Developing Story: The US Under Attack In Libya: Attack May Have Been Al Qaeda Revenge Plot To Avenge The Death Of Its Second In Command; Pentagon Sending Drones To Retaliate

Note: The US Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three others were killed at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday by Islamic terrorists. This story is continuing to develop. Follow YWN for continued coverage of the attacks and all the latest developments.

Update 5 From The Guardian:
The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg has spoken with Steven Klein, a “consultant” on the “Innocence of Muslims” film quoted in an Associated Press report as saying of the project, “We went into this knowing this was probably going to happen.”

Klein tells Goldberg that “Bacile” is a pseudonym, the man in question is not Israeli, as previously reported elsewhere –and “likely not Jewish,” also as previously reported elsewhere.

Here’s Goldberg:
As part of my search for more information about Sam Bacile, the alleged producer of the now-infamous anti-Muhammad film trailer “The Innocence of Muslims,” I just called a man named Steve Klein –a self-described militant Christian activist in Riverside, California (whose actual business, he said, is in selling “hard-to-place home insurance”), who has been described in multiple media accounts as a consultant to the film.

Klein told me that Bacile, the producer of the film, is not Israeli, and most likely not Jewish, as has been reported, and that the name is, in fact, a pseudonym. He said he did not know “Bacile”‘s real name. He said Bacile contacted him because he leads anti-Islam protests outside of mosques and schools, and because, he said, he is a Vietnam veteran and an expert on uncovering al Qaeda cells in California. “After 9/11 I went out to look for terror cells in California and found them, piece of cake. Sam found out about me. The Middle East Christian and Jewish communities trust me.”

Update 4 From CNN:

A grenade attack created a fire in the U.S. consulate building in Benghazi, which created a very complicated and complex situation for those inside, according to a senior U.S. official familiar with the details of what happened.

“Folks inside were fighting the fire inside and the attackers outside. It was a cascading casualty, and Amb. Chris Stevens and the others got separated trying to escape to the roof of the building, ultimately succumbing to smoke inhalation,” the U.S. official told CNN’s Jill Dougherty.

“There will be more details as we go forward, but there were several valiant attempts to re-enter the burning building to find and save the ones we lost. Valiant but unsuccessful.” Another senior official with the State Department confirmed the details as well.

Update 3 From CNN:
A London think tank with strong ties to Libya speculated Wednesday that Stevens was actually the victim of a targeted al Qaeda revenge attack.

The assault “came to avenge the death of Abu Yaya al-Libi, al Qaeda’s second in command killed a few months ago,” the think tank Quilliam said Wednesday.

It was “the work of roughly 20 militants, prepared for a military assault,” the think tank said, noting that rocket-propelled grenade launchers do not normally appear at peaceful protests, and that there were no other protests against the film elsewhere in Libya.

The planned attack came in two waves, one which prompted U.S. officials to leave the consulate for a secure location. The second wave was directed at the place of retreat, Quilliam said, citing unnamed sources on the ground in Benghazi and abroad.

“These are acts committed by uncontrollable jihadist groups. We hope Libya will seize this opportunity to revive its policy of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Re-integration (DDR) in order to facilitate an end to the spread of such attacks, with the help of the International Community,” Noman Benotman, President of Quilliam, said in a press release. “We hope that the International Community, including NATO member states and especially the U.S., will continue their excellent work in Libya which began with the overthrow of the dictator Gadhafi after 42 years in power.”

Update 2 From CNN:
A senior U.S. official tells CNN that U.S. unmanned surveillance drones are expected to begin flying over Benghazai and other locations in eastern Libya to look for jihadi encampments and targets that may be tied to the attack on U.S. State Department personnel.

The proposal for use of drones is expected to be approved shortly by the Pentagon and the White House, CNN’s Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr reported. The official said the plan is for U.S. surveillance drones to gather the intelligence and then hand it off to the Libyans to strike the targets.

In June, Nic Robertson, Paul Cruickshank and Jomana Karadsheh reported that the U.S. was flying surveillance missions with drones over suspected jihadist training camps in eastern Libya because of concerns over rising activity by al Qaeda and like-minded groups in the region, according to a senior Libyan official. But the source said that to the best of his knowledge, they had not been used to fire missiles at militant training camps in the area.

Update 1 From CNN:
Tuesday’s attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was planned in advance, and the attackers used the protest outside the consulate as a diversion, U.S. sources told CNN Wednesday. The sources could not say whether the attackers instigated the protest or merely took advantage of it. The sources do not believe Ambassador Chris Stevens was specifically targeted.