Pentagon: Secret U.S. Military Commandos Deployed to Libya
Free Beacon - Pentagon: Secret U.S. Military Commandos Deployed to Libya
Classified United States military units are operating in the region near Libya since the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, according to the director of operations for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff.
The disclosure that secret U.S. military forces were dispatched to Libya recently was revealed in a letter sent Wednesday to the House Armed Services Committee by Vice Adm. Kurt Tidd, director of operations for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff.
Tidd said that after the attack in Benghazi, the U.S. European Command sent a Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST) platoon to reinforce security at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli.
“Additional classified capabilities were deployed to the region,” Tidd said, in what other defense officials said was a reference to the deployment of special operations commandos.
Tidd was responding to a letter from Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R., Calif.) about whether the military recommended bolstering security in Libya prior to the Sept. 11 attack that killed U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans.