State Department documents revealed that slain Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and others had warned several times of “growing problems with security” and violence in eastern Libya, where Benghazi is located, after the fall of Moammar Gadhafi and after the Transitional National Council moved its governing headquarters from Benghazi to Tripoli in September 2011. Stevens’ predecessor Ambassador Gene Cretz had also sent cables to the State Department warning of the deepening security crisis in Libya.
Well before the Benghazi attack, our intelligence agencies, Department of Defense and State Department cables from the U.S. Embassy in Libya all warned of a growing security crisis. They said terrorists from across the region, including al Qaeda elements believed to be associated with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, were able to travel freely into the country to recruit, organize, plan attacks and procure weapons. (CNN op-ed, Posted 29 Nov 12)
