Oct 10

Intelligence and Security Failure: Attacks in Benghazi and Across the Middle East Reveal Ongoing Threat of Terrorism

On September 11 of this year, terrorists and angry mobs used a video denigrating Islam as cover to strike at U.S. embassies in Egypt and Libya. The sad and terrible loss of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was only the start of several weeks of attacks against U.S. embassies throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Though the Obama Administration originally claimed that these attacks were due to the video, it quickly became clear that these well-armed and well-organized attacks were anything but spontaneous mobs. The conflicting and often incorrect assertions from the administration reveal a potentially systemic breakdown in communications, intelligence, and embassy security that could extend beyond these two embassies. A series of embassy attacks in Libya leading up to the 9/11/12 attacks and Ambassador Stevens’ increasing concern for his and the embassy’s safety, as described in his journal, only further highlight the severity of the security and intelligence breakdown.
Join us as our panelists examine this important and concerning topic.