CBS: Rescue Team Assembled Too Late to Save Libya Ambassador

A special rescue team of commandos was assembled on the night of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya but the action came too late to save the life of Ambassador Chris Stephens and three other Americans, it has been claimed.

CBS reported that the team was summoned to an airbase on the Italian island of Sicily, some 470 miles from Benghazi where the assault occurred.

“The team, known as the Commander's In-extremis Force, was designed specifically for quick reaction to unforeseen emergencies,” CBS reported. “But U.S. officials say it did not arrive in Sicily until after the attack was over.

“Even if the team had been ready in time, confusion about what was happening on the ground in Benghazi — and State Department concerns about violating Libyan sovereignty — made a military rescue mission impractical, the officials say.”

CBS also said the FBI and State Department have now reviewed video from 10 security cameras which was only recovered some three weeks after the Sept. 11 attack. It had been “in the possession of local Libyans until the week of Oct. 1,” the report said.