The Special Mission was a lightly protected compound; the CIA annex was about a mile away. The attackers — at least twenty, with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades — set the main building alight. Stevens and Smith died in the fire. Woods and Doherty were killed hours later by mortar fire on the annex roof. [4]
The Accountability Review Board, led by Thomas Pickering and Admiral Mike Mullen, made 29 recommendations. It found systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels in two State Department bureaus, which left the mission with security “inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack.” The department later published its progress on the recommendations. [1][2][3]
A month before the attack, Gen. Carter Ham of Africa Command twice offered the Tripoli embassy a military security team; Stevens declined. Critics also note the board was convened by Clinton’s own department. Both points belong in the picture. [5][1]
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