After talking to a State Department Official, a few U.S. Marines, and journalist Matt VanDyke, the consulate assault and its context began to take shape beyond the sound bites we all saw on television.
In June, a drone strike killed al Qaeda's second command. Since then, al Qaeda's affiliates have been calling for protests outside American embassies.
Fast forward to September 11, 2012 when an Egyptian Islamic pundit on a major TV network took to the airwaves, condemning the film for depicting Muhammed and Islam in a less than flattering light.
Protests erupted immediately. VanDyke, the journalist, calls it unplanned and opportunistic, while the State Department official confirmed a risky policy that puts Ambassadors in tough situations. The Marines followed up with me about their inevitable deployment to Tripoli to help clean up the mess.
The rest unfolds on hot night in Benghazi.
Produced by Robert Libetti
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