The following is not exactly a timeline. Rather, it is more of a sequence of events and presentations, with a sideline of other, possibly related events.
Benghazi, a very dangerous port city controlled by militias, and located in the eastern part of Libya (a hotbed of Islamic activity) has "approximately ten Islamist militias and AQ training camps" known to operate within Benghazi.
On April 5th, 2011, a small Department of State team headed by Chris Stevens arrives by chartered boat in Benghazi. They set up shop in a hotel. A few weeks later in June, a bomb explodes in the parking lot in front of the hotel. The group in Benghazi makes a decision to move to a new location a former residence. By August 2011 they settle on a large compound.
The compound is roughly 300 yards long with four buildings in it. Over the next few months, physical security at the compound is strengthened. The outer wall is upgraded, its height is increased to nine feet and is topped by three feet of barbed wire and concertina wire. all around the huge property. External lighting is increased. Concretey barriers are installed outside and inside the gate. Steel drop bars are added at the gates to control vehicle access and to provide some anti-ram protection. The buildings on the compound itself were strengthened.
The consulate was only supposed to be in operation until late 2013.
Nearby (one mile away) is a CIA installation (the 'annex'). There are also two warehouses. Post-attack reports claim that of the entire consulate staff, only seven were State Department personnel.
By September 11, 2012, Benghazi has already seen attacks against Non-Government Organizations like the Red Cross, the British consulate, and the US consulate. The NGOs and the Brits have essentially pulled out or reduced operations by 9/11/2012. The US consulate is essentially a lone target.
A CIA contract team, with a former SEAL on its staff, is in Benghazi, ostensibly to acquire Qadaffi-owned-now-militia-held weapons such as MANPADS, in order to take them out of circulation. The warehouses are reportedly used to store reclaimed weapons, particularly the MANPADS.
A relatively unknown low-bid contractor from Wales wins a relatively miserly contract fee to provide security. The company, who never had done embassy/consulate security, hires an on-scene manager whose experience is in the 'personal security (bodyguard)industry'. Other, more experienced security companies were rebuffed.
The consulate security consists of 4-7 unarmed guards per shift, with backup from the February 17 Brigade, a local, supposedly pro Libyan government militia and on-call support from the same militia. No word if there were background checks conducted; As of the week of 29 OOctober 2012, there are reports that some militia members assisting with consulate security were aligned with Al Qaeda.
There were motion detectors sent to the consulate, but not installed.
Requests for additional security are rebuffed, but no one knows who said "no". The number of diplomatic security officers temporarily assigned to the consulate fluctuates, but the total number at the consulate never goes into double-digits.
A military security unit on temporary assignment to the consulate requests its stay be extended. The request is denied, and the military unit is pulled.
On August 15th, the U.S. mission in Benghazi at an "emergency meeting", drafts a contingency plan to suspend operations as security deteriorated, The U.S. mission recommends that consulate operations be moved to the CIA annex about a mile away for the near-term.
An obscure anti-Mohammed video on YouTube, starring porn actors, and clumsily re-dubbed in Arabic, is blamed for inciting a mob attack on the US embassy in Egypt. A similar but smaller attack against a US embassy in Tunisia is also reported.
The week prior to the Benghazi attack, Canada closes embassies and withdraws their staffs from some Middle Eastern countries. Intelligence data suggests there is an imminent planned attack of some sort.
The consulate security contractor, citing a dispute with the Libyan National Transition Government, pulls its on scene manager cum bodyguard and flies him out of the country, just prior to the attack.
On 10 September 2012, the Ambassador arrives in Benghazi on the 10th of September. He does meetings both on the compound and off the compound on that day and spends the night.
About 7:30 in the evening, he has his last meeting. It is with a Turkish diplomat
Early morning of September 11 2012, the consulate staff believes they are under surveillance. Contract security and other consulate personnel report a member of the Benghazi police force on the second floor of the opposite building, taking pictures of the consulate grounds.
Due to it being 11 September, the ambassador has all his meetings in the consulate compound. He receives a succession of visitors during the day. The US ambassador meets with Benghazi 'civic leaders' who tell him that security in Benghazi is good and demand that US businesses invest in the city.
The ambassador openly meets with a Turkish diplomat a few hours before the attack, about 1930 local. At 2030 local the ambassador escorts the Turkish diplomat to the main gate The atmosphere is described as 'quiet'. The State Department briefing describes it as "nothing unusual during the day at all outside".
Several hours before the attack, multiple roadblocks are set up by fighters believed to be with Ansar al-Sharia.
0700-0840, the Blue Mountain Security manager in charge of the local force hired to guard the consulate perimeter, makes calls on both two-way radios and cell phones to colleagues in Benghazi warning of problems. The Blue Mountain Security chief seemed "distraught" and said "the situation here is very serious, we have a problem."
0700-0940: The local guard force protecting the consulate perimeter is in a state of panic, not knowing what to do as the attackers take up positions. Sources say other guards simply "walked away".
About 2100 local, the Ambassador retires to his room.
2100-2140 local time, a 'mob' attacks the US consulate in Benghazi. Consulate security sees the attackers enter the site and triggers an alarm.
