questions as, "Did the Obama administration’s
political preoccupation with maintaining a light footprint in Libya lead
to an ill-considered reliance on local militias, rather than on U.S.
forces?"
[174] The Wall Street Journal editorial asked such questions as "Why did the U.S. not heed warnings about a growing
Islamist
presence in Benghazi and better protect the diplomatic mission and CIA
annex?" and "Why has the Administration's story about what took place in
Benghazi been so haphazard and unclear?"
[175]
On November 4, two days before the presidential election, CBS News released a portion of its interview with President Obama for
60 Minutes that was filmed on September 12 but did not air originally on its September 23 show.
[176] Journalist
Bret Baier, host of
Special Report with Bret Baier,
noted that in these newly released portions of the interview "Obama
would not say whether he thought the attack was terrorism. Yet he would
later emphasize at a presidential debate that in the Rose Garden the
same day, he had declared the attack an act of terror."
[177]
Baier noted that President Obama had been saying that he declared the
Benghazi attack a terrorist attack since his announcement in the Rose
Garden on September 12 and highlighted the newly released video
interview with
Steve Kroft:
"KROFT: Mr. President, this morning you went out of your way to avoid
the use of the word terrorism in connection with the Libya Attack, do
you believe that this was a terrorism attack? OBAMA: Well it’s too early
to tell exactly how this came about, what group was involved, but
obviously it was an attack on Americans. And we are going to be working
with the Libyan government to make sure that we bring these folks to
justice, one way or the other."
[177]
Allegations of media bias
Some have argued that the
mainstream media
have ignored or played down the significance of the Benghazi story; and
some have also pointed to an alleged liberal bias, claiming that, if a
Republican were president, there would have been much more critical and
aggressive reporting.
[16][178][179][181][182][183][184][185][186]
On the last weekend of October a message posted on
Facebook by a
Political Action Committee
(SOS PAC) claiming President Obama denied them backup in Benghazi was
taken down twice by the social networking site. After the post was
removed and SOS’s Facebook account suspended for 24 hours, the post was
reinstated and SOS received an email from Facebook apologizing for the
matter.
[172]
Syndicated columnist
Charles Krauthammer argued on Fox News' channel's
Special Report with Bret Baier
on October 24, “This is really a journalistic scandal. I mean, the fact
there was not a word about any of this in the [New York] Times or the
[Washington] Post today.” Krauthammer was referring to recently released
emails that proved that the White House, contrary to its assertions,
knew of terrorist connections to the attack almost immediately.
[187]
The
National Review argued that, on October 28 (less than 2 weeks before the presidential election), of the five Sunday news shows, only
Fox News treated it as a major story. It argued that on the other four news shows, the issue came up only when Republicans mentioned it.
[188]
On NBC's Meet the Press, host David Gregory changed the subject when a
guest tried to bring up the subject of the Benghazi attack, saying,
"Let's get to Libya a little bit later." Gregory never did get back to
Benghazi.
[188][189]
A November 2, 2012 article in
The Huffington Post detailed how The
Associated Press,
The New York Times, and
The Washington Post held back information about the attack at the request of the CIA and the Obama administration.
[190]
The media organizations held back information at the government's
request that the two former SEALs killed in the attack (Tyrone Woods and
Glen Doherty) were working for the CIA.
On November 26, 2012, journalist
Tom Ricks went on Fox News'
Happening Now with
Jon Scott to discuss the attack. While being interviewed on
Fox News by
Jon Scott,
Ricks accused Fox News of being "extremely political" in its coverage
of the attack and said that "Fox was operating as a wing of the
Republican Party."
Ricks accused the network of covering the story more than it needed to
be. The interview was cut short and Ricks and the interview was not
mentioned or covered by Fox News again. Fox News was subsequently
criticized for cutting the interview short.
[191][192] Jon Scott was also criticized by
Media Matters for America for making no mention of the interview on
Fox News Watch, a media analysis program he hosts.
[193][194] In an interview with the
Associated Press, Fox News' White House correspondent
Ed Henry
suggested that he thought Benghazi was being covered too much by the
network. Henry said, “We’ve had the proper emphasis, but I would not be
so deluded to say that some of our shows, some of our commentators, have
covered it more than it needed to be covered.”
[195][196]
Investigation
Accountability Review Board
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton convened an Accountability
Review Board as required by the Omnibus Diplomatic and Antiterrorism Act
of 1986 to investigate the Benghazi attack. Four members were selected
by Clinton and another was selected by
Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper. Ambassador
Thomas R. Pickering served as the Chairman, Admiral
Michael Mullen served as the Vice Chairman, also serving were
Catherine Bertini,
Richard Shinnick, and
Hugh Turner, who represented the intelligence community.
[197]
ARB Report
The investigation report was seen as a sharp criticism of State
Department officials in Washington for ignoring requests for more guards
and safety upgrades, and for failing to adapt security procedures to a
deteriorating security environment. "Systemic failures and leadership
and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the
State Department ... resulted in a special mission security posture that
was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the
attack that took place," said the unclassified version of the report.
[198] It also blamed too much reliance on local militias who failed to fend off the attackers that evening.
[199] The
Council on Foreign Relations in an initial report saw it as a refutation to the notion that the Obama administration delayed its response.
[200]
However, it confirmed that contrary to initial accounts, there was no
protest outside the consulate. It placed responsibility for the incident
solely upon the attackers, deemed as terrorists.
[13]
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