Two U.S. warships and a special unit of roughly 50 members of the Marine Corps are en route to Libya following Tuesday’s attack on the U.S. embassy compound in Benghazi, unnamed officials here have told media.
Following the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, and three other Americans, in that assault , reports here suggested that one destroyer, the USS Laboon, had “moved to a position off the coast” by Wednesday, and the USS McFaul was said to be is on its way to be stationed off the coast “within days”.
Commenting broadly on U.S. ships in the area, said to be loaded with Tomahawk cruise missiles or Aegis-equipped, Pentagon spokesman George Little said: “The U.S. military regularly takes precautionary steps when potential contingencies might arise in a given situation. That’s not only logical in certain circumstances, it’s the prudent thing to do.”
While U.S. officials are said to be investigating whether the violence was linked to an anti-Islamic video the trailer for which was posted on the Internet, the theory that the assault was a terrorist attack planned to coincide with the anniversary of 9/11 appeared to be gaining credence in official circles here.
In this context, when he addressed a campaign event in Las Vegas President Barack Obama said, “I want to assure you that we will bring their killers to justice... We will not be deterred, we will keep going. Because the world needs us — we are the one indispensable power in the world.”
