WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says four members of Army special forces in Tripoli were never told to stand down after the attack last year on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey disputed the claim by former top diplomat Gregory Hicks, who told a House panel last month that the unit was told not to go to assist Americans under siege.
Dempsey told a Senate panel on Wednesday that when the unit contacted commanders in Germany, it was told that it would be better used in Tripoli to handle any wounded. He also said a plane evacuating Americans from Benghazi would have crossed paths in the air if they had left Tripoli.
Four Americans were killed in the attack.
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