At the time this article was published, the world knew little about what happened in Benghazi the night of the attack on the US consulate. In what now looks like a pre planned attack, at 10PM on September 11, 2012, militants began firing at the US consulate building. Less than 15 minutes later, militants made their way into the compound. By midnight two former US Navy Seals, had been killed. At 1:15 am, US Ambassador Christopher Stephens arrived at a local Libyan hospital, where he died.
After a long two year investigation, one that has been very politicized regarding Hillarly Clintons role in the attacks, the GOP has released their findings. The report details why the US was in Libya at the time of the attack and the US response to the attack. One of the main finding is that the US considered deploying uniformed troops to the region but worried that this would cause even more turmoil in an already contentious region.
Reflection:
The attack on the US consulate in Benghazi was a highly publicized event. It marked the first time a US Ambassador had been killed since 1979. While I still don’t believe we know everything that happened that night, I find it hard to believe that there wasn’t an immediate response by the US government. One commander for the US marines said that he and his men changed in and out of their uniforms four times that night, yet no one was ever ordered to proceed. Why? It might not have saved those Americans lives, but it would of been a much better response to at least try than to sit back and play the blame game, which is exactly what US officials did.