State Department Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy is mostly to blame for the disaster at Benghazi for refusing the SST (Site Security Team) extension of one more year, thinking that locals could provide security.
Stevens believed that if there was trouble he could rely on support from operators at the CIA station house nearby.
Stevens also believed that he had such good rapport with the local militias that the Mission could rely on them also to keep the neighborhood quiet.
Stevens also believed that the weapons the Brits stored at our Mission when they bailed out would stay secret, even though locals working for us were aware.
Iranian Quds Force operators were in the area and wanted our CIA Station House degraded so that they could buy Ghaddafi’s weapons more easily, especially the SAMs. They were the mortar attack team and set up the kill zones on the streets between the Mission and the CIA Station that night.
So, the enemy was a complicated coalition that used our vulnerability.
Stevens always had the option of closing the Mission. The locals that were our security told him of the danger there that night and most of them bailed out.
BTW, Stevens ordered the storage of all that fuel used to burn the Mission. The fuel was to be used for our vehicles in case we chose to bail also.
It was a perfect storm of naivete, hubris, bad neighbors and lack of situational awareness. That is what happens when diplomats are charged with force protection.