Small teams of special
operations forces arrived at American embassies throughout North Africa
in the months before militants launched the fiery attack that killed
the U.S. ambassador in Libya. The soldiers' mission: Set up a network
that could quickly strike a terrorist target or rescue a hostage.
The
White House signed off a year ago on the plan to build the new military
counterterror task force in the region, and the advance teams have been
there for six months, according to three U.S. counterterror officials
and a former intelligence official. All spoke only on condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the strategy
publicly.
The effort indicates that the
administration has been worried for some time about a growing threat
posed by al-Qaida and its offshoots in North Africa. But officials say
the military organization was too new to respond to the attack in
Benghazi, where the administration now believes armed al-Qaida-linked
militants surrounded the lightly guarded U.S. compound, set it on fire
and killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
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