And kill they did. Four Americans were slain — including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who had warned superiors repeatedly about the inadequate security of the installation in which he died — by some accounts after being tortured and raped. More of our countrymen would likely have met a similar fate but for the unauthorized intervention and heroics of two former Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, who subsequently were killed in action.
Stevens was not the only one who had warned about the dangerous vulnerability of an American outpost in a city increasingly manifesting the presence of al Qaeda elements — including by the flying of the terrorist group's black flag on government buildings. In fact, similar warnings were also sounded by several others interviewed for the "60 Minutes" segment; notably, a British security contractor tasked in the five months leading up to the attack on Sept. 11, 2012, with managing the impotent Libyan "security force" inside the wire; Stevens' No. 2 in Tripoli, Deputy Chief of Mission Greg Hicks; and Lt. Col. Andy Wood, a Green Beret who was charged at the time with protecting U.S. personnel in Libya.
As Col. Wood put it: "We had one option: Leave Benghazi, or you will be killed." He told "60 Minutes" that he had recommended to the embassy's senior staff known as the "country team" in Tripoli that they "change the security profile [in Benghazi] . Shut down operations. Move out temporarily. Or change locations within the city. Do something to break up the profile because you are being targeted." The reason: "You are gonna be attacked in Benghazi."
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