The Hill
Whistle-blower: Special forces could have saved Americans in Benghazi
By Julian Pecquet
05/06/13 

U.S. special operations forces in Libya could have saved Americans killed in the attack last Sept. 11 on the consulate in Benghazi but were told to stand down, a State Department whistle-blower has told congressional investigators. 

The testimony by Gregory Hicks, who will appear before a House panel on Wednesday, contradicts previous testimony by administration officials who have said all U.S. forces in Libya were deployed the night of the attack. 

Hicks was in Tripoli during the attack and became the top U.S. diplomat in Libya when Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. 

He said the special operations team was ready to fly after Stevens was killed but before a second attack killed two other Americans. 

After Libya’s prime minister called to tell him Stevens had died, Hicks said: “The Libyan military agreed to fly their C-130 to Benghazi and carry additional personnel to Benghazi as reinforcements.” 

But as the special operations team headed to the airport, Hicks said, they got a phone call from Special Operations Command Africa saying, “you can’t go now; you don’t have authority to go now.” 

The C-130 ended up leaving after the attack was over and the four Americans were dead.Hicks’s statements clash with assertions from the intelligence community last November in response to reports that CIA officers in Benghazi were told not to rush to the aid of Stevens and the other Americans. 

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