Benghazi attack

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The Benghazi attack was an attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012, in which u. a. the US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens perished. Hillary Clinton , the then US Secretary of State , was criticized after the attack for having succeeded and not prevented by stronger security measures.

Map of the consulate (main area and ancillary facility)

Course and consequences

The events took place as part of anti-American demonstrations on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks ; at the same time, part of the Muslim population was upset by the film Innocence of Muslims , a US amateur film that was perceived as offensive to Muslims. The attack on the consulate in Benghazi itself and later on a building complex about 2 km away, which was used by the CIA and to which the US personnel had withdrawn after the first clashes, began around 9:40 pm and lasted until the Morning hours of September 12th; an angry crowd stormed the building with some heavy weapons and set the main building on fire before the American guards returned fire. There were four American casualties, including the United States Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. In the early hours of the morning, pro-American Libyan forces were able to safely escort US personnel to the airfield, from where they were evacuated to Germany. It was not reported whether there were Libyan victims in the fire fighting.

According to estimates by Mike J. Rogers , Chairman of the Secret Service Committee in the US House of Representatives, the attack on the consulate in Benghazi was a planned terrorist attack and not a spontaneous expression of anger and hatred. This assessment was highly controversial, became the subject of party political disputes and was contradicted by research by the New York Times in late 2013. According to various statements, however, the secret services are of the opinion today that the attack was at least partially planned and that there were links to Al-Qaeda .

In her closing speech, Hillary Clinton admitted mistakes in the civil war in Libya and took responsibility for the consequences of the attack. In 2014 the US House of Representatives set up a committee of inquiry; was chaired by Trey Gowdy .

Reaction in the US media landscape

Sections of the US media landscape attribute a Benghazi obsession to the right-wing and conservative press . The excitement surrounding the attack in Benghazi is juxtaposed with 13 attacks on US embassies and consulates during the term of office of the conservative President George W. Bush with 60 deaths, which would not have resulted in either a committee of inquiry or a comparable press response. In Ronald Reagan's Benghazi article , Jane Mayer compared the double standards of American politics in dealing with the Benghazi attack and the 1983 attack on the US base in Beirut in which 241 US soldiers died.

Movie

The events were processed in the book 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi by the author Mitchel Zuckoff and in the film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi by director Michael Bay based on it.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ US ambassador to Libya 'killed in attack on Benghazi consulate'. In: The Daily Telegraph . September 12, 2012, accessed September 13, 2012 .
  2. ↑ Islamists kill US ambassadors in attack on consulate. In: Stern . September 12, 2012, accessed September 13, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Attack is said to have been planned. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . September 12, 2012, accessed September 13, 2012 .
  4. ^ Vox: What's the precise timeline of the events of the night of the attack? , October 22, 2015, accessed on September 2, 2019
  5. ↑ US secret services suspect terrorist attack. In: Tagesschau . September 13, 2012, accessed September 13, 2012 .
  6. ↑ The attack was probably not planned. In: n-tv.de. September 14, 2012, accessed September 17, 2012 .
  7. ↑ Al-Qaeda involved in attack on US ambassador. In: welt.de. September 20, 2012, accessed December 28, 2013 .
  8. ↑ David D. Kirkpatrick: A Deadly Mix in Benghazi . In: The New York Times , December 28, 2013.
  9. ↑ Feinstein rejects NYT on Benghazi. In: thehill.com. January 14, 2014, accessed October 26, 2016 .
  10. ↑ kng / DPA: After attack on US consulate in Libya: Hillary Clinton admits mistakes in Benghazi. In: stern.de . January 23, 2013, accessed February 9, 2015 .
  11. ↑ https://archives-benghazi-republicans-oversight.house.gov/
  12. ↑ CNN (English)
  13. ↑ Huffington Post
  14. ↑ Politifact (English)
  15. ↑ Ronald Reagan's Benghazi (English)