1. The investigation and events leading up to
the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens,
Former Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and Glen
Doherty, and Information Management
Officer Sean Smith.
2. • On April 5, 2011,Chris Stevens arrived in Libya to form ties after the death
of Gadhafi. Obama appoints him to ambassador in May of 2012
• February, 2012: The U.S. embassy requests — and is granted — a four-
month extension, until August, of a Tripoli-based “site security team”
composed of 16 special forces soldiers.
• March: State Department Regional Security Officer Eric Nordstrom sends
a cable to Washington asking for additional diplomatic security agents for
Benghazi, later says he received no response. He does so again in July,
with the same result.
• April 6: Two fired Libyan security guards throw an IED over the consulate
fence.
• May 22: An Islamist attack on the Red Cross office in Benghazi is followed
by a Facebook post that warns “now we are preparing a message for the
Americans.” Another Facebook posting a month later highlights Stevens’
daily runs in Tripoli in an apparent threat.
Timeline leading up to events:
3. • June 6: Unknown assailants blow a hole in the consulate’s north gate
described by a witness as “big enough for 40 men to go through.” Military
officials now say that the attack was designed to measure the security
team’s response time.
Timeline Continued
4. • Four days later, the British ambassador’s car is ambushed by militants
with a rocket-propelled grenade.
Timeline Continued
5. • June 25: A cable sent to Washington which Ambassador J. Christopher
Stevens cited an uptick in attacks in Libya “targeting international
organizations and foreign interests.” He noted an attack that month on
the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, where a homemade bomb ripped a hole
in a security wall. He also said: “A number of local contacts agreed, noting
that Islamic extremism appears to be on the rise in eastern Libya and that
the Al-Qaeda flag has been spotted several times flying over government
buildings and training facilities”
• Aug. 8: Stevens asserted in a cable titled “The Guns of August; security in
eastern Libya” that the “absence of significant deterrence” had
“contributed to a security vacuum.”
Timeline Continued
6. • July: Anti-Islam video “Innocence of Muslims” posted onYou Tube.
• In the weeks before Sept. 11, Libyan security guards are reportedly warned by
family members of an impending attack. On Sept. 8, the Libyan militia tasked
with protecting the consulate warns U.S. diplomats that the security situation is
“frightening.”
• Back in June: AbuYahya al Libi was killed by a drone strike in Pakistan.
Timeline Continued
Importance: High
Affiliation: Al-Qaeda
Role: Recruiter
Nationality: Libyan
7. • Sept. 10: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri called on Libyans to avenge
the death of his Libyan deputy, Abu Yahya al Libi.
Timeline Continued
Importance: Highest
Affiliation: Al-Qaeda
Role: Commander
Affiliation: Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Affiliation: Al-Qaeda majlis al shura
Affiliation: Al-Qaeda Fatwah Committee
8. Sept. 11: Just hours before he was killed, Stevens noted that a local Libyan
commander in Benghazi had “expressed growing frustration with police and
security forces (who were too weak to keep the country secure)“
September 11, 2012
10. September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
Around 8:30 p.m. Stevens walks outTurkish Consul General to the main
gate. No signs of protests.
11. 8:30-9:40 Chris Stevens and Sean Smith are in the Main Residence building
with 4 security agents with them and one in the TOC building. All armed
with pistols.
September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
12. 9:40 p.m. a mob of armed gunman carrying an Islamic militant flag breach
the main gate of the consulate. According to eye witnesses these man are
well armed and organized and some with foreign accents. Suggesting that
they’re not locals.
September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
13. • The security agent in the TOC building immediately activated the
Imminent Danger Notification System. He also alerted the Quick
Reaction Security team stationed at the Annex, the embassy in Tripoli and
the diplomatic security command center in Washington D.C. who all
monitored the attacks in real time.
• Around 10 p.m., after the mob couldn’t get to Stevens due to a security
room in the Main Residence, they poor diesel fuel all around the
compound in an attempt to “smoke them out.”
• The two security agents in the Main Residence manage to escape through
a window but couldn’t find Stevens or Smith.They regroup, get it an
armored car and drive back to the Main Residence and attempt to find
them.They only find Smith, who is dead. They put him in the car and
leave.
September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
14. • With the initial Security Agents gone, there’s another team of
reinforcements from the Annex on their way.
September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
15. • The security team from the Annex were made up of 6 Americans and 16
from the Libyan militia.They’re unable to find Ambassador Stevens body
• By 11:00 p.m. the Libyan militia say they’re unable to hold the perimeter.
So they leave and head toward the Annex.
September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
16. • About half way to the Annex they’re hit with two grenades and take direct
fire from AK-47’s.
• They manage to make it the Annex.
• Around 12 a.m. at the Consulate, looters find Ambassador Stevens’ body.
They find him breathing and rush him to the hospital, where he dies of
smoke inhalation.
• At the Annex, the fight continued. It was hit RPG’s and AK-47’s
September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
17. • At the Annex, the fight continued. It was hit with RPG’s and AK-47’s forcing
those who were there to retreat to a building in the back of the compound.
• Around 1:30 reinforcements fromTripoli arrive and head toward the Annex.
They were told they were going into an ambush.
September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
18. • Around 4 a.m. the Annex is hit with another wave attacks described as
“planned and precise” with mortar fire targeting the roofs of the
buildings.
• Former Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty are killed.
September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
19. • The fighters were eventually repelled and The Annex was secured. A
decision was made to evacuate the whole enterprise.
September 11th, 2012 in Benghazi
20. • Later that day, protests spread to 20 countries around the world. Late
that night, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says in a statement that
“some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to
inflammatory material posted on the Internet.”
September 11th, 2012
21. • Sept. 13: White House spokesman Jay Carney says “the protests we’re
seeing around the region are in reaction to this movie.” He also said the
administration had “no actionable intelligence” about a pending attack.
• Sept. 16: Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said the video is the
“proximate cause” . “Our current best assessment, based on the
information that we have at present, is that, in fact, what this began as, it
was a spontaneous — not a premeditated — response to what had
transpired in Cairo,”
• Sept. 16 that same day, Mohamed Magarief, President of the General
National Congress of Libya, insists on CBS that “it was planned,
definitely.”
• Sept. 21: Clinton says “what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist
attack,” highest official until then to say so.
InWashington
22. This is going to be something that’s talked about for years. This is the first
time an Ambassador was killed since 1979. Why it was continuously blamed
on aYouTube video, is unknown.The CIA has confirmed that it knew it was a
terrorist attack within 24 hours. Some are referring this incident as
“Benghazi-Gate,” a reference to the Nixon administration’s Watergate
scandal.
The facts are that the State Department knew about the multiple requested
for security.
Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary for international programs,
went under oath during the congressional hearing Oct. 10, and admitted she
denied requests for security because she thought the Libyan government
could protect them.
So when this is ever brought up, I hope you all take something from this
presentation.
Conclusion
