Uncovering the Truth: A Comprehensive Look at the Attack in Benghazi

Joshua A. McGuoirk: Fred Burton's "Under Fire" delves into the harrowing events of the Benghazi attack, unraveling the untold stories and shedding light on the complexities surrounding that fateful night. In this meticulously researched and compelling narrative, Burton, a seasoned security expert, takes readers behind the scenes, providing a gripping account of the tragedy that shook the world.

The strength of "Under Fire" lies in Burton's ability to weave together the intricate details of the attack, offering a comprehensive and balanced perspective. Drawing on firsthand accounts, official documents, and his own expertise, Burton pieces together the timeline, motivations, and aftermath, presenting a narrative that is as informative as it is riveting.

Burton's writing is both engaging and respectful, honoring the memory of those involved while challenging readers to confront the multifaceted challenges faced by diplomatic and security personnel in high-risk zones. The book goes beyond sensationalism, presenting a nuanced exploration of the political and operational factors that played a role in the tragic events.

One of the notable aspects of "Under Fire" is its emphasis on human...

United States on Jan 13, 2024

Emile: Very good product and service

United Kingdom on Sep 22, 2023

JB 2: This expose of the Benghazi terrorist attack was an interesting read. The authors revealed their politics towards the end of the book which I thought was poor. Just relate what happened and let’s honor those who risked their lives and those who lost their lives.

The elephant in the room was never revealed and that was who told the military in Southern Europe to stand down and not try to defend the two locations from the air.

Was it Hillary Clinton or President Obama. I don’t remember Obama’s name mentioned once in the book??

Being President I would have thought he would have been consulted but remember he was in Las Vegas at a campaign event.

The whole scenario in Benghazi was bungled from the start. The book clearly reveals the mistakes the US made. I don’t have confidence the necessary changes will be made prospectively to prevent these kind of attacks in the future.

United States on Jun 14, 2022

alkbt: Livre arrivé rapidement et conforme à la description !

France on Jun 10, 2021

Anirban: Good insight. The lack of maps or images makes it difficult to visualise. Nevertheless details of the rarely discussed issue wel brought out.

India on Apr 08, 2017

keith: An excellent book; very well researched.I couldt put it down during some parts you actually believe you are part of it.Excellent in sigth into the decision making processes and how many agencies were involved in it. Also the extremely complex politics of Libya and the middle east. A definite 5 stars

United Kingdom on Jun 20, 2015

Greg: I've read three of Fred Burton's books, and liked all three, but this is my least favorite. This book seemed to have much less first hand knowledge than his other books, which is reasonable given that it is the only event that he did not have first person experience.
Under Fire tells the story of the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, how it was established after the fall of Gaddafi, and eventually attacked by fundamentalists on September 11, 2012. It relies on witness statements, and survivors to create the clearest possible understanding of those events, and does a fairly good job of it.
My biggest issue with this book is that seemingly random text has been replaced with lines of "****". Originally, I believed these to be blacked out sections to cover classified or redacted information that they did not have access to, but that doesn't seem to be the case. In one instance it reads "better known as *********". If it was classified information, why would it be commonly known? Also, in some sections it repeats so often that it would have been more effective just to say that it was still classified. I have to assume that this was some kind of formatting error with the...

Canada on Jan 28, 2014

Daviddmpb: Must read if you want to begin to fill in the many gaps in government accountability for Benghazi. I learned a lot from reading it after a year of trying to decipher what happened.

The book is written by security professionals with one goal - defend and honor the anonymous state department security guards who heroically tried (and failed) to keep Stevens alive. Their background and perspective provides both an insider's story and a motivation to tell it. However, you WILL be disappointed because their story is not complete and doesn't even try to answer the many more global questions we all want answered. Their's is the perspective of the "foot soldier" not the general, cabinet member, national security council member or president. But none of those are talking and have their axes to grind and behinds to defend so I am thankful that the foot soldier broke the usual code of silence.

What the authors do provide is clear ground truth of what happened at both the "mission" and the "annex." Also, in the telling they provide key clues (examples: the mission wasn't registered with the Libyan government (hence not a State Department mission), and Benghazi mission and annex...

United States on Oct 09, 2013