After U.S. government officials were able to investigate the compound in
Benghazi sensitive information remained scattered on the floor and reporters
have recovered some of this information. Sensitive information was lost after
the attack, but the government officials responsible for protecting this
information do not appear to have been concerned about this situation. The
efforts to secure the compound seemed halfhearted.
On 13 September a reporter for the Guardian
found a letter in the Benghazi compound from Ambassador Stevens which read,
"For security reasons, we'll need to be careful about limiting moves off
compound and scheduling as many meetings as possible in the villa."
On 14 September 2012 a CNN
reporter found the Ambassador's journal on the floor of the compound where the
Ambassador was “fatally wounded.” On October 3, 2012 a Washington Post
reporter gathered a sampling of documents scattered on the floor of the
facility. "The documents detail weapons collection efforts,
emergency evacuation protocols, the full internal itinerary of Ambassador J.
Christopher Stevens’ trip to the city and the personnel records of Libyans who
were contracted to secure the mission."
Finally the FBI
arrived in Libya to conduct its investigation on October 3. They spent
approximately 12 hours in Benghazi. One witness
claimed the spent only three hours at the compound. How thorough was their
investigation? Attorney General Holder
announced, "I'm satisfied with the progress." On October 26th
a Foreign Policy
Magazine reporter visited the compound for a story for Dubai based Al Aan TV.
He found several ash-strewn documents beneath the rubble of the compound.
One letter dated 9 September addressed to the Libyan Ministry of Foreign
Affairs dealt with a concern about a Libyan policeman photographing the inside
of the compound and the lack of police protection.
Well after the FBI conducted its investigation the compound still contained
sensitive information. Obviously the first people to have access to this
information were the attackers. What did they learn about our “weapons
collection efforts?” Could our “emergency evacuation protocols” give them
vital information for future attacks? The exposure of personnel records
of Libyans cooperating with the U.S. could be fatal. Would this give people
willing to cooperate with the U.S. second thoughts. What other documents
were available to the attackers?
