Last year’s terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, left four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, dead. The attacks are still under intense investigation.
The attack involved several assailants from major international terrorist networks, and according to a bipartisan Senate report released in January, the State Department is being blamed for the lack of security.
According to The Washington Post, the report contradicts a New York Times investigation that argued that no international terrorist groups were involved in the assault, which was prompted by an anti-Islam video.
“Individuals affiliated with terrorist groups, including AQIM (al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb), Ansar al-Sharia, AQAP (al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula) and the Mohammad Jamal Network (which the State Department says is connected to al-Qaida), participated in the September 11, 2012, attacks,” the report stated.
“It is sad that we trust our government and expect them to tell the truth, and then later we find out that they were keeping things from us,” said Jaspriya Singh, sophomore nursing major.
The committee report also exposed a lack of security at the Benghazi outpost, including evidence that some of the local guards who were hired to protect the facility were committing vandalism and attacking the building months before the assault.
The Benghazi attack has been a heated debate in mainstream media because of the lack of information being released from the government.
Debates about the attack include the fact that an American ambassador and three other Americans were killed, the attack took place on the anniversary of Sept. 11 and the government ignored several warnings that the attack could take place.
“It is our government’s job to protect us,” Singh said. “If the government was warned that these attacks could take place then they should have taken the steps necessary to keep the American citizens alive.”
The most recent and significant finding in the Benghazi investigation is the confirmation that the CIA, NSA, Pentagon and several other high security outlets received several growing threats, but failed to take action.
These findings are crucial in the debate between right- and left-wing political pundits who have been debating these details. The report gives the facts and support to show that the Benghazi attack was preventable.
“Security measures should have been implemented,” said Alan Potrus, junior accounting major. “It is upsetting to know that lives could have been saved if we had listened to the warning signs.”
As the Benghazi investigation continues, Congress will analyze all details and findings to discover what the White House did know and how the attack could have been prevented.
