Avoiding an Iran crisis ‘replay’: U.S. unease over Libya behind spy-dominated consulate, expert says
Joe O'Connor | Nov 2, 2012 9:06 PM ET | Last Updated: Nov 2, 2012 9:25 PM ET
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More from Joe O'Connor | @oconnorwrites
Esam Al-Fetor / Reuters files
The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi after it was besieged by gunman September 11, 2012.
Most of the personnel attached to
the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, the Libyan city where a U.S.
consulate was attacked ending with the deaths of four Americans,
including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were spies, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The paper said 23 of the 30 Americans evacuated from Benghazi in the wake of the Sept. 11 attack were employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, two of the men killed that day, and later publicly identified as contract security workers with the State Department, were in fact under contract with the CIA.
Wesley Wark, a visiting professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, said the situation in Libya would have dictated a heavy American spy presence.
“That would be absolutely how it is in Libya,” he said, referring to the numeric breakdown of spy vs. diplomat in Benghazi.
“What those numbers reflect is the American concerns about the situation in Libya. The government is very weak, the security situation is very fragile, there is a rising concern about jihadist groups in Libya coming to fore, and with potential ties to other al-Qaeda inspired groups in the region — so there is a lot to keep an eye on.
“And I think the size of the contingent, such as it was, reflects those concerns and also reflects that you don’t really want to have too many personnel on the ground in a fragile security situation — precisely in case the kind of things that happened in Benghazi actually do happen.
“You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you are under siege, kind of a replay of [the American hostage taking at the U.S. Embassy in] Tehran in 1979. The Americans are very sensitive to that, and it’s important to understand that not all they do in intelligence — and not even a very large part of what they do in intelligence — is done by traditional spies.”
In other words, 23 spies, or employees of some kind with the CIA in
Benghazi is neither a surprise or a big number or a big indication of
the extent of the American intelligence community’s efforts in the
region.
More ubiquitous than the boots on the ground, says professor Wark, are the satellites and drones above and the desk-bound spies back in the U.S. or in neighbouring countries, eavesdropping on communications, tracking financial transactions and tapping on keyboards instead of hiding in darkened corners and taking notes on the streets of Tripoli.
Most of the CIA personnel in Benghazi were stationed at an “annex,” less than two kilometres away from the consulate. Controversy continues to simmer around whom, exactly, was responsible for protecting the ambassador and his staff: the State Department or the CIA?
“The [CIA] were the cavalry,” one senior U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal.
But the paper also added, “In Libya, the relationship between the State Department and CIA was secret and symbiotic: The consulate provided diplomatic cover for the classified CIA operations.”
On Thursday, senior intelligence staffers took the unusual step of addressing reporters and providing a detailed timeline of events in Benghazi. The move was presumably in response to recent news reports that the men stationed at the annex were twice ordered to “stand down” by their superiors, instead of rushing to the aid of the embattled consulate.
“It is not the kind of information that they would routinely be prepared to make public,” Mr. Wark says. “But because this has become a campaign issue there is a lot of sensitivity around it and probably the calculation was the CIA — supported by the White House — wanted to get ahead of the story and tell it how it was, as best they can, rather than let the story leak out in dribs and drabs and be a source of speculation or misinformation that might be harmful to the Obama administration.”
National Post with files from news services
The paper said 23 of the 30 Americans evacuated from Benghazi in the wake of the Sept. 11 attack were employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, two of the men killed that day, and later publicly identified as contract security workers with the State Department, were in fact under contract with the CIA.
Wesley Wark, a visiting professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, said the situation in Libya would have dictated a heavy American spy presence.
Esam Al-Fetori / Reuters filesA gunman at the U.S. Consulate the night of the attack.
AFP PHOTO/STR-/AFP/GettyImagesU.S.
Ambassador Christopher Stevens, was being driven from the consulate
building to a safer location when gunmen opened fire in Benghazi.
“What those numbers reflect is the American concerns about the situation in Libya. The government is very weak, the security situation is very fragile, there is a rising concern about jihadist groups in Libya coming to fore, and with potential ties to other al-Qaeda inspired groups in the region — so there is a lot to keep an eye on.
“And I think the size of the contingent, such as it was, reflects those concerns and also reflects that you don’t really want to have too many personnel on the ground in a fragile security situation — precisely in case the kind of things that happened in Benghazi actually do happen.
“You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you are under siege, kind of a replay of [the American hostage taking at the U.S. Embassy in] Tehran in 1979. The Americans are very sensitive to that, and it’s important to understand that not all they do in intelligence — and not even a very large part of what they do in intelligence — is done by traditional spies.”
AP Photo/Ibrahim AlaguriThe U.S. Consulate the day after the attack.
More ubiquitous than the boots on the ground, says professor Wark, are the satellites and drones above and the desk-bound spies back in the U.S. or in neighbouring countries, eavesdropping on communications, tracking financial transactions and tapping on keyboards instead of hiding in darkened corners and taking notes on the streets of Tripoli.
Most of the CIA personnel in Benghazi were stationed at an “annex,” less than two kilometres away from the consulate. Controversy continues to simmer around whom, exactly, was responsible for protecting the ambassador and his staff: the State Department or the CIA?
REUTERS/Esam al-FetoriAn interior view of the U.S. consulate, which was attacked and set on fire by gunmen in Benghazi September 11, 2012.
But the paper also added, “In Libya, the relationship between the State Department and CIA was secret and symbiotic: The consulate provided diplomatic cover for the classified CIA operations.”
On Thursday, senior intelligence staffers took the unusual step of addressing reporters and providing a detailed timeline of events in Benghazi. The move was presumably in response to recent news reports that the men stationed at the annex were twice ordered to “stand down” by their superiors, instead of rushing to the aid of the embattled consulate.
It is not the kind of information that they would routinely be prepared to make publicSix CIA security men, the intelligence officials countered, responded immediately to calls from the consulate for help.
“It is not the kind of information that they would routinely be prepared to make public,” Mr. Wark says. “But because this has become a campaign issue there is a lot of sensitivity around it and probably the calculation was the CIA — supported by the White House — wanted to get ahead of the story and tell it how it was, as best they can, rather than let the story leak out in dribs and drabs and be a source of speculation or misinformation that might be harmful to the Obama administration.”
National Post with files from news services
Labels: Libya, Security, Terrorism, Traditions, United States
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