This is a book by Mitchell Zuckoff based on his interviews and input from a few of the members of the security team at the CIA Annex who recount the events at Benghazi the night of 9/11/12 and 9/12/12 based on their participation in them. This book does NOT solve all the issues surrounding the events at Benghazi or tell us what the CIA Annex was for. Lots of folks suppose they know, many speculate, they may or may not be correct, but this book tells us what happened to these men in the fight at the compound where Ambassador Stevens was and the CIA Annex. Some people actually know what was going on before the attack and the purpose of Stevens being there and the activities of the Annex, but so far, no one has officially revealed these classified activities. Are they being kept hidden because of real need that would harm an ongoing operation or because they would be embarrassing to America or, I think most likely, they would be embarrassing to those in office at the time.
The first third of the book explains the split history of West and East Libya, the bitter mistrust, and the disaster that was the Gaddaffi regime. We also get to know the main people in this story and how they got to the point of working in Libya as security contractors. This is great background to understand the complexities of what happens that fateful night in Benghazi.
There are several contributing factors to the disaster. The first is that America had outsourced its security to a couple of local militia groups who basically see the jobs as sinecures. They seem to have to real sense of themselves as military or security professionals other than checking people in and out at the gate and collecting paychecks. We saw similar attitudes from the security and police forces during the terror attacks in Mumbai when most of them would not face the attackers. A few did, but most would not. The same thing happened again at the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya. And it happened here. Once the attack began, the staff fled. Some to the back of the compound and others just scattered. Some say they sided with the attackers; others deny this. It is hard to know. The point is that they did not fight to secure the compound and protect the Ambassador or the American staff.
Nor were there anywhere near close to enough American staff to secure the facilities and they seem to not have been well enough organized to provide adequate security. Those who were with the ambassador did their very best to protect him and put themselves in grave danger to help him.
It was during these critical moments that the security personnel at the CIA Annex, the contractors who wrote this book, wanted to get involved and help. They knew there were not enough professional security personnel to protect the compound and that the earliest moments are critical because you cannot let the enemy, the attackers, gain control of the situation. But this is when they were held back and the CIA official given the pseudonym “Bob” in the book held them back. He wanted the local militias who were contracted to do this work to do it. But they didn’t. And after 20 to 30 minutes, when the CIA Annex contractors finally went anyway to help, it was too late.
The Annex team had to be careful how they worked their way to the main building. The fire and smoke, which was thick and intense, made it difficult for those responsible for protecting the consulate to find the bodies of the Ambassador Stevens (who was recovered later by the attackers and subsequently returned to the Americans) and Sean Smith. The Annex team helped get those folks out and back to the Annex for safety. Reading about the difficulties and confusion in getting back is exasperating.
Once they were back, they knew they were out gunned and could be overwhelmed if the enemy brought in “technical” equipment (such as 50 caliber machine guns mounted in trucks). Instead, it was a night of skirmishes until finally, towards morning, some reinforcements did arrive from Tripoli. The idea was to get out. But they locals who were to provide the vehicles took their sweet time in arriving. Finally, a series of quick mortar attacks on the roof of the Annex killed one of the reinforcements and another of the Annex personnel. Then it was over. The motorcade finally arrived, and the Americans got out. Reading about that whole scene is another bit of misery, too.
The book does not cover what the Annex was for, why Stevens was there, who he was seeing. Nor does it take a single point of view. The contractors viewed the situation a bit differently and these views are expressed in the book. You will have to make up your own mind.
I am glad I read the book. It cleared up some things for me, but raised a lot more questions I would like to get answers to. And it sure makes the snow job from the Obama administration look lame. And the report from Representative Mike Rodgers, whom I generally admire, looks pretty weak, as well.
But what can we do?
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI.
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Regardless of Your Politics This is the "MUST READ" of 2014...
By far one of the best books I've ever read. I laughed a couple of times and I cried a lot.In October of this year I had the honor of meeting the guys at a book signing. Having listened to the audiobook and read the Kindle version, I stood in line with three hardcopies at the ready for autographs. There was something about being in the same room with these heroes, for the first time, in a very long time, I felt completely and totally SAFE. I've met a lot of "celebrities" but this was different, it was humbling to be around the men who were IN Benghazi, who lost their friends, who saved the lives of others, who survived "13 Hours" that must have felt like a lifetime.The book is 100% non-partisan. Stuck on a rooftop, they weren't aware of the politics behind that tragic event and Mitch does an excellent job of putting the pieces together from the vantage points of each of the survivors involved. It answered many of the questions I had, but it did leave this reader with one gnawing question and many sleepless nights: WHAT ABOUT BOB?
