For some reason, I have been interested in the 2012 attack on the U.S.consulate in Bengazi ever since I read an article about it in one of the news magazines. According to the author of Dark Forces (who has written for mainstream newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the NY Times, as well as several books), the dangers faced by the Americans inside the compound were basically ignored by the State Department. What happened in Bengazi on 9/11/2012 has been called “the greatest government cover-up in history” by Senator Jim Inhofe (R, OK), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
According to the book (which was very disheartening), the special forces team in Tripoli was ordered to initially stand down, as well as the forces in the nearby CIA annex, which was attacked right after the compound was burned down, killing Ambassador Chris Stevens and his colleague Sean Smith. The author also stresses that, according to the evidence found, the attack on the consulate was two months in the planning by Iranian masterminds, and had absolutely nothing to do with an online video that had previously been blamed for the attack.
Charles Woods, father of one of the annex defenders killed in the attack, said that after being told 3 times to stand down, his son Ty took matters into his own hands and left the annex with several others to try and rescue the ambassador. Ty would later be killed by mortar fire, after returning to the annex after an unsuccessful atttempt to rescue Stevens at the consulate compound. Ty’s father later set up a Citizen’s Commission to investigate the government’s failure to protect the Americans posted in Bengazi.
The accusations raised are very disturbing, and I will continue to read more accounts of the matter.