Libya Warned US Three Days Before Consulate Attack

Official Repeatedly Warned About Deteriorating Security

Despite US officials angrily condemning reports last week that the Benghazi consulate attack, which killed the US ambassador, came with advanced warning, another Libyan security official came forward today to confirm that he gave the US a specific warning about security three days before the attack.

“The situation is frightening, it scares us,” the battalion commander reportedly told US envoys. He added that this was not the first time he had warned them and that he had repeatedly cautioned that security was deteriorating, advice which was apparently ignored.

The US has insisted that nothing could possibly have been done to prevent the attack and claims they had absolutely no “actionable” warnings beforehand. Libyan officials are now scrambling to arrest people, saying they have captured 50 people over the attack.

Yet the whole US narrative has fallen flat whenever anyone actually on the site speaks up. Claims that there was a major protest before the attack turned out to be false, and initial US claims that the strike showed considerable advanced planning have since given way to claims that it was “spontaneous,” which seems extremely unlikely given the advanced notice.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.