Benghazi Militia Hired By State Department Helped Al Qaeda Terrorists

The Benghazi hearings revealed that the militia known as the 17th Martyrs Brigade hired by the State Department helped the al Qaeda terrorists.

Greg Hicks, who was the department’s second-ranking diplomat in Libya at the time of the attack, says the militia members stationed inside the US compound by the State Department were “complicit” in the attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans:

“Certainly, elements of that militia were complicit in the attacks. The attackers had to make a long approach march through multiple checkpoints that were manned by February 17 militia.”

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, internal security at Benghazi was reduced from 34 people to just three. Instead, groups known to be tied to al Qaeda terrorists were hired to guard Benghazi. The February 17 Martyrs Brigade “was the unit that the Libyan government had initially designated for VIP protection” and four members of the militia lived inside the State Department’s Benghazi compound, outnumbering US security forces.

At the Benghazi hearings, Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) asked, “I’m stunned that the State Department was relying on a militia with extremist ties to protect American diplomats. That doesn’t make any sense. How does that happen?”

“You mean like in Afghanistan where Afghanis that are working with our military that are embedded and turn on them and shoot them?” Nordstrom responded. “Or Yemen, where our embassy was attacked in 2008 by attackers wearing police uniforms? Or in Saudi Arabia, in Jedda, we had an attack in 2004? The Saudi National Guard that was protecting our facility reportedly ran from the scene, and then it took 90 minutes before we could get help.”

The al Qaeda ties to the Benghazi militia were known before the attacks ever took place:

“Absolutely,” said Nordstrom. “Yeah, we had that discussion on a number of occasions, the last of which was when there was a Facebook posting of a threat that named Ambassador Stevens and Senator McCain, who was coming out for the elections that was in the July time frame. I had met with some of my agents and then also with some Annex personnel. We discussed that.”

The February 17 Martyrs Brigade abruptly ended this contract right before the attack, with the excuse being they were not being paid enough:

“[O]n September 8, 2012, just days before Ambassador Stevens arrived in Benghazi, the February 17 Martyrs Brigade told State Department officials that the group would no longer support U.S. movements in the city, including the Ambassador’s visit.”

During the attack, special forces were denied a Benghazi rescue missiontwice even though the flight time was less than an hour. The militia had also stopped guarding any vehicle movements, making any potential rescue even more difficult.

What do you think about the State Department hiring a militia tied to al Qaeda to guard Benghazi?