In the many news reports published since the tragic and mysterious assassinations of four Americans in Libya on September 11, 2012, the scene of the terrorist attack is referred to variously as the “U.S. consulate” in Benghazi, the “U.S. mission” in Benghazi, or even as an American “embassy” in Benghazi.
Although President Obama in his news conference yesterday did little to bring greater clarity to what really happened in Libya, a look at several U.S. State Department websites might at least eliminate one of the many unknowns in this case: None of the official U.S. government websites refers to an actual U.S. “consulate” in Benghazi.
Consulates are Foreign Service posts that issue visas and passports, provide other American citizen services, and do day-to-day political and economic reporting as well as U.S. State Department “Front Office” diplomatic representation. Clearly the people in the facilities that were attacked in Benghazi (and we know little about them beyond the identities of those who were killed) were not doing that.
There are legitimate and real consulates in nearby countries—for example in Alexandria, Egypt, and in Casablanca, Morocco. The American public may be certain that those brick-and-mortar U.S. government facilities actually exist—in part because there are pictures of them and links to them on the websites of the U.S. embassies in Cairo and Rabat.
But the website of the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, Libya, contains no link to a consulate in Benghazi (or anywhere else in Libya, for that matter). Likewise, the Key Officers List—the State Department’s continually updated guide to all U.S. diplomatic facilities worldwide—contains no information about a consulate in Benghazi, but it does list the addresses and names of senior personnel assigned to the U.S. consulates in Egypt and Morocco.
So if U.S. government websites do not list the diplomatic facilities attacked by terrorists in Benghazi in September as a genuine “consulate” in the traditional sense, then what was it? And whatever it was, why wasn’t it adequately protected?
.was trying 2 undo Obama blunder of losing 20k missiles to terrorist. Will cause more death than #FastAndFurious .#Benghazi
There always seems to be more involved with high-level controversies that never see the light of day – like the "official story" and the "real story." Outside the regular media sources are reports of gun-running in support of Syrian rebels and others. I wonder how much truth there is in that? Our ambassador might have been complicit in something more dangerous than he expected. Check out American Free Press article…
If it isn't a consulate then the American members in government misled many people, including the men killed by terrorists in Benghazi. The lack, neglect, refuse of protection and security is no excuse. More of a set up by American haters in charge. When America's leader isn't protecting Americans he put in positions around the world, what is America's leader doing and why is America in the position to question it,him while all actions of America's head points to death (agenda 21) and destruction everywhere America is involved? What level has America been lowered to by these trashy people leading?