The Benghazi attack, a conspiracy theory

The American public is used to conspiracy theories, and as fast as they arise, they are dismissed by most. The term “conspiracy theory” is used to deem a story as ridiculous, paranoid or unfounded. For most Americans, “the Nile is a river in Egypt.”

John F. Kennedy’s assassination was the center of several conspiracy theories that even resulted in books, documentaries and the Oliver Stone movie. The versions involved parties such as the CIA, the American Mafia, VP Lyndon B. Jonson, Fidel Castro and many more. The likelihood that Oswald acted alone was extremely low, as proven by many, but the Warren Commission refused to release all the information. 

Coincidentally, his brother Robert Kennedy was also murdered, but of course, the American public again dismissed the possibility of a “conspiracy.” And then Martin Luther King was also a write off for many –but not all- Americans.  

When a conspiracy theory becomes true and can be proven, such as President Nixon’s Watergate break-in and cover-up, then it becomes investigative journalism or a historical fact.

In September 2001, the country was attacked by al-Qaida, in the largest operation ever known in the United States soil. 

Although the US armed forces launched the Afghanistan invasion shortly after, people around the world speculated about the Republican administration’s involvement in the attack, given the slow reaction of the then President George W. Bush, the excellent justification for the war on Iraq that followed, and the lack of “enthusiasm” in looking for Osama Bin Laden. 

Those theories have not faded away, says the BBC. Around 15 percent Americans, especially young people, believe in the possibility that VP Cheney was somehow involved in the attack. 

Over a decade later, with only less than two months to the Presidential elections 2012, the Benghazi attack occurs, damaging –or at least trying to damage–the successful Foreign Affairs performance of President Barack Obama in finding bin Laden and ending the war in Iraq. 

I just highlighted some quotes from the New York Times report on 10/1/2012:

“The Sept. 11 attack culminated several weeks of growing violence against Western and other diplomatic posts in Benghazi. State Department officials said they were aware of the worsening climate and took precautions. One American official who worked in the mission said the Americans there were able to get around with ‘appropriate prudence’.” 

“Apparently, due to the increasing violence reported, the US Embassy in Tripoli had sent Special Operations personnel, including Navy SEALs and bomb-squad specialists to reinforce the Benghazi Embassy.”

The Attack “began about 9:30 p.m., roughly 15 minutes after Mr. Stevens had finished an evening meeting with the Turkish ambassador, bid him farewell and chatted briefly with a handful of Libyan guards at the gate of the compound.”

“Mustafa el-Sagizli, an officer in the February 17 Brigade and a senior official in the transitional government, said that he repeatedly called the mission’s official translator who for most of the night was unable to reach the ambassador’s security guards.”

“Security at the mission has become a major issue as the Obama administration struggles to explain what happened during the attack, who was responsible and how the ambassador ended up alone.”

“Mr. Stevens’s own bodyguard was so far away that he needed to sprint across the compound under gunfire to reach the building where the ambassador was working at the time.”

“‘There are three villas inside and the walls are high, and the only house that got hit was the house we were in,’ said Fathi el-Obeidi, a Libyan militia commander who came to help evacuate the Americans.”

Was there any "insider information" about the situation of the Embassy and its surroundings? 

The situation surely called for chaos and confusion but I believe additional information will come out from the incident because President Obama has shown to be relentless in finding terrorists, however, … would he share the findings with the American public?

But, of course, this is just a “conspiracy theory.”