DOD Sends Marine Team to U.S. Embassy in Yemen

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2012 – A Marine Corps fleet antiterrorism security team, called a “FAST team” is now on the ground in Yemen to help with security at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today.

This is the second FAST team, consisting of about 50 Marines, authorized by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to bolster security at U.S. diplomatic installations in the past two days.   The move comes a day after protesters attacked the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital.

The first team was sent to Libya after the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four State Department employees, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens.

The FAST platoon was dispatched, Little told reporters here, “partly in response to events over the past two days at our embassy in Yemen, but it’s also in part a precautionary measure.”

Protests began earlier this week in Libya and at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo over what was reportedly an American-produced film posted on the Internet considered insulting to the Prophet Mohammed.   Since then, there have been reports of protests in other countries in the Middle East, including at the U.S. embassy in Tunisia and the German Embassy in Sudan.

Travel alerts posted on the State Department website are advising Americans to exercise caution because of possible demonstrations elsewhere, including in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Jakarta, Indonesia.

About ongoing protests in Cairo at the U.S. Embassy there, Little said “the situation hasn’t to this point necessitated a change in security posture. Naturally, we stand ready to support our State Department colleagues if a request for additional military support comes through.”

In Afghanistan, protests so far have been peaceful, he said.

“We’re gratified based on what we know now,” Little said, “that religious leaders have appealed for nonviolent protests … so for at the moment we have not seen outbursts of violence against our diplomatic installations or military bases in Afghanistan.”

In Libya, he added, “we are continuing to investigate what happened and DOD will do its part, working with our partners across the government, to determine what happened and, if asked, support the president’s call to deliver justice.”

He said the department is in communication with State Department colleagues to discuss military support to embassy and consulate security around the world, but that it is premature to reach final conclusions about the recent violence against U.S. diplomatic posts in Libya, Cairo and elsewhere or about who is responsible.

“I really am asking respectfully for a little bit of patience as we work through this,” Little said. “It’s important to get this answer absolutely correct, and that is the goal of this government -- to make sure that when a call is made that it’s accurate and complete.”

Pentagon Deploys Security Team to Libya

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has authorized deployment of a Marine Corps fleet antiterrorism security team to Libya to protect U.S. citizens there and to secure the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said here today.

During a Pentagon news conference, Little said Panetta strongly condemns the recent attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in the Middle East.

“The secretary extends his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the entire State Department family,” Little said. “The department has been working with the White House and State Department to provide resources to support the security of U.S. personnel and facilities in Libya.”

Little said the Defense Department supported the evacuation of American personnel and casualties out of Libya and is supporting the repatriation of the remains of the four State Department personnel, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, who were killed in the attack late Tuesday on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey also have worked over the past 48 hours with combatant commanders throughout the region to conduct reviews of their force postures, he said. They also are working “to ensure that we have the flexibility to respond to requests for assistance or orders as directed by the president of the United States,” he added.

Little said the focus of the Defense Department is now on supporting whole-of-government efforts to provide security to American personnel in Libya and elsewhere, working closely with the State Department, “and then supporting any efforts that we may be called upon to assist in the effort to, as the president said, ‘deliver justice.’”

“The FBI and Department of Justice have opened an investigation into this tragic event,” Little said. “Obviously, we will cooperate fully if called upon to support their investigation.

“Rest assured that this department is going to work very closely with our interagency partners to help investigate [and], if we're called upon, to assist,” he continued. “And we will play our part in getting to the root of what happened.”

Official Details Benghazi Attack, Vows to Support Libya

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – A senior government official today revealed details of yesterday’s deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four State Department officials and wounded three others.

Today, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta all condemned the attack and the senseless deaths of Americans, and extended their deepest sympathies to the families and colleagues of those who were killed and wounded in Benghazi.

During a teleconference given on background to reporters, the official described the scene of an attack whose elements are unclear or unknown but that killed U.S. Amb. J. Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service information management officer Sean Smith and two others whose names are being withheld until State Department officials notify their families. Three other Americans were wounded in the attack.

All Benghazi consulate personnel have been evacuated to the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli in a series of flights that included the three wounded personnel and the remains of the fallen State Department officials, the official said.

The Benghazi consulate staff will be transported to Germany, she said.

“The staff that is well is going to stay in Europe on standby while we assess the security situation,” she said. “The wounded will be treated [at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center] in Germany, and the remains will come home.”

In the meantime, the official said, “we have taken our embassy in Tripoli down to emergency staffing levels and … we have requested increased support from the Libyans while we assess the security situation.”

Last night, she said, State Department officials ordered all diplomatic posts around the world to review their security posture and to take all necessary steps to enhance that posture.

During the briefing, warning that details may change as the attack is investigated, the official offered a timeline of events surrounding the attack.

The consulate in Benghazi is an interim facility acquired before the fall of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It consists of a main building, several ancillary buildings, and an annex a little further away, she said.

“At about 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time yesterday, which was about 10 p.m. in Libya, the compound … in Benghazi began taking fire from unidentified Libyan extremists. By about 4:15 p.m. attackers gained access to the compound and began firing into the main building, setting it on fire,” she said, “and the Libyan guard force and mission security personnel responded.”

At the time, three people were inside the building -- Ambassador Stevens, a regional security officer, and Smith -- and while trying to evacuate they became separated by heavy, dark smoke.

