Posted on 09/17/2012 9:56:05 AM PDT by indpndtguy
CAIRO—Ambassador Chris Stevens was still breathing when Libyans stumbled across him inside a room in the American embassy in Benghazi, pulled him out and drove him to a hospital after last week’s deadly attack in the eastern Libyan city, witnesses told the Associated Press on Monday.
Fahd al-Bakoush, a freelance videographer, was among the Libyan civilians searching through the embassy after gunmen and protesters rampaged through it last Tuesday night. Al-Bakoush said he heard someone call out that he had tripped over a dead body.
A group of people gathered as several men pulled the seemingly lifeless form from the room. They saw he was alive and a foreigner, though no one recognized him as Stevens, al-Bakoush said.
READ MORE: Arrests made in U.S. embassy attack; operation precisely timed by militants: Libyan minister
He was breathing and his eyelids flickered, he said. “I tested his pulse and he was alive,” he said “No doubt. His face was blackened and he was like a paralyzed person.”
Video taken by al-Bakoush and posted on YouTube shows Stevens being carried out of a small dark room through a window with a raised shutter and being laid on the floor. One man touches his neck to feel for a pulse. Some of the men shout, “God is great.”
The video has been authenticated since Stevens’ face is clearly visible and he is wearing the same white t-shirt seen in authenticated photos of him being carried away one another man’s shoulders, presumably moments later. Two colleagues of al-Bakoush who also witnessed the scene confirmed that he took the footage.
READ MORE: Arab Awakening coverage
Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack on the consulate, part of a wave of assaults on U.S. diplomatic missions in Muslim countries over a low-budget movie made in the United States that denigrates the Prophet Muhammad.
The accounts of all three witnesses mesh with that of the doctor who treated Stevens that night. Last week, the doctor told The Associated Press that Stevens was nearly lifeless when he was brought by Libyans, with no other Americans around, to the Benghazi hospital where he worked. He said Stevens had severe asphyxia from the smoke and that he tried to resuscitate him with no success. Only later did security officials confirm it was Stevens.
A freelance photographer who was with al-Bakoush at the scene, Abdel-Qader Fadl, said Stevens was unconscious and “maybe moved his head, but only once.”
Ahmed Shams, a 22-year-old arts student who works with the two, said the group cried out “God is great” in celebration after discovering he wasn’t dead. “We were happy to see him alive. The youth tried to rescue him. But there was no security, no ambulances, nothing to help,” he said.
The men carried Stevens to a private car to drive him to the hospital since there was no ambulance, all three witnesses said.
Sounds like the 0bama campaign is trying to write the story and tell it differently than it appears to have taken place.
so, was he dragged through the streets ?
Sorry but we now have video of the truth... and the truth is the truth.
LLS
Totonto Star? You don’t suppose they are Obamugabe rump swabs do you, looking for anything to support the Obamugabe party line?
More likely the Hildebeest. She has more to lose.
More likely the Hildebeest. She has more to lose.
Drove him.....OK so some other guy was being paraded through the streets. Yeah sure hhmmmm.
How conveniently self-serving and fortuitous, but alas, unneeded because our President is as incompetent and impotent as anyone on the world diplomatic stage can get. One can only surmise that this reaction/cover-up explanation of the Allah Shout-outs is a holdover from a time when Ronnie, God Bless Him, Reagan would have would have sent the whole area (and miles around) to Allah personally via a cruise missile sortie numbering in the 100+ category.
Ok, same thing they said when the hijackjers slit throats of victims on 9-11. Must be an all-purpose cheer.
The video I saw yesterday does not agree with this account. It is clear that the protestors are anticipating the presentation of Stevens’ body and when it is in fact presented through a window they all cheer and take photos of it with their cell phones. The body is treated like a trophy (which I’m sure it was to them).
It’s like the administration wants us to believe them and not our lying eyes...
It seems to be working. The narrative I heard this morning was the same as this story states regarding the “Allahu Akbar” chants when the Amb is pulled thru the window. I actually laughed out loud when I heard the news story this morning. The arrogance of the media will be there downfall.
How insensitive of you!! That represents local libyan custom for transporting someone to the hospital. They can’t carry them because then the soles of the feet would be exposed. Therefore what you classify as “dragging” is how the locals “carry”. (Sarcasm)
And the post-mortem abuse of his body was done at the hospital, then? By his rescuers? By the doctors?
All the different SPIN stories are going to start to be really difficult to keep straight.
At this point I honestly don’t know WHAT to believe. I’ve read about the rumors that he was raped and that his intestines were hanging out of his back but haven’t seen any photos or videos that confirm those rumors.
Obviously- from other news accounts- there were SOME people in Libya supportive of Stevens and his mission- whether any of them were anywhere to be found that horrible night is not known. Too much assumption- few too facts.
Another thing I find striking- there’s almost no information telling us how the other three men died- what was done to them?
Understand: They hit the building with mortars and heavy automatic gunfire.....in order to save the near dead ambassador.
And the powers that be actually think the public is so unconscious so as to swallow this.
Wag the Dog.
No Marines in the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
Marines in Tripoli were unarmed.
Ambassador arrives in Benghazi that very day.
Anniversary of 9/11.
Giving all due to Hillary Clinton, believing all this evidence is “spontaneous, and over a youtube video, requires “a willing suspension of disbelief.”
Wonder if the State Dept. cremated his remains before returning him to this country?
Even in the best medical facility, a person presenting with smoke inhalation doesn’t have good survival odds.
Not sure the video confirms anything other than a bunch of excited people. My take is they were celebtrating that he was dead. However if he was indeed alive it is possible they were celebrating that he was alive. I wish they had video of what happened next when he was ... er “carried” to the hospital.
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