State Department Report on the Benghazi Attack

The U.S. Department of State has recently released a report examining the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya in September of this year. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered the Accountability Review Board (ARB) "to examine the facts and circumstances surrounding the September 11-12, 2012, killings of four U.S. government personnel, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, John Christopher Stevens, in Benghazi, Libya." The attacks that took place involved grenades, mortars, arson, small arms, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and were "focused on two U.S. facilities in Benghazi, as well as U.S. personnel en route between the two facilities." It was the first time since 1988 that a U.S. ambassador was murdered, and took place exactly eleven years after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.

This report investigates several elements of the attacks, including: "whether the attacks were security related; whether security systems and procedures were adequate and implemented properly; the impact of intelligence and information availability; whether any other facts or circumstances in these cases may be relevant to appropriate security management of U.S. missions worldwide; and, finally, whether any U.S. government employee or contractor [...] breached her or his duty."

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