Decide for yourself - timeline of terror attack on Benghazi

A detailed timeline of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, has been provided by the CIA to Washington Post writer, David Ignatius. The timeline shows that the deaths of three American security agents occurred long after the White House was informed of the attacks and chose to do nothing.

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WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Review this timeline for yourself and decide if the Administration could have done more to stop needless deaths of Americans.

11:11 p.m.: local time, Benghazi: Told that an attack was occurring at the Ambassador's compound, a predator drone arrives after being diverted from 90 miles away. The drone is unarmed, but provides detailed imagery of what is happening on the ground. 

11:15 p.m.: State Department officials evacuate the compound. CIA officers evacuate fifteen minutes later and retreat to a nearby annex to await help. They arrive at 11:36.

11:56 p.m.: The CIA annex comes under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The attack lasts over an hour, but no casualties are reported. There is no armed response of any kind from the security detail inside. The attackers are deterred more by their lack of success than by American defenses. 

1:01 a.m.: Al-Qaeda sponsored attackers halt their attempts to kill the Americans inside the CIA annex. The military admits they believe the assault is over. 

1:15 a.m.: Another CIA team, rushed from Tripoli, arrives in Benghazi. The team is comprised of four security officers, two military personnel, and a CIA Case Officer. The team spends several hours negotiating with Libyan officials over permission to depart the airport and over what to do next as well as arranging transportation. 

4:30 a.m.: Scrapping a plan to drive to the Benghazi hospital where Ambassador Stevens and a communications officer are already dead, the team elects to reinforce the besieged CIA annex. The hospital where Ambassador Stevens and another American lay is surrounded by al-Qaeda fighters. 

5:04 a.m.: In the pre-dawn darkness, the CIA reinforcements arrive at the annex. One of the security offices, Glen Doherty, joins Tyrone Woods on the roof of the compound. Both men occupy firing positions and are equipped with machine guns but have no authorization to return fire, should the attackers renew their assault. 

5:15 a.m.: With the first sign of dawn approaching in the east, the al-Qaeda linked attackers make another assault. Using lasers to warn away civilians and potential attackers, Doherty and Woods are helpless to return fire as five mortars are fired at them. Three shells strike their position, killing them. 

The military says the mortars were never spotted by either the team on the roof or the predator drone. 

5:26 a.m.: With daylight coming, the attackers flee into the darkness. The attack is over, two Americans are dead and two more wounded. 

6:00 a.m.: Libyan security forces arrive en masse to escort the Americans to the airport where they are promptly flown back to the United States along with the bodies of their dead. 
The timeline of the attack lasts seven hours. 

President Obama, informed in writing of the attack in its first stage, never gives a specific order to stop the attacks on the compound, and no permission to return fire is granted. 

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