You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Government
Klingon Spokesman Slams '13 Hours' as '€˜Distortion' of Benghazi Events
2016-01-17
[Variety] A spokesman for the CIA is criticizing the Michael Bay movie "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" as a "distortion of the events and people who served in Benghazi that night."
'Distortion'....? Alright then, declassify the message traffic and set the record straight.
The spokesman, Ryan Trapani, was quoted in an exclusive Washington Post story, which also features an interview with the CIA chief in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, when Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others were killed in a siege of the diplomatic compound and attack on the CIA annex.

"No one will mistake this movie for a documentary," Tripani told the Post. "It's a distortion of the events and people who served in Benghazi that night. It's shameful that, in order to highlight the heroism of some, those responsible for the movie felt the need to denigrate the courage of other Americans who served in harm's way."

Tripani did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The CIA base chief, identified only as "Bob," takes issue with a key point in the movie, when he tells the six contractors to "stand down" before responding to calls for help at the nearby diplomatic compound. The movie shows the contractors waiting for more than 20 minutes before bucking orders and leaving to try to save Stevens and others.
IMHO, with a few exceptions, "Bob" represented the quintessential CIA career employee. Kudo's to the director, actor, and technical advisors. They nailed "Bob." A tragic confirmation might be found at FOB Chapman and the largest number of Agency personnel killed in one day. These klueless fok's WILL get you killed.

"There was never a stand-down order," the CIA chief told the Post. "At no time did I ever second-guess that the team would depart." The CIA chief told the Post that he spent about 20 minutes trying to enlist local security teams.
Posted by:Besoeker

#10  And we ALL take the CIA at their word these days. They would never ever go into butt covering mode.
Posted by: ed in texas   2016-01-17 19:32  

#9  If I were Bob I would be upset about all the bad press. As someone who is not Bob, I take issue with him. In the book he comes across as a real ass. His public statements are only reinforcing that impression.
Posted by: Iblis   2016-01-17 17:51  

#8  '13 Hours' bad, 'Zero Dark Thirty' good?
Posted by: Pappy   2016-01-17 17:24  

#7  Michael Moore...
Posted by: CrazyFool   2016-01-17 16:54  

#6  But all of Michael Movies are absolutely true...
Posted by: CrazyFool   2016-01-17 16:51  

#5  There is only one person authorized to make such a decision.

IIRC, on that fatefull night POTUS handed the keys to SECDEF and retired to the west wing. With a clandestine Klingon shop and an under the radar State "consulate" setting up an arms conduit it's not surprising uncle Leon was squeemish about sending in the calvery.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2016-01-17 14:40  

#4  Someone somewhere decided that the military should not intervene.

There is only one person authorized to make such a decision.
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-01-17 12:54  

#3  The CIA chief actually confirmed the story given in the movie. He says that he did not "second guess that the team would not be allowed to depart".
This does not mean that he did not tell them to wait or to stand down.
He said also that he spent twenty minutes trying to enlist local support. This is consistent with the claim of the contractors that they waited for twenty minutes, and even that he once said "stand down" or "leave me alone" while he was frustrated at failing to get response from outside locals.
He is saying only that his motives for his delaying actions were pure; he was concerned that if he succeeded in getting outside help, the contractors might come into conflict with the helpers, and cause casualties that might be blamed on him.
Of course he should have been consulting his superiors to get outside US support which apparently was overhead.
Someone somewhere decided that the military should not intervene.
My belief is this was based on the foolish state department fear that only state department personnel were protected by treaty from prosecution for injury to Libyans.
Often what appear to be callous and foolish decisions are based on preoccupation of the decision makers with nonsensical distractions.
That is the very nature of incompetence.
Posted by: Grins Snese4215   2016-01-17 12:52  

#2  "distortion of the events..."

The basic events are:

1- Troops in contact.
2- Help available.
3- Help not sent.
4- Troops die.
5- CIC attends fundraiser.

Where's the distortion?
Posted by: Matt   2016-01-17 12:33  

#1  and these two have no incentive to lie? Riiigghht
Posted by: Frank G   2016-01-17 12:07  

00:00