Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am more a reader than a writer of reviews. This book, however, compels comment. From cover to cover it is full of information--historical along with the first-hand accounts of Benghazi heroes--that brings a greater clarity to the inevitable East-West culture clash. On that basis alone it is a must read. But there's more: The principals in the narrative were upfront about two things: 1) They were well-paid operators hired to protect CIA employees. They knew the risk of their jobs; and 2) They had no political axe to grind. We can only wish that our government had been as up front about the reasons for the Benghazi attack when it was known months earlier that an attack on the U.S. operation was imminent. Rather, from the top all the way down the chain of responsibility the attack became politicized as it was the election season. Recall the slogan: Osama is dead and GM is alive. In that vein, Washington described the cause for the attack as a mob reaction to a "blasphemous" video produced in the U.S. So what we had was bureaucrats in D.C. doing a hurried CYA while the guys on the ground were literally doing that to rescue U.S. State Dept. employees in a compound with substandard security for its environs. Later, in order to shore up this narrative, our State Dept. even went so far as to produce an ad declaring that our government had nothing to do with the video. This taxpayer funded ad ran on Pakistani television. Whether we will ever know the truth--something in scant supply these days--is questionable. We can hope. I was lucky enough to see three of the heroes interviewed with the launch of 13 hours. What stand up guys--hard-bitten, brave, no-nonsense guys who are gentlemen--family men--with a very deep appreciation of life. We can never know exactly what they experienced. We can only salute them for their service and for their bravery--yet again--in stepping forward to tell their story.