“The regional security officer made it outside and then he and other security personnel returned into the burning building in an attempt to rescue Chris and Sean,” the official said.

They found Smith, who had died, and pulled him from the building. They were unable to locate Stevens before fire, smoke and small-arms fire drove them from the building, the official said.

“At about 4:45 p.m. Washington time, U.S. security personnel assigned to the mission annex tried to regain the main building but that group also took heavy fire and had to return to the mission annex,” the official said.

“At about 5:20 p.m.,” she added, “Libyan security personnel made another attempt and that time were able to regain and secure the main building.”

The rest of the staff were evacuated to the nearby annex, which itself came under fire at around 6 p.m. Washington time and continued under fire for about two hours, she said.

During that ongoing attack, the official said, two more U.S. personnel were killed and two more were wounded.

At about 8:30 p.m. Washington time, or 2 a.m. in Libya, Libyan security forces helped regain control of the situation, she said.

“At some point in all of this, and frankly we do not know when, we believe that Ambassador Stevens got out of the building and was taken to a hospital in Benghazi,” she said, adding, “We do not have any information about his condition at that time. His body was later returned to U.S. personnel at the Benghazi airport.”

The official said Stevens made regular and frequent trips to Benghazi to check on developments in the east.

“He had been the secretary’s and the president’s representative to the Transitional National Council before the fall of Gadhafi and had spent a lot of time in Benghazi and built deep contacts there,” she explained. “So this was one of his regular visits.”

She said security in Benghazi included a local guard force outside the compound, “which is similar to the way we are postured all over the world. We had a physical perimeter barrier and … a robust American security presence inside the compound, including a strong component of regional security officers.”

About the protests, the official said, “We frankly don’t have a full picture of what may have been going on outside the compound walls before the firing began [and] … we are not in a position to speak any further to the perpetrators of this attack.”

The complex attack will require a full investigation, she added.

“We are committed to working with the Libyans both on the investigation and to ensure that we bring the perpetrators to justice,” the official said. “The FBI is already committed to assisting in that but it’s just too early to speak to who [the attackers] were and if they might have been otherwise affiliated beyond Libya.”

As Clinton said very clearly today, the official added, “We are as committed today as we have ever been to a free and stable Libya that is still in America’s interest, and we are going to continue to work very strongly to help them have the future that they want and they deserve.”

She added, “I would simply note how quickly and how strongly senior members of the Libyan government came forward to condemn this attack, to offer support to us.

She noted that the consulate’s Libyan security forces stood with U.S. security forces in defending the consulate buildings.

“One of the local militias that was friendly to the embassy came to assist as well,” the official added, “and I think that really speaks to the relationship that we have built with Libya.”

Also here this afternoon, Libyan ambassador to the United States Ali Suleiman Aujali held a press conference to condemn the attack on the Benghazi consulate and the deaths of embassy personnel.

“It is a sad day in my life. I knew Chris personally. He's my tennis partner. He comes to my house. We have breakfast together. I’ve known him for more than six years. He may be the first American diplomat to [have arrived] in Tripoli … after the revolution. He’s very welcomed by the people. He visited the Libyans. He [ate] with them. He [sat] with them,” Aujali said.

Aujali also offered his country’s “deep condolences” to the American people, to the families, and the president.

“We are very sorry for what happened,” Aujali said. “We will do everything possible … to [ensure] that we have better relations, better protection [for] the American diplomats and [for] the international community … working in our country.”

Attack in Libya Should Shock World’s Conscience, Clinton Says

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2012 – The attack in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the deaths of four Americans should “shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said here today.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and Sean Smith, a Foreign Service information officer and Air Force veteran, were killed in the attack. The State Department is withholding the identities of the other Americans, pending next-of-kin notification.

“All over the world every day, America’s diplomats and development experts risk their lives in the service of our country and our values because they believe that the United States must be a force for peace and progress in the world,” Clinton said. “Alongside our men and women in uniform, they represent the best traditions of a bold and generous nation.”

Stevens risked his life to stop former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and then gave his life trying to help in building a better Libya, Clinton said.

“The world needs more Chris Stevenses,” she added.

Although this happened in a country the United States helped to liberate and in a city it helped to save from destruction, Clinton said Americans must remain “clear-eyed, even in our grief.”

“This was an attack by a small and savage group, not the people or government of Libya,” she added. Libyans stood and fought to protect Americans during the attack, and Libyans carried Stevens’ body to the hospital, Clinton noted.

The United States will not waver in its mission in Libya, the secretary pledged.

“The mission that drew Chris and Sean and their colleagues to Libya is both noble and necessary,” she said. “A free and stable Libya is still in America’s interest and security, and we will not turn our back on that.”

Clinton said the United States is working closely with Libyan authorities to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice.

“Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior, along with the protests that took place at our embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet,” Clinton said, referring to a video that is purported to blaspheme Islam.

“Let me be clear, there is no justification for this,” she said. “Violence like this is no way to honor religion or faith. And as long as there are those who would take innocent life in the name of God, the world will never know a true and lasting peace.”

Clinton noted that the attack took place as Americans observed the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

“It's an anniversary that means a great deal to all Americans,” she said. “Every year on that day, we are reminded that our work is not yet finished -- that the job of putting an end to violent extremism and building a safe and stable world continues.”