At the consulate are four unarmed security guards, a couple of militia members, and a diplomatic security officer. Nearby is the former SEAL-turned-contractor.
The attack is reported as 'disorganized', but also appears to target specific areas. At least one of the Libyan guards is wounded. Walid Shoebat notes a translation of an Al Jazeera video taken during the Benghazi attack, where the attacker says, "Don't shoot, Mursi sent us".
An intelligence source on the ground reports "17 Brigade was nowhere to be found".
One special agent immediately retrieves the Ambassador from his bedroom and collects the information management officer. The three of them enter the safe room located inside the building.
The alert that reported the embassy being under attack is described by both the press and former State Department personnel during interviews as an 'email'. Supposedly it gets lost in the flood of normal traffic.
Twenty-five minutes into the attack commences, the State Department sends and email to multiple recipients, including the White House and the Pentagon.
Twenty-five minutes into the attack, CIA teams (six members plus militia from the 17 Brigade) dispatch from the annex toward the consulate to engage attackers and evacuate consulate personnel.
Fifty-five minutes after the attack commences, the President meets with the Vice President and the Secretary of Defense at the White House in a scheduled meeting. The DoD confirms the meeting, unrelated to the events in Benghazi, is confirmed by the Department of Defense.
President Obama is informed about the attack at 5 p.m. Washington time by his national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, at the start of the meeting.
The White House Situation Room is among the list receiving "emails from the field" describing the ongoing attack.
The consulate is set ablaze by the attackers. The ambassador, the agent and the information management officer decide to escape from the safe room after it fills with smoke and fumes.
The trio are separated during the attempt.
Two agents recover the body of the information management officer. They and the remaining remaining staff evacuates to a 'safe house' under heavy fire, escorted by elements of the supposed pro government militia February 17 Brigade.
Looters enter the consulate grounds.
The ambassador is separated from the other consulate personnel during the confusion, reportedly found unconscious by looters, is taken to a hospital and succumbs to smoke inhalation. Video and photos of the ambassador are taken and published on the internet. A later statement by private contract security personnel working elsewhere in Benghazi and familiar with the consulate layout says the consulate safe room was not properly set up and lacked "fire suppression and ventilation".
Hospital staff find a cell phone in the ambassador's pocket. They start calling numbers on the cell phone that had received calls. The State Department somehow gets news that the ambassador is there.
The annex comes under attack. Agents take firing positions on the roof and in other places.
The CIA station chief dispatches a quick-reaction force of eight personnel (six CIA, two military) that night from Tripoli. The force has trouble reaching the compound; they are delayed by Libyan officials at the Benghazi airport for more than three hours.
The CIA quick-reaction force attempts to make its way to the hospital where Ambassador Stevens had been taken and was thought to be still alive. The attempt is called of due to the "uncertain security situation" at the hospital.
One of the force members, also a former SEAL, Glen Doherty, dies along with contractor Woods in the mortar attack.
The CIA reportedly takes operational control of a military Predator. The Predator is diverted to cover the assault, reportedly to map potential egress routes. Video feed is broadcast back to Washington to the situation room at the State Department (confirmed during a Congressional hearing), possibly to situation rooms at the White House, and the Pentagon, possibly to Langley, and may or may not have been sent to other government facilities. Situation reports may or may not have been presented to countless other government officials.
AFRICOM, although established in 2008, has no quick response force, although there is one in training. Quick response forces appear to be standard for all other regional commands. AFRICOM borrows a quick response force belonging to the European Command, because its own force is still in training. AFRICOM also had no AC-130 gunships or armed drones of its own readily available.
There was a Marine air unit for SpecOps at Sigonella(?) but it was reportedly in the process of turning over to a replacement unit.
JSOC is either present or not present at Sigonella.
Three hours into the attack, the Pentagon issues an urgent call for an array of quick-reaction forces, including an elite Special Forces team that was on a training mission in Croatia. The team prepares to move to the Sigonella naval air station in Sicily.
Two platoons of Marines in Rota, Spain are alerted
The Pentagon scrambles Delta Force commandos, with their own helicopters and ground vehicles, from their base at Fort Bragg, N.C., to Sicily.
Armed drones that monitor Libyan chemical weapon sites in the area, some a short flight from Benghazi, were either "on call" or not available.
There are no armed drones within range of Libya. According to the Pentagon, "The closest fly out of Djibouti and were not in range of Benghazi"
The former SEALs continue to engage attackers at the safe house. The 'safe house' is taken under precision fire by mortars about 0400 local time, killing both former SEALS. The mortar crew's proficiency is attributed to 'experience' gained during the rebels' fight against Qadaffi's government.
Reportedly a laser is used by one of the former SEALS to paint the mortar team. A Specter C-130 gunship either exists and is present, or does not and is not, and (according to an administration source) the nearest gunship is in Afghanistan.
The annex is secured and evacuated. A convoy of the survivors makes its way to the Benghazi airport.
The Special Forces unit arives at Signonella. However, the surviving Americans at the Benghazi mission have already evacuated to Tripoli.
The Delta Force also arrives too late.
