13 Hours- The True Story of Benghazi

Knowing who I am, you will not be surprised that I went to the theater yesterday to see this new film. It was similar to the true story about “The American Sniper”. It is amazing to me the footage from the actual location where this story played out. It was as realistic as anyone could make a film like this. It states that it is the true story based on the reports from those involved. I am inclined to agree. The six Special Forces guys refused an order to stand down but were delayed sufficiently that by the time they arrived at the Consulate they were too late to save the Ambassador. They did rescue other staff and under intense gunfire they returned to the CIA compound. Shortly thereafter and periodically throughout the night they fought off attacks by many men who are believed to be Al-Qaeda guerrillas. They kept bringing in heavier armament and finally mortar rounds registered direct hits killing two of our men. While all of this was going on, there was a drone overhead recording what was happening. A team was assembled in Tripoli and flown to Benghazi. It didn’t arrive until the fighting had ended. The staff was then driven to the airport for evacuation to Tripoli. The White House knew and various efforts were contemplated on bringing firepower but no orders were given to release them. This was clearly a well-organized attack well planned with many men and modern weaponry. Obama, Clinton and others proclaimed for a week thereafter that this incident was because of a video produced in California and not a planned Al-Qaeda attack. The supposition of some analysts surmised at the time that it was because Obama had declared Al-Qaeda to be diminished and to acknowledge that they were the attackers would be embarrassing. The handling of this episode which continued for 13 hours was disgraceful. These people deserved whatever assistance our Armed Services could provide. To not order a response and leave them to their fate I will never forgive, nor should you. Jack B. Walters January 24, 2016