40+ Libyan guards did little to defend the consulate (Reuters)

[jsr]

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/13/libya-ambassador-assault-idINL5E8KCLHR20120913

In Libya, deadly fury took U.S. envoys by surprise
By Hadeel Al Shalchi

BENGHAZI, Libya, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Diplomats had long been on their guard in Benghazi, a city that was the cradle of Libya's Western-backed revolution but also home to Islamists who have attacked foreign envoys.

Yet a long night of mayhem in which the U.S. consulate was overrun and torched, the ambassador lost and dying alone in the smoke while rescuers ran into a deadly ambush as they sought to save survivors, seemed to overwhelm U.S. security procedures.

Accounts from Libyan and U.S. officials, and from locals who watched what began as a protest on Tuesday against a crudely made American film that insults the Prophet Mohammad spiral into violence and a military-style assault on U.S. troops, point to a series of unfortunate choices amid the confusion and fear.

The actions of Libyan former rebel fighters assigned to help guard the lightly fortified compound may also face scrutiny. Libyan officers suggested that sympathy for the popular anger at the slight to their religion, as well as simple fear under heavy fire, meant the guards may have done little to defend the walls.

[cash__whatiwant]

1. Horrible nt

[HooptieWagon]

2. I heard 10 Libyans died defending the consulate.

If not the guards, then who were they?

[summerschild]

3. I've heard the same, from multiple sources.

Everything I've heard indicated the Libyans tried to protect them.

[jsr]

4. Post a link that says Lybian guards died

Ali Fetori, 59, an accountant who lives near the embassy, said: "The security people ... just all ran away and the people in charge were the young men with guns and bombs."

[Triloon]

6. Here is a link saying Libyan guards died.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/libyan-guards-killed-us-consulate-attack

[summerschild]

7. I said I HEARD it from multiple sources.

The tv has been on in the background all day, switching back and forth between CNN and MSNBC.
I've been reading about it all day on line. I don't recall reading it. (Did you read my post?)

[joshcryer]

8. Here's an AFP source, 10 guards killed:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/269494/libyan-guards-killed-in-us-consulate-attack-envoy

[jsr]

10. Okay. Thanks!

[jsmirman]

13. Shouldn't you change the title of the OP

in light of the information you now have that Libyans died attempting to defend the building?

[HooptieWagon]

23. Apparently, facts aren't of concern to OP.

[pampango]

24. Won't have posting governed by fact-checkers?

[jsmirman]

25. Shameful

and frustrating.

[HooptieWagon]

26. OP joined DU on Aug15.

[bhikkhu]

15. This one says the Libyans rescued Stevens in the midst of the battle

...pulling him from the burning building at 1:00 am, carrying him unconscious to a vehicle and then driving him to the hospital. The battle at the consulate went on until 2:30 am, says the article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444426404577647060576633348.html

[MercutioATC]

5. That embassy is U.S. soil.

I realize it was more of an office building than one of our fortified compounds, but why were Libyans defending it? You'd think that, especially someplace like Libya, we'd have our own troops there.

[jsr]

9. It's really the Lybians' job

The Vienna convention says "the receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the consular premises against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the consular post or impairment of its dignity."

It's shocking that the guards didn't even try to disperse the crowd or call for help. They just disappeared and let the crazies do whatever.

[joshcryer]

11. Some guards were reported to have been killed in the onset.

It was a planned attack.

I don't buy the reports that it was the guards fault.

We don't generally blame the guards in other incidents.

[MercutioATC]

12. France? O.K. Germany? O.K.

Libya? Hell, no. There are places where we should be providing our own security, at least within the compound.

[Indpndnt]

14. It wasn't an embassy. It was a consulate.

The embassy is in Tripoli and is considered U.S. soil. A consulate is in smaller cities and is not considered foreign soil. That's why the difference in security.

[MercutioATC]

16. Gotcha

Thanks for the explanation

[Indpndnt]

20. It is a bit confusing because there are two stories taking place.

The one in Egypt at the embassy and the one in Libya at a consulate. Both terms are thrown about in the reporting, so it's easy to get them mixed up.

[emilyg]

17. Why no Marines there?

[dionysus]

18. because it was a consulate, not an embassy, posts above seem to indicate

[unc70]

19. It wasn't an embassy, just a consulate

Consulates are often little more than an office or two, depending on situation.

[emilyg]

22. Thanks.

[rustydog]

21. Even if Marines were there, this was an attack with RPGs that set the consulate ablaze

[nc4bo]

27. Exactly what I've read. The ones who attacked were heavily armed even more so than

the security forces.

What the heck were they to do if they were out gunned?

[Number_9]

28. 'VileRat' reported seeing guards taking pictures...

... to his online community and that he suspected a pending attack.

Link to follow when I get home or someone beats me to it.

[riverwalker]

29. more on the firefight

Libya rescue squad ran into fierce, accurate ambush

http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E8KCMYB20120912?sp=true

......Of the eight American troops who had come from Tripoli, one was killed and two were wounded, Obeidi said. A Libyan deputy interior minister said a second American was also killed in the attack on the safe house. It was not clear if this was a diplomat or one of the consulate's original security detail.

"It began to rain down on us," Obeidi told Reuters, describing the moment the attack began - just as the Libyan security force was starting up the 10 pickup trucks and sedans they had brought to ferry the Americans to the airport.

"About six mortars fell directly on the path to the villa," he said. "During this firing, one of the marines whom I had brought with me was wounded and fell to the ground.

"As I was dragging the wounded marine to safety, some marines who were located on the roof of the villa as snipers shouted and the rest of the marines all hit the ground.

"A mortar hit the side of the house. One of the marines from the roof went flying and fell on top of us.".......