Extremists will immediately *know* facts by entertaining their emotions. Or by being told by extremist talk show hosts how to think. Moderates first learn facts. Facts from Benghazi confirm what moderates were saying.
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Months of investigation by The New York Times, centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO's extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.
A fuller accounting of the attacks suggests lessons for the United States that go well beyond Libya. It shows the risks of expecting American aid in a time of desperation to buy durable loyalty, and the difficulty of discerning friends from allies of convenience in a culture shaped by decades of anti-Western sentiment. Both are challenges now hanging over the American involvement in Syria's civil conflict.
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The legacy of Cheney, Mission Accomplished, and what happens when a government uses its extremist rhetoric rather then facts to attack another nation also inspired this attack and a resulting contempt for America. Problems made worse because American extremists also violated fundamental military concepts even defined 2000 years before Columbus.
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The attack also suggests that, as the threats from local militants around the region have multiplied, an intensive focus on combating Al Qaeda may distract from safeguarding American interests.
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Al Qaeda was not in Iraq - as a minority noted during Mission Accomplished. Unfortunately, too many still see Al Qaeda hiding under our beds rather than comprehending realities in that region. These same concepts, denied by American extremists, are relevant even in Syria.
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In this case, a central figure in the attack was an eccentric, malcontent militia leader, Ahmed Abu Khattala, according to numerous Libyans present at the time. American officials briefed on the American criminal investigation into the killings call him a prime suspect. Mr. Abu Khattala declared openly and often that he placed the United States not far behind Colonel Qaddafi on his list of infidel enemies. But he had no known affiliations with terrorist groups, and he had escaped scrutiny from the 20-person C.I.A. station in Benghazi that was set up to monitor the local situation.
Mr. Abu Khattala, who denies participating in the attack, was firmly embedded in the network of Benghazi militias before and afterward. Many other Islamist leaders consider him an erratic extremist. But he was never more than a step removed from the most influential commanders who dominated Benghazi and who befriended the Americans. They were his neighbors, his fellow inmates and his comrades on the front lines in the fight against Colonel Qaddafi.
To this day, some militia leaders offer alibis for Mr. Abu Khattala. All resist quiet American pressure to turn him over to face prosecution. Last spring, one of Libya's most influential militia leaders sought to make him a kind of local judge.
Fifteen months after Mr. Steven's death, the question of responsibility remains a searing issue in Washington, framed by two contradictory story lines.
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Reality is far too complex for soundbyte rhetoric inspired American extremists such as Limbaugh and the Tea Party. The NY Times article entitled "A Deadly Mix in Benghazi" on 28 Dec 2013 demonstrates why reality requires long posts. Soundbytes from extremist rhetoric have clearly distorted and misrepresented what happened in a Benghazi attack that killed ambassador Stephens. Soundbyte propaganda did not even mention Khattala - instead accused a mythical Al Qaeda. Because such rhetoric works on those most easily manipulated by propaganda.
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The other, favored by Republicans, holds that Mr. Stevens died in a carefully planned assault by Al Qaeda to mark the anniversary of its strike on the United States 11 years before.
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Extremists need bogeymen to blame - Al Qaeda today as Hitler blamed the Jews 80 years ago and McCarthy blamed communists in the State Department and Hollywood.
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The fixation on Al Qaeda might have distracted experts from more imminent threats. Those now look like intelligence failures. More broadly, Mr. Stevens, like his bosses in Washington, believed that the United States could turn a critical mass of the fighters it helped oust Colonel Qaddafi into reliable friends. He died trying.
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As was true in Iraq ten years ago, Al Qaeda was a myth promoted by extremists such as Cheney. That myth lives on even in myths that discuss Syria. Many still deny the legacy and resulting hate created by lies and Mission Accomplished. |
