The Benghazi Attack
Diplomatic Security in the World's Hot Spots
On September 11, 2012, heavily armed Islamist militants stormed and burned the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city. The Pentagon issued an urgent call for an array of quick-response forces, but by the time the team arrived, Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. diplomatic personnel had been killed. The attack came about a year after an anti-government uprising led to the death of Muammar al-Qadhafi, an erratic, brutal dictator who had ruled the country for 40 years. A provisional government set in motion the process of creating a new constitution and was in place until June 2012, when…