Requests for assistance were either "not denied", placed on hold, not acted upon due to a lack of intelligence on the ground, or lost in the shuffle. The President either was engaged, or ordered the Pentagon to begin "mobilizing all available military assets" (according to a spokesman for the National Security Council,) or gave "gave three very clear directives" and left it to subordinates, or went to bed.
There were also protests at the United States' embassies in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen.
The President flies to Las Vegas for a fundraiser.
The attack on the consulate and the other facilities lasts four, five, seven, eight, or nine hours, or two relatively short, intense assaults separated by a gap of four hours.
Both State and the White House blame the obscure anti-Mohammed video on YouTube, starring porn actors, and clumsily re-dubbed in Arabic.
The video director/producer, who has a criminal record, is hauled in for questioning by L.A. County sherrifs late at night with media in attendance, then later arrested for violating probation. There are intimations that the video maker is also a "known Palestinian con-man".
The President appears "cold and detached" while present for the arrival of the remains. The Vice President attempts 'blue-collar' familiarity with the father of one of the slain former SEALs.
An FBI investigation team flies to Tripoli, where they remain at a hotel for three weeks, either awaiting permission from the National Transition Council, or because the security situation in Benghazi was not good (even though reporters were there and combing through the consulate debris), or because there were disputes between State and the Department of Justice/FBI, or a combination of all three reasons.
The story in Washington changes several times. The Secretary of State's comments on 12 September reflected a knowledge that it was not the video but a deliberate attack. The remarks suggest she hoped it was Libyan renegades.
Demonstrators in Benghazi attack several militia facilities and force out its members, including the Islamic militia accused of the attack and the pro-government February 17 Brigade.
The intelligence community is blamed by State and the White House for providing a faulty product; the intelligence community responds through back channels.
On October 26 2012, Fox News reports that CIA officers in Benghazi had been told to "stand down" when they wanted to deploy from the annex. Fox also reports that the CIA officers requested military support when the annex came under fire later that night; their request was denied. In an e-mailed statement, CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood says "no one at any level in the CIA" told operatives at the CIA annex not to help.
The Secretary of Defense and the military commands either were waiting for orders from National Command Authority, or advised a no-go due to the paucity of intelligence about the situation of the ground and the size and makeup of the attacking force.
The Congressional Oversight Committee holds hearings, which degenerate into partisan warfare. Democrats accuse Republicans of "compromising" the CIA facility near the consulate. The Republican controlled Congress is blamed by their democratic counterparts for cutting funds intended for embassy security. Meanwhile, a significant amount of money is spent 'greening' the US embassy in Austria.
A State Department official, Charlene Lamb, testifies to the Oversight Committee that video feed from an overhead Predator was being sent to the situation room at the State Department, where she and others watched the attack in "almost real time".
In early October, news reports surface about small teams of spec-op forces that arrived at US embassies throughout North Africa "months before" the Benghazi attack. The mission was to establish up a network that could quickly strike a terrorist target or rescue hostages.
President Obama, on October 27 2012, vows to hold his administration "accountable" for September's attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, saying he took ultimate responsibility for any security lapses.
On November 1 2012, "senior intelligence officials" provide a detailed account to news organizations, reportedly the most detailed chronology presented so far of the attack. Senior intelligence officials also said that the CIA was the real commanding agency at the Benghazi consulate, and not the State Department.
On the night of November 1 2012, officials in the Obama administration leak a series of damaging remarks about the CIA's handling of Benghazi to The Wall Street Journal along with a list of grievances directed at the CIA Director, former General David Petraeus.
On 02 November 2012, a Pentagon spokesman provides new details of U.S. military movements made the night of the attack in case they were needed, stating that the Secretary of Defense "ordered forces to move."
On 04 November 2011, the New York Times prints an article at appears to compile reports and information from both the Pentagon and the administration, plus a restatement of earlier information. It is not particularly complimentary to both the Pentagon, or the intelligence community.
Sidelines:
A Libyan ship owned by a Libyan charity is reported to be running weapons from Libya for use by Syrian 'rebels'.
The US government reports there were plenty of warnings and threats but "nothing specific" regarding an attack.
Other contract personnel within Benghazi and familiar with the consulate state that the security attitude at the consulate was "complacent" and that "normal" American security procedures were not followed.
The Pentagon announces General Ham of AFRICOM has been relieved in what is described as a routine change of command. General Ham is also to retire.
A message posted by Navy SEALs that claimed President Obama denied them backup in Benghazi was taken down twice by Facebook.
On October 29 2012, news reports state that Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette, commander of the USS Stennis Strike Group, only ten days into area of operations in the Middle East, was sent back to the Stennis' homeport in Washington state "following an investigation into undisclosed allegations of inappropriate judgment". The Navy said RADM Gaouette is not "formally relieved of command".
Long War Journal reports a video featured on an Egyptian media site, showing Muhammad Jamal al Kashef (a.k.a. Abu Ahmed) who is "suspected of training some of the terrorists responsible for the consulate assault, giving an interview boasting of his ties to al-Qaeda. Jamal says he "always came to this place [the training camp] inside a State Security vehicle, and this is the first time" he did not.