Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — A militia hired to protect the U.S. consulate in
Libya ended up helping the Al Qaida-attack that killed the American
ambassador to the North African state.

Congress was told that the February 17 Martyrs Brigade betrayed the
State Department and facilitated the storming of the U.S. consulate in
Benghazi in September 2012.

A former senior State Department official told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the brigade allowed
Al Qaida-aligned fighters to reach the consulate compound during the visit of ambassador Christopher Stephens.

“Certainly, elements of that militia were complicit in the attacks,”
Greg Hicks, former U.S. deputy chief of mission in Libya, said.

The administration of President Barack Obama had claimed that the attack in Benghazi was prompted by an anti-Muslim video. In January 2013, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the complicity of the Libyan militia was not essential.

“The attackers had to make a long approach march through multiple
checkpoints that were manned by February 17 militia,” Hicks said.

On May 8, the House committee said the employment of February 17 marked standard practice by the State Department in countries deemed dangerous. Another former department official said locals hired by the United States had turned on their employers in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

“This [February 17] was the unit that the Libyan government had
initially designated for VIP protection,” Eric Nordstrom, a former regional
security officer at the U.S. embassy in Tripoli, said.

Much of the House hearing reflected a report by the Senate Homeland
Security Committee in December 2012. The Senate report said a February 17
member had warned a U.S. security officer that the militia would no longer
protect the consulate in Benghazi.

“I’m stunned that the State Department was relying on a militia with
extremist ties to protect American diplomats,” Rep. Blake Farenthold, a
Texas Republican, said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Christopher Stevens, Eric Nordstrom, February 17 Martyrs’ Brigade, Gregory Hicks, Hicks: Militia contracted by State Dept. ‘complicit’ in Benghazi attacks, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Blake Farenthold