Talk:2012 Benghazi attack

Semi-protected edit request on 17 August 2022

Please remove wikilinks from all occurrences of "Innocence of Muslims" after the sentence "Ansar al-Sharia said they were launching the assault in retaliation for the release of the anti-Islamic video, Innocence of Muslims", and add italics to those that don't have them. It is linked no fewer than ten times, and not italicized at least three times. 2001:BB6:4734:5658:D8A3:A90F:FEDD:4497 (talk) 10:33, 17 August 2022 (UTC)

Done. --Mvqr (talk) 15:20, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

Congressional Gold Medal has been awarded posthumously to the 4 victims of 2012 Benghazi attack

"H.R.310 - To posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith, in recognition of their contributions to the Nation."

"Public Law No: 117-256 (12/21/2022) This act directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to commemorate Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith, four Americans killed in the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Stevens was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya at the time, Smith was an officer in the Foreign Service, and Doherty and Woods were both government contractors and former Navy SEALs.)"

Source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/310

Medals were already awarded in 2022, but it's not shown in neither the List of Congressional Medal recipients, nor any of the related article where this should be mentioned 霸皇龍 (talk) 22:21, 16 July 2023 (UTC)

Edit request based on new published findings

1. Please add:

At 5:00 p.m. ET, Obama, in a White House meeting with Panetta and Chair, Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, ordered military force to be used.

before "At 5:41 p.m. ET," in the "Reaction in the United States" section.

2. Please add:

At 6:00 p.m. ET, Panetta, Dempsey, U.S. Africa Command Commander Carter Ham, and others met at the Pentagon. At 7:00 p.m. ET, Panetta ordered the following units to deploy: 1. two Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) platoons, stationed in Rota, Spain; 2. a U.S. European Command Special Operations Forces Commander’s In-extremis Force (CIF), training in Central Europe; and 3. a U.S.-based special operations force (SOF). At a 7:30 p.m. ET interagency conference call with representatives from the White House, Pentagon, and State Department, officials concluded that Ambassador Stevens had been taken hostage, the attack in Benghazi was over, and the U.S. needed to direct its response to Tripoli and unrest in the region. In total, it took the military 23 hours to deploy forces to Libya."

The hostage narrative first took hold at the 6 p.m. ET Pentagon meeting and became reinforced at the 7:30 p.m. ET interagency meeting. Chief of Staff Jeremy Bash testified: “…[Clinton] kind of told folks what the substance of the message was, and it was that a blond-haired individual had been found at the hospital. And I remember her saying, and I think others saying, well, that must be Ambassador Stevens, you know.” U.S. Africa Command Deputy Commander for Military Operations Charles Leidig confirmed that from 6 to 11 p.m. ET, U.S. Africa Command was focused on locating the ambassador.

The belief that the cause of the Benghazi violence was due to an anti-Islamic film, Innocence of Muslims, also took hold at the 7:30 p.m. ET interagency meeting. Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy for the Secretary of State Jake Sullivan would leave the meeting and writing talking points, conflating the attack with the anti-Islamic film in a statement that Clinton released at 10:08 p.m. ET. Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes would later copy sentences from this 10:08 p.m. ET statement to use in talking points for government officials, including for Susan Rice to use on the Sunday talk shows.

before the “Assault on the CIA Annex” paragraph in the "Reaction in the United States" section.

3. Please add:

On September 11, after a 7:30 p.m. ET interagency conference call, Ben Rhodes and Jake Sullivan spoke on the phone to confirm and approve a U.S. government statement to be released in response to the attack. At 9:32 p.m. ET, Sullivan circulated a draft to Rhodes and others asking them to approve a State Department statement. Some phrases were changed in a 10:03 p.m. ET coordination email. After the officials approved the statement, and Clinton released a statement at 10:08 p.m. ET, which included the following sentences:

1. “Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet.”

2. “The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.”

3. “There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.”

at the beginning of the "U.S. Government response" section.

4. Please add:

Notably, Rhodes used the September 11, 10:08 p.m. ET statement for sentences in Obama’s September 12 Rose Garden remarks, which included the following sentences:

1. “We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.”

2. “But there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence. None.”

before the “After the attack” paragraph in the "U.S. Government response" section.

5. Please add:

Sullivan and State Department speechwriters also used the September 11, 10:08 p.m. ET statement for Clinton’s remarks on September 12 and 13. For the September 12 speech, this included the following sentences:

1. “Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protest that took place at our Embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet.”

2. “But let me be clear – there is no justification for this, none.”

before the “On September 12, it was reported” in the "U.S. Government response" section.

6. Please add:

In her September 13 “Remarks at the Opening Plenary of the U.S.-Morocco Strategic Dialogue” speech, Clinton used the following sentence copied from the September 11, 10:08 p.m. ET statement:

1. “I also want to take a moment to address the video circulating on the Internet that has led to these protests in a number of countries.”

2. “Let me state very clearly – and I hope it is obvious – that the United States Government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. We absolutely reject its content and message.”

3. “To us, to me personally, this video is disgusting and reprehensible. It appears to have a deeply cynical purpose: to denigrate a great religion and to provoke rage. But as I said yesterday, there is no justification, none at all, for responding to this video with violence.”

before the “In his press briefing on September 14” paragraph in the "U.S. Government response" section.

7. Please add:

On September 14, Rhodes also used the September 11 10:08 p.m. ET statement to prepare talking points, including Susan Rice for the Sunday talk shows. He circulated the following statements, copied from the September 11, 10:08 p.m. ET statement:

1. “To underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy.”

2. “Third, we’ve made our view on this video crystal clear. The United States government had nothing to do with it. We reject it message and its contents.”

3. “We find it disgusting and reprehensible. But there is absolutely no justification at all for responding this movie with violence.”

before the “On September 16, the U.S. Ambassador” paragraph in the "U.S. Government response" section. 67.216.24.146 (talk) 14:06, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

References

Video

Sullivan and Rhodes. Remember those names. They made the video story. 2601:248:4780:8710:7132:90E5:1243:B5C3 (talk) 14:53, 4 July 2024 (UTC)