"As the weakly protected U.S. diplomatic compound in eastern Libya came under attack the night of Sept. 11, 2012, the deputy head of the embassy in Tripoli sought in vain to get the Pentagon to scramble fighter jets over Benghazi in a show of force that might have averted a second attack on a nearby CIA complex. Hours later, according to excerpts of the account by the U.S. diplomat, Gregory Hicks, American officials in the Libyan capital sought permission to deploy four U.S. special operations troops to Benghazi aboard a Libyan military aircraft early the next morning. They were told to stand down. Congressional investigators released a partial transcript of Hicks’ testimony Monday in advance of a hearing on Wednesday at which he is scheduled to appear. His remarks are the first public account from a U.S. official who was in Libya at the time of the attacks about the options that were weighed as militants mobbed the American diplomatic outpost and CIA station in Benghazi, killing U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, two former Navy SEALs from San Diego County — Tyrone Woods of Imperial Beach and Glen Doherty of Encinitas — and State Department information management specialist Sean Smith, a San Diego native."
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:30:09 +0000