Amb. Stevens Reported 'Targeted and Discriminate' Attacks Before 9/11

Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) have released State Dept documents that show Ambassador Christopher Stevens clearly expressed concerns about security months before his death.

The documents, 166 pages in total, contain a cable signed by Stevens and dated Aug 8. In that cable, Stevens wrote of how Benghazi had teetered from “trepidation to euphoria and back” through a “series of violent incidents.” And he took pains to point out that the incidents were not spontaneous outbursts, but “organized” attacks.

Stevens put it this way: “What we have seen are not random crimes of opportunity, but rather targeted and discriminate attacks.”

Another cable that bore Stevens’ signature was dated Sept 11 — the very day on which he was later killed. In this cable, Stevens expressed his concern about “growing frustration” in the Benghazi area and “growing problems with security” around the consulate.

Stevens explicitly mentioned the Libyan police and security forces that were guarding the U.S. consulate. He said those forces “were too weak” to keep the site secure.

These cables and the concerns expressed in them were nothing new. In late June, following attacks earlier that month, Stevens had written that the attackers “seemed to be targeting the Christians supervising the management of the consulate” and that “Islamic extremism appeared to be on the rise in eastern Libya.” 

In other words, months before the Sept 11 attacks took place, spontaneous uprisings were ruled out. The attack on Benghazi was “targeted and discriminate.”