The Real-Life Heroes Behind '13 Hours

Former CIA chief in Benghazi challenges '13 Hours' film version of 2012 attack
The Washington Post
By Adam Goldman and Greg Miller
Published: January 15, 2016

The movie, “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” is based on a book co-written by U.S. contractors hired to protect the CIA base in Benghazi.

John Krasinski as Jack Silva in the film, "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi."

It is the most fateful moment in a movie that purports to present a searingly accurate account of the 2012 attacks that left four Americans dead in Benghazi, Libya: a scene in which the highest-ranking CIA operative at a secret agency compound orders his security team to "stand down" rather than rush off to rescue U.S. diplomats under siege less than a mile away.

According to the officer in charge of the CIA's Benghazi base that night, the scene in the movie is entirely untrue.

"There never was a stand-down order," said the base chief known as Bob, speaking publicly for the first time. "At no time did I ever second guess that the team would depart."

Nor, he said, did he say anything that could be "interpreted as equivalent" as an order to stand down.

In a lengthy interview with reporters from The Washington Post, Bob provided new details about the attacks and his interactions with J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya who perished in them. He agreed to talk on the condition his last name not be used because even though he has retired, his cover has not been lifted.

"I thought I would regret it if I didn't," he said about finally speaking out. "So much of this information has been wrong."

“No one will mistake this movie for a documentary,” CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani said. “It’s a distortion of the events and people who served in Benghazi that night. It’s shameful that, in order to highlight the heroism of some, those responsible for the movie felt the need to denigrate the courage of other Americans who served in harm’s way.”
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FROM ABC

The Real-Life Heroes Behind '13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi'
By JUJU CHANG ERIN BRADY
Jan 16, 2016

What happened during the 2012 Benghazi attack is the most scrutinized, most politically explosive “13 Hours” in recent history, and now the real-life American commandos who fought that night are coming forward to share their stories.

On Sept. 11, 2012, Ansar l-Sharia armed militants attacked a U.S. diplomatic compound and then a CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, killing four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Mark “Oz” Geist was one of the six former elite military operatives who fought back that night.

"We knew to get out of there we were going to have to depend on each other, kill them before they kill you," he told "Nightline."
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