WASHINGTON — Michael Bay’s new film, “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” tells the story of the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, attacks in Libya through the heroics of the private security contractors assigned to protect Americans.
The movie, like the book it is based on, focuses on events in Benghazi during the 13-hour siege, which took place at the lightly guarded U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi and a secret CIA “annex” less than a mile away. Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, died in the twin attacks.
The 2 1/2-hour film largely steers clear of politics to emphasize what Bay calls the “great human story” of the half-dozen security contractors who fought through the night and saved dozens of Americans.
Still, it makes some controversial assertions, including a cinematic take on a widely debunked claim that a top official issued a “stand down” order, delaying a rescue operation. The movie also depicts repeated requests by Americans on the ground in Benghazi for U.S. military air cover that never came and touches briefly on a dispute over whether the attack was inspired by an anti-Muslim video, as some U.S. officials suggested.
Some of the movie’s claims and how they compare with the facts:
• “Stand down! Wait for my word … you will wait.”
The movie shows a CIA station chief identified only as “Bob” telling one of the contractors, Tyrone “Rone” Woods, that he and his team must wait for help from pro-American Libyan forces rather than move out on their own to rescue Stevens and other U.S. officials after they are attacked by Libyan militants. Bob explains that the existence of CIA annex is still secret, and says that by departing the annex, the contractors would be leaving it exposed to enemy assault and placing the lives of more than 30 Americans at risk.
“You’re not the first responders. You will wait,” Bob says in the movie. Eventually, the contractors leave anyway, about 20 minutes after the assault on the diplomatic mission begins. They are unable to save Stevens or communications officer Sean Smith.
THE FACTS: A 2014 report by the House Intelligence Committee said there was no truth to a widespread claim that a CIA response team was ordered to “stand down” after the State Department compound came under attack. A report by Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee also said no restrictions were placed on a military response.
The “stand down” theory has taken on a life of its own and centers on a Special Operations team that was stopped from flying from the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to Benghazi after the attacks of Sept. 11-12, 2012, had ended. Instead, the team was instructed to help protect and care for those being evacuated from Benghazi and from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli.
The senior military officer who issued the instruction to “remain in place” and the detachment leader who received it said it was the right decision and has been widely mischaracterized. The order was to remain in Tripoli and protect some three dozen embassy personnel rather than fly to Benghazi some 600 miles away after all Americans there would have been evacuated. The medic is credited with saving the life of an evacuee from the attacks.
• “I called for air support. It never came.”
A CIA analyst tells a colleague after the second attack — a military-style assault on the CIA annex — that she asked for military support, but it never came.
“If you don’t send air support, Americans are going to die,” including her, the analyst says in a phone call with an unidentified person. “I’d settle for a few F-16s,” she adds, referring to Air Force jets.
THE FACTS: Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top officials have said they moved quickly to deploy commando teams from Spain and Central Europe during the chaotic assaults, but the first military unit didn’t arrive until 15 hours after the first of two attacks.
“Time, distance, the lack of an adequate warning, events that moved very quickly on the ground prevented a more immediate response,” Panetta told Congress in 2013.
• “I didn’t see any protests.”
Tyrone Woods, who was one of the four Americans killed in the attacks, says during a lull in the fighting that he had already heard about stories in the U.S. news media that portrayed the attacks as a protest gone awry. He says he didn’t see any protesters in Benghazi.
THE FACTS: Protesters angry about an anti-Muslim video had stormed the U.S. Embassy in Cairo earlier that day.
Some Obama administration officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have suggested a link between the attack and the anti-Muslim video. In a statement issued after the first attack, Clinton said, “Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material on the Internet.” Republicans have accused Clinton of trying to mislead the country about the attacks.
Clinton is not mentioned in the movie. She told the House Benghazi committee last October that “there were probably a number of different motivations” for the attacks.
