John “TIG” Tiegen
@TigTiegen
For the next 12 days, I’m going to tell the story of Benghazi.
Not just what happened during those 13 hours on September 11 and 12, 2012.
I’m going back before that night.
Back to the warnings, back to the attacks that had already happened.
Back to what was going on in Benghazi months before 4 Americans were killed.
Some of what I’m going to share is already documented in congressional investigations and government records.
Some of it comes from people who have spent years digging into what happened afterward.
And some of it I know for one simple reason.
I was there.
I was serving on the CIA’s GRS Annex Security Team in Benghazi in 2012.
I was there while the security situation was getting worse.
I was there when the U.S. compound was attacked months before September 11.
I was there while Benghazi was becoming more dangerous and the warning signs kept piling up.
And on September 11, 2012, I was there when all of it came crashing down.
This isn’t about reopening some old political argument.
It’s about telling the story in the order it actually happened and remembering the 4 Americans who never came home because of OUR failed government and policies.
Ambassador Chris Stevens
Sean Smith
Tyrone “Rone” Woods
Glen “Bub” Doherty
Tomorrow I’m starting at the beginning.
September 1.
Day 1 of 12.
12 Days of Benghazi.
#12DaysOfBenghazi #Benghazi #13Hours #NeverForget #HonorTheFallen
John “TIG” Tiegen
@TigTiegen
12 DAYS OF BENGHAZI:
DAY 1
Before September 11, 2012, Benghazi was already giving us warning after warning.
This didn’t just come out of nowhere.
Western facilities were being targeted. Diplomats were being attacked. Extremist groups were operating throughout the area, and the security situation kept getting worse.
On April 6, an explosive was thrown over the wall of the U.S. compound.
A few days later, a UN convoy was attacked.
The Red Cross was hit with RPGs.
Then came June 6.
I was in Benghazi that night, sitting at the CIA Annex watching the cameras when the call came in that the U.S. consulate was under attack.
There were only 2 DS security personnel at the consulate that night.
As soon as the call came in, I initiated our SOP.
Wake everybody up, Gear up, Get the vehicles ready.
We had already told the 2 guys at the consulate that if something happened to them, we had their back.
We were their quick reaction force. (QRF)
We normally had ourselves ready to move in about 5 minutes. That night we were ready within roughly 5 to 10 minutes. It was around 3:30 a.m. local time in Benghazi
Then Bob stopped us.
He told us to stand down. Still wasn’t the 1st time either.
Not “wait.”
Not “hold for a minute.”
Stand down!
And yes, I remember the words.
He told us we were not going and that he would call 17Feb and have them handle it.
It’s the Team Leaders that make the decision and difference…
Meanwhile, an explosive had just blown roughly a 9-by-12-foot hole through the exterior wall of the U.S. compound. Official reports later documented the attack and said the Omar Abdul Rahman Brigade claimed responsibility, although that claim was never substantiated.
Thankfully, nobody was killed that night.
But look at what had just happened. An American compound had been attacked again.
The wall had been blown open and there were only 2 security personnel there. Read that again!
An American security team was sitting nearby, geared up and ready to move.
And we were told to stand down.
That was June 6, 2012.
97 days before September 11.
And that wasn’t the only warning.
We were also seeing AQ activity in and around Benghazi.
Reports were coming in about sightings, locations and activity.
There were people whose job was to help locate and track those networks through intelligence collection, including electronic communications and signal gathering.
And if Bob found out we were taking people out specifically to help locate or track AQ activity, he would stop us from doing it.
The threat was there.
The intelligence was there.
The attacks were already happening.
And people on the ground were trying to understand what was developing around us.
I know some of you were expecting me to do this as a podcast or video series.
I just don’t have the time this year to put that together the way I would want to.
So for the next 12 days, I’m going to tell you pieces of this story that most people have probably never heard.
Some of it is documented in government records. Some of it has been uncovered since.
And some of it I know because I was standing there when it happened.
Tomorrow, June 11.
The British Ambassador’s convoy gets hit! And once again, Bob tells us to stand down.
But that time, things go differently.
#12DaysOfBenghazi #Benghazi #13Hours #NeverForget #HonorTheFallen