Summary of 13 hours by Mitchell Zuckoff. PROLOGUE. There were a number of rumors that the US provided military support to Israel, specifically speaking, that US military planes were used in the bombing of Egypt. These false reports were mostly used to explain the Arab defeat. After these allegations spread around the city of Benghazi on June 5, 1967, a mob armed with rocks gathered together and invaded the American consulate through the front gate, threatening the lives of the ten people who worked there. Due to the situation, they had to burn all the critical documents and although they were armed they were ordered to avoid attacking the people and they could just use tear gas grenades to try to prevent the mob from entering the building. However, this was useless and the American had to safeguard themselves in a vault on the second floor while the Benghazans set the first floor on fire. They signed a farewell note and tried numerous times to call for assistance. Helpless and surrounded by fire, the only thing left for them was wait for help. Finally, a British armored car made it through the mob and saved the ten Americans. On September 11, 2012, the American diplomatic compound on Benghazi was attacked by an angry mob, except this time they were carrying guns and there were no allies to come to the rescue. The buildings were pillaged and set on …show more content…
Benghazi has been dominated by country after another for centuries and, in consequence, has been plagued by violence and civil unrest. Benghazi has always been compared to the richer and more developed Tripoli, located in the West of Libya. In 1969, Muammar al-Gaddafi rose to power through a bloodless coup. The oil reserves of the country are in the East near Benghazi, but the city doesn’t benefit from that. Gaddafi bestowed all the oil riches to Tripoli. Leaving Benghazi poor and struggling while the living conditions quickly rose in