Attack in Benghazi, Libya not a reaction to stupid video

More or less, the death of US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three staff members looks to have been the result of a security breach that led a brazen attack and intelligence coup for the radicals in Libya. Not reaction to a movie. This morning, we have an exclusive story in The Independent from the UK.

Here is the full article, but a select few paragraphs are below.

The killings of the US ambassador to Libya and three of his staff were likely to have been the result of a serious and continuing security breach, The Independent can reveal.

American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential.

The US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the “safe house” in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed “safe”.

Not only are previously safe locations compromised, so were the names of Libyans who have helped out. They – along with their families – now have targets on their backs.

According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi…

Within hours of the attack, we again are able to look back and connect the dots.

Eight Americans, some from the military, were wounded in the attack which claimed the lives of Mr Stevens, Sean Smith, an information officer, and two US Marines.

So we know where the US Marine protection detail was, yet there is no information as to if they were properly armed while escorting US Ambassador Chris Stevens throughout a country barely recovered from a civil war. Honestly, this place still is a war zone.

Senior officials are increasingly convinced, however, that the ferocious nature of the Benghazi attack, in which rocket-propelled grenades were used, indicated it was not the result of spontaneous anger due to the video, called Innocence of Muslims. Patrick Kennedy, Under-Secretary at the State Department, said he was convinced the assault was planned due to its extensive nature and the proliferation of weapons.

There is growing belief that the attack was in revenge for the killing in a drone strike in Pakistan of Mohammed Hassan Qaed, an al-Qa’ida operative who was, as his nom-de-guerre Abu Yahya al-Libi suggests, from Libya, and timed for the anniversary of the 11 September attacks.

No kidding? Go read the full article written by Kim Sengupta, one of the defense correspondents for The Independent.

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

14 Comments

  1. Murphy on September 14, 2012 at 12:08 pm

    Have we apologized for killing Mohammed Hassan Qaed yet?



  2. Lynn on September 14, 2012 at 3:48 pm

    Thanks, Steve, I didn’t really believe it was the movie’s fault. They hate us ’nuff said. Oh and it’s not Bush’s fault either.



  3. wildcat on September 14, 2012 at 7:33 pm

    I am heartbroken for the families of these 4 brave Americans.? They were left like sitting ducks in that consulate building.? I have no doubt the two former Navy Seals did all they could but were seriously out-numbered and out-gunned.? I hold the Sec. of State responsible since the security for our embassies and consulates are the responsibility of her office…not the Defense Dept.? I was offended on behalf of the families at Sec. Clinton’s remarks at the service today where the bodies of these fallen Americans arrived home.? She is responsible for the lack of adequate security of these people and any other such diplomats working on our Country’s behalf.? She tries to cast blame on this dumb video that few have seen.? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this was a terrorist attack, well planned for Sept. 11th and in response to calls for revenge from al-Zalwahari, the replacement for Bin Laden.? Maybe if the Dem. “leaders”? weren’t so all-consumed with the election and associated spin, they would be able to pay closer attention to performing their swarn duties. And maybe, these 4 American diplomats would still be alive. May they rest in peace and may their families feel? the gratitude of the American people.



    • JBS on September 15, 2012 at 7:48 am

      I. too, am frustrated at the serial incompetence of this Regime. Playing golf, attending fundraisers, making continuous, incessant campaign speeches and going on vacation are the accomplishments of this president.
      Maybe, if Obama attended to the job of being president, less interested in the glamor and social aspects of the presidency, maybe, just maybe, our personnel would be alive today . . . one thing is for sure, they would have had a better chance.
      If seems to define Obama.



    • JBS on September 15, 2012 at 8:02 am

      ???
      See “The Hip-Hop president, All Swag, No Cattle.” Michelle Malkin, today’s lead story.
      http://michellemalkin.com/?



  4. ricbee on September 14, 2012 at 10:50 pm

    We should not even have a single diplomat in these lawless lands unless fully protected by a fighting force of our own. Let the so called leaders call on the phone for foreign aid.



  5. JBS on September 15, 2012 at 7:07 am

    US personnel OUT of Libya and cut off all aid.
    These were premeditated TERRORIST ATTACKS. On 9/11. (No dots needed)
    Actions have consequences. Attack the US and automatically lose our support. Period.
    Now, if the political will is present, find these terrorists and send them to their just reward.



  6. Dimsdale on September 15, 2012 at 8:36 am

    It’s a good thing we have foreign newspapers to provide the investigative reporting that our own newspapers used to do.
    ?
    Is that outsourcing?? 😉



    • JBS on September 15, 2012 at 8:49 am

      Then, the media, and by extension, Obama is responsible.



  7. Shared Sacrifice on September 15, 2012 at 9:33 pm

    After 911, Hillary Clinton demanded of Bush; what did he know, and when did he know it? She told the media that her constituents wanted to know. ?I’d like to know what Hillary and Barack knew, and when did they know it? ?



    • JBS on September 16, 2012 at 8:26 am

      It seems that at least two days before the attacks, the Israeli’s specifically warned the US about planned attacks against US mid-east diplomatic personnel and embassies. In this day of instant messaging, two days is akin to a month in the carrier pigeon days of communication.
      ?
      It also seems that the big-nosed American attitude, with 9/11 coming, was “Ha, warnings, waddadah know?” Incredibly stupid. But, par for the course and consistent.?
      ?
      Layer that with Barry, smartest-man-in-the-room, not attending intelligence briefings and believing his own propaganda . . . we are left with many dead Americans and a continuing crisis. This poser’s weak foreign policies have lead us to a clash of civilizations, Islamic against the Western. Ideas do matter. This amateur may have just backed us into an open religious war.



  8. Benjamin Less on September 16, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    “Ambassador Susan Rice: Libya Attack Not Premeditated”

    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/ambassador-susan-rice-libya-attack-not-premeditated/
    ?
    The most important issue is, if the video had been made in Black and White instead of colour, it would have completely disrupted the entire Muslim world, not just a small part of it.? Thank goodness the video was made in colour format.? This had NOTHING to do with US policy.
    ?
    Joe Biden campaigning that Bin Laden is DEAD and GM is ALIVE and new books published by SEALS about taking out the extremists’ main leader …obviously has zero to do with why the extremists are angry at the USA.? The DNC spoke about two important subjects.? The war against women and how we killed Bin Laden.
    ?
    Why would the middle east be pissed at our story lines during campaigning?
    ?
    Senseless.



  9. stinkfoot on September 16, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    “A new tower rises above the New York skyline, Al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama Bin Laden is dead.” -Barack Hussein Obama- an excerpt from his speech at the DNC on September 6, 2012… but we’re supposed to believe that the extremists are more concerned with a film that some schmuck posted on utube because when they aren’t praising Allah, burning American flags, and vowing to wipe Israel off the face of the earth they are glued to their computers watching utube.? He is foolish enough to spike the football just five days shy of the 11th anniversary and we’re supposed to believe radical Islam gives a flying *f* about Sam Bacile and his presumed hobbies.



square-libya-attack

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