Marines Head to Libya After Mob Kills Ambassador
The Marine Corps is sending a complement of about 50 Marines to Libya in response to a violent attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, including the U.S. ambassador to the country.
A Marine “FAST team” — for Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team — will protect U.S. diplomatic personnel in Libya and is heading there now. Sources at the Department of Defense would not confirm if the FAST team, trained to respond to terrorist incidents and protect U.S. installations, will head to the capitol of Tripoli or the city of Benghazi, where the mob attacked.
There is a Marine FAST team headquartered in Rota, Spain, according to the Marine Corps, but it is not clear if that is the team heading to Libya.
There are two Americans confirmed dead in Libya: U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and a foreign service officer, Sean Smith, a U.S. Air Force veteran. Contrary to early media reports, it does not appear that two Marines were killed alongside Stevens and Smith. A Marine Corps official who would not speak for the record told Danger Room that the Corps did not and currently does not have assets in Benghazi. It is currently unclear who the two other Americans dead in Libya are